USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume I > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
SAMUEL FRANKLIN WILSON, of Gallatin, Tenn., one of the leaders of the Sumner county bar and a jurist of more than state reputation, was born in Sumner county in April, 1845. The English ancestors of the family lived near the Scot- tish border, from whence some of them came to America sev-
73
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
eral years before the Revolutionary war and settled in Penn- sylvania. . Samuel Wilson, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was engaged in some of the early Indian wars, in one of which he was severely wounded. He was one of the pioneers of Sumner county, where some of his descendants have ever since made their home. His brother, Zachary Wilson, was one of the signers of the Mecklenburg declaration of inde- pendence. Jolin Wilson, the grandfather of Samuel F., was born in Mecklenburg county, N. C., but came with his father to Tennessee in 1780. Samuel F. Wilson is the youngest of eight children born to Samuel and Nancy (Moore) Wilson, both parents being natives of Tennessee. When the war com- menced in 1861 he was in attendance at school. He laid aside his books and enlisted as a private in Company I. Second Con- federate infantry, commanded by Col. W. B. Bate, afterward governor of Tennessee and United States senator. He served with his regiment in Virginia along the Potomac river during the early part of 1861. On July 21st the regiment was hur- ried to Manassas but did not reach the field in time to take part in the battle, the Federal forces being in retreat when the Second arrived. About the beginning of 1862 the regi- ment was reorganized at Corinth and a sixty-days' furlough given the men. While this furlough was in effect the battle of Shiloh was fought. Samuel, in company with his brother Rich- ard, was in the fight and took part in some of the charges of the first day's battle. After this the regiment was with Gen. Kirby Smith in Kentucky and Tennessee. Mr. Wilson fought at Perryville, was wounded at Richmond. Ky., and again at Murfreesboro, where he was shot in the foot, disabling him from duty for about six weeks. On the first day at Chicka- mauga he lost his arm by a grape shot and lay upon the field until after nightfall before he received attention. After the arm was amputated he was discharged from further military service, took up his studies again, graduated from the Univer- sity of Georgia. at Athens, with the second honors of his class in 1868. The following year he graduated from the law department of Cumberland university, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice at Gallatin. Mr. Wilson soon attained
74
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
a position in the front rank of the attorneys of Gallatin, and from the first of his professional career has taken an active interest in the affairs of the state and the nation. In 1877 he was elected to a seat in the lower house of the Tennessee legis- lature and two years later was elected to the state senate. In the house he was a member of the judiciary committee, as well as other important committees, and as senator he was chairman of the judiciary committee and of the special joint committee to investigate and report upon the state debt. This was the all-absorbing issue in the campaign of 1880 and upon it the Democratic party became rent. in twain. Mr. Wilson was the candidate of one wing of the party for the office of governor. The split in the party resulted in the election of Alvin Haw- kins, the Republican candidate. In 1882 his old commander, Gen. W. B. Bate, was elected governor and during his two terms the state debt question was satisfactorily adjusted in accordance with the suggestions of the committee of which Mr. Wilson, was chairman, and the declarations of the platform upon which he ran for governor. In 1884 he was nominated for elector at large on the Cleveland and Hendricks ticket and made a canvass of the state, adding to his already well estab- lished reputation as a logical, entertaining and forcible speaker. After the inauguration of President Cleveland Mr. Wilson was appointed United States marshal, but promptly resigned upon the inauguration of President Harrison four years later. When the court of chancery appeals was created by the legislature in 1895 he was appointed as one of the judges and at the next election was chosen by the people for the same position for the full term of six years. On several occasions he has been called upon to serve as a justice pro tempore of the supreme court of the state. where his knowledge of the law and his dig- nified bearing have won for him the admiration and respect of the legal profession of the state. In 1880 Judge Wilson was married to Miss Mary Lytton Bostick, and to this union there have been born two sons and three daughters.
