USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume II > Part 16
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JOHN GASTON, proprietor of the Gaston hotel, Memphis, Tenn., was born near Bordeaux, in the South of France, in 1828. His father, Peter Gaston, was a farmer, in poor cir- cumstances, and died at the age of eighty without being able to leave his son anything more than a good physique and determination to suc- ceed. At the age of twelve years the son left the old farm and went to Paris, where an uncle kept a small hotel and restaurant. There he became familiar with every branch of the business, and later became a steward on an ocean steamer, crossing the Atlantic many times. He finally settled in New York, where for two years he was in the service of the celebrated Delmonico. In IS51 he went to California, but remained there only a short time, returning to New York. The following year he went to Washington, and from there to Florida, as steward of a hotel at Apalachicola. Next he be- came a steward of a hotel at Macon, Ga., and subsequently took a similar position at Atlanta. Shortly after the break- ing out of the war, he entered the Confederate army and served on detailed duty until the close of hostilities. During the war, he lost all he had accumulated, and in 1865 went to Mem- phis to commence the work of rebuilding his broken fortunes. Being a man of great industry, splendid capacity and com- mon sense, he succeeded, in 1867, in getting enough together to open a restaurant. This restaurant proved a popular one from the very start, and three years later he found himself possessed of enough to warrant him in opening a small hotel. The hotel became as much of a favorite as had the restaurant, and as his means increased he enlarged his business, rising step by step until he is now one of the wealthy citizens of Memphis. Although he is still the proprietor of the Gaston hotel, he has retired from active business, having reached an age where the comforts of his beautiful home in the suburbs appeal to him more and more. There are few homes in Mem-
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phis that rival it in elegance and appointments. Mr. Gaston is still a vigorous and active man, and apparently has years of usefulness before him. He has been one of the foremost citizens of Memphis in many ways. Charitable to a fault, his purse is ever open to the needs of others or to aid in making improvements. Within the past two years he has donated to Memphis a handsome site for a public park, which is to be one of the most attractive of the city's park system, and which will bear his name. Mr. Gaston was married to Mrs. Julia T. Meier, and two children have been born to them: Annie and John Patrick, the latter of whom is dead. The wife died in 1881, and he has since married again. He has made, dur- ing his residence in Memphis, a character for energy and steadfastness of purpose that is enviable in the highest degree. and is noted for shrewdness and tact in business. What he possesses has come to him through work and carefulness. He owes nothing to speculation or luck. He fully deserves the respect of his neighbors, which is freely accorded. as well as the respect of all who know him. Mr. Gaston is a director in the State Savings bank, is a member of the Episcopal church and belongs to the Business Men's club and the In- dustrial league.
HARRY E. COFFIN, of J. H. Coffin & Co., dealers in oils and mill supplies, Memphis, Tenn., was born in Cincinnati, O., in 1852. He attended the public schools of that city until 1869, when his father, Joseph H. Coffin, removed to Mem- phis, where he established the present firm of J. H. Coffin & Co., Harry E. becoming one of the firm and remaining in the business to the present time. There is no better-known business house in Memphis. It has been prosperous from the beginning, and its thirty-five years of existence have given it an enviable standing throughout the entire South. For many years the firm has occupied its own building, 25x120 feet, four stories high, with a good basement, at 22S Front street. In addition to this building, the firm owns a large warehouse on the Louisville & Nashville railroad tracks. It handles all grades of oils, cordage, wrought iron, steam and gas pipe,
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pipe fittings, valves, pulleys and mill supplies in general. In the warehouse are large tanks for storing oil. The firm carries the largest stock of goods in its line of any house in the South. and its business is increasing in volume every year. A great deal of this increase is due to the efforts of H. E. Coffin, who is one of the most prominent and popular business men of the city. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fra- ternity, having attained to the thirty-third degree and being a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. For five years he was potentate of Alchymia shrine, at Memphis. He belongs to the Ten- nessee, Chickasaw, Jockey, Country and Trotting clubs. Of him, Maj. H. C. Warinner, one of the most prominent at- torneys of the state, has this to say: "He is a man of fine business qualifications and personal integrity; a man of excep- tionally fine character, honorable and sociable, and straight in every way; a devoted son to his aged father and a model in his domestic relations."
