USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume I > Part 23
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he takes naturally to that feature of life, and from 1897 to 1901 was a cadet at the Virginia Military institute; major and commandant at Sewanee; was elected captain of Company M., Frazier Guards, Third regiment, Tennessee National Guard, but was compelled to resign by reason of press of business. His company, while he was in service, was said to be the most efficient in Tennessee, so pronounced by Inspector General S. D. Tyson. Mr. Fry is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal church, at Chattanooga; belongs to Temple lodge No. 430, Free and Accepted Masons; Park lodge No. 75, Knights of Pythias, and Hill City lodge No. 245, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is one of the officers of Chattanooga lodge No. 91, Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks.
WILLIAM GANNAWAY BROWNLOW (deceased), one of Tennessee's most prominent men in his time, was born in Wythe county, Va., Aug. 29, 1805, and died in Knoxville, Tenn., April 19, 1877. He was the son of Joseph A. Brown- low, a native of Rockbridge, Va., who came to Blountville, Tenn., in an early day, and died there. The mother was Catharine Gannaway, also of Virginia. Wm. G. Brownlow, though poor in purse, was one of those men who know nothing of the meaning of the word "fail," and made little of working to accomplish the desired end. Possessed of a desire for an education, but without the means of gratifying that desire, he went to work as a carpenter, saved his money and applied it finally to securing an education, and studied constantly during his spare moments while working. He became the editor of the Knoxville Whig, conducted that paper from 1839 to 1875, with brief intervals, and secured for it a wide circulation by reason of its stirring editorials in a time when men's thoughts were strongly impressed by the affairs of the hour. A Whig of the most pronounced type, he was an uncompromising oppo- nent of Democracy and an aggressive and life-long fighter of the battles of his party. He was the Whig candidate for Con- gress against Andrew Johnson in 1843. In 1856 President Fillmore appointed him as one of the commissioners to carry out the provisions of Congress for improving the navigation
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of the Missouri river. Mr. Brownlow was an intense Unionist. and with the breaking out of hostilities between the govern- ment and the South found himself in an unpleasant position. He was persuaded by friends to leave home, in 1862, on account of the persecutions of Confederate sympathizers. He was arrested and imprisoned at one time for giving free rein to his opinions, but was later released and went North, where he delivered bitter philippics against the secession movement. Although opposed to the Democratic party and a determined enemy to secession, he was at the same time an advocate of slavery, and at the close of the war strongly opposed giving the former slaves the ballot. He finally yielded to the inevi- table, against his judgment, and ceased opposition. In 1864 he returned to Knoxville and resumed his fight for the Union. The following year he was elected governor of Tennessee; was re-elected at the close of his first term, and in 1869 was elected to the United States senate, where he served until 1875. A man possessed of such qualities of mind could no more resist the inclination to take an active part in the world's work than a hungry man can resist satisfying his hunger, and in addition to his editorial labors he published a number of books and pamphlets, among them being "The Iron Wheel Examined." It was published in 1856, and was a reply to attacks on Meth- odism, he having been a Methodist minister for ten years. Other books were "Sketches of the Rise, Progress and Decline of Secession, with a Narration of Personal Adventures Among the Rebels," published in 1862, and "Ought American Slavery to be Abolished?" a debate with Rev. A. Pryne, of New York. Senator Brownlow died in 1877, at the age of seventy-two years. On Sept. 11, 1836, he was married to Eliza A. O'Brien, of Carter county, Tenn. She is the daughter of James and Susan Dabney (Everett) O'Brien. Her father was a merchant at Kingsport, Tenn., later becoming a big iron producer in Car- ter county. Joseph and Agnes (Gaines) Everett, Mrs. Brown- low's maternal grandparents, lived at Kingsport. Agnes Gaines was a sister of Gen. Edmund Pendleton Gaines, of Revolution- ary fame. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Brownlow were seven in number : Susan, Mrs. Dr. Daniel T. Boynton, of Knoxville,
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widow; Mary, Mrs. H. M. Aiken, Knoxville; Fannie, Mrs. George G. Latta, Hot Springs, Ark .; Caledonia, widow of John E. Hale, Knoxville; Annie, deceased. Mrs. Wm. F. Patrick; John Bell Brownlow, United States postoffice department, Washington, D. C .; James P. (deceased).
