USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume I > Part 9
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NEIL S. BROWN, the fourteenth governor of Tennessee, after its admission into the Union, was born in Giles county, of the state, April 18, 1810. His grandfather, Angus Brown, was a native of Scotland, who came to America before the Revolutionary war and during that contest fought under Francis Marion. In 1809 Duncan Brown, the father of Neil, came to Tennessee from North Carolina and settled in Giles county. The opportunities of that day to acquire an educa- tion were somewhat limited, but Neil S. Brown, even in his
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boyhood, was made of that fiber that fails to see insurmount- able obstructions. At the age of seven years he commenced his schooling. As he grew older he worked at various occu- pations to obtain the means to complete his education. In 1831 he went into the Maury County Manual Labor academy, and after two terms there secured a position as a teacher in his native county. Two years later he took up the study of law and in 1833 was admitted to the bar at Pulaski. The greater portion of the year 1835 was spent in Texas, but in 1836 he returned to Tennessee and took part in the Seminole war. The same year he was a presidential elector on the White ticket : was elected to the state legislature in 1837; ran for Congress in 1843. but was defeated by Aaron V. Brown, after a spirited contest; was again a presidential elector on the Chy ticket in 1844; and at the age of thirty-seven years was elected governor of the state. Governor Brown has the dis- tinction of having been the youngest man ever elected to the office of governor in the State of Tennessee. In 1849 he was a candidate for re-election, but was defeated by Gen. William Trousdale. In 1850 he was appointed United States minister to Russia and served in that capacity for about three years. Shortly after his return home he was again elected to the state legislature and was chosen speaker of the lower branch. In 1856 he was one of the electors for the state at large on the Fillmore ticket and made a canvass of the state in which he won imperishable honors as a public speaker. After the dissolution of the Whig party he allied himself with the Demo- cratic party, but never took an active part in any contest after 1856. During the war he avoided the entanglements of be- coming too closely connected with either side. In 1870 he was a delegate to the constitutional convention, where his expe- rience and conservatism proved potent factors in shaping the organic law of the state. He died at Nashville. in January, 1886.
WILLIAM TROUSDALE, one of Tennessee's historic characters. prominent as a soldier in the early Indian wars and the war of 1812, and governor of the state from 1849 to, 1851.
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was born in Orange county, N. C .. of Scotch-Irish ancestry, Sept. 23, 1790. When he was sixteen years of age his father emigrated to Tennessee, the state that year being admitted into the Union. In 1813 young Trousdale joined the state militia for service during the Creek war and distinguished himself by his bravery in the battles of Tallashatchee and Talladega. For his gallantry on these occasions he was made a lieutenant and afterward fought under Jackson at Pensacola and New Orleans. In 1835 he was elected a member of the state senate and the next year was appointed a major-general of volunteers for service in the Seminole war in Florida. In 1840 he was one of the presidential electors on the VanBuren ticket and took an active part in the campaign. When the Mexican war commenced he again offered his services to his country, went to Mexico with the American forces, fought at Contreras, Churubusco. Molino del Rey and Chapultepec. At Chapultepec he was twice wounded and for his gallant conduct in that en- gagement was brevetted brigadier-general in the regular army. In 1849 he was nominated by his party for governor and de- feated Neil S. Brown, who was running for re-election on the Whig ticket. Two years later he was nominated for a second term by the Democrats of Tennessee, but was defeated by William B. Campbell, the Whig candidate, who had twice defeated General Trousdale for Congress, in 1837 and 1839. In the spring. of 1852 President Fillmore appointed him minister to Brazil and he remained at this post until 1857. when he retired to private life. Governor Trousdale's distinguish- ing characteristics were his indomitable courage and his inflexi- ble honesty. In public affairs he was always earnest and up- right, championing the cause of the people on every question and at every turn. As a public speaker he was forcible and convincing, though his addresses were never marked by any flowers of rhetoric. He dealt in facts and always presented them to his hearers in plain, simple English, with a vigor that betokened his sincerity. He died in Nashville, March 27, 1872. Trousdale county bears his name and his deeds will long live in Tennessee history.