WILLIAM H. RUSSE, president of the Hardwood Company, of Mem- phis, Tenn., and also of the National Lumber Exporters' association, was born in Indianapolis, Ind., in 1855. He attended the public schools of that city, and Northwestern Christian (now Butler) university. In 1889 he went into the lumber business in In- dianapolis, meeting with such success as to encourage him in the thought of branching out, and two years later he opened a branch at Cairo, Ill. In 1893 he closed the parent business at Indianapolis and in 1898 went to Memphis. The following year he disposed of the Cairo branch, and at the present time conducts a large business in Memphis and a branch in New Orleans. Since 1894 the firm has been Russe & Bur- gess, being composed of W. H. Russe and George D. Bur- gess, both practical lumbermen, both brimful of energy, and both possessing superb business qualifications. Such a combina-
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tion is bound to succeed, and when it is further taken into consideration that both are comparatively young men, brought up to the business, their great achievements in a few short years are not at all surprising. Mr. Russe is a thirty-second degree Mason and Noble of the Mystic Shrine, a Knight of Pythias, a live and lively member of the Concatenated Order of Hoo Hoos, and affiliates with the Lutheran church.
W. C. EARLY, head of the firm of W. C. Early & Co., wholesale grocers, of Memphis. Tenn., was born in Char- lottesville. Va., in 1864, and passed his early years there, graduating from the Academic department of the Uni- versity of Virginia in 1884. He fol- lowed clerking for a time in the em- ploy of J. A. Early & Sons, general merchandise dealers, at Dalesville, Va., later going to Richmond, where he was a salesman for some time, and finally went on the road. In 1889 he went to Memphis, as the representative of Cudahy Bros. & Co., pork packers. His excellent success in business led him to branch out for himself. and in 1893 he formed the wholesale firm of which he is the head, and of which he has made a great success. The busi- mess was incorporated in 1904. From its modest beginning the company has forged ahead until now it is one of the lead- ing factors in the commercial life of Memphis. It has lately taken possession of a large building. is increasing its already extensive business and enlarging its field with unprecedented rapidity. It has the sole agency for Cudahy products, and is in the first rank as a distributer of packed meats. W. C. Early & Co. are also exclusive distributers, in the Memphis district, for the Southern Illinois Milling and Elevator Com- pany's flour, and carry the highest grade of fancy groceries in the market. This fact is always kept prominently before the dealers in their territory, and is an evidence of the pro- gressive character of the house. Back of all this may be
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(letected the wide-awake and up-to-date spirit of the man who is at the head of the company. That he is fairly repre- sentative of the spirit of the age is proved by what has been accomplished in but a little more than twelve years. Mr. Early is a director of the Merchants' exchange, and he belongs to the Second Presbyterian church, of which he is a deacon.
W. F. CLEARY, a well-known hotel man of Memphis, Tenn .. and a member of the firm of Gaston & Co., proprietors of the Hotel Gaston, in that city, was born in Boston, Mass., in 1856. He was reared and educated in that city, and in 1876 went to Cincin- nati. Ohio, as a night clerk at the Gib- son house. Later he was employed at the Hotel Emery and the Burnett and Palace hotels, in that city, acting as general steward in the last-named. In 1886 he went to Huntsville, Ala., and opened the Huntsville hotel. A year later he came to Memphis, where he entered the service of the Gayoso hotel, being placed in charge of the dining-room, and in 1889 he became associated with John Gaston, of the Gaston hotel. The same year he acquired an interest in the business, and has since remained with it. a popular boniface and a successful business man. Mr. Cleary is a bachelor, with a host of friends in Memphis, and is a social favorite. He is a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, of the Business Men's club, the Mer- chants' exchange, etc., and affiliates with the Catholic church.
JOHN J. COLLINS, funeral director, of Memphis, Tenn., is the proprietor of one of the largest undertaking establish- ments in that city. He is a "home product," having been born in Memphis, in 1872. He received his primary educa- tion in the public schools of the city and supplemented it with a course at the Christian Brothers' college. At the comple- tion of his education, he entered the employ of Fly & Hob-
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son, wholesale grocers, with whom he remained eleven years. He afterward became secretary of the Memphis fire depart- ment, and filled that position for two years. In 1896 he went into his present line of business, succeeding his father-in-law, and has made a success. Mr. Collins is of the Democratic faith in his political opinions and takes a lively interest in the success of that party. No campaign is complete without his aid. He is a popular member of the Benevolent and Protect- ive Order of Elks, and finds time to enter into the delibera- tions and social entertainments of that body. Mr. Collins be- longs to the Catholic church and is a liberal supporter of its various worthy charities.
