USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume I > Part 3
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the state seceded and he never received his commission. Judge Frazier was a stanch Union man and was chosen a delegate to the constitutional convention which was called for 1861, but which never met. Notwithstanding his pronounced views on the subject of secession, he, like many others, stood by the state and did what he could to further the cause of the Con- federacy after the policy of secession was adopted. He deliv- ered an address to the first company of soldiers that went into the Confederate service from Bledsoe county, in which he admonished them to be brave and true to their cause. In 1863 he removed to Rutherford county, where he was soon after appointed criminal judge for the district composed of Davidson and Rutherford counties, by Gov. Andrew Johnson. He con- tinued to hold this position until he was impeached by a Radical legislature in 1867, for releasing on habeas corpus several members of that body who absented themselves for the purpose of breaking a quorum. In 1870 a constitutional convention took up the question of his impeachment and restored him to all his political rights. The same convention ordered an election for August, 1870, and at that election he was chosen criminal judge of his old district by a large majority, thus giving him a complete vindication from the impeachment charges. At that time he was living on his farm near Nashville and practicing in that city. When he retired from the bench in 1878 he also retired from active practice and spent the remaining years of his life in peace and quietude on his farm. He died in 1887, leaving a widow and three children, who still survive. Samuel J. and Sallie M. live with their mother on the farm and James B. is the subject of this sketch. Such are the antecedents of Governor Frazier, and one would naturally. expect to find in him a man of strong traits of character and high attainments. Governor Frazier fills this expectation. He was born at Pikeville, Bledsoe county, Oct. 18, 1856. He was educated in the common schools of Rutherford and Davidson counties, at Franklin college, a preparatory school for boys, located near Nashville, and graduated from the University of Tennessee, at Knox- ville, in 1878, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For a
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time he engaged in teaching, reading law in his spare time, and in 1880 was admitted to the bar in Nashville. He went to Chattanooga soon after being admitted and there became a member of the firm of DeWitt, Shepherd & Frazier, which soon became known as one of the leading law firms of southeastern Tennessee. This partnership lasted for five years, when he became connected with the firm of Cooke, Frazier & Swaney. This arrangement continued until 1896, when he became the senior member of the firm of Frazier & Coleman, which partnership still exists. During his legal career Governor Frazier has several times received appointments as special judge, and while serving in this capacity his decisions have been regarded as being based on both law and logic. While always interested in the common welfare, Governor Frazier has not been particularly active in politics. In 1900 he was an elector at large from the state of Tennessee on the presidential ticket, and in 1902 was elected governor of the state by the largest plurality since the war. His administration has fully justified all the optimistic predictions of his supporters during the campaign, being clean, able and progressive. Adjutant-General Hannah recently said of Governor Frazier : "He is a man of the highest type, thoroughly honest, faces every duty as it presents itself, confident in his courage and ability to discharge it, of exemplary habits, a man of keen perception and sound judgment, more of a statesman than a politician, and above all a man who is always true to his word." Governor Frazier is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias, the Free and Accepted Masons, and the Methodist Episcopal Church South. In lodge, church and the community at large he enjoys a well-deserved popularity because of his generous and genial disposition, and in the state he is recognized as an able, fearless and conscientious official, one who is broad enough to lay aside his personal feelings and do those things in his official capacity that will result in "the greatest good to the greatest number."
