USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume II > Part 17
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ject of this sketch, received his early education at Holly Springs, and at the age of thirteen years accompanied his parents to Memphis, where he continued in school until seven- teen years of age, when he entered the employ of a hardware house, with which he remained for a year. He then went to Osceola, Ark., where he took charge of the office of a large general store doing a business of $100,000 annually, and re- mained there for five years. He declined a partnership in that concern, on account of poor health, and returned to Memphis. For a year he traveled for Ferguson & Hampson, cotton factors, and took charge of the office of the well-known cot- ton firm of J. F. Dowdy & Co. Soon after this the yellow fever broke out, and he left with the Chickasaw Guards on a tour of the country, being absent about four months and re- turning to Memphis in November, 1878. He then formed a partnership with Gen. A. R. Taylor, and this association con- tinued until 1888. Mr. Clapp then retired from the firm, and for the next ten years was engaged in lumber business. In 1898 he became secretary and treasurer of the Memphis Light and Power Company. When this company was reorganized. in 1902, as the Consolidated Gas and Electric Company, he was retained in this position, a fitting recognition of his ability and fidelity. Mr. Clapp is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Presbyterian church, in which he holds the office of elder.
ROBERT M. BUCK, real estate agent, at Memphis, Tenn., was born in Lexington. Miss., Dec. 6, 1861. In 1863 his father, Dr. E. H. Buck, removed to Quincy, Tenn., where he remained until 1872, when he returned to Lexington. Robert attended the public schools and Oxford college. Miss., from which he graduated in 1884 with the degree of Ph.D. He then went to Birmingham, Ala., where he remained eight years, in the practice of law and in the abstract business. In 1897 he settled in Memphis, where he continued in the abstract line, and in 1901 assisted in the organization of the Bluff City Abstract Company, of which he was made president. He disposed of his interests in 1903, and since then has en- gaged in real estate exclusively. Mr. Buck is a director in
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the Security Finance and Realty Company; belongs to the Chi Psi fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and to the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
ZENO T. HARRIS, engaged in life, accident and plate-glass insurance, Memphis, Tenn., was born in Athens, Ala., July 13, 1851. The following year his parents moved to Memphis, Tenn., where three years later his father, Dr. Zeno T. Harris, and his brother, William Harris, died of yel- low fever. His mother was stricken with the same disease, and remained an invalid for life, dying in 1875. Doctor Harris had purchased a plan- tation near Memphis, and on this place the mother lived with her remaining child during the Civil war, conducting the affairs of business and supervising the farm. From her instructions Zeno T., the son, gained much of his early education, and assisted, though but a child, in raising corn and cotton, which formed the principal crops. In 1865 he went to Alabama, where he completed his education. After returning to Mem- phis, Tenn., he was appointed constable of Shelby county, in 1870. He served as deputy tax collector of privileges of the county, from the years 1871 to 1874, inclusive, and following this, he was deputy sheriff for several years. During the year 1881 he was associated with Day & Proudfit, cotton factors, and in 1882 represented the Memphis Cotton-Seed association as purchasing agent. He then became connected with J. S. Day & Son, cotton factors, and remained with them for a year, after which he became representative in Arkansas for Porter & Macrae, wholesale grocers and cotton factors, and remained with them two years. He was then appointed super- intendent of the advertising and circulation departments of the Memphis Appeal, and continued in that position for about five years. In 1892. he was elected president and business manager of the Public Company, publishing an evening paper,
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and acted in that capacity until 1893. In that year he en- gaged in insurance, in which he still continues, and in which he has built up a large patronage. Mr. Harris belongs to no secret order or religious organization, but he affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal church.