WILLIAM F. GRAVES, western manager of the Middlesex Banking Company, and also president of the Graves & Vinton Cotton Company, of Memphis, Tenn., was born in Bristol, Vt., in February, 1850. In 1858 he accompanied his parents to Victoria, Ill., his father, William P. Graves, being a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, which occupation called him to different parts of the country. The family lived in various places in Illinois, and the junior Graves gained his primary education at the several points where the family chanced to be located. He later entered the Illinois Wesleyan university, at Bloomington, Ill., from which he graduated in 1871 with the degree of B. A., and in 1874 received the degree of M. A. Previous to this he attended the Wesleyan university, at Mid- dletown, Conn., for a year. After leaving college, Mr. Graves held the chair of ancient languages at the Upper Iowa uni- versity, at Fayette, for two years. He was for a year pro tem. professor of English literature at his alma mater, study- ing law in the meantime. In 1875 he went to Indianapolis, Ind .. and practiced law until 1880, when he went to St. Paul in connection with the business of the Middlesex Banking
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Company, with which company he is still associated. The Memphis branch of the company was started in 1890, and the company also has branches at Dallas, Tex., Denver, Colo., and Salt Lake City, Utah. The Graves & Vinton Cotton Com- pany was formed in 1894 and is one of the thriving firms of cotton factors in Memphis. Mr. Graves is a member and one of the trustees of the People's church ( Independent ), of St. Paul, Minn.
A. B. CARRUTHERS, president of the Carruthers Shoe Company, of Memphis, Tenn., was born in that city in 1862. He attended the public schools there until thirteen years old, when he entered the employ of the Lowenstein Wholesale Dry-Goods Company, as cash boy, and soon after changed his. vocation by becoming office boy for Katzenberger Bros., brokers and bankers, with whom he remained several years. He then took a place with Meacham & Co., wholesale grocers and cotton factors. When but nineteen years old, he went to Tipton county, Tenn., and, in company with a partner, opened a small general store, the combined capital amounting to $1,000. At the end of eight months young Carruthers bought out his partner, and conducted the business for eighteen months alone. He then sold out and went to Clarksdale, Miss., where, with a capital of $3,000. he opened a general store. He remained there five years, when he had the misfortune to lose an $18,000 stock of goods by fire. He then went to Memphis and helped organize the Carruthers Shoe Company, a wholesale concern. of which he was made treasurer. This firm continued until 1893, when it was succeeded by Johnson. Carruthers & Rand. In 1898 it again became the Carruthers Shoe Company. Mr. Carruthers was president of the Memphis Credit association for two years, in 1902-03: is a director in the Germania Bank and Trust Company. In 1902 he was elected a member
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of the city council by that body. and was re-elected by the people Jan. 7, 1904, making a half-day canvass in all. He belongs to no secret order, but is a member of the Second Pres- byterian church. His company has a shoe factory in Mem- phis.
DANIEL SHEA, proprietor and manager of the Dan Shea Boiler Works, of Memphis, Tenn., was born in that city in 1858. After attending the schools of his native city he entered St. Vincent's college, at Cape Girardeau, Mo., and completed his studies in 1873. He then went into Peter Lawless' boiler factory, in Memphis, where he learned the trade from beginning to end, and worked for Mr. Lawless until taken into the firm in 1883. At that time the firm took the name of Peter Lawless & Co., under which it continued for two years, when Mr. Shea retired and formed a partnership with Shane McCarthy, as Shea & McCarthy, boiler manu- facturers. This firm conducted a successful business for four or five years, when Mr. McCarthy dropped out and Mr. Shea formed a partnership with R. E. Lee under the name of Dan Shea & Co., this lasting until 1889. Mr. Shea then sold his interest to Mr. Lee, and opened a factory of his own. His works are provided with the most modern machinery for the manufacture of boilers and plate-iron work of every descrip- tion, and he has recently been compelled to increase his capacity for production. He has been very successful in the thirty years of his business career, and has found it possible to enter into other lines for the proper investment of his earnings. He is a director in the North Memphis Savings Bank and Trust Company and a member of the Catholic church.