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CAPT. JOHN W. MORTON, Tennessee's secretary of state, is a product of the soil of that splendid commonwealth. His grandfather, from Virginia, was an carly settler in Mid- dle Tennessee, and his grandmother was from North Carolina. He was born in Hillsboro, Williamson county, Sept. 19, 1843, and is a son of the late Dr. John W. Morton. In 1854 his parents removed to Nashville, where Captain Morton attended the common schools, passed through high school and entered the Western Military institute, where he was a student when the war broke out in 1861. Leaving school, he joined the Rock City Guards with the intention of going into service in the cause of the Confederacy, but was not permitted to be mustered in the service on account of his delicate constitution. Upon returning home, still determined to join the army, he enlisted as a private in Capt. Thomas K. Porter's battery, rising by merit to the rank of junior first lieutenant. When Captain Porter and Lieutenant Hutchison fell dangerously wounded at Fort Donelson, the command devolved on Lieu- tenant Morton. His courage and skill won for him high commendations in official reports made by Generals Brown and Buckner; as a distinction, he was the only officer below the rank of captain who received this merited notice. As an evidence of gallantry of the officers and men of Porter's battery at the battle of Fort Donelson, there were thirty-four out of forty-eight officers and men at the guns killed or wounded. Being taken prisoner with those at that point. he was sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, and later was transferred to Johnson's island. After imprisonment of seven months, he was exchanged at Vicksburg and rejoined the remnant of his command. about twenty men. In September, 1862, they were assigned to a regiment composed of artillerymen from various organizations gathered at that point, without guns, and known as Hulme's regiment, of which Lieutenant Morton
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was appointed adjutant. Idleness at such a time was not to his liking, and at his request he was given permission to seek duty at the front. Proceeding to Murfreesboro, he was ordered to take charge, with the men of his old battery, of two siege guns in front of that city, but, at his request, soon afterwards was directed to report to Gen. N. B. Forrest, at Columbia. Tenn., who gave the young lieutenant command of a battery soon captured by Forrest, and was made captain of the battery. His great ambition was to command a battery of flying artillery with Forrest. His name is closely associated with the brilliant achievements of Forrest's cavalry. . He was made chief of artillery and commanded a battalion of four batteries with Forrest's cavalry, which did valiant service during the last year of the war. So brave an officer could hardly escape the attention of the enemy, and he was the recipient of two wounds at Parker's Crossroads, Tenn., one by a minie ball, the other a saber cut; had three horses shot under him, in different engagements, one receiving three shots in one engagement, and in this fight he had thirteen bullet holes in his clothing without receiving a scratch, his comrades often remarking that he bore a charmed life. After the sur- render of his command at Gainesville, Ala., April 10, 1865, he returned to the pursuits of peace, carrying with him to his home at Nashville a magnificent record, such as is seldom attained by one of his years. He entered the medical depart- ment of the University of Tennessee, graduating as valedic- torian of his class. He practiced his profession for two years, but not fancying the slavish life, left it to engage in farming. In 1880 he became engaged in newspaper work also, and from 1881 to 1901 was the editor of the Tennessee Farmer, and president of the Tennessee Farmers' Publishing Company at Nashville. Tenn. From 1891 to 1896, in addition to his farming operation. he was assistant commissioner of agri- culture of the state, and on Feb. 13, 1901. was elected secretary of state for four years and at the expiration of this term was re-elected unanimously for a term of four more years, a position for which he is eminently qualified, and to which he brings the same energy and thoroughness which
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gained for him a high place in his early career as a soldier. Captain Morton was the first president of the Tennessee division of Confederate soldiers, and declined re-election, establishing the excellent precedent of passing the honor to others. As a member of the Chickamauga park commission, he was of material aid in the locating and placing of monu- ments, the battle-line markers to commemorate the valor of Tennesseeans on that field. Captain Morton married the daughter of Judge West H. Humphreys, a distinguished jurist, and they have three sons, who, like their worthy father, were among the first to volunteer for the Spanish-American war. One, Capt. West H. Morton, saw foreign service. A daughter, Queenie, married Mr. Samuel H. Stout, who is general mana- ger of the Louisville & Nashville railroad for West Tennessee, and resides at Memphis; they are blessed with two little girls. His daughter is a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and takes great interest in all Confederate enter- prises. His wife died July 14, 1899, and on Aug. 6, 1901, he married Mrs. Ellen Tynes, an accomplished lady of Nash- ville, Tenn. In closing this sketch we will add one incident of Captain Morton's military career, as indicative of his judg- ment and high courage. At the battle of Johnsonville, on the Tennessee river, he placed eight guns immediately in front of that place, and, supported by 1.500 of Forrest's troopers, fought a garrison in two strong forts and a naval contingent of four gunboats, eleven transports and thirty-one barges, aggregating 2,000 men and seventy-two pieces of artillery, destroying the vessels, together with thirty-two pieces of heavy ordnance and $6,000,000 worth of army stores. General Sherman confessed : "It was a feat that compelled my admira- tion." During the Forrest raid on the Tennessee river before this incident occurred, his field batteries supported by the cavalry captured one gunboat, and three steamboats heavily loaded with army stores before reaching Johnsonville. Captain Morton and his devoted followers surrendered at Gainesville, Ala., with Forrest's cavalry, May 10, 1865. He preserves his parole signed by E. S. Dennis, brigadier-general United States volunteers, as recognition of services to his country until the
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flag furled. Captain Morton, it is believed, held the distinction of having been the youngest captain (eighteen years) of a six-gun field battery of artillery, and the youngest (twenty-one years) chief of artillery of a lieutenant-general commanding an army corps on either side of the war between the states. The following lyric was written by James R. Randall :
JOHN W. MORTON.