-
75
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
GUSTAVE A. BLODAU, presi- dent of the city council, Nashville, Tenn., was born at Indianapolis, Ind., in which city he lived until 1882, re- ceiving his principal education there and at Fogg's high school. In Au- gust, 1883, he entered his brother's drug store in Indianapolis and served an apprenticeship of three years. He then went to Nashville, where he engaged with the Leickhardt Com- pany, wholesale and retail druggists, with whom he remained for several years. He was then in the employ of J. G. Greener for twelve years, and in 1902 went into business for himself in his present location. His long experience and careful study of the drug business make him one of the most efficient pharmacists in the city, which fact is evinced by the large prescription trade he has built up under the patronage of the leading physicians. Mr. Blodau has taken an active interest in politics during the last four or five years; was elected to the city council in 1899; re-elected in 1901 and again in 1903. and on Oct. 13, 1903, was elected president of the council. He is a firm believer in municipal ownership of public utilities; was an ardent advocate of the election of Mayor Jas. M. Head upon a platform favoring municipal ownership. and materially assisted in securing the passage of ordinances under which Nashville, Tenn., installed and operates its own electric light plant. He is a familiar figure in fraternal circles. being a member of the Knights of Pythias. the Improved Order of Red Men, the Royal Arcanum, Frater- nal Order of Eagles and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In all these societies. as in business and politics, he is popular for his genial qualities and sterling worth.
NEWTON CANNON, governor of Tennessee from 1835 to 1839, was a native of North Carolina. having been born at Guilford in 1781. After a common school education in the public schools of his native county he came to Tennessee and .
76
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
settled in Williamson county. In ISII he made his first appear- ance in public life as a member of the Tennessee legislature. Two years later he enlisted as a private in the Tennessee Mounted Rifles for service in the Creek war, and before the close of hostilities rose to be colonel of the Rifles. When the term of his service expired he returned home to be unjustly accused of desertion. In 1814 he was elected to Congress to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. Grundy, and with the exception of one term was re-elected at every con- gressional election until 1823. During the two years that he was not a member of the house he was one of the commissioners appointed by the president. of the United States to negotiate a treaty with the Chickasaw Indians, a mission which was suc- . cessfully carried out. In 1835 Mr. Cannon was nominated for governor in opposition to Gov. William Carroll, who had already served three consecutive terms in the office. In this contest Mr. Cannon was successful and at the close of his term was re-elected. In 1839 he was nominated for a third term by the Whig party. the Democrats putting forward James K. Polk. afterward president of the United States. The campaign was a spirited one and early in the contest it became evident that Governor Cannon was no match for Mr. Polk on the stump. For a time he gave up the canvass but was compelled to return to the hustings. The result was that Mr. Polk was elected by a small majority and after that time Mr. Cannon took no part in public affairs further than to canvass the state in the interests of General Harrison for the presidency in 1840, and had the satisfaction of seeing Tennessee give a majority of 12,000 votes for him, which led to the defeat of Polk for re-election the succeeding year. Mr. Cannon died at Harpeth, Williamson county, Sept. 29, 1842.