I. SAMELSON, of the firm of I. Samelson & Co., whole- . sale and retail dealers in cigars and tobaccos, was born in St. Louis, Mo., in 1858. In 1863 his parents removed to Mem- phis, Tenn., and there he grew to manhood. Until fourteen years of age he attended the public schools, and then entered the employ of Menkin Bros .. dealers in dry-goods. as assistant bookkeeper. A little later he secured a position in S. Cole-
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man's cigar store, and was there six years. He then entered the service of Sternberg & Lee, wholesale cigars and tobaccos, as a traveling salesman, and for four years covered the terri- tory composed of the States of Tennessee and Mississippi. At the end of that time he opened a retail cigar business in Memphis, and a year later commenced wholesaling in a modest scale. His business has grown rapidly in the twenty years, and he now occupies a large store on the east side of Main street, opposite the Peabody hotel, having added to his space year by year. He employs a half-dozen salesmen on the road, and his goods are known well and favorably over a large territory, particularly in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Ar- kansas, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The firm is one of the heaviest importers of clear Havana cigars in the country, receiving all its goods of this class direct from Havana. A number of branch retail stands are conducted in Memphis. In addition to his large and growing cigar and tobacco business. Mr. Samelson is in the railroad ticket brokerage business, hav- ing the oldest established office in the city as well as in the South. Mr. Samelson is a director in the Manhattan Savings bank, and belongs to the Memphis club.
ARTHUR SITES, senior partner of the firm of A. Sites & Co., propri- etors of the Fulton market, Memphis. Tenn., was born at Cloverport, Ky., in 1861. At the age of nine years he went to Owensboro, Ky., where he lived until he attained his majority, - receiving his education in that place. His father died when he was nine years old, and at the age of twelve he went into a meat market, in Oweus- boro, to learn the business. He worked at this occupation in Owensboro until 1882, when he went to Memphis and worked for five years. He then bought out his employer, and conducted a modest business at first. increasing his trade year by year, until today the Fulton mar-
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ket is one of the best known concerns of its kind in the city. Particular attention has always been given to the quality of goods and to the demands of patrons, by which means the market has acquired a reputation for honest and progressive methods. A very complete storage plant enables the firm to carry the most extensive line of meats in the city, and it buys in all markets, from the Gulf to the Great Lakes, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In 1892 the firm purchased and took possession of its present quarters, and now has one of the best-equipped places of business in Memphis. He is a thorough business man, and gives no attention to politics further than to keep informed and intelligently discharge his duties as a citizen. With much to occupy his time, Mr. Sites finds time to occasionally indulge in the sports of field and stream, being an enthusiastic sportsman along these lines.
ROBERT LEEDY MATTHEWS, founder of the real estate and insur- ance firm of R. L. Matthews & Co., of Memphis, Tenn., was born in that city, but much of his earlier life was spent in Mississippi, where his prelin- inary education was acquired. He J went to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he attended Eastman college, gradu- ating with honors, after which he returned to Memphis, and at the age of eighteen years secured a position with Farrington, Stewart & White, then proprietors of the Gayoso Hotel Company. He remained with that company in a responsible position for three years, resigning in 1890 to ac- cept the place of teller of the Manhattan Savings Bank and Trust Company. At that time he was but twenty-one years old, and the youngest man in Memphis to hold so responsible a position. In 1894 he left the bank to engage in business for himself, as a member of the firin of Farnsworth & Matthews, private bankers and insurance underwriters. The firm did a profitable business, but sold out in 1898 to engage in manu-
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facturing lines in the East. Mr. Matthews returned to Men- phis, in 1900, and established the present firm, which has met with success beyond his expectations. He has negotiated some of the largest real estate and financial deals recently made in Memphis, and is looked upon as one of the ablest and most reliable financiers of the city. The ordinary sales for a week have run to $75.000. The business comprises real estate sales, rentals, loans and fire insurance, some of the largest com- panies in the world being represented in this agency. The firm takes charge of property for non-resident owners and looks after the interests of many outsiders. All of the business passes under Mr. Matthews' direct supervision, and is given close attention. In this work he has demonstrated that he is possessed of ability of a high order. He is a member of the Industrial league, Business Men's, Chickasaw and Country clubs, and a number of other business, social and fraternal organizations.
