USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume II > Part 5
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NOTABLE MEN OF TENNESSEE .
he was but six years old, for having repeated correctly from memory the Songs of Solomon. Always studious, he seldom took a vacation, except a day's fishing. a sport of which he was very fond, when with congenial companions. After leaving college he took up the law, and when about thirty-five years of age he came to Memphis as a member of the law firm of Watson & Craft, expecting his partner, Judge J. W. C. Wat- son, one of the best lawyers in Mississippi, to remove to Mem- phis a little later. This arrangement was never carried out, and Mr. Craft became a member of the firm of Kortrecht & Craft, his partner being Charles Kortrecht. For many years this firm occupied a prominent position in the legal annals of Tennessee. As a lawyer, Mr. Craft had few equals in the South. He was known all over that section of the country, and after the Civil war he played an important part in the set- tlement of many important cases growing out of that historic conflict. He was never a politician, but by appointment of the governor he was made one of the three judges constituting the commission of arbitration, which was established in relief of the supreme court of the state, and upon which he served with distinction for one year. Before a court or jury, he was always a pleasing speaker, though lacking in many of the little graces of the orator. His style was eloquent and forcible, carrying to his hearers the conviction that he was master of his subject. And he was. If any of the Memphis lawyers had been asked to name the most learned member of the bar, the answer would unquestionably have been: "Henry Craft." In the higher courts, where he knew he would not be misunder- stood, he was considered as able and impressive. The argu- ment made by him before the Tennessee supreme court, at Nashville, in what is known as the "100-3 case," has been pro- nounced by members of the Tennessee bar who heard it as a masterpiece of eloquence and logic. It was made without ref- erence to brief, note, or text-book, vet its profound learning and cloquent diction excited the wonder and won the admira- tion of his bearers. In Mr. Craft's nature there was perfect harmony between mental and moral forces of character. A man of strong convictions, his every act was impelled by the
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highest sense of duty. Sentimental without being impractical ; unbending in his religious faith without being Pharisaical ; moral and upright without being Puritanical, he was "a man among men." His friends knew him to be courageous and sincere, and they loved him for his courage and sincerity. Mr. Craft was married, in 1856, to Miss Ella D. Boddie, a daugh- ter of Elijah Boddie, of Sumner county. Tenn., and to this marriage were born six children, three of whom are living.
HENRY CRAFT, one of the prominent attorneys of Mem- phis. Tenn., is a son of Henry and Ella D. ( Boddie) Craft, and was born in the city where he now resides, Feb. 5, 1866. He inherited much of his taste and talents for the law from his illustrious father, and was for several years associated with him in practice under the firm name of Craft & Craft, which firmi was dissolved by the death of his father, June 24, 1894. Since then he has formed no new association, but has continued to enjoy a very fine law practice. His father was well known, practicing in all the state and Federal courts, and the son is one of the ablest attorneys at the Tennessee bar, having in recent years been connected with many of the most important cases before the courts of Western Tennessee. He has a large corporation clientage, and enjoys the reputation of possessing sound business judgment as well as accurate legal and profes- sional learning. As a result of this happy combination of attributes, he has not only attained eminence at the bar, but has accumulated sufficient fortune to make him an important factor in a number of business enterprises. Mr. Craft has no political aspirations, preferring the more congenial labor of his noble profession. In his tastes he is domestic, fond of the country and of those things pertaining to a simple country life. He is a well-rounded, well-balanced character -- one of those who can be positive without being offensive-thus com- manding the respect and winning the good-will of all his acquaintances. It is predicted that he will stand at the head of the Memphis bar. a position which was for many years unanimously accorded to his honored father. Mr. Craft was married, in 1891, to Margaret Emma Galloway, daughter of
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C. B. Galloway, of Memphis, and to this union have been born four children: Charlotte O., Margaret E., Henry and Ellen D. It is Mr. Craft's ambition that his son Henry, now five years of age, may live to be a lawyer, thus making the third attorney of the name.
JAMES H. MALONE, a well- known attorney, of Memphis, Tenn., was born in Limestone county, Ala., in October, 1851. Eight years later his parents moved to DeSoto county, Miss., thirteen miles from Memphis, where he was reared and where he received the rudiments of his educa- tion. In 1872 he graduated from the law department of Cumberland univer- sity, and came to Memphis, where he opened an office a year later, and has since practiced law in that city. For twenty-eight years he has occupied the same office. His brother, Walter Malone, became his partner in 1887. Mr. Malone has always taken great interest in politics -- not for himself, but for others. He was a leader in the movement for a constitutional convention in Tennessee, which was submitted to a popular vote in 1897, and, though defeated, the movement was productive of many reforms throughout the state. In 1893 he was the chief counsel for Judge Julius J. DuBose in a celebrated impeach- ment trial before the state senate, lasting over one month. In 1894 he was president of the State Bar association. He was a candidate for the supreme court in 1901, but was defeated. His abilities, both natural and cultivated, entitle him to the high distinction which he enjoys as a lawyer. Equipped as he is with a keenly balanced and logical mind, and an alert perception, he possesses an exquisite judgment of rare value to one in this profession. But it is not merely in his profes- sional capacity that Mr. Malone is especially efficient and con- spicuous. He is an astute observer of men and events, and absorbs his environment as a plant does the dew. He is in
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touch with the world's progress and a close investigator of advancements in industry and the sciences, as well as in the , esthetics of life. A man of affairs, he is ever ready to aid in the promotion of the welfare of the community of which he forms a part. He is a just man, who respects the rights, feel- ings, tastes, and even prejudices of others. In this catholic spirit he fulfills as nearly as any human can that great com- mandment: "Love thy neighbor as thyself." But the brightest leaf in the chaplet which this man so worthily wears is the one which his home life presents. Here, peace and love, the ele- ments which charm and sweeten the atmosphere of home, and bring contentment to the struggling masses of the world, are household gods. Ile is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and observes the tenets of his religion in his conduct and in all his dealings and associations with his fellow-men.
