USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume I > Part 15
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the state. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, was the organizer and first chancellor commander of the lodge in Columbia, and held that position for six years. In early life he was a Whig, but when the state seceded he took sides with the Confederacy and at the close of the war became identified with the Democratic party, whose fortunes he has generally followed, though he has canvassed the state for the Prohibition candidates for the presidency. He is a member of the Cum- berland Presbyterian church and has been a ruling elder since 1856. He was the organizer of the Tabernacle church of that denomination in Columbia; has represented his presbytery in the general assembly of the United States some ten or twelve times; has several times been moderator of his presbytery and of the state synod; and has been Sunday school superintendent for thirty-five years. He is now the president of the Cumber- land Presbyterian council, of anti-unionists, composed of loyal Cumberland Presbyterians who oppose the proposed union of the Cumberland Presbyterian church with the Presbyterian church in the United States of America, or what is known as the Northern Presbyterian church. Those whom he represents propose to remain in the Cumberland Presbyterian church and adhere to the original doctrines of that church. In this work he is now actively engaged.
COL. MOSES H. CLIFT, of Chattanooga, for many years one of the leading lawyers of Southeastern Tennessee. was born at Soddy, Hamilton county. Tenn., Aug. 25. 1836. His parents were William and Nancy A. ( Brooks) Clift. Both his grandfathers, James Clift and Moses Brooks, were soldiers of the Revolution, and the former was also in the war of 1812. The first of the Clift family in America was James Clift, who came from England and settled in North Carolina in 1712. William Clift came to Knox county with his father in child- hood, and in 1825 removed to Hamilton county. He was a colonel of militia, served several years as a magistrate, was an enthusiastic opponent of secession, and after the war commenced was made colonel of the Seventh Tennessee infantry, in the Federal army. The son, Moses H. Clift, prior to the war had
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been engaged in farming, flatboating and steamboating. At the age of twenty-two years he took up the study of law in the office of Judge J. L. Hopkins, and in 1861 was admitted to the bar at Chattanooga. Upon the question of secession he differed from his father, and supported his convictions by rais- ing Company H, Thirty-sixth Tennessee Confederate infantry, of which his brother was elected captain. A few months later he was transferred to the Fourth cavalry, and served in the ranks until the battle of Fort Donelson, when he was pro- moted on the field to captain and assigned to duty on the staff of Colonel Starnes. At Kenesaw Mountain he won the rank of major. and at Bentonville was made colonel. After the war Colonel Clift located at Fort Valley, Ga., and opened a law office. but did not remain long there. He then went to Atlanta for a short time. then to Murfreesboro, and in Decem- ber, 1866, came to Chattanooga. Several prominent lawyers in and about Chattanooga received their first instruction in the mysteries of the law in the office of Colonel Clift. As an advo- cate, Colonel Clift is earnest and thorough ; as a counselor, he is conservative and safe, and as a judge of law makes very few errors. In addition to his professional work, he has taken a deep interest in the development of the material resources of his section of the state, and has been connected in an official capacity with several coal mining companies, the Chattanooga Cotton Factory, the Citico Furnace, the Chattanooga Gas Com -. pany, and the Chamber of Commerce. He is one of the com- missioners of the Chickamauga National park, and presided over the dedication of the Tennessee monument. In politics, he is a Democrat, and in 1876 and ISSo was a delegate to the national conventions. He has been twice married : to Miss Attie, daughter of Dr. R. F. Cooke, in 1866. She died in 1876, and in ISS3 Colonel Clift was married to Florence V., daughter of Judge J. R. Parrott, of Cartersville, Ga. By these two mar- riages he has six children living.