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J. HERMAN FEIST, M. D., of Nashville, Tenn., was born in Mobile, Ala., May 22, 1873, and is the son of Aaron and Sarah (Stedham) Feist. The father was born in Alsace, Ger- many, but came to America in the forties; was tax assessor in Mobile during the war, and died in 1886. The mother was a native of Alabama, but of German extraction. Doctor. Feist graduated from Alabama Agri- cultural and Mechanical college, at Auburn. After graduating there he commenced the study of medicine in the Alabama Medical college, at Mobile, and after- ward in the New York Polyclinic institute. In 1892 he went to Europe for the purpose of continuing his studies in the uni- versities and hospitals of Berlin, London, Paris and Vienna. On his return to the United States he entered the University of Tennessee, from which he graduated with the degree of M. D. He commenced practicing in 1895, as interne in Nash- ville City hospital during that year. Since then he has been in general practice in Nashville, where he has forged his way to the front, now enjoying a lucrative practice and a high standing in his profession. Doctor Feist is a member of Cumberland Masonic lodge, of Nashville; belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and to Joel A. Battle lodge, Knights of Pythias.
EDGAR BRIGHT WILSON, of Nashville, Tenn., was born at Chapel Hill, Marshall county, July 27, 1874. He is a son of James A. and Mary (Graves) Wilson. The father was born in Sumner county, Tenn., but at present lives in Ken- tucky. He served in the Confederate army for four years, in the Seventeenth Tennessee, under Col. A. S. Marks, after- ward governor of Tennessee. Edgar Bright Wilson received his primary education at Chapel Hill academy, which was followed with a literary course at Cumberland university, where he graduated in 1893. He then read law in the office of his
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uncle, Judge Wilson, of the court of appeals, and was admitted to the bar in 1894. His first practice was in Gallatin, where he remained until 1901, when he removed to Nashville and has been engaged in the practice of his profession in that city since. Mr. Wilson was commander of the Sons of . Veterans in 1898, and in 1899 was elected commander of the Army of Tennessee, Sons of Veterans. In 1899 he was elected to the legislature from Sumner county, re-elected in 1901, and during his second term was made speaker of the house. He is .a member of King Solomon lodge No. 91, Free and Accepted Masons, at Gallatin; is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of Gallatin lodge No. 21, Knights of Pythias. In 1902 he was elected as keeper of the records and seal by the Grand Lodge Knights of Pythias. He belongs . to the Presbyterian church; is a member of the board of directors of the Young Men's Christian association, and vice- president of the state association of that organization. Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Anna Lackey of Gallatin, in 1902. She is the daughter of S. E. Lackey, a native of Kentucky, who served with Morgan during the war and took part in the raid into Canada, where he was captured.
JAMES ANDREW D. HITE, M. D., one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Nashville, Tenn., was born in Humphreys county, of that state, June 9, 1871, his parents being James Andrew and Mary Jane ( Prew- itt) Hite. The father was a soldier in the Civil war, serving under For- rest in the Confederate army, and died in 1892. Doctor Hite is one of a family of four children, his brother likewise being a physician and his two sisters the wives of physicians. In his youth he attended the schools of Humphreys county and then studied medicine with his brother, Dr. G. M. Hite, now of Nashville, making a spe- cial study of anatomy and chronic diseases. He commenced
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practicing in Humphreys county, but later removed to Nash- ville, where he has been in practice since 1895, making a spe- cialty of chronic diseases. He has met with marked success in his treatment of appendicitis, holding that the disease is caused by a germ and basing his treatment on this theory. In the course of his chemical experiments he has discovered a remedy, which he has aptly named "appendicine," and which he has used in a great number of cases of appendicitis with unvarying success. Doctor Hite feels confident that the use of this specific will revolutionize the treatment of that disease and has contributed a number of articles on the subject to medical journals. In October, 1892, he was married to Miss Lelia D. Harvill, 'of Hickman county, a daughter of a noted Baptist minister. Two of Mrs. Hite's brothers are in the medical pro- fession. Doctor Hite's family consists of four children : David Chesley. James Moody, Rebecca and Andrew Frank. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the An- cient Order of United Workmen, and of the Tennessee State Medical society.