Written by James R. Randall, author of "My Maryland," "Arlington," "John Pelham," and other noted lyrics.
Ringed with flame and sore beset, Where gunboat and rifle fire met ; Where cannon blazed from water and land Upon the Donelson Southern band, A gallant lad of nineteen years, A stranger to tremor and to fears, Stood by a battery piece and shot The first shell in that crater hot.
His captain, Porter, smitten down Where all the volleyed thunders frown, Shouted, when borne in pain away : "John, don't give up that gun, I say !" "No! not while a man is left," replied The lad, in the flush of martial pride, And he kept his word to the utter end, While a man could live in that river bend.
"No prison for me." grim Forrest said, And thousands followed where he led. But other thousands remained because They bowed to Buckner's word and laws. Whelmed by the girdling Northern men. They marched to the captive's dismal den, And the lad who fired the first gun past
- Into that solitude sad and vast.
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A few months more, and the daring boy Breathed the air that the free enjoy. A few months more and he gayly went Where dauntless Forrest pitched his tent. Saluting the hero, he quickly gave To the South's own "bravest of the brave" A paper that said he was to be The Wizard's Chief of Artillery.
A derisive smile swept over the face Of the stern commander, in his place. "What!" he growled, "are you to wield Command of my guns in war's fierce field ? Nonsense, boy, go grow a beard." And this was what the stripling heard. But presently the Wizard's brow Grew calm. "I'll try you, anyhow," He said, and from that setting sun Morton and Forrest were as one.
Nigh four tremendous, bloody years, Full of combat, smiles and tears ; O'er miles of land in battles grand, Forrest and Morton went hand in hand. With sword and pistol the Wizard slew, While Morton's guns mowed men in blue. If mortal man could ever have freed The South from the foeman's grasp and greed, That man was Forrest, but we see It was not destined so to be.
II.
Long years have gone, the grass is spread Above the bivouacs of the dead. The mighty Wizard's wand is still, Like his heart, but from every Southern hill, And mount and stream and vale bedight,
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With sun and moon and star alight, He lives in glorious deeds, alway, Baffling the onset of decay.
The lad who made the cannon roar Survives on Life's tumultuous shore. His locks are silvered, but his brain Burns with heroic throbs amain. Gentle and kind, but valiant yet, Forgiving, he can not forget The cause he fought for, with his mate,
Immortal, whatsoe'r its fate, While from his great dark eyes there gleams The orient of remembered dreams.
And now the old bard's final rhyme Invokes a blessing of Easter time, Upon his people and home and race, Like manna-dew of heavenly grace. With higher aims, in war's surcease, Be thou allied with the Prince of Peace,
And never, henceforth, forget to be "Soldier of Him who died for thee." -JAMES R. RANDALL.
