USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume II > Part 12
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defeated by Benton McMillin, though running ahead of his ticket.
. PROF. H. C. IRBY, who holds the chair of mathematics in the Southwestern Baptist university, at Jackson, Tenn., was born in Fayette county of that state, June 16, 1835, his parents being Henry and O. G. (Read) Irby. The Irby family settled in Virginia several years before the Revolution, and some of the descendants went from the "Old Dominion" to South Caro- lina. It is from this South Carolina branch that Professor Irby comes. Both his grandfathers, Carter Irby and Silas Read, were in the Revolutionary war, the former being one of Marion's men. John B. Irby, who succeeded Gen. Wade Hamp- ton in the United States senate from South Carolina, is a cousin to the professor. Professor Irby was educated at the Union university, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and after leaving school engaged in teaching at Gatewood academy. In May, 1861, he left the school-room to enter the Confederate service, and was elected second lieutenant of Company D. Ninth Tennessee infantry. When the regiment was organized, a little later, for actual service, he was made captain. He fought at Shiloh, Per- ryville, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and in the numerous engagements of the Atlanta campaign. After the army reached Atlanta he was transferred to the quartermaster's department, and served there until the end of the war. Upon the return of peace, he again became a teacher, and few educators in the State of Tennessee are more widely or favorably known. In 1867 he founded Mckenzie college, and conducted it successfully until 1875, when he accepted the chair of mathematics in the South- western Baptist university. There is one incident in the life of Professor Irby that borders on the romantic. At the battle of Perryville he was severely wounded and left on the field. While he was in the field hospital, Miss Elizabeth F. Eubank, of Kentucky, his affianced wife, hearing of his condition, had him removed to her own home, where she nursed him back to health and strength. When he was fully recovered they were mar- ried, and Captain Irby rejoined his command. In the years fol- lowing the war. Mrs. Irby has always shown the same love and
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devotion to her husband that actuated her to care for him when he was wounded in defense of his cause. And it is but just to Professor Irby to say that this love is mutual, consequently his home life is a happy one and the influence of his wife has often been the inspiration of his success in his labors.
CHARLES W. SCHULTE, presi- dent of the First National bank and of the Union Savings Bank and Trust Company, of Memphis, Tenn., was born at Munster, Prussia, in 1844, but came to America when only four- teen years of age. He entered the banking office of T. F. Adae, at Cin- cinnati, Ohio, and remained there until 1865, when he went to Mem- phis and took the position of teller of the German National bank, which had just been organized. After three years with that insti- tution, he was offered and accepted the position of assistant cashier of the First National bank. In 1882 he was advanced to the position of cashier, and so continued until 1891, when his long term of service and exceptional judgment led to his selec- tion as president. In 1893 the Union Savings Bank and Trust Company was organized, and Mr. Schulte was elected president. Under his management the bank's deposits have increased from $60,000, in 1893, to nearly $700,000 at the pres- ent time. Mr. Schulte was chairman of the clearing house com- mittee in the dark days of 1893, and he, with a few others, saved the city and many private concerns from great financial trouble. In commenting upon him, a paper said recently: "In times when other cities of the United States have felt the shock of financial disaster, Memphis has stood solid, and never has the slightest breath of suspicion disturbed the glassy surface of the credit of Memphis. This condition of affairs is, of course, due to the men who are in charge of the financial inter- ests of the city, those who control the banks and other insti- tutions where the money of the people is gathered and pre-
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served. In Memphis the banking interests are, fortunately, in the hands of men who have the conservatism to safely guard the interests of those who have accumulations on deposit, com- bined with the liberality that reaches out a promoting hand to all enterprises that bear the stamp of legitimacy and the prom- ise of success. Such a man is C. W. Schulte. He has brought progressive ideas into the bank with which he is associated, and he and the First National are connected in the public mind with all that is characteristic of integrity and progressive conserva- tism in Memphis banking methods."