SAMUEL N. HARWOOD, of Nashville, Tenn .. was born in Benton county, in that state. June 26, 1870, and is a son of Richard D. and Mary Eugenia (Pybass) Harwood. The father was born in Gibson . county, Tenn., served during the Civil war as a Confederate soldier; was a promi- nent and respected man in his com- munity : served as mayor of Waverly, and three terms as land register of the middle division of Tennessee. He died in 1901. The Harwood family is of Saxon origin and during the Norman invasion they were conspicuous in the de- fense of the king and the country. The first of the name in this country was Sir Edward Harwood, who came to Vir- ginia in 1619, but afterwards returned to England, where he died. He was followed in 1620 and 1622 by William and
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Thomas Harwood, and from the latter are descended the Har- woods of Tennessee, including the Harwoods of this sketch. The family is a numerous one and many of its members have attained to great prominence in business. the learned professions and the profession of arms. They have always displayed that sterling patriotism which inspired their celebrated ancestor, Robertus Herwood, Earl of Mercia and Lord of Bourne in Lincolnshire, when he led his men against the Norman in- vaders. Samuel N. Harwood was educated at Waverly college and at Winchester Normal college. He entered the law de- partment of Vanderbilt university in 1893, graduated in 1895 with the degree of LL.B., and was the class representative at the graduating exercises in that year. He completed the course of oratory with Professor Merrill of Vanderbilt university, and graduated in oratory (as prescribed for lawyers ) in the Conserva- tory of Music. In 1895 he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in Nashville, where he has built up a lucra- tive practice. He was elected county attorney of Davidson county in April, 1901, and again in April, 1903, holding that office at the present time. In religious matters he is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church.
HENRY A. SANDERS, M.D., a well-known physician and surgeon of Nashville, Tenn., was born in Smith county, of the same state, Sept. 28, 18.45. His father, Jerome Bonaparte Sanders, was of Scotch extraction and was one of the leading farmers of Smith county until some time in the fifties, when he removed to Sumner county. where he followed the same vocation. He died in 1903. having reached the ripe old age of ninety years. The mother of Doctor Sanders was a Miss Jemima Brady before her marriage. Doctor Sanders obtained the principal part of his general education in the schools of Sumner county and engaged in farming until 1876. reading medicine in the meantime whenever opportunity offered. He then entered the Nashville Medical college, now a part of the University of Tennessee. and so thorough had been his prelimi- nary course of reading that he graduated in 1877, with the degree of M.D. He located in Nashville and has there prac-
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ticed his profession with unvarying success ever since. Doctor Sanders belongs to that class of physicians who are in love with their profession and who are impressed with its nobility. During the twenty-seven years of his professional life he has never ceased to. study, thus keeping pace with the progress of medical science. Although he follows the established rules and maxims of his medical school there are times when he real- izes that the winning method depends upon good common sense rather than the precepts of the text-books, and with this he is fortunately well supplied. Consequently he has a lucrative business and enjoys the utmost confidence and esteem of his patients. He has been a life-long member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church and in addition to his duties as a physi- cian he has frequently filled the pulpit as a local preacher of that denomination, thus ministering to the spiritual as well as the physical comfort of his fellow-man. In the Masonic fra- ternity he is an honored member, and he also belongs to the Golden Cross and the Select Knights. In 1871 he was married to Miss Sallie N. Moore, a daughter of William Moore, of Davidson county, Tenn.
J. W. PENTECOST, superintend- ent of the electric lights of Nashville, Tenn., and in charge of all the electric apparatus in the city, was born and reared in Nashville, and there received his education in the public schools. His first position was with the Louis- ville & Nashville railroad as a brake- man, afterward becoming. conductor, and remaining with the company twelve years. Upon leaving the rail- road service he engaged in the elec- trical business with a contracting company in Chicago. After a year with that company he went to the Atlanta exposition as. foreman. After the close of the exposition he returned to- Nashville, took charge of the work for the Centennial exposi- tion there. and made an enviable reputation for himself as an:
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electrician. After this exposition was over he opened an elec- trical business for himself and continued in it until Jan. 1, 1902, when he was appointed superintendent of the Nashville electric lights by the board of public works. Mr. Pentecost is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Presbyterian church. He was married in 1887 to Miss Emma Buss, daughter of the late Peter Buss, of Nashville.