JERE BAXTER, a lawyer and prominent railroad man, of Nashville, Tenn., was born in that city Feb. 11, 1852. The family is of English origin. The first of the name to come to America settled in Maryland in the latter part of the seven- teenth century. From there the descendants emigrated to Vir- ginia and North Carolina, Jeremiah Baxter. the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, having been born in the latter state in 1777. Jere Baxter is the son of Judge Nathaniel and Mary Louise (Jones) Baxter. His father was born on the Harpeth river, in what is now Cheatham county, Tenn., Nov. 13. 1818. He was educated at Jackson college; fought in the Seminole war of 1836; was admitted to the bar in 1837; practiced at . Columbia and then at Lewisburg; ran for the legislature on the
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Whig ticket in 1841, but was defeated with the rest of that party's candidates ; removed to Nashville in 1847; was appointed circuit judge by Governor Campbell and served eight years; was opposed to secession but went with the state when it seceded; again elected circuit judge in 1870, and in 1885 was appointed clerk of the supreme court. Jere Baxter is in every way a worthy son of his honored sire. He was educated at Montgomery Bell academy, at Nashville, after which he studied law and became the publisher of the Legal Reporter, which was later bound in book form, embracing nine volumes, and known as "Baxter's Reports." This work has a high stand- ing in the estimation of lawyers and is frequently consulted by the members of the bench. Before he had reached the age of thirty years Mr. Baxter was president of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad Company. He built the town of Sheffield, Ala., and organized the South Pittsburg Town Company that built the town of South Pittsburg, in Marion county, Tenn. Both these towns are thriving places, and both owe their existence to the energy and foresight of Mr. Bax- ter. In 1889 he was a candidate before the Democratic con- vention for the nomination of governor. During his candidacy he was opposed by a certain element in his party, who said that he was not a Southerner in his sentiments, that he was more of a business man than a Democrat, and that his instincts were national rather than in favor of the upbuilding of the South. His critics overlooked the fact that he had already done much in the way of building railroads. founding towns, attracting the attention of capitalists, etc., to develop the material resources of the South, that he was born and reared a Southerner, that he had imbibed the spirit of Democracy from the teachings and example of his father, and that he had al- ways voted the Democratic ticket. If in his broad patriotism he desired national prosperity and greatness, in which the South would have its full share, he was certainly not taking a position that should have been criticized by any true Ameri- can citizen. If the defeat for the nomination left any sting it was not manifested in Mr. Baxter's conduct toward his op- ponents. He went right along with his railroad enterprises
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as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He was one of the chief promoters of the Tennessee Central railway and was made president of the company almost from the first organization. Mr. Baxter is a man who has read extensively and can converse intelligently .on almost any subject. He has a pleasing manner, is easily approached and makes friends wherever his acquaintance is extended. His readiness in solv- ing difficult problems in railroad building, his broad ideas on the subject of Southern development and the high order of his executive ability have brought him in touch with some of the greatest financiers of the age, who honor his ambitions and respect his judgment. Altogether he is one of the greatest. and best known railroad men of the South.
PROF. SEYMOUR A. MYN- DERS, state superintendent of pub- lic instruction of Tennessee, was born at Knoxville, Tenn., March 12, 1861; was there reared and lived until nine- teen years of age, attending the pub- lic schools, and in 1880 graduating from the University of Tennessee with the degree of B. A. Going to Gibson county, he taught there in the public schools for two years, and then became professor of mathematics in Odd Fellows college at Humboldt, Tenn., which position he held for a year, being elected president of that institution in 1882. This position he held for three years, when he became principal of a private school at Lexington, Tenn. Three years later he went to Jackson as principal of the high school at that place, and continued there for four years, at the end of which time he was made superintendent of the city schools. This latter position he held until appointed state superintendent by Gov. James B. Frazier, in March, 1903. Professor Mynders has been a state institute conductor for eighteen years. He was president of the State Teachers' association in 1894, and has held all the offices in that association. On Oct. 7, 1903, he was
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elected president of the Association of State Superintendents of the Southern States. He is a member and vestryman of St. Luke's Episcopal church of Jackson; is a Royal Arch Mason, a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fellow, is supreme representative for Tennessee of the United Order of Golden Cross, and polit- ically is an ardent Democrat.