ALBERT HIGH SHIELDS, local freight agent of the Louisville & Nashville and the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis railroads, at Columbia, Tenn., is a native of Giles county,
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of that state, and was born July 27, 1856. Ile is the son of James M. and Eliza (Moore) Shields, the father a native of Tennessee and the mother of North Carolina. They were mar- ried at Lynnville, Tenn., and passed most of their lives there. James M. Shields was a farmer and merchant and a descend- ant of Irish ancestry. He passed away at the age of seventy- two years. His widow now lives at Columbia with her un- married son and daughter. Seven children were born to them: Camilla, Louise, John, Kingie, Albert, Willie M. and Eliza- beth. John died unmarried at the age of forty-two years. Four of those living are married. Albert H. was educated in a private school at Lynnville, and commenced his career as a hand on his father's farm. Later he clerked in a dry goods store for some time and was variously employed until 1872, when he entered upon railroad work, beginning as errand boy in the Lynnville office. He then learned telegraphy, and was made night operator at Lynnville. After a time he was made extra operator and agent at various points along the North and South divisions of the Louisville & Nashville railroad. On Dec. 27, 1877, he was appointed ticket agent at Colum- bia. In October, 1888, he was promoted to the position of freight agent, and has since held that place. Probably no man in the state has spent more time in responsible positions in the railroad business. Mr. Shields is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He belongs to the Presbyterian church, and in his political views is a Democrat. He stands very high among railroad men and patrons, his varied experiences in all phases of the work rendering him especially capable, prompt and exact in the discharge of his official duties. Mr. Shields is a widower with a family of seven children. He was happily married in 1878, to Miss Ada B. Higdon, daughter of Adam H. Higdon, a brick mason contractor of Lynnville. Mrs. Shields died in September, 1900. Since her death, Miss Kate Hill Shields, the eldest daughter, has assumed control of domestic affairs in the home. The other children are: Elsie M., Ada, Albert H., Ruth. M., Robert and James M., all at home. Kate and Elsie are graduates of the Columbia Athenaeum; Ada is a graduate of the Tennessee Female college. at Franklin; Albert is a grad-
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uate of the Columbia high school, and the others are still pur- suing their studies. The family of young people at the Shields home are cultured and popular, devoted to each other and to their bereaved father, whose sorrows they seek to alleviate by making the home as happy as the loss of the wife and mother will permit.
HAZEL PADGETT, M. D., a popular physician and surgeon, of Columbia, Tenn., was born in that city July II, 1867. He is a son of John and Rebecca O. (Phillips) Padgett, both natives of Tennessee, the former of Williamson and the latter of Maury county. The father was a farmer and public official. Six- teen years of his life were spent as clerk of the Maury county court. He had a classical education, and died in March, 1875, at the age of forty-nine. The Padgett family is of English ancestry, the first of the family establishing them- selves in Virginia during the early settlement of the common- wealth. The Phillips family were among the early pioneers of Tennessee. The mother of Doctor Padgett was left an orphan in infancy and grew to womanhood in Columbia. Mr. and Mrs. Padgett had three sons and one daughter. Lemuel Phillips is an attorney in Columbia, and the representative from the district in Congress; Mary is the wife of Dr. E. G. Grant, a dentist, in Columbia; Henry died at the age of nineteen, and Dr. Hazel Padgett is the youngest of the family. He was educated in the Columbia high school and the well-known Webb Brothers school, and upon the conclusion of his school days, in 1888, took up the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. B. J. Harlan. His studies under Doctor Harlan were followed by a four years' course in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was grad- uated in March, 1892, as a member of the honor class, and was appointed interne to a large hospital but resigned to enter
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practice at home. After six years in general practice at Colum- bia he studied in a number of the leading hospitals of the United States and Europe, among them Jolins Hopkins, at Balti- more; University and German hospitals, of Philadelphia; Bellevue, of New York; General hospital at Vienna, Austria, Charity hospital at Berlin, Germany, and St. Thomas hospital in London. In these institutions he took special courses and did practical work for sixteen months, and from 1895 until 1901 was professor of physiology and physical diagnosis in the medical department of the University of Tennessee, at Nash- ville, though still retaining his home and practice in Colum- bia. From his thorough training in all branches of medicine, he is recognized as one of the leading physical diagnosticians of the South, and few men are so trained as Doctor Padgett, for he is prepared to select almost any subject in medicine for his specialty. Doctor Padgett is a member of the Maury County, the Middle Tennessee and the Tri-State Medical societies, the last-named embracing the states of Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and of the American Medical associa- tion. He is an active and public-spirited citizen and fully abreast of the times in all things calculated to enhance the interests of his native town and county. His extensive travels and broad experience in the outside world have been of great in- fluence in shaping his social and professional life. He is recognized in Columbia as a talented and highly successful physician; few of his profession have had better opportunities of becoming familiar with all phases of the profession, and none have better adaptability, broader professional culture and more thoroughness or earnestness. In short, he is recognized as the leading physician of the city; he is a student, not only of physic, but of the human race. He is thorough and earnest in everything which engages his attention and goes to the bottom of things in his reasonings and in his scientific investigations. Doctor Padgett is supremely modest and unassuming, taking but little credit to himself for his superior attainments and exalted professional standing. He is a gentleman of amiable and social temperament, whose acquaintance is eagerly sought and highly appreciated by all who know him. While in Ber-