H. A. UTLEY, M. D., of Good- lettsville, Tenn., is a native of Sum- ner county, where he was born, on the plantation where he now lives, June 15, 1854. He is the son of William I .. and Caroline ( Bransford) Utley, the former a native of North Carolina, who came to Tennessee when a young man, and the latter a daughter of Rev. John Bransford, a Methodist minister, who settled soon after his marriage on the place now known by his name. He was a slave holder in the ante- bellum days, and died in August, 1891, at the age of seventy- two years. His wife died about a month later, aged sixty-two years. Doctor Utley was reared on the plantation, educated in the neighboring schools, and entered Tennessee university when seventeen years of age. A year and a half later he went into the office of Dr. W. T. Briggs, of Nashville, read medi- cine- for a time with that gentleman, afterward entered Nash- ville Medical college, from which he graduated in 1878, and from the medical department of Vanderbilt university in 1879. Soon afterward he went to St. Louis, where he practiced medi- cine two years. Owing to the fact that his father was in very poor health, he gave up his practice in St. Louis, returned to the plantation and took charge of affairs, and has continued to reside there ever since. In 1883 he was married to Miss Callie Mathews, a native of Davidson county. The home farm con- sists of 1,000 acres, and Doctor Utley owns 750 acres in Rob- ertson county, as well as property in the city of Nashville. He is engaged in stock raising on quite an extensive scale; is now, and has been for ten years, vice-president of the Bank of
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Goodlettsville; was school commissioner for twenty years; is a member of the Methodist church, and belongs to the Knights of Pythias, of Nashville, the Masons and the Royal Arcanum.
GARNETT ANDREWS, lawyer and real estate dealer, Chattanooga, Tenn., was born at Washington, Ga., in 1837, his parents being Garnett and Annulet ( Ball) Andrews. His father was for thirty years prior to his death, in 1874, judge of the northern circuit of Georgia. His grandfather. John Andrews, was a Virginian, who served through the war of the Revolution, and one of his ancestors, Maj. William Andrews, was a member of the Virginia house of burgesses and a signer of the act which submitted Virginia to Cromwell. The mater- nal ancestors were also identified with the American army during the war for independence. Garnett Andrews, the sub- ject of this sketch, was educated at the Washington academy and the University of Georgia, and had just been admitted to the bar when the Civil war commenced. He enlisted, as carly as February. in one of the regiments of state troops, his regi- ment afterward becoming the First Georgia regulars, in "which he held the rank of first lieutenant. The regiment was ordered to Virginia, where he became acting assistant adjutant on the staff of Gen. H. R. Jackson. For several months he was on the sick list, and upon rejoining the army was assigned to .duty with Cutts' battalion, Irving artillery, which he had assisted to organize and drill. Here he was soon promoted to captain and assigned as assistant adjutant on the staff of Gen. Arnold Elzey. at Richmond, Va. While in this position he organized the "Local Defense Brigade," of four thousand men, com- manded by Gen. Custis Lee. For his meritorious service with this brigade Mr. Andrews was made major. Later in the war he participated in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, South Anna, and in the operations about Rich- mond and Petersburg. His last service was at Salisbury, N. C., where he was assigned to the duty of holding in check Stone- man's expedition until Jefferson Davis could make his way. south. After the war he began the practice of law at Yazoo City, Miss., and while living there was elected to the legis-
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lature, and compiled "Andrews' Digest of Mississippi Deci- sions." In 1882 he removed to Chattanooga, where he soon won distinction at the bar .. In more recent years he has been interested in real estate transactions. He has served as mayor of Chattanooga, and is recognized as one of the public-spirited citizens of the place.
JAMES J. LUTON, of Baker, Tenn., was born in that place, June 15, 1861. He is the son of William and Julia (Patton) Luton, the former born in Sumner county, Tenn., in 1819. He came to Davidson county in the early forties, and lo- cated on a farm on Manseer's Creek; served as constable for some time; was in the Indian Florida war; owned about 400 acres of land, and died on the home place, Oct. 15, 1898. He WILLIAM LUTON. was a Methodist, and started and helped to build the Luton chapel, at Baker. The mother died in 1865. They had ten children, eight sons and two daughters. James J. was next to the youngest.