WILLIAM A. BICKFORD, real estate agent, Memphis, Tenn., was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Feb. II, 1874. In 1878 his parents removed to St. Louis, Mo., where they lived four years, and then located in Mem- phis. Three years later they went to Denver, but William A., the son, re- turned to Memphis in 1890 and has since made that city his home. His education was obtained in the schools of Memphis and Denver. At the age of eighteen he entered a real estate office in Memphis, and in 1895 went into that line of business for himself. He has con- tinued to handle real estate, and his experience in earlier years gives him a reliable knowledge of values, especially as regards Memphis property. His operations in this line have been large, he having built up whole neighborhoods in the eastern and northern parts of the city until his real estate business has grown to be one of the largest in the South. Mr. Bickford is president of the Southern Improvement Company, a large construction company, and is a director in the North Memphis Savings bank. He belongs to the Episcopal church, Business Men's, the Ten- nessec and Chickasaw clubs, and the Memphis Trotting Park association. He is not interested in politics, in a factional way (except as it bears on the interests of Memphis, when he takes a lively interest in it). He prefers giving his time to his business and to matters which hold more interest for one of his ten- perament. Mr. Bickford finds some of his chief pleasure in litera- ture, and is the author of some compositions of merit. Although inheriting a considerable fortune, he has maintained the mental poise characteristic of his progenitors, enters into the affairs of
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life in an unaffected manner, and conducts his business along lines as steady and conservative as many a man of more mature years and broader experience, thus winning the entire confidence of his patrons, the esteem of his associates and the respect of his competitors.
WILLIAM H. WOOD, agency director of the New York Life Insur- ance Company in the Memphis dis- trict, grew up in the business and has made a success of it through inherent ability and the knowledge gained from passing most of his life in an insur- ance office. He was born in Glaston- bury, Conn., May 27, 1869, and lived there until he was twelve years old, when he accompanied his people to St. Paul, Minn. Soon after that, he commenced as a bread-winner in the capacity of office boy, and after a short time in other offices he secured a position in the St. Paul office of the New York Life. He continued with the company, and, as he showed an aptitude for business, was advanced from time to time until 1893, when the company sent him to Memphis as cashier of the Memphis office. In 1897 he was made assistant agency- director. and two years later was advanced to the position he now holds. Mr. Wood is unusually well qualified, and is looked upon as one of the brightest insur- ance men in the South. It is predicted for him that he will rise much higher in his business, and, unless the unforeseen prevents, the prediction is almost certain to be realized. He is a genial gentleman, of pleasant address, is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
GEORGE W. JENKINS, manager of the Armour Packing Company. at Memphis, Tenn., was born in Devonshire, Eng- land. in 1850. He received his education there, and in 1869 went to Australia, where he entered the employ of a meat com- pany, at Melbourne, and remained in that position until 1875,
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when he came to America. He remained in New York for a year or two and then went to Chicago, where he remained for four years. His apprenticeship in the meat business with the Mel- bourne Meat Preserving Company had qualified him for almost any position in that line, and in 1883 he went to Memphis, Tenn., where he became a partner in and manager of the Goyer Cokl Storage Company, and also in the wholesale grocery busi- ness of the Goyer Company. His wide experience and knowl- edge gained through a thorough study of the packing business in England, Australia and America, coupled with native ability and keen financial instinct, aided greatly in the development of the company's business, and it soon ranked with the most promi- nent concerns of the kind in the South, extending its trade in every direction. In 1900 Mr. Jenkins sold his interests in the company, assumed the management of the Armour Company's business at Memphis, and has continued with that company to the present time. Mr. Jenkins is a director in the Maury Roll- ings Company, large dealers in molasses, and in the American Savings bank. In Masonry, he belongs to the Knights Tem- plars and the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks and is a member of the Epis- copal church.
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FRANK B. HUNTER, fire insurance agent, of Memphis, Tenn., was born at Vandalia, Ill., Feb. 24, 1862. Five years later his parents became residents of Memphis, and the son grew up there, gaining a primary education in the public schools. He left school at an early age, and at eighteen was bookkeeper for the Armstrong Furniture Company. After remaining about three years in this position, he entered the office of the Planters' Insurance Company, where he remained until December, 1900, a period of seventeen years, the last thirteen of which he served as secretary. He resigned his position with this company to open a fire insurance office for himself, and his venture has been successful. He has a fine suite of offices in the Porter building, and his agency includes the AEtna, Orient. Springfield and Penn- sylvania Fire Insurance Companies, with an aggregate of $25.000,000 in assets. Mr. Hunter is a director in the Chicka-
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saw Savings bank and in the Cochran Lumber Company. For a number of years he was a member of the Memphis board of education. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, an Odd Fellow. a Knight of Pythias, and an Elk. In religious matters, he affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and in politics he is a stanch Democrat. His father. William Hunter, was born in County Cork. Ireland, in 1817, and came to America in 1823. He was a lieutenant in an Indiana regiment in the Mexican war and in the Civil war was lieutenant-colonel of the Thirty-second Illinois infantry, under Col. John A. Logan. In 1867 he removed to Memphis, where he practiced law and also occupied for a time the position of judge of the criminal court of Shelby county. He died at Memphis in November, 1869.