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lin, a student of the great Virchow and many other noted European teachers, he was elected a member of the Interna- tional Congress of Tuberculosis, a disease 'he has studied very extensively. He has written quite extensively on professional topics and is a regular contributor to the leading medical journals of the country. He has been an extensive traveler outside of professional interests, visiting the Holy Land, Egypt. Turkey, and many of the Mediterranean countries. In fra- ternal circles, he is a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias. Doctor Padgett has, from time to time, contributed to the journals of these orders and has delivered numerous lectures along the line of fraternal organizations. He has three lectures which have been delivered with unanimous praise, viz. : "Seeing Things," "Pleasures of Life" and "The Royal Path- way." He is also a linguist. being very proficient in German and French, and in his political views is a Democrat-one of the kind that keeps fully informed on questions of public policy and votes intelligently. On Nov. 27. 1900, he was married to Miss Maude, daughter of John and M. E. Williamson, of Virginia. She was reared and received a classical education in her native state, and is a highly accomplished woman. One daughter has been born to this union, Rebecca Ophelia. aged fourteen months. Both Doctor Padgett and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 0
J. FRANKLIN WILEY, a prominent ex-official of Maury county, is a native of Tennessee, and was born Oct. 8, 1843. He is a son of Ansel S. and Elizabeth J. (Erwin) Wiley, both natives of Maury county. The father was a civil engineer, merchant and farmer. Both parents are buried in Rose Hill cemetery, Columbia. They had a family of four children, of whom but two are now living. Addie is now the widow of John D. Moore; Jennie was the wife of O. H. P. Bennett, Jr., and died in middle life at Columbia; Elizabeth S. was the wife of John Lawrie and died in early womanhood. J. Franklin Wiley was educated at Jackson college, in Columbia. This institution was destroyed by the Federal troops during the Civil war. He began his career in 1867 as assistant post-
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master in Columbia, and served about eighteen years in that capacity; was appointed railway postal clerk and served about two years in that line of work; was then nominated and elected county court clerk in 1890; took charge of the office in Sep- tember of that year; was re-elected in 1894 without opposi- tion, and served in all eight years. On retiring he purchased a steam laundry plant in Columbia and operated that for two years, when he leased the property and took up other busi- ness. He is now employed as bookkeeper for J. B. Ashton & Bro., in their large milling business. Mr. Wiley has never married, and his widowed sister, Mrs. Moore, is his house- keeper. She has been a widow for about twenty years. Her husband was a native of Louisiana and a prominent business man of Columbia, where he was a dry-goods merchant and postmaster. He came of wealthy ancestors and was a planter and an extensive slave owner in ante-bellum days. Mrs. Moore is a member of the First Presbyterian church and of the various societies composed of ladies connected therewith. Mr. Wiley has a handsome home at No. 77 South Main street. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, being
a member of Columbia lodge No. 3. La Fayette chapter No. 4, Royal Arch Masons, and De Molay commandery No. 3, Knights Templars. He is past worshipful master of Columbia lodge No. 3, to which he was transferred when the charter of Euphemia lodge was surrendered. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In his political views, he is a Democrat, and has been an active worker for the party.
SIDNEY GORDON GILBREATH, city superintendent of schools, Chattanooga, Tenn., was born in Monroe county, Tenn., April 13, 1869, and is the son of James A. and Eliza- beth Gilbreath. He attended the public schools in Monroe county during his earlier years, and in 1891 graduated from Hiawassee college, in that county. During the time he taught, earning the money for the expenses incurred in a college course. In January, 1891, he was elected county superintendent of public instruction of Monroe county, which position he held until 1895. He was then appointed state superintendent of
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public instruction, serving as such for two years. In 1897 he was elected to the presidency of Hiawassee college, and re- mained with that institution until 1899, when he resigned to accept a professorship at Peabody Normal college, Nashville. He held a chair in that college until 1903, the last year filling the chair of rhetoric. On May 11, 1903, he resigned this position to take the one he now fills as city superintendent of schools at Chattanooga. Professor Gilbreath was married, on Feb. 9, 1890, to Miss Norma L. Henley, of Mountainville, Monroe county, and four children have been born to them: Grace E., Frances Henry, Mildred Bruneo and Norma Gordon. Politically, Professor Gilbreath is a Democrat. He was for four years, from 1895 to 1899, a member of the state board of education. He is a member of the Methodist Church South : belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, and is a member of the Historical Society of Tennessee.