GEORGE R. JAMES, president of the James & Graham Wagon Com- pany, of Memphis, Tenn .. was born in that city in 1866, and passed pretty much all his life there, receiving his education in the public schools. At the age of sixteen years he left school to commence work in the blacksmith shop of James & Graham, the senior member of the firm being his father. After working three years in the shops, he went on the road for the firm, traveled two years, and then entered the office as secre- tary. He continued in this position until 1898, when he be- came president of the company, which office he still holds. His father, Henry James, who died in 1886, was a native of Bristol, England. In addition to his interests in the wagon company. Mr. James is a director in the Germania Savings Bank and Trust Company, of Memphis. He served in the city council in 1892, and in 1902-03 he was president of the National
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Wagon Makers' association. £ He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, and a member of the Tennessee, Jockey and Driving clubs.
ROBERT W. HARRIS, vice-president of the Delta Cot- ton Company, of Memphis, Tenn., was born in that city in 1857, attended the public schools there, and completed his education at the University of the South, at Sewanee, Tenn .. in 1874. Upon leaving college, he entered the employ of Day & Proudfit, cotton factors, of Memphis, as a seller, and remained with them until I879, when he took charge of the cotton rooms conducted by Porter & Macrae. He continued with this firm until 1891, when he and A. S. Caldwell or- ganized the Delta Cotton Company, of which Mr. Harris was made vice-president. Mr. Harris is also vice-president and gen- cral manager of the Rosedale Compress Company. of Rosedale, Miss. He occupies a high position as a business man, in Mem- phis, and is very popular, his personality being the kind that gains and retains friends. He is a Master Mason, a member of the Tennessee, New York, Chickasaw and Driving clubs, as well as other similar organizations, and belongs to the Epis- copil church.
J. WATKINS CLAPP, treasurer of the Consolidated Gas and Electric Company, of Memphis, Tenn., was born at Holly Springs. Miss., June 12, 1852. He is a son of Judge Jeremiah Watkins Clapp, who was born in Abingdon. Va., Sept. 24, 1814. his parents being Dr. E. B. and Mrs. Elizabeth Clapp, the former a physician and surgeon of skill and reputation, and the latter a lady of marked piety and culture, the daughter of Capt. Robert Craig, of Scotch-Irish nativity, and one of the pioneer settlers of Southwestern Virginia. In his boyhood. Judge Clapp received the best local common school and academic education obtainable, and acquired a practical knowledge of farming and of the use of tools and machinery upon the farm and in the manufacturing establishments owned by his father. He entered the junior class at Hampden-Sidney college, Vir- ginia, in 1834, and graduated with honor in 1835. He followed
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teaching for a time and met with such success that he was offered the principalship of the Abingdon academy, but declined the offer to engage in the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1838. removed to Holly Springs in IS41, that place being at the time one of the most prosperous and at- tractive inland towns of the Southi, and there formed a partner- ship with one of the foremost attorneys of the state. His practice was successful and profitable until the breaking out of the war. In 1861 he was commissioned to canvass in aid of what was known as the "Confederate Loan," and in the fall of that year was elected a member of the Confederate Con- gress. At the close of his two-year term he was appointed to take charge of the cotton owned by the Confederate govern- ment in Mississippi and Alabama, and assumed control of immense quantities of that staple. After the war closed he was requested by the Federal government to continue his super- vision, but declined. At the commencement of the war he was possessed of sufficient means to care for his family, but at the close of hostilities his accumulations had vanished. He removed to Memphis, resumed his profession and soon found himself in the enjoyment of a lucrative practice. In politics he was a Whig until the disorganization of that party, when he became a member of the Democratic party, and has represented his constituency in the legislature as well as in the Confederate Congress. For fifteen years he was a trus- tee of the Mississippi State university; was presidential elector in 1860 on the Breckenridge and Lane ticket; was placed on the electoral ticket in Tennessee in 1876 for the Tilden and Hendricks ticket; and in 1878 was elected to the state senate when absent from home and without his knowledge. He took an active part in the regeneration of Memphis, during the tax- ing period of its history. He is a member and elder of the Second Presbyterian church. He is now retired from the ac- tive conduct of business affairs, as well as from public life. He was married to Evalina D., daughter of Col. P. W. Lucas, of Holly Springs, May 11, 1843. One of his sons, W. L. Clapp, was speaker of the house of representatives in the forty- fifth general assembly of Tennessee. J. Watkins Clapp, the sub-
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