é
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
77
MICHAEL BURNS, the subject of this sketch, was born in County Sligo, Ireland, in the year 1813, and died in Nashville, Tenn., July 14, 1896. His parents were in comfort- able circumstances, and were able to give their children a fair English education. He was the eighth in number of ten children. At the age of nine years he was left an orphan. At the age of fifteen he was appren- ticed to the saddlers' trade. In 1831, Mr. Pool, the saddler to whom he was apprenticed. emigrated to Canada; he went with him and completed his apprentice- ship at Montreal, Canada. After this he came into the States, spent some time in New Haven, New York and Pittsburg, working at his trade, and he finally arrived in Nashville, Tenn., in 1836. Here, with but little money but with an abundance of youthful energy and ambition, he commenced that career which has made him one of the best known and one of the most respected citizens of the community. His industry and integrity were rewarded by the accumulation of wealth and positions of honor and trust. In 1842 he was married to Miss Margaret Gilliam, the daughter of Wm. Gilliam, a queens- ware merchant of Nashville, who was lost on the steamer Arctic in 1854 when on her passage from Liverpool to New York. Mrs. Burns was a wife who sympathized with her husband's ambitions and lovingly ruled and governed the home, while he made the battle of life in the commercial world. Through their joint efforts they succeeded in making prosperity a fact. Mrs. Burns died in 1885. In 1853, on the accession of Andrew Johnson to the governorship of Tennessee, Mr. Burns was made a director in the Bank of Tennessee, that institution being . under the presidency of Hon. Cave Johnson. The confidence thus bestowed by Governor Johnson in the appointment of Mr. Burns was never afterwards withheld, but increased as that extraordinary man advanced in station and influence. Mr. Burns was chosen by the president and his colleagues to manage the
-------
78
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
affairs of the bank in its connections with financial institutions in northern and eastern cities. Negotiations involving millions in amount were intrusted to his care, and these were conducted in so quiet. sagacious and systematic a manner as to merit the warm approval of his colleagues, though his skilful labors in that respect were hardly known or mentioned out of the direct- ors' room. Mr. Burns was six years in this important trust, retiring with his colleagues upon a change in the state admin- istration.
Soon after he was elected a director in the Union Bank of Tennessee, and remained such, with an exceptional interval of two years, until its liquidation. During this time Mr. Burns was in the directory of the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad, which was completed in 1854, and in that of the Nashville & Northwestern, which was in process of construction. Mr. Burns' connection with the railroad interest of the state was prominent, meritorious and as honorable as that held by him in its fiscal institutions. At the outbreak of the Civil war he was vice- president of the Northwestern railroad, then only completed twenty-nine miles westwardly from Nashville, together with twenty-five or thirty miles west of the Tennessee river (the latter portion was destroyed by the ravages of the contending armies subsequently and the iron carried off), and on the occupation of Nashville by the Federal forces, the president being without the military lines, he assumed charge of the interest and property of the company. His first step in that emergency was to prevent its rolling stock from being carried to the South and beyond its control, as the property of the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad had been by order of the retreating Confederate authorities. With this view he promptly ordered it to be taken to the terminus of the road, whence it was subsequently returned to the city of Nashville by the Fed- eral authorities. It was through his instrumentality that the Nashville & Northwestern road was constructed during the Civil war to the Tennessee river, becoming as it did during that distressful period a source of great relief to the people. This important object was secured by Mr. Burns in the follow- ing manner: The Louisville & Nashville railroad was during
79
. NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
a considerable portion of each year the chief reliance of the Federal forces for connection with their base of supplies, and was frequently attacked and destroyed at various points by the Confederate cavalry. At these times heavy requisitions for sup- plies were made upon the people. To avert this oppression Mr. Burns presented to Military Governor Johnson the impor- tance to the Federal government of another route, and pre- vailed on him to consider favorably the building of the North- western road to the Tennessee river and obtained from him a letter to President Lincoln. Armed with this, which con- tained a high indorsement of Mr. Burns' character and busi- ness energy, he went to Washington city and was enabled to secure an immediate hearing and successfully impressed the president with his views, who gave orders to the secretary of war for the building of the road projected. The cost of that portion of this important branch of railway was more than $4,000,000, all of which was paid by the Federal gov- ernment. Not a dollar of this amount was paid by the State of Tennessee, or afterwards required of it, and this gift was directly due to Mr. Burns' efforts. At the end of the Civil war the Northwestern road was turned over to Mr. Burns, and in an hour's time after receiving the official notice he had a train running on the road. By this promptitude the road was securely acquired for the company, and under Mr. Burns' energetic administration was completed to the Mississippi river. The railroad history of the state records no more efficient and salutary service than the skilful management of the North- western road under Mr. Burns' direction as its chief officer, from 1861 to September, 1867. The committee of the legis- lature of 1870, which carefully investigated the condition of the railroad enterprises of the state, made the following report in regard to the Northwestern road: "At the time said road was turned over to Mr. Burns, in September, 1865, of the ninety-eight miles west of the Tennessee river only about fifty had been constructed, and that had not been operated for years. The iron had been torn up by the United States authori- ties and removed from about thirty miles of the route. The embankments had washed, cuts caved in and cross-ties rotted,
80
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
as well as all bridges and trestles of every kind: and that part which was left had grown up in wild growth, so that it was as costly and difficult to rebuild that portion of the road which had been built as that which had never been touched. The committee here beg leave to call attention to the economical manner in which Mr. Burns, as president of said company, husbanded the small means at his disposal for the construction of the said ninety-eight miles of road. to which must be added the immense bridge over the Tennessee river; and the committee deem it but just to Mr. Burns also to commend the despatch with which said herculean task was accomplished. Ninety-three miles of road built in eighteen months, with a bridge over the Tennessee river. is a feat the like of which is not often performed in building railroads, and is not only in happy contrast with the tardy progress made by his predecessors and others who have undertaken the con- struction of railroads: it also compares favorably with the rapidity with which the great Pacific was built."