GEORGE WYTHE MACRAE, president of the Memphis Savings bank, the Memphis National bank, the Chickasaw Cooperage Company and the River, Rail and Storage Com- pany, was born in Fauquier county, Va., May 28, 1838. He lived there until 1849, when his parents removed to Clarksville, Tenn., where young Macrae attended Montgomery Ma- sonic college. In 1855 he went into a grocery store. as a clerk, and three years later commenced business for himself as a grocer, in Clarksville, one of the firm of Miller & Macrae. In 1859 he disposed of his interests and moved to Memphis, associating himself with the late Dr. D. T. Porter, in the establishment of the wholesale grocery firm of Porter & Macrae. The business was very successful until 1862, when the operations of the Civil war interfered with its affairs. Mr. Macrae went South shortly before the capture of Memphis, taking charge of the firm's business at Atlanta and Grenada, selling out and investing the proceeds in cotton at Americus, Ga., leaving Doctor Porter to look after affairs in Memphis. Later Mr. Macrae went to Chattanooga, where Bragg's army was at the time, and vol- unteered, though exempt by reason of physical disability. He was detailed for department service at Chattanooga, and was there until the Confederate forces moved out, when he was
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sent to Richmond. Soon after this he made a trip to Americus. where he had 200 bales of cotton stored. Securing it after the war and shipping it to Savannah and from there to New York, he sold it, dividing the proceeds with his partner, Doctor Por- ter. In 1871, he and Doctor Porter, with others, resumed the wholesale grocery business, dealing also in cotton, under the firm name of Ford, Porter & Co. The death of Mr. Ford, in 1873, led to a change in the firm name, and in 1882 the with- drawal of Col. W. F. Taylor from the business left the firm as it had been twenty years before, Porter & Macrac, and thus it remained until the dissolution of the business in 1896, leaving behind it a record which similar concerns strive to equal. In 1894 Mr. Macrae was made president of the Memphis National bank, and in 1895 of the Savings bank. He is a member and elder of the Second Presbyterian church. Mr. Macrae's paternal ancestors were from Scotland. His father, B. W. Macrae, was a native of Virginia. His mother, whose family name was Stuart, was also of Scottish descent, and also a native of Vir- ginia. An uncle. Maj. Nathaniel C. Macrae, was a graduate of West Point, and lost a leg on the frontier, prior to the Mexican war. Mr. Macrae married Miss Fannie M. Morris, daughter of Col. John D. Morris, of Kentucky. She died in 1870, and in 1881 he married Miss Blanche L. Avent, of Memphis. He has one child by the first marriage, and four by the last. Mr. Macrae is distinguished among his fellow-citizens for his firm- ness, for his energy and good judgment in business matters, and for his unbending integrity, conscientiousness and his strict regard for honor in all the relations of life. From a small beginning he has worked his way to affluence, and his success is an evidence of his sagacity in business. He is quiet and unostentatious in the many good works and acts of benevolence which he performs, and the consciousness of having done good is for him an ample reward. He is, in all that the word implies. a Christian; and by all who know him he is regarded as a model man.
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JAMES SLOSS WARREN, vice- president and secretary of the Mem- phis Telephone Company, is a native of Alabama, having been born in Tuscumbia, that state, March 12, 1863. He remained there until twen- ty-two years of age, securing his edu- cation in the schools of that city. In 1885 he went to Memphis, where he secured a position with Hill, Fontaine & Co., cotton dealers, and was with that firm for four years, From 1889 to 1892 he was secretary and treasurer of the Bluff City Brick Company, and then went into fire insurance, in which he con- tinued until 1899, when he sold out his business. With the expiration of the principal Bell patents, he conceived the thought of organizing an independent telephone company, and invited a number of local business men to join him in the enterprise. The result of this was that in July, 1900, a franchise and state charter were obtained and a company formed. Mr. Warren was placed in charge of affairs, and when the exchange was completed, in 1902, he was made secretary and general man- ager. Business is his strong point, politics having no great attractions. Socially, he is one of those whom it is a pleasure to meet, being affable and genial. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, the Royal Arch Masons and the Business Men's, the Driving Park, and the Jockey clubs.