COL. THOMAS EDWARD PAT- TERSON, of Chattanooga, Tenn., was born in Westchester county, N. Y., June 2, 1867. He is the son of John and Elizabeth Patterson, both deceased. He attended the common district school in his boyhood and later the public schools of higher grades. In 1882 he went to Mem- phis, Tenn., and found employment in a jewelry store, where he remained for several years. In December, 1891, he was selected by the state officials as a special officer to serve at Coal Creek. during the strike and consequent troubles at that point, and he remained there about two years until the affairs at issue were settled. In 1893 he went into the real estate business in Memphis, but shortly afterward removed to Chattanooga, where he continued in the same line until 1902. In 1898 he enlisted in the Second regiment, Tennessee National Guards, for the Spanish-American war, was instrumental in get- ting the regiment organized and equipped, and was made
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lieutenant-colonel. At that time the regiment needed a strong hand, and Colonel Patterson gave to it the best efforts of a well-drilled mind. The regiment went to Camp Alger, then to Camp Mead, Pa., and from there it went to Columbia, S. C., where it was mustered out. During a good deal of the time Colonel Patterson was on the staff of General Graham as provost-general marshal. When General Young succeeded General Graham, Colonel Patterson continued to hold the posi- tion. He made an honorable record as an officer and soldier, and one of the regrets of his life is that his regiment was not one of those called to take part in actual hostilities. During the time he lived in Memphis, Colonel Patterson took an active interest in the State Guards, which he joined as a private and rose to the rank of captain. He was married in December, 1893, to Miss Zalla, daughter of R. H. and Elizabeth Sibley, and they have two children, Carroll E. and Marie E. Colonel Patterson is a Democrat; a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and the Methodist church. In August, 1902, he was elected trustee of Hamilton county, in which Chattanooga is situated, and in 1904 was re-elected to the same responsible position. In referring to the re-election of Colonel Patterson, the Chattanooga Times says : "Col. T. E. Patterson has admittedly made the safest, most careful and thoroughly efficient trustee the county has ever had. His office is a model of neatness and accuracy, and his business transactions have been modeled in strict accordance with the law and his official obligations. He is an obliging, efficient and popular official, and he enjoys to the fullest de- gree the confidence and esteem of the best citizenry of both parties in the county."
R. L. JONES, county superintendent of schools for Hamilton county, Tenn., with headquarters in Chattanooga, was born in White county, of that state, in 1867. His parents were Zaraha and Mary Jones. He attended the district schools from 1873 until he had reached the age of seventeen. He then taught one term and entered Onward seminary, in White county, where he continued his studies for three years. In 1890 he was
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elected county superintendent of schools in White county, and held the position for four years. He was also principal of the high school at Onward seminary. In 1895 he graduated from Bird college, at Spencer, Tenn., and was elected president of Doyle college, the same fall. He remained there for two years, and in. 1897 went to Hamilton county, where he taught until 1903. being elected to his present position in January of that year for a two-year term. He married Miss Mary Green, of White county, in 1888. They have one child, Horace Grady, and reside at St. Elmo, near Chattanooga. Professor Jones is a member of Hill City lodge No. 243. Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
REV. JOHN H. RACE, A. M., D. D., president of Grant university, at Chattanooga, Tenn., was born at Paupack, Pike county, Pa., March 10, 1862, his parents being Rev. James Lee Race and Jane Humble, his wife. He attended the public school until his eighteenth year, when he entered Wyoming seminary, Kingston, Pa., and graduated in 1886. The same year he entered Princeton university without condi- tion, and graduated in 1890 with the degree of A. B., after- ward receiving, on examination, the degree of A. M. He married Miss Alice Bannister, daughter of Rev. Dr. Edward Bannister, June 25. 1890. Upon leaving college he entered the ministry, but returned to Wyoming seminary in the fall of 1890 and taught there until 1894, when he received a call to the pastorate of Centenary Methodist Episcopal church, at Binghamton, N. Y. He remained there until 1898, when he was appointed president of Grant university, at Chattanooga, where he has since continued. Doctor Race has contributed many articles to the press, and is recognized as a writer of power. During his charge of the university the institution has been enlarged, one building having been added in Chat-