On the 15th of September, 1865. a few months after the close of the Civil war, Mr. Burns then being president of the Nashville & Chattanooga railroad, the property was surren- dered by the Federal government to the company. Its treas- ury was empty, its track almost worn out by the severe use and casualties of its military management for nearly four years, and its depots and bridges dilapidated. An immense outlay was necessary to restore it to a proper working order. Labor- ing under every variety of disadvantage, the management was called upon to disentangle the confusion into which its affairs had fallen with the military authorities of the general govern- ment, and to emancipate it satisfactorily from that control. Mr. Burns' personal relations with President Johnson, whose confidence and friendship he enjoyed in a marked degree, enabled him to effect the extrication of the Chattanooga road from its complications with the Federal government and its . restoration to the stockholders, and his successful administra- tion for three years accomplished its entire reinstatement as the pioneer, and in many respects most important, line in the Ten- nessee railway system. The period of his presidency was one
---
81
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
of unusual difficulty. In a region suffering from the impor- erishment caused by the war, and in a period of general pros- tration, its affairs were skilfully administered, the road was reconstructed, not an accident occurring to life or limb. Mr. Burns resigned the presidency of the company Aug. 10, 1868. The following is a copy of a letter given to Mr. Burns by Mili- tary Governor Andrew Johnson as an introduction to President Lincoln :
State of Tennessee, Executive Department, Nashville, Tenn., June 14, 1864.
Dear Sir: I have the pleasure of commending to your con- sideration my old friend, Michael Burns, of this city. Mr. Burns is a gentleman of high standing in the city, and of rare business qualifications. He is the president of the Nash- ville & Chattanooga and the Northwestern railroads; and by his energy, skill and capital has contributed largely to the successful progress of the latter road. which. as you are advised, is now in running order to the Tennessee river. The govern- ment owes him much for his hearty co-operation with the secretary of war and others in constructing this great mili- tary and commercial enterprise, by which we can soon be relieved of the exacting extortions of the Louisville & Nash- ville road; and all the troops and munitions of war can be transported over a much shorter, cheaper and more secure, and at all seasons certain line to this point. Mr. Burns visits Washington on important business, which he will lay before you, and any assistance or kindness you may be pleased to give him will be heartily appreciated and conferred upon an esteemed and worthy gentleman. I have the honor to be, with great regard, your obedient servant. ANDREW JOHNSON.
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States.
(Indorsed) Hon. Secretary of War: Please see and hear the bearer, Mr. Burns. A. LINCOLN. Aug. 3, 1864.
In 1870 Mr. Burns was called to the presidency of the First National bank, of Nashville, Tenn., and that position he held for eight years, where he displayed the same ability 1-6
----
82
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
and integrity that he had shown in the management of rail- roads. After his resignation of the presidency of the First National bank he was twice called upon and elected as represen- tative from Davidson county to the state legislature as senator from Davidson county. After the expiration of the term of his last election to the state senate he withdrew from all par- ticipation in public affairs. In religion he was a Roman Cath- olic; in charity he knew no creed. The key to his success was his laborious application to business, coupled with his well- known honesty.