PETER TURNEY, governor of Tennessee from 1893 to 1897, was born at Jasper, Marion county, Tenn., Sept. 22, 1827, his parents being Hopkins L. and Teresa (Francis) Turney. On the paternal side he is of French and German extraction. His grandfather was a native of Germany and his father came to America at the age of twenty-two years, without an edu- cation, but he afterward became a member of the state senate and a prominent citizen. Governor Turney's mother was a daughter of Miller Francis, a well-known citizen of Rhea county, and a granddaughter of William Henry, of Virginia. While Governor Turney was still in his infancy his parents removed to Winchester, Franklin county, and there he grew to manhood. He received his education in the Winchester public schools and a private institution at Nashville. After leaving school he was for some time employed as a surveyor. He then read law in the offices of his father and Maj. W. E. Venable, and in 1848 was admitted to the bar. In the mean- time his father had been elected to the United States senate. When his term expired he and his son formed a partnership and practiced at Winchester until the death of the father in 1857. In 1860 Governor Turney was an alternate elector on the Breckenridge ticket, and as soon as it became known that Abraham Lincoln was elected he took advanced grounds in favor of the immediate secession of the state. He was a dele- gate from Franklin county to the convention of Feb. 9, 1861, which passed the ordinance of secession. This ordinance was defeated by the popular vote, but under the leadership of Mr. Turney the people of Franklin county passed an ordinance of secession, withdrawing from the state, and attaching their
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county to Alabama. A company was raised in the county, Mr. Turney was elected captain, and the services of the organ- ization were offered to the Confederate government. At the request of the Confederate authorities the company was increased to a regiment, which was mustered into the service as the First Tennessee infantry, with Mr. Turney as colonel. On May ist the regiment left for Virginia, where it served under Gen. J. E. Johnston around Harper's Ferry and Win- chester. At the battle of the First Bull Run it was a part of Bee's brigade, and was afterward in the Peninsular campaign. In the "Valley campaign" Colonel Turney was wounded three times, the most severe being sustained at the battle of Fred- ericksburg. which so disabled him that he was unable to con- mand his regiment and was assigned to duty in the neighbor- hood of Lake City, Fla .. where he remained until the close of the war. When the end came he returned to Winchester and resumed the practice of law. At that time W. G. Brownlow was governor of Tennessee and through his influence drastic measures were adopted for the government of that portion of the state around Franklin county, on account of its loyalty to the cause of the Confederacy. In resisting these measures Colonel Turney took a leading part. which brought him into political notoriety. In 1870 he was elected a justice of the supreme court and was twice re-elected, each time for a full term of eight years. In 1886 he became chief justice and continued in that position until his election as governor in 1892. At the expiration of his first term the Democratic state convention unanimously renominated him for a second. His opponent was H. C. Evans and after the election both sides claimed a victory and charged the other party with fraud. The matter was taken up by the legislature which met in Janu- ary, 1893, and an investigation ordered. Pending the investi- gation the legislature adjourned to meet again in April. The result was that Governor Turney was declared re-elected and was inaugurated in May. Governor Turney is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Honor and the Episcopal church. He has been twice married, first to Cassandra Garner, of Winchester, in 1851. She died
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in 1857 and the following year he was married to Hannah F. Graham. By the first marriage he had three children and by the second nine. One son, James, was for some time clerk of the supreme court of Tennessee at Nashville.
DR. JAMES RUFUS SHACKLE- FORD, a prominent osteopathic phy- sician, of Nashville, Tenn., was born in Lewis county, Mo., Aug. 16, 1870. He is the son of Charles Adams and Mary Rebecca ( Ammerman) Shackle- ford. His father was born near Eliz- abethtown, Hardin county, Ky., but his parents moved to Palmyra, Mo., when he was six years old, and he made that his home until he was about twenty-nine years of age. Soon after his marriage he removed to Texas and was in the Mexican war about eighteen months. He was also in the Civil war for three years, though a part of the time he was a prisoner. He fought at Chickamauga and Franklin, Tenn., under Pat Clai- borne. The grandparents of James Rufus were Col. John and Elizabeth Bettie (Briscoe) Shackleford, who lived at Pal- myra, Marion county, Mo .; Mary Rebecca Ammerman's par- ents were Colman Read and Cynthia Ann ( Wilson) Ammer- man, both born near Lexington, Ky., where they were among the first settlers. James R. Shackleford received his early edu- cation in the public schools of Lewis county and the high school at Lewistown. He was a student at the Christian uni- versity at Canton, Mo., in the years 1889-90, and then entered the Central Business college of Sedalia, Mo., which he grad- uated from in 1893. Soon after that he took up the study of osteopathy at the American School of Osteopathy at Kirksville, Mo., graduating from that school June 22, 1897. with the degree of D.O. The same year he located at Nashville, but during the year 1898 practiced in Hannibal, Mo., after which he returned to Nashville and remained there. Doctor Shackle- ford is a member of the Christian church, which he joined at
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Lewistown, Mo., in 1883. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, at Lewistown, Mo., and to the Knights of Pythias, at Nashville. He was married Nov. 8, 1898, at Kirksville, Mo., to Miss Anielka Illinski, daughter of Dr. Francis Xavier and Virginia (Black) Illinski, of Cahokia, Ill. They have one son, James Rufus, Jr., born Oct. 23, 1902.