FINLEY W. FAXON, real estate agent and dealer. Mem- phis, Tenn., was born in Clarksville, Tenn., Sept. 12, 1874. In 1876 his parents removed to Faxon, Tenn., and remained there for twelve years, where the son attended school. In 1888 the family removed to Memphis, and during the two succeeding years Finley W. attended school in Washington, D. C., where his father, Gen. B. Faxon, was engaged in the treasury depart- ment. In IS91 the son returned to Memphis, and entered the employ of Allen & Finley, real estate dealers, and remained with them one year. He then took a position with the Galloway Coal Company, which he held for seven years. In 1898, when it became apparent that there would be war with Spain. he enlisted as a private in Company E, Second Tennessee volunteer in- fantry, and served until February, 1899. He was mustered out at Columbia, S. C., as sergeant-major. His regiment was among those that looked across the waters with longing eyes. but did not find an opportunity to leave the United States. After being discharged from the army, Mr. Faxon returned to Memphis, and entered the office of G. H. Glasscock, real estate agent, where he remained until 1902, when he became a member of the real estate firm of Lamb & Faxon. In 1903 Mr. Lamb disposed of his interests and the firm became F. W. Finley & Co. Mr. Faxon is a director and secretary and treasurer of the
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Memphis Real Estate Investment Company; a member of the . Business Men's club and the Industrial league; captain-adjutant of the Second Tennessee volunteer regiment ; and belongs to the Episcopal church.
DOMENICO CANALE, head of the wholesale fruit firm of D. Canale & Co., of Memphis, Tenn., was born in sunny Italy, Jan. 16, 1843, at San Pietro de Rovereto. a small village on the coast of the Mediterranean sea, some twenty miles east of Genoa. In February, 1859, when but sixteen years old, he started for the New World in a sailing vessel, landed in New Orleans after a voyage of sixty- five days, took steamer for Mem- phis, and arrived there on the first of May, being warmly wel- comed by his uncles, the Vaccaros. From them he secured immediate employment and a good home. For ten years he worked for wages, saved his money, and in 1869 found himself possessed of enough money to engage in the fruit business in a modest way on his own account. He has remained in that line for thirty-five years, and today stands at the head of the fruit business of Memphis. and, perhaps, of the South. He imports fruit from all parts of the world, and does an immense business throughout all the Southern states. Mr. Canale belongs to the Business Men's club, the Merchants' exchange, the Industrial league; and is a member of the Catholic church. He was mar- ried, in 1869. to Miss Catherine Solari, a young lady of Italian parentage from the same district in Italy. Mr. and Mrs. Canale began life in a very modest way, both of one mind and ambition for advancement. They have pursued the policy of economy and good example, and have reared a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Canale have good cause to feel very proud of all their children and are justly looking forward to a pleasant evening of life because of the high respect and parental love constantly manifested by them. Four of the
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· sons are associated in business with their father, and the fifth is . yet a minor. They are sober, sensible young men, and he is prouder of having rightly reared eight children than he is of his splendid success in business. Mr. Canale is what is rightly termed a self-made man, and has won his position in the social and commercial life of Memphis by his industry, his native ability and the exercise of correct business principles.
1 EDWARD B. LEMASTER, head of the real estate firm of the H. L. Guion Company, of Memphis, Tenn., was born on his father's farm in the twelfth civil district of Shelby county. Tenn., Dec. 3, 1859. His father, W. P. LeMaster, died five years later, leaving a widow, son and daughter. Edward B. lived on the farm until eighteen years of age, being taught at home by his mother. In October, 1877, he went to Memphis, and en- tered the real estate office of H. L. Guion. He remained with Mr. Guion continuously (except for a short time during the yellow fever epidemic, when every business was demoralized and well nigh ruined), and in 1897 was taken into partnership. Upon the death of Mr. Guion, April 10, 1899, Mr. LeMaster found himself. by the conditions of Mr. Guion's will, the owner of the business and executor of the estate. He continued the business alone until July, 1902. when A. G. Jett was admitted to partnership. Mr. LeMaster is also a director in the Mercan- tile bank. In January, 1902. he was elected to the City Council for a four years' term. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity. the Tennessee club, and the Presbyterian church, in which he is an elder. Mr. LeMaster was married, Oct. 20, 1887. to Miss Lulu Patterson, eldest daughter of Col. Josiah Patterson, and to this union have been born six children.