WILLIAM BOWEN CAMPBELL, who was governor of . Tennessee from 1851 to 1853, was born near the city of Nash- ville, Feb. 6, 1807, his parents being David and Catharine (Bowen) Campbell, early settlers in that portion of the state. His grandfather, whose name was also David Campbell, was a captain in the American army during the Revolutionary war. His mother was a granddaughter of Gen. William Russell, who fought with the Continental army through the Revolu- tion and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at York- town. The early years of Governor Campbell's life were passed on his father's farm. In those days there were few schools, but his parents were both educated people and his early instruc- tion was imparted by his mother, who taught him morals as well as books. A short time before he had reached his major- ity he went to Abingdon, Va., where he had an uncle, who was afterward governor of Virginia, with whom he read law. After reading a while in his uncle's office he entered the Win- chester Law school and graduated in 1829. Shortly after leav- ing the school he settled at Carthage, Tenn., and began the - practice of his profession. In 1831 he was elected attorney- general of a circuit and removed to Sparta, but returned to Carthage in 1835. That same year he was elected to the legis- lature and the next year resigned to become captain of a com- pany in Col. William Trousdale's regiment and fought through the war with the Creek and Seminole Indians. In 1837 he and Colonel Trousdale were opposing candidates for Congress. Although the race was somewhat spirited it was without bit-
-----
83
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
terness. Governor Campbell was elected and was re-elected two years later, his old commander again being his opponent. In 1841 he was again elected, this time without opposition, but a short time before the close of the third term he resigned to resume the practice of law. The military instinct was strong in Governor Campbell and in 1843 he was appointed major- general of the Tennessee militia. This position he held at the commencement of the Mexican war, when he was elected colo- nel of the First Tennessee infantry. At Monterey he led his regiment in a charge which won the victory and gained for the regiment the appellation of the "Bloody First." In 1847 he was elected judge of the circuit court by the legislature, without opposition, and held the office until 1851, when he was nominated by the Whig party for the office of governor. Here his opponent was again General Trousdale, and again Gov- ernor Campbell was victorious. At the close of his term as governor he declined a nomination for a second term, turned his attention to banking and became the president of the Bank of Middle Tennessee, at Lebanon. When the presidential campaign of 1860 came on he re-entered the political arena as a supporter of John Bell. After the election of President Lincoln he took a firm stand in favor of the Union. Although this attitude was not one to commend him to the secession leaders after the State of Tennessee decided to go out, he was offered the command of the Confederate troops in Tennessee, because of his well-known military skill. He declined the position, however, and was later commissioned a brigadier-general in the Federal army, but never went into the field. resigning his commission soon after it was issued. In some respects his conduct was somewhat paradoxi- cal. Before the war he opposed secession, during the war he remained a stanch Union man and steadfastly declined to rec- ognize the Confederate government, but immediately after the war he became a true friend of the South, threw his influence toward the adoption of measures that would restore peace and prosperity to that stricken section, and during the reconstruc- tion period remained firm in his advocacy of home rule for the Southern states. In 1864 he allied himself with the Demo- cratic party, supported McClellan for president, and the next
84
NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE
year was elected to Congress. His services as congressman were of short duration, as Tennessee was not admitted until late in the session. In the controversy between President Johnson and Congress, Governor Campbell was an earnest champion of the president's position. After this he retired to private life and died at his home in Lebanon, Aug. 19, 1867. In 1835 he was married to Miss Fanny, only daughter of Dr. John Owen, of Carthage. Mrs. Campbell died in 1865, the mother of seven children. Governor Campbell was one of Tennessee's really great men. At the bar, in legislative halls, on the battlefield or in the more quiet walks of life he was always alive to every duty, courageous enough to meet it, and never forgot the respect due to others or that he was a gentleman. He could be posi- tive without being offensive, and emphatic without the rude- ness of profanity. For many years prior to his death he was a devoted member of the Methodist church and carried the pre- cepts of his religion into his life.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.