MATHEW E. CARTER, president of the commission house of M. E. Carter & Co., is one of the most successful of that list of merchants who have made of Memphis, Tenn., one of the South's leading commercial cities. Mr. Carter was born in Louisville, Ky., June 25, 1854. His parents moved to Mem- phis in 1857, and he was reared and educated in the city which he has made his home. He graduated from the Christian Brothers' college, in 1873, and became bookkeeper for a large mercantile house. In 1878 he, with a partner, went into the wholesale grocery business on a small scale, under the name of
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Carter & Smith. In 1880 the firm became Carter & Blessing, Mr. Smith retiring. A few years later Mr. Carter succeeded to the complete control of the business, and, under the firm name of M. E. Carter & Co., has continued as a wholesaler, building up from a small business to one which is large in vol- ume and ever increasing. This was the first, and for years the only, house in Memphis to bring California produce into the city in car-lots on a through shipment. it being supposed that such a shipment could not be other than a losing venture. The trade of the house extends over ten or twelve states, and each year witnesses an increase in the area of territory reached. An interested citizen in all that makes for the development of the city, Mr. Carter has for years supported and aided in the ad- vancement of many commercial and financial institutions of Memphis. He is a member of the Chickasaw club, the Busi- nens Men's club, the Cotton and Merchants' exchanges, vice- president of the Tennessee club, and belongs to the Catholic church. He does not mix in politics, though he takes an interest in municipal affairs to the extent that any public-spirited citizen would when consistent with business. He has had a wide expe- rience in the trade. and has been invariably successful in his commercial undertakings.
JAMES T. BIGGS, a well-known merchant of Collierville, Shelby county, Tenn., was born in the State of North Carolina, Feb. 18, 1839. When he was about two years old his parents, Davis and Martha (Moore) Biggs, removed to Tennessee and located in Shelby county, where James grew to manhood and received his education. At the age of eighteen years he went to Philadelphia, bought a stock of goods and opened a general store at Collierville. This he successfully conducted until the Civil war broke out. On. April 15, 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate service, as second lieutenant of Company C, Fourth Tennessee infantry, commanded by Col. R. P. Neely. He was with his regiment at the battle of Belmont, and on the first day of the battle of Shiloh was severely wounded, his life only being saved by the ball striking his revolver, which broke its force and slightly changed its direction. At the time his regiment sur-
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rendered at Gainesville, Ala., in May, 1865, he was first lieu- tenant of his company. Upon the return of peace he returned to Collierville. where he again embarked in merchandizing, and has become one of the successful merchants of Shelby county. Mr. Biggs is a public-spirited citizen, takes an active interest in everything that has a tendency to improve the condition of the town in which he lives, believes in good government, and always does what he can to secure the election of good men to office. When Collierville camp No. 1017. United Confederate Veter- ans, was organized, Lieutenant Biggs was elected commander, and held the office by re-election for several years, always doing what. he could to build up the organization. Mr. Biggs was married, in his early manhood, to Miss S. R. Spratt, of Aber- deen. Miss., and they have reared a family of six children, ail of whom are useful members of society.
M. GAVIN, senior member of the firm of M. Gavin & Co., wholesale grocers and cotton factors, has been in the grocery business in Memphis. Tenn., for forty years. He was born in 1833, in County Galway, Ireland. He spent most of his youth there, re- ceiving a common school education, and at eighteen years of age came to America. His first employment in this country was that of clerk in a grocery store at Madison, Ind., where he worked for a time, and then entered a bank, where he passed several years. In 1857 he went to Memphis and obtained employment with the grocery firm of William & Charles Mc- Lain. Later he was with Thomas Mckeon, grocer. In 1863 he entered the grocery business for himself, and his career has been one of success, marked by good judgment and shrewd foresight. Thomas Clark, second member of the firm, had been connected with Mr. Gavin for thirty-five years, until his death. M. J. Clark. second partner, and E. M. Gavin, the third member, have been identified with it for nearly twenty years.
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There is not a better-known house in Memphis, nor a more popular one. It has built up a splendid business, and is one of the best-known in the Mississippi valley, its trade being enor- mous in volume. Mr. Gavin has been a member of the Mem- phis city council, and is a director in some of the leading finan- cial companies of Memphis, among them the Bank of Com- merce and the Manhattan Savings Bank and Trust Company. He is a member of the Merchants' and Cotton exchanges and of the Bluff City Insurance Company.