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CAPT. EDWARD W. B. NOWLAND, of Memphis, Tenn., vice-president and general manager of the Arkansas River Packet Company, was born at Fort Smith, Ark .. Feb. 5, 1842. He was educated there and at Fayetteville, Ark., where he at- tended Graham college. Leaving school at the age of seventeen, he engaged as clerk on the river, and at the age of eighteen liad risen to be a commander and pilot. In 1861 he enlisted in Lewis' company, Carroll's regiment, an Arkansas organization, with which he remained four months. He was then detailed to the river division, in the transportation department, and re- mained in that line of service until Little Rock was evacuated, when he was elected second lieutenant in Maj .- Gen. James F. Fagen's cavalry escort. He served in that body and on the general's staff until the close of the war. Captain Nowland was in all the principal engagements west of the river and in Price's last raid into Missouri and Kansas. He was slightly wounded at Pilot Knob. At the close of the war he went to Little Rock. and engaged in steamboating from that point until 1873, when he removed to Memphis. Since 1873 he has been superintend- ent of the Arkansas River Packet Company, and in 1902 was made vice-president and general manager. He is thoroughly well informed on all matters pertaining to river transportation, and has made it a successful business enterprise. Captain Now- land belongs to no secret society, but is a member of the Epis- copal church.
H. R. WYNNE, of Alston & Wynne, cotton factors, Mem- phis, Tenn., is a native of Forest City. Ark., where he was born June 15. 1873. In 1885 his parents removed to Memphis, where he finished his education in the primary branches, and then continued his studies at the Webb school. Bellbuckle, Tenn. Leaving school in 1890, he returned to Memphis and became interested in a stove manufacturing concern known as the Wet- ter Manufacturing Company, incorporated, and in 1900 was made secretary. The plant was destroyed by fire and the present firm of Alston & Wynne was formed. Mr. Wynne is a director in the American Savings Bank and Trust Company, and in the Wetter Manufacturing Company, whose affairs are now in proc-
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ess of liquidation. He belongs to the Presbyterian church and to the Chickasaw, the Business Men's and Driving clubs. He is a rising man in the cotton business, and is held in high regard by older business men. He is a son of Mr. J. W. Wynne, of Memphis.
JOHN A. AUSTIN, wholesale dealer in clothing, Memphis, Tenn., was born in Haywood county of that state, in 1842. He made his home there until 1861, when he enlisted in Company D, Thirty-first Tennessee infantry, as sergeant, was later made sergeant-major and finally adjutant. He was engaged at Shiloh, Belmont, Columbus, Perryville, Ky., Murfrees- boro or Stone River, Chickamauga, and from Dalton to Atlanta. He was severely wounded at Jonesboro, and was for two months in the hospital at Macon, after which he rejoined his command in Tennessee and was in the engagements at Franklin and Nash- ville. He was detailed for duty in the commissary department for some time, and later visited home on furlough. He endeav- ored to rejoin the army, but could not reach it, and finally went to Memphis, where he found employment as clerk in a store. Upon the conclusion of hostilities, he went to New York and for the next six years was engaged in selling goods. He then returned to Memphis, and engaged in the wholesale clothing business, as one of the firm of Grubbs & Austin. A few years later this became Grubbs, Austin & Berry, and some time later J. A. Austin & Co. In 1896 the Austin Clothing Company was formed, and this remains the company name at the present time. Mr. Austin is a member of the Episcopal church.
WILLIAM S. ASHFORD, of the firm of W. S. Ashford & Co., of Memphis, was born in that city. April 4. 1859, and has passed his life there. except for brief periods of absence, when called away by duties as a steamboat man. He graduated from
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the Memphis high school in 1877, soon afterward became a steamboat clerk on the Mississippi river, and was thus engaged until 1892. He then engaged in the cotton business, which he has followed up to the present time. In 1899 the present firm was formed. and it has met with almost unvarying success, the members of the firm being well up in the business, which is growing constantly. Mr. Ashford is a thorough business man, attends strictly to his affairs and is "as straight as a die," as a friend puts it. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, which is the only organization to which he belongs.