CARRICK WHITE HEISKELL, attorney, of Memphis, Tenn., was born on a farm in Knox county, Tenn .. ten miles west of Knoxville, July 25, 1836. He lived there until thirteen years of age, attending the public schools, and then went to the University of Tennessee, at Knoxville, where he remained for two years, Icaving there to enter Maryville col- lege, at Maryville, Blount county, Tenn., from which he graduated in 1855. For the next three years he taught in the county acad- emy, at Rogersville, and then read law with his brother, Joseph! B. Heiskell. being admitted to practice in 1857. He located in Rogersville, where he remained until 1861. When the war commenced he enlisted in Company K, Nineteenth Tennessee Confederate infantry, and served until the end, surrendering at Greensboro. N. C. He rose through the grades to the rank of colonel. being in command of the regiment when hostilities ceased. Among the engagements in which he took part were Wild Cat. Barboursville, Fishing Creek, Corinth and vicinity,
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Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, Chickamauga, Hood's retreat to Demopolis, Ala., and Bentonville, N. C. At Chickamauga he received a wound in the right foot which kept him out of service until December, 1864, when he rejoined his regiment on Duck river, Tenn. General Strahl, then Major Heiskell's brig- ade commander, in his report of the operations of his brigade in the battle of Chickamauga, says, with regard to the subject of this sketch: "Most of the field officers on my right were dismounted by having their horses shot under them, and Major Heiskell, of the Nineteenth Tennessee regiment, a very gallant officer, was severely wounded in the foot." After the war. he selected Memphis as a field for the renewal of his law prac- tice. In 1870 he was elected circuit judge of Shelby county, and held the position for eight years. At the close of his term, he was selected as city attorney for Memphis, holding the posi- tion from 1878 until 1882, and while in that office he defended all the taxing district litigation in a signally successful manner. Retiring from the office with an excellent record, he renewed general practice, and has followed it continually since. Judge Heiskell is a member and elder of the Second Presbyterian church, of Memphis. Col. Josiah Patterson, a brother attorney of the Memphis bar, says of him: "Judge Heiskell was born in Eastern Tennessee, where his father was an old and hon- ored citizen. About the time Judge Heiskell finished his edu- cation, the war broke out, and he entered the Confederate serv- ice. He rose by force of merit to the rank of colonel, and was conspicuous throughout the war for gallantry. At the close, he located at Memphis and commenced the practice of law. After the adoption of the constitution of 1870, he became a candidate for circuit judge and was elected, serving eight years and giving great satisfaction to the bar and to the com- munity. He has always sustained a reputation for decided force of character, unalterable in his convictions, and never hesitating to give expression thereto. He never trims on any proposition, and is always forceful and direct in all his methods."