JAMES P. GENTRY, president of the J. P. Gentry Company, of Mem- phis, Tenn., has had an interesting career. He was born in Marshall county, Tenn., July 12, 1856, and lived there until he reached his major- ity, receiving his education in the common schools. At the age of eighteen years he discontinued his studies and farmed for a short time. Soon after this he became one of a party of seven Marshall county boys who started out to see the country. Working their way, they passed through the Indian Territory and into Texas. After working this way until he had passed through thirty-eight states and territories, Mr. Gentry reached Lynchburg. Va., in July, 1880, where he entered the employ of a tobacco house, selling tobacco on commission. He remained with this house until January, 1899, when he became general agent for the Durtal Snuff Company, of Lynchburg. with headquarters at Memphis. Favorably impressed with the city, he located there in January, 1892, establishing himself in the brokerage business as the senior member of the firm of Gentry, Talbert & Co. The firm made a specialty of Pacific slope products, deciduous and citrous fruits, and soon became the largest brokerage commis- sion house south of the Ohio river. In March, 1903, the pres- en't firm of wholesale grocers and warehousing company was formed, and it has proved itself as much of a success as its
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predecessor, Mr. Gentry taking up the duties imposed by his position with his customary vigor and enterprise. Mr. Gentry is a member of the Presbyterian church and is a prominent Mason, belonging to the Knights Templars and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. With ever-increasing faith in his city and state, Mr. Gentry is pushing forward to the point which will show his company as the leader.
H. L. WILLIFORD, M. D., one of the leaders of the med- ical profession in Memphis, Tenn., is a native of that section, having been born in Shelby county, of which Memphis is the principal city, on May 24, 1855. He grew to manhood in that county, secured his primary education there and supplemented it with a partial course at Johns Hopkins college, Baltimore, Md. Later he entered the University of New York, and graduated from the medical department in 1880. Doctor Williford is dis- tinctly a self-made man in all that the term implies. By hard work he won his way to his present position, having, by close application, economy and perseverance, educated himself for his profession. Locating in Memphis on receiving his degree, he has continued in practice to the present time, with that ever-increasing success which comes from proficiency, skill and devotion to one's profession. From 1880 to 1892 he was a member of the Shelby county board of health, being president of that body during that time and proving one of the most sat- isfactory and efficient officers that the board has ever had. From 1892 to 1900 he was a member of the city board of education. taking great interest in the schools of the city and devoting much time to improving the system. From 1894 to 1900 he was professor of materia medica and therapeutics in the Mem- phis Hospital Medical college and a member of the staff of St. Joseph's hospital. At the same time he was a member of the city, county and Tri-State Medical associations. Despite the demands of a large practice, Doctor Williford finds time to take part in the advancement of Memphis, and has made large invest- ments in real estate and manufactories. He is a stockholder in the Coleman-Howe Shoe Company and one of the principal stockholders and a director in the Lilly Carriage Company.
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Doctor Williford is a member of the Baptist church and is an enthusiastic Mason. being a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine.
JOHN W. TURNER, commercial agent of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad Company and secretary of the Business Men's club, of Memphis, Tenn., is one of the younger business men of that city who have shown themselves to be of the type from which men of affairs are developed. He was born in Huntsville. Ala., in 1876, and two years later was taken to LaGrange, Tenn. When about nine years of age his family moved to Memphis, where young Turner was educated. graduating from the high school in 1889. The succeeding two years were passed in the preparatory school at Bellbuckle, Tenn. In 1892 he entered the Memphis office of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad Company, where he remained six years. In 1898 he became soliciting agent of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad Company, and in 1902 became commer- cial agent of that road. In the several positions he has occu- pied in the railway service he has displayed a high order of ability in grappling with problems as they presented themselves. thus proving himself to be a first-class business man and a val- uable official for his company. Mr. Turner is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Woodmen of the World, Benevolent and Protected Order of Elks and the Concatenated Order of Hoo Hoos, of which he is vicegerent snark of West Tennes- see. He affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal church.