R. P. WOODSON, manager of the grocery department of the J. T. Far- gason Company's great establishment at Memphis, Tenn., was born at Red Bank, Marshall county, Miss., in 1853. His parents became residents of Germantown, Tenn., when he was an infant, and his carly life was passed in that place, receiving his pri- mary education in Germantown, and supplementing it with advanced stud- ies at Coldwater, Miss. He went to Tate county. Miss., in 1869, and made that his home for three years. In 1872 he went to Memphis, and for thirteen years was connected with the firm of Furstenheim & Wellford, wholesale grocers. He then became a partner in the wholesale grocery firm of M. C. Pearse & Co., with which he continued for a number of years, selling his interest in 1891 to become assistant manager for the Memphis Grocery Company. In 1894 he accepted his present position with the J. T. Fargason Company. One of the Memphis papers recently paid this tribute to his character and ability: "Mr. Woodson is recognized not alone in Memphis, but throughout the South, as a man of most brilliant attain- ments in his business. and a history of those men who have placed Memphis on the high pedestal it now occupies in the commercial world would by no means be complete if his name did not stand high up toward the top of the list. He is a
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graduate of the Memphis School of Commerce, and Memphis is proud of her pupil." Mr. Woodson is vice-president of the Memphis Wholesale Grocers' association and second vice-presi- dent of the Southern Wholesale Grocers' association. He is a Master Mason, and belongs to the Presbyterian church, in which he is an elder. He is characterized as a man of high moral ideals and stands high in the regard of all Memphis, particu- larly with the president of the company, J. T. Fargason, and this house congratulates itself on the possession of a man so well qualified for his position.
EDWARD B. CARROLL, of the firm of Wilkinson & Car- roll Company, cotton factors, Memphis, Tenn., is a native of that city, having been born there in 1854. In the city schools he acquired his education, and in his early manhood embarked in the cotton business, which has been his vocation through all the subsequent years. He is a son of the late William H. Carroll. and a grandson of William Carroll, the sixth and ninth gov- ernor of Tennessee. Mr. Carroll began his business career with the old-established firm of Stewart, Gwynne & Co., cotton fac- tors and commission merchants, as a cotton salesman. During the twenty-seven years he was associated with the firm, he filled almost every position from salesman to a partnership. In 1902 he withdrew from his old associations to become a member of the newly organized firm of Wilkinson & Carroll Company. The new company soon came to occupy a high place in the Men- phis cotton trade, owing to the thoroughly business qualifications of its founders. Mr. Carroll has been honored by his business associates by being twice elected to the presidency of the Mem- phis Cotton exchange. When the firm of Wilkinson & Carroll was organized a son of Mr. Carroll, William H. Carroll, Jr., became connected with the concern as a cotton buyer. The young man soon developed the skill and ability that have marked his father's business career, and few men are better known on the cotton market than he. W. H. Carroll, Jr .. was born in Memphis in 1876. After the regular course in the city schools he learned the cotton business with his father, and now occupies the position of buyer, as already stated. Both father and son
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are men of tact, ability and sound business integrity. The son is a member of the Memphis Jockey club and belongs to Calvary Episcopal church.
ENNIS M. · DOUGLASS, secre- tary and treasurer of the Paul & Douglass Company, printers and bookbinders, Memphis, Tenn., was born at Lucy, Tenn., Oct. 23, 1877, and lived there until 1889. He ob- tained his early education in the pub- lic schools of his native town, and in the year 1889 accompanied his par- ents to Memphis, where he completed his studies. At the age of seventeen he entered the employ of the Liver- more Foundry and Machine Company, in an office position, and remained there about four years. He then accepted a position with Kingan & Co., of Indianapolis, Ind., as city salesman for their Memphis agents, but after a few months' service with the above firm he was tendered the position of chief clerk in the county register's office by Hon. Robt. F. Malone, county regis- ter, for efficient services rendered by Mr. Douglass as chairman of his campaign committee. Mr. Douglass has the distinction of being the youngest man that ever served Shelby county in the capacity of chief clerk in the above-mentioned office. He served the people most acceptably and efficiently throughout the full term of four years. In 1902 the firm of Paul & Douglass was organized and in 1903 it was incorporated, Mr. W. C. Paul being made president and Mr. Douglass secretary and treasurer. Though organized a comparatively short time. the company has made a success of its business, and has attained a prominent place in Memphis commercial circles by its promptness and high character of its work. Mr. Douglass belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen; is a member of the second Presby- terian church, the Business Men's club, Memphis Commercial association, Memphis Merchants' exchange and the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
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