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tanooga and two to the institution at Athens. The one in Chattanooga is occupied by the medical department. The valua- tion of the property is $385,000. Grant university is the suc- cessor of the East Tennessee Wesleyan university, which was established in 1867, and is under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal church, but the character of the instruction is non- sectarian. The school of liberal arts offers three courses of study-arts, philosophy and science-open to both sexes, and the course is four years; the school of theology is a three years' course; the school of medicine has a four years' course, and the course in the school of law is two years. There are, also, a preparatory department, a business department and de- partments of music, art and elocution. Athens is the seat of the preparatory department and of the associated departments of music, art and elocution. It is about midway between Knox- ville and Chattanooga. At Chattanooga are located the college of liberal arts and the professional schools, theology, medicine and law, and the business college. The campus at Athens em- braces about twenty acres, upon which are located the old col- lege building, chapel, Bennett hall, Elizabeth Ritter home, C. H. Banfield Memorial hall and the Blakeslee Home for Boys. The C. H. Banfield Memorial hall was erected by Wil- liam Banfield, in memory of his deceased son, and is a mag- nificent structure. The Blakeslee Home for Boys is the gift of Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Blakeslee, of Macksburg, O., and affords a well-equipped boarding hall for boys. Bennett hall is for young ladies, where board may be obtained at a reason- able rate, and Elizabeth Ritter Industrial home is a fine build- ing, where board, room, fuel and light can be had by girls at $10 a month. The university building, at Chattanooga, is a handsome brick and stone edifice, located on an elevation almost in the center of the city, electric cars passing through the campus every few minutes. The Medical college building is a modern three-story structure, well furnished and arranged. A boarding club is conducted in the university building, where wholesome board is offered the student for $2.25 per week. and rooms furnished and heated by steam can be secured for from fifty cents a week up. Chattanooga, the seat of Grant
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university, is a favorable location for such an institution. The surgeon-general of the United States pronounces it one of the healthiest cities of the South. The great battlefields of Chicka- mauga, Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain bring people from all parts of the country to the city, and students come in contact with visitors from every section.
COL. ROBT. L. BRIGHT, attorney, of Chattanooga, Tenn., was born at Fayetteville, Tenn., Jan. 14, 1849. He is the son of Hon. John M. and Judith Campbell (Clark) Bright, his mother being the daughter of Governor Clark of Kentucky. Colonel Bright attended the schools of his native town, in- cluding a private school conducted by Rev. Wm. Stoddard. He then attended Cumberland university, at Lebanon. Tenn., after which time he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He commenced practicing in Fayetteville with his father and brother, J. C., the firm being known as Bright & Sons. He soon afterward was elected to Congress, and succeeded him- self for twelve years. Upon his retirement from that body, he served as special judge on the supreme bench for a time, later resuming his law practice, at first alone and afterward form -. ing a partnership with M. W. Woodard. This partnership continued for four years, at the end of which time Mr. Bright removed to Chattanooga. Here he practiced alone for a time, but finally became a member of the firm of DeWitt. Bright & Thomas. This firm dissolved at the end of two years, and Mr. Bright practiced alone for about two years, when the firm of DeWitt, Bright & Whitside was formed and continued for a year. Col. W. H. DeWitt and Mr. H. Whitside, of the firm, are now both dead. Colonel Bright has practiced five years. On Oct. 9, 1871, he was married to Miss Sarah E. Gardner, of New York, and they have been blessed with ten children: Lucy G., wife of G. L. Caldwell, of Chatta- nooga; Margaret G., assistant state librarian at Nashville; Judith, deceased; Robert L., Jr., Judith Campbell Clark. W. C .. Mamie G., James G., Sarah G., and John Morgan. Colonel Bright is a Democrat; was county attorney of Hamilton county in 1898, and is a member of the Presbyterian church.
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