He was reared on the home place, and secured his education in the common schools. At the age of twenty-one he began business for himself, as a member of the mercantile firm of Agley, Davis & Luton, of Goodlettsville. A year later he withdrew and went to Nash- ville, where he again engaged in mercantile pursuits, in which he has continued there ever since. He has a general store and has been postmaster at Baker ever since locating there. Mr. Luton was for nine years a member of the Davidson county court. In 1883 he was married to Miss Maggie L. Smiley, and they have five children: W. D., Alli C., James P., Mattie M. and Blanche Elizabeth. Mr. Luton is a member of the Masonic order; belongs to the Methodist church, and in poli- tics is a Democrat of the Andrew Jackson school.
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MILTON W. ANDERSON, a prominent railroad man of Jasper, Tenn., is a native of Winchester, Va. His father, Daniel N. Anderson, was a railroad engineer, and. it was per- haps but natural that the son should adopt the life of a rail- roader. After acquiring a common school education, he began, at the age of fifteen, to learn the trade' of machinist. At the conclusion of a four years' apprenticeship, he was given the position of locomotive engineer, and he continued in this occu- pation until the commencement of the war, being at that time an engineer on the Nashville & Chattanooga road. As he saw his associates enlisting in the army, he was filled with a mili- tary enthusiasm and a desire to do likewise, with the result that in May, 1861, he abandoned his engine and enlisted in a company then being made up at Nashville. Much to his chagrin, he was assigned to duty as a locomotive engineer, as soon as the company was mustered in, and kept in this line of duty throughout the entire war. He wanted to fight, but his superior officers realized that his talents as an engineer and his discretion in matters requiring cool judgment and quick decision made him a useful man in his regular calling. when troops and supplies were to be transported to the seat of war. After the war was over he became a conductor, and was later made superintendent of the Sequatchie division of the Nash- ville, Chattanooga & St. Louis railroad, where his early train- ing and his long experience in railroad matters quickly dem- onstrated that he was the right man for the place .. In addition to his railroad duties, Mr. Anderson is interested in other enter- prises, especially the First National bank, of South Pittsburg, in which he is a stockholder and was for some time vice-presi- dent. He was married, in 1867, to Miss Elizabeth Miller, and to this marriage there were born three children: Edward D., a graduate of the United States Military academy and after- ward an instructor in that institution; Grace, wife of John Montgomery, of Chattanooga, and Milton, a lawyer in the same city.
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JOHN T. LUTON, of Baker, Tenn., was born near Gallatin, Sum- ner county, Tenn., April 2, 1835, his parents being King and Caroline ( Walton) Luton, the father a native of North Carolina and the mother of Tennessee. King Luton was born in 1792, and moved to Tennessee when twenty-one years of age. In 1843 he took up his residence in Baker, where he purchased 300 acres of land, en- gaged in planting and owned a num- ber of slaves. He and his wife had eleven children: Betsy, now Mrs. Coombs: Isaac and William, deceased; Providence, who married Nelson Raymond; Catherine, the wife of Edwin Walker; Sallie, who married Jack Burns; Mary, the wife of Nelson Tyler; Isabella, married John M. Tyler; John T .; Matilda, married Jonah Hayes: Joseph, deceased. John T. and Isabella are the only survivors. The father died on Dec. 3. 1860, and the mother on Jan. 12, 1862. Both were members of the Methodist church. John T. was born and reared on the home farm. In 1861 his brother Joseph enlisted in the Eight- eenth Tennessee regiment. The following year John T. enlisted in the Ninth cavalry, under General Morgan, and was with that officer in his raid into the North, but was not cap- tured. He crossed the Ohio river, made his way on foot into West Virginia, and from there to Knoxville. He was in the battle of Missionary Ridge; accompanied the army through Virginia and Kentucky, and was also at Lexington and in other battles and skirmishes. At the conclusion of the war, he returned to the home place. He was married, on Feb. 4. 1866, to Margaret Smith. They had seven children: Samuel K., an engineer, married Maggie Forsyth; Malvina, wife of Jesse Galbraith; George B., married Nettie Eubanks; Addie, wife of Clyde Woodson, of Kentucky; Sallie, wife of Wm. Hill; Will liam H., who married Dawn Clark; and Annie Bell. The first wife died in 1884, and some time later Mr. Luton married Mrs. Mary J. ( Harrison) Powell. They have one child, Annie
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B. Mr. Luton is a member of the Methodist church, and has been superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty-five years.