REAU E. FOLK, state treasurer and commissioner of insurance of Tennessee, was born on a farm about four miles from Brownsville, Hay- wood county, that state, Sept. 21, 1865. His father, Judge Henry B. Folk, was a native of North Caro- lina, as was his grandfather, Ben- jamin Folk. His great-grandfather came from England and settled in Virginia, but afterwards removed to North Carolina. Henry B. Folk mar- ried a Miss Estes, a native of Tennessee and daughter of Maj. Moreau P. Estes, son of Joel Estes, of Virginia, and of English descent. The family afterward removed to Brownsville, where Reau E. Folk was reared. Entering Wake Forest college, N. C., in 1881, he remained two years. Among his classmates was the Rev. Thomas Dixon of New York city. On leaving Wake Forest, he returned to Brownsville and studied low with his father, but was never admitted to practice. abandoning the law for newspaper work. He took a place on the Democrat, a weekly newspaper published at Brownsville, but soon after was offered and accepted a position on the Nashville American as reporter. A year later he went to Memphis as city editor of the Daily Scimitar, with which he remained until 1891, when he returned to Nashville, again becoming a member of the American staff. He remained with the American until 1893. when he was elected chief clerk of the Tennessee house of representatives and served as such in every session from 1893 to 1899, engaging in newspaper work in Nashville and in New York city and Washington, D. C.,
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between sessions. He was city editor and later managing editor of the Daily Sun of Nashville for two years, from 1895 to 1897. In 1901 Mr. Folk was elected state treasurer by the legislature without opposition, and in 1903 was re-elected with no party opposition by the same body. His strength with his party is shown by the fact that when, in 1900, E. D. Craig, then state treasurer, spoke of resigning, ninety-five out of 104 members of the legislature wrote to Governor McMillin and asked him to appoint Mr. Folk to fill the vacancy. He is a member for the South of the executive committee of the National Insurance Commissioners' conventions, the commit- tee being composed of five members; is chairman of a spe- cial committee appointed by the National Insurance conven- tion to present to Congress the need of legislation to deny the use of the mails to fraudulent insurance companies. He is a member of the First Baptist church, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Hon. Jos. W. Folk, of St. Louis, is a brother of the subject of this sketch.
JOHN V. ARMSTRONG, superin- tendent of the Tennessee School for the Blind, was born in 1832 in County Mayo, Ireland. When a lad he met with an unfortunate accident that destroyed his sight and his parents brought him to this country to be educated. The education and training he received in the New York School for the Blind fitted him for his life's work. Mr. Armstrong be- came connected with the School for the Blind in Nashville in 1853, which connection has lasted until the present, excepting five years spent in Texas and Mississippi. He was appointed superintendent of the school in 1897 and under his administration the enrollment of pupils has more than doubled, new buildings have been erected, the campus extended and the institution, in all its departments, is in a most excellent condition. Mr. Armstrong is an honorary
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member of the British and Foreign Blind association and also an honorary member of Frank Cheatham bivouac.
BENTON MCMILLIN, of Car- thage, Tenn., lawyer, legislator and ex-governor, was born in Monroe county, Ky., Sept. 11, 1845. He was educated at Philomath academy in Tennessee, and attended for a time the Kentucky State university at Lex- ington, but did not graduate. After leaving college he took up the study of law under Judge E. L. Gardenhire, and upon being admitted to the bar in 1871, began the practice of his profession at Celina. He soon came to be recognized as one of the leading young Democrats of Clay county, and in 1874 was elected to the lower house of the Tennessee legislature. This marked the beginning of a long and active career in public life, for in more recent years few men have been more inti- mately connected with the affairs of the state or more promi- nent in national politics. In 1875 he was appointed by Governor Porter to negotiate with the State of Kentucky for the purchase of certain territory, a commission he carried out with signal ability and fidelity. In 1876 he was one of the presidential electors on the Tilden and Hendricks ticket and took an active part in the campaign of that year. The following year Governor Porter appointed him special circuit judge, in which capacity he served with credit until elected in 1878 to represent the fourth congressional district of Tennessee in the lower branch of Congress. As a congressman Mr. McMillin won the entire confidence of his constituents, and he was re-elected at each succeeding biennial election until 1896, making an unbroken service of twenty years in Congress, where he achieved a national reputation as a wise, conservative, and at the same time fearless party leader. During his long congres- sional career he served on some of the leading committees, being a member of the committee on rules during his last
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