JAMES E. BAILEY (deceased), for many years a promi- nent citizen of Clarksville. Tenn., one of the leading lawyers at the Montgomery county bar, and an ex-United States senator. was born in Montgomery county, Aug. 15, 1822. He was of Scotch extraction and his father, Charles Bailey, was for forty years clerk of the circuit court. James E. was educated at the Clarksville academy and the University of Nashville. In July. 1842, before he was twenty years of age, he was admitted to the practice of law. By his untiring industry and his native ability, he soon won for himself a place among the best lawyers
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of the time. He also took some part in politics, though he was never a professional politician. In 1853 he was elected to the legislature as a Whig, and conscientiously supported the policy and principles of that party. In all the agitation prior to the war he was an unswerving Union man, having for his associates Cave Johnson and John F. House, both of whose names are well known in the annals of Tennessee. The three were elected in February, 1861, as Union delegates to the proposed conven- tion to take action on the ordinance of secession, but the con- vention was not called. When Tennessee seceded Mr. Bailey remained loyal to his state, and promptly tendered his services to the Confederate government. He was appointed by Governor Harris to the duty of organizing and equipping the State troops. A few months later he raised a company in his native county and was elected captain. When the Forty-ninth infan- try was organized, his company became a part of the regi- ment, and he was elected colonel. This regiment was a part of the garrison at Fort Donelson, where he was among the captured. He was held a prisoner until the fall of 1862, when. on account of failing health, he was detailed as a member of . the military court with General Hardee's command, and con- tinued in this position until the close of the war. After the restoration of peace he returned to Clarksville. gathered up the broken threads of his practice and resumed his professional life. In 1874 he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, but was defeated in the convention by James D. Por- ter. He twice served with distinction as special judge on the supreme bench. The death of Andrew Johnson, in 1875. left a vacancy in the United States senate, and when the legislature of 1877 assembled Mr. Bailey was elected to fill the unexpired term. At the close of his services in the senate he was a can- didate for re-election, but the party was unfortunately divided on the "state debt question," and he was defeated. He died. Dec. 29, 1895, universally respected as an able lawyer, an hon- est legislator, an upright judge and a charitable, broad-minded citizen.
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JACOB A. GOODWIN, one of the members of the wholesale firm of B. Lowenstein & Bros., of Memphis, Tenn., has been a resident of Mem- phis for over thirty years. He was born in 1849 in Baltimore, Md., where he lived until twenty-two years old. He was educated in that city. graduating from St. Timothy's Hall in 1866. Going to New York, he se .. cured a situation in a fancy goods house as clerk, which position he oc- cupied for two years. In 1872 he went to Memphis, as manager of the notion department of Walker Bros .. with which house he remained until 1879, when he was offered a position with B. Lowenstein & Bros., as correspondent, which he accepted and was later advanced to general manager. In 1900 he was admit- ted as a member of the firm, of which there are five, three being residents of Memphis and two of New York. The firm does $6,000,000 worth of business a year, being the largest con- cern of its kind in the South. Mr. Goodwin is a live, energetic business man, and has done much to further the affairs of his company and to promote the commercial interests of Memphis, where he is looked upon as one of the most enterprising citi- zens, and often called upon to give assistance in all matters per- taining to her advancement. In 1900 he was made president of the Industrial league, and the previous year was chosen as the head of the Memphis Freight Bureau, holding both positions at the present time. It is doubtful if there are any better-known business men in the South than the three resident members of the firm of B. Lowenstein & Bros. As one writer has said : "They have ever had an abiding faith in Memphis, and the entire Mississippi valley has an abiding faith in this firm. The magnificent business the Lowenstein houses are doing is ample proof of this."
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P. MCINTYRE, president of the Goyer Alliance Refining Company, of Memphis, Tenn., is a Canadian, born at Whitby, Ontario. He is the young- est son of Capt. John McIntyre, who for many years was in charge of all Canadian government harbor im- provements between Sarnia and Mon- treal. and who up to the time of his death, in 1853, was considered author- ity on all lake navigation. His charts of the north shores of Erie and Ontario are still used. Mr. McIntyre was reared and educated at Kings- ton, Ontario, and after finishing his course in pharmacy came to Memphis and was in charge of the prescription department of the Mansfield & Higbee Company. In 1871 he became con- nected with the wholesale tobacco house of the Schmidlapp Company, and in 1875 took charge of the sugar and molasses department of the well-established firm of C. W. Gover & Co., which has lately been absorbed by the Goyer Alliance Refining Company, who have large interests at Memphis, Tenn., and Belle Alliance, La.
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