WALTER PŘESTON BROWNLOW, of Jonesboro, Tenn., representative in Congress from the first district, was born at Abingdon, Va., and there attended the common schools for about three seasons in his early boyhood. When he was ten years of age the death of his father threw him on his own resources and compelled him to make his own way through the world. He first learned the trade of tinner, and worked at it for several years, after which he became a locomotive engineer. In 1876 he went as a reporter to the Knoxville Whig, at that time owned and edited by his uncle, William G. Brownlow. Later, that same year, he bought the Herald and Tribune, a Republican paper, at Jonesboro, which he has since published. His loyal support of Republican principles and the vigor of his editorials soon brought him into public notice and made him a power in the councils of his party. In 1880 he was chosen chairman of the campaign committee of his district, and the same year was district delegate to the Republican national convention. He again represented his district in the national convention in 1896. and in 1884 was delegate from the state at large to the national, convention. In 1882 he was elected a member of the state central committee, and served for twelve years, two of which he was chairman of the committee. In March, 1881, he was appointed postmaster at Jonesboro, but resigned the following December to become doorkeeper of the house in the forty-seventh Congress. Three times-in 1884, 1896 and 1900-he has been the member from Tennessee. on the Republican national committee, and has always been active in promoting the interests of his political cause. In 1900 he was nominated at a primary election for Congress, receiving nearly three times as many votes as H. T. Campbell, one of the most popular Republicans in the district. The district is composed of Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hancock, Hai- kins, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi and Washington coun- ties. It comprises the territory of the old district represented from 1843 to 1853 by the late President Andrew Johnson: In
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1902 he was re-elected by a substantial majority. Mr. Brown- low possesses many of the characteristics of his distinguished uncle, who was such a power in East Tennessee at the begin- ning of the Civil war. He wields a trenchant pen, is a forcible and convincing speaker, and is always an uncompromising sup- porter of Republican doctrines.
J. M. SHIVERS, of Goodletts- ville, Tenn., was born in Davidson county, March 6, 1828. His father, Jonas Shivers, was born in the same place, in 1803, and his grandfather, Thomas Shivers, was a native of North Carolina, who moved to David- son county, Tenn., in 1802. Thomas Shivers was in the war of 1812: was a slave holder, and lived to be eighty- six years old. Jonas Shivers mar- ried Elizabeth McCasland, who died in 1831. They had five children: Mary and Wilson, deceased ; Jane, widow of Campbell Daske; J. M. and William H., living. Jonas Shivers, who died in 1886, was a magistrate for several years. J. M. was educated in the common schools; began busi- ness for himself when twenty years of age, by operating a saw-mill, and was also engaged in teaching for some time. On Aug. 30, 1849, he was married to Miss Sallie K. Foster, and they are the parents of the following children: William O., deputy trustee of Davidson county; Allie F., wife of J. H. Sikes, teacher in the Nashville schools; Lizzetta S. Malone, a widow, living in Goodlettsville; I. J., a son, and Calvin, deceased. Mr. Shivers has been engaged in farming and stock raising for many years; has been a magistrate for nearly a quarter of a century; was a constable for six years: a notary public for thirty years, and retired from office in 1897. For fifty-eight years he has been a member of the Methodist church, in which he is a trustee, and since 1865 has been a steward. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1858 and is a Royal Arch Mason. In politics, he is a Prohibitionist,
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and practices his political principles in his daily conduct, being a man of temperate habits and high moral ideals.
JOHN P. BUCHANAN, ex-governor of Tennessee, and one of the most progressive farmers of Rutherford county, is a native of the state, and was born in the year 1847. His education was acquired in the common schools. At an early age he developed an inclination to take an active part in politi- cal affairs, and soon became one of the local leaders of the Democratic party. In every campaign, from 1875 for a num- ber of years, he was a delegate to the state conventions of his party, and was otherwise active in promoting the advancement of Democratic principles. In 1887 he was elected to the lower branch of the state legislature, and two years later was re- elected. About that time the Farmers' Alliance movement became prominent in Tennessee, and Governor Buchanan was an influential factor in extending the work of the organization. In 1888 he was elected the first president of the Tennessee State Alliance. The following year he was re-elected, and when the Agricultural Wheel, the Farmers' and Laborers' Union and the Alliance all joined into one body in 1889, he was elected president of the consolidated organization, and continued to hold the office for several years. His connection with these organizations made him a power in the political affairs of the state, and in 1890, at the solicitation of many of the members of the Alliance, he consented to be a candidate for governor. There were four candidates presented to the state Democratic convention : Mr. Buchanan, Josiah Patterson, Jere Baxter and John M. Taylor. The contest was one of the most spirited ever witnessed in any Tennessee convention. The convention was in session for four days, and twenty-five bal- lots were taken before a nomination was reached. Through it all the supporters of Mr. Buchanan stood like a wall of ada- mant, finally forcing some of his weaker competitors to yield. His administration was without any of the sensational features that some of his opponents predicted, and he retired to his farm, near Murfreesboro, at the expiration of his term, with the confidence and respect of all the good citizens of Tennessee.