JOSEPH WARD DILLIN, surveyor of customs, Nashville, Tenn., was born at Elkton, Giles county, Tenn., May 13, 1863. He is the son of Joseph R. and Frances F. (Phelps) Dillin. His parents moved to Nashville during his infancy and remained there until 1866, when they again moved, this time to Smyrna, Tenn., where the father engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1870 they returned to Nashville and lived there until January, 1878, when they went back to their farm at Smyrna. Joseph W. attended the public schools in the communities in which he lived and Montgomery Bell academy at Nashville until 1880. Leaving school in that year he assisted his father on the farm until in February, 1882, when he returned to Nashville to attend Goodman's college. Shortly after entering that institution he was appointed secretary of the state board of tax assessors, and on Sept. 2, 1882, received the appointment as stamp clerk in the United States revenue office of the fifth collection dis- trict of Tennessee, at the hands of Hon. A. M. Hughes, Jr. He remained in this position until August, 1885, when he was removed by a change of administration. In September, 1886, he became associated with the Tennessee Manufacturing Com- pany, at that time one of the largest cotton milling companies in the South. Three years later he was appointed superin- tendent of the registry division in the postoffice at Nashville, but was removed from this place in 1894 owing to a change in administration. He then engaged in the cigar and tobacco business until early in 1897, when he accepted a position as general bookkeeper for the concession department of the Ten- nessee Centennial exposition, which he held until the exposition closed in October of that year. The following year" he was made traveling representative for the Nashville Banner. He was appointed surveyor of customs for the port of Nashville
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by President Mckinley, the appointment being confirmed by the senate Feb. 22, 1899. His first term expired in 1903 and Presi- dent Roosevelt reappointed him for another four years. In 1896. he was chairman of the Republican central committee and managed the Mckinley campaign in Davidson county, the city of Nashville being carried for the Republican ticket by 200 votes. He served as chairman until the spring of 1900. Mr. . Dillin married Miss Joe Ann, daughter of Henry T. and Mary ( Hicks) Prater, natives of Rutherford county, Tenn., but now of Belton, Tex. Mr. Prater served for many years as sergeant-at-arms of the house of representatives of Ten- nessee, and has also served in the same capacity in Texas. Mr. Dillin and wife are parents of the following children: Joseph R., born Sept. 15, 1885, and died June 17, 1886; Mary Lucille, born Dec. 3, 1887; Henry Ward, born Nov. 21, 1889, and William Prater, born Feb. 13, 1894. Mr. Dillin is a member of Nashville lodge No. 185, Knights of Pythias, and he and his family are members of Woodland Street Christian church.
GEORGE W. PHILLIPS, Nash- ville. Tenn., register of deeds for Davidson county, was born in that county, Jan. 3. 1865. He is a son of Leonard S. and Susan E. (Searles) Phillips, both natives of Davidson county, where their lives were passed. The father was a farmer and the fan- ily comprised five sons and three daughters. seven of whom are now living : Samuel H., a druggist, now resident of Columbia county, Tex. ; Lulu, who married James Ball of Williamson county, and died in middle life: Richard S., a farmer of Davidson county ; George W .; Mollie, wife of Joseph Matthews of Pierce Station, Tenn .: William Bennett, a farmer of Davidson county; Maggie, unmarried, lives with her brother Richard, and J. Len., a druggist with his brother in Texas. George W. was educated
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