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· MOSCOW L. WRIGHT, cashier of the Bank of Hartsville, Tenn., is a native of Smith county, Tenn., having been born there, Dec. 14, 1842, his parents being George T. and Sarah ( Burton) Wright. both natives of Virginia, where they married, afterward coming to Tennes- see. Moscow L. Wright is the youngest of fourteen children. He was educated in the common schools of his native county, and in the fall of 1862 be enlisted in the Confederate service, under John H. Morgan. He was with Morgan's command on three raids in Kentucky, and was taken prisoner at Cynthiana, Ky., in the summer of 1864, the last raid that Morgan made in Kentucky, and was taken to Rock Island, Ill., where he remained until the spring of 1865. When released, he came home and engaged in the farming and stock trading business until 1884, when he engaged in the banking business at Hartsville, Tenn. He was elected cashier at the time the bank was organized, and has held that position ever since. The bank was organized with a capital stock of $10,000, and doubled its capital in four years from the net earnings of the bank. After the capital was increased to $20,000 the bank paid a semi-annual dividend of 5 per cent. to its stockholders, and created a surplus fund of $5.000 in five years. Then the panic of 1893 came, and the bank sus- tained some losses and paid no dividend for three years. Since that time the bank has been doing a good business and paying a semi-annual dividend of 4 per cent. In January, 1900, the capital stock was increased to $25,000, by the issuance and sale at par of $5.coo of new stock. In May. 1900, the building occupied by the bank was destroyed by fire, but the loss sus- tained was small and consisted of only office fixtures and sta- tionery, as the building was rented and the bank vault with- stood the fire perfectly. The bank has built a banking-house out of its own funds, and now occupies a new and comimo- dious two-story brick building, the upper story being rented
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for offices. The bank is in a prosperous condition and carries a deposit account from $80,000 to $100,000; it has a surplus fund of $12,000 and pays a regular semi-annual dividend of 4 per cent. Mr. Wright was married in January, 1886, to Miss Bettie Mills, of Hendersonville, Tenn., and two sons, William Russell and Romulus C., have come to bless the union. Mr. Wright has a high standing in the community, where he has lived all his life, and his qualifications as a business man are to be seen in the successful management of the bank of which he has so long been one of the leading officials.
COL. WILLIAM J. HALE, a merchant, of Hartsville, Tenn., was born in that portion of Sumner county which is now Trousdale county, March 10, 1836, and has been a resident of that region all his life. After attending the public schools, he embarked in the merchandizing business, which he followed until the spring of 1861, when he enlisted in Company H. Sec- ond Tennessee infantry. In 1862 he was made adjutant of the regiment, Senator W. B. Bate being colonel. For meritorious conduct at the battle of Richmond, Ky., he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on the field by Gen. Pat. Cleburne, was aft- erward so commissioned, and served as such until the close of the war. He fought at the first Bull Run, Richmond, Ky., Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Ringgold Gap, Shiloh, and in all the battles and skirmishes of the Dalton to Atlanta campaign, as well as a number of others. In front of Atlanta he was captured and held a prisoner at Johnson's Island until July, 1865. Returning to Hartsville, he again engaged in the mercantile line, and also became interested in agricultural pur- suits. In 1882 he was elected to the lower branch of the leg- islature from Smith, Sumner and Trousdale counties, and was re-elected in 1884. While Governor Turney was in office, Colonel Hale was appointed a member of the Chickamauga commission to visit the field and locate the position of the Ten- nessee troops in that engagement. Colonel Hale is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and of the Baptist church. He has been twice married. His first wife, to whom he was married in 1862. was Miss Sallie Hutchins, of Hartsville. She
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