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RT. REV. THOMAS FRANK GAILOR, bishop of the diocese of Tennessee, with Memphis as his of- ficial residence, was born in Jackson, Miss .. Sept. 17, 1856, and is the son of Maj. Frank M. and Charlotte (Moffett) Gailor. His father was born in Western New York, Nov. 17, 1833: moved to Mississippi when a boy: in 1854 became the editor of a paper in Jackson; three years later he accepted a position on the Memphis Avalanche, with which he was connected when the war broke out; enlisted in the Confederate service under his friend, Gen. William Carroll; was appointed captain and assistant quar- termaster of the Seventh regiment in October, 1861; soon after was promoted to the rank of major and made quarter- master of Carroll's brigade of Crittenden's division. Upon Carroll's retirement, Major Gailor was made quartermaster of Wither's division, which position he held at the time of his death at the battle of Perryville, Oct. 8, 1862. He declined at all times to avail himself of the exemption afforded by his position as quartermaster, and insisted on going into every fight. At Shiloh. Corinth and Munfordville he fought with distinguished gallantry. His executive ability made him in . valuable to that department, and it was only by threatening to resign that he was allowed to go into the battle at Perry- ville, where he was especially conspicuous on the firing line. and it was while leading the successful charge of a regiment. which he had rallied from disorder, that he was killed, a ball passing through his heart. Major Gailor was married, in 1855, at Jackson, Miss., to Charlotte Moffett, of a prominent Irish family, one of whom, a cousin, is Sir Thomas Moffett, president of Queen's college, Galway, Ireland. Of their four children, but one. Bishop Gailor, survives the father. Bishop Gailor received his early education in Memphis, under such men as Dr. Richard Hines, Prof. A. G. Brown, T. M. S. Rhett and Prof. Carey Anderson. In 1873 he entered Racine col-
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lege, Racine, Wis., where the then celebrated Dr. James DeKoven was president, and graduated with honors from that institution in 1876. The same year he entered the General Theological seminary of the Episcopal church, in New York City, and was graduated from there in 1879, having won the Greck prize and being awarded the degree of Bachelor of Sacred Theology. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Quin- tard at Columbia, Tenn., the same year, and took charge of the Church of Pulaski, where he remained three years. In 1882 he was elected professor of ecclesiastical history in the University of the South, at Sewanee, and was made chaplain of the university in the following year. In 1890 he was elected vice-chancellor and executive head of the institution, to succeed Dr. Telfair Hodgson. Although repeatedly given calls from parishes in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, he felt that the cause of higher education in the South made it imperative upon him to remain in the field in which he has passed these years. In 1892 he was elected Bishop of Georgia, but declined to accept it on the ground that the university was passing through a crisis which made it impossible for him to leave his post. In 1893 he was elected coadjutor and successor to Bishop Quintard of Tennessee. His personal friendship and devotion to Bishop Quintard, and the unanimous vote by which he was chosen, decided him to accept, and he was con- secrated bishop in July of that year. He moved to Memphis, the see-city of the diocese, and has since made that his home, though spending the summers at Sewanee, where he is near the institution he loves so well. Columbia college conferred the degree of D. D. upon him in 1892, and he has also received similar degrees from Trinity college, of Hartford, Conn., the General Theological seminary, New York, and the University of the South. Bishop Gailor married Miss Ellen Douglas Cunningham, daughter of George W. Cunningham, of Nash- ville, Tenn., a distinguished officer of the Confederate army, bearing the commission of major, and they have four children.
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E. ELDRIDGE WRIGHT, mem- ber of the law firm of Wright, Peters & Wright, of Memphis, Tenn., was born in Mobile, Ala., July 25. 1871, but has always resided in Memphis. Tenn., which for generations has been the home of the Wright family. Mr. Wright comes of distinguished an- cestry, being the grandson of Judge Archibald Wright, of the supreme court of Tennessee, and also of Ad- miral Raphael Semmes, C. S. A., who - resided in Mobile, Ala .. while his father, Gov. Luke E. Wright, who is the senior member of the firm of Wright, Peters & Wright, is at present governor-general of the Philippine Islands. The subject of this sketch received his primary edu- cation in Memphis, was prepared for college at Bingham's school, North Carolina, and entered the academic department of the University of Virginia in 1886. After graduating in several of the schools of this university, Mr. Wright gradu- ated in the law school of the University of Virginia, with the degree of B. L., in 1892, taking the full course in one year, which is considered quite an honor at that celebrated uni- versity. Returning to Memphis, he became a member of the firm of Turley & Wright. the senior member of which firn was Thomas B. Turley. In 1895, Mr. Turley having become United States senator, the firm of Wright & Wright was formed. and later, upon the departure of Governor Wright for the Philippines, the firm became Wright, Peters & Wright. Mr. Wright. upon the declaration of war against Spain, at once volunteered, and became second major of the Fourth Tennessee. U. S. V. At the close of hostilities Mr. Wright returned to his profession, and has been eminently successful in his practice. He is the general attorney of the Memphis Street Railway Company and the Memphis Consolidated Gas and Electric Company. division counsel for the Rock Island system, and represents other interests, such as the Memphis Artesian Water department, the Cumberland Telephone and
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Telegraph Company, and several insurance companies, while during the last few years he has been employed by several of the different railroad interests centering in Memphis to repre- sent them specially in large cases. Mr. Wright is greatly interested in the upbuilding of the South, and especially of the territory surrounding Memphis, and to that end has found time to fill the duties of president of the Union Land and Improve- ment Company, one of the large land companies of the South- west. Mr. Wright is a director in the Mercantile bank, one of the large financial institutions of Memphis, as well as the Commercial-Appeal, one of the great newspapers of the South. In the social life of Memphis Mr. Wright takes a great inter- est, being a member of the Tennessee club, while he is also a director of the New Memphis Jockey club. In fraternal circles he gives allegiance to the Masons and to the Alpha Kappa Epsilon college fraternity. In politics. Major Wright is a Democrat. being at present chairman of the Democratic execu- tive committee of Memphis.
WILLIAM D. ROBERTS, presi- dent of the Roberts Cotton Oil Con- pany, general manager of the Rich- mond Cotton Oil Company, president of the Broadway Coal and Ice Com- pany and the Memphis News Publish- ing Company, all of Memphis. Tenn., is, as may be imagined, one of the busy men of that enterprising city. He was born in Dyersburg, Tenn., Nov. 12, 1848. He grew to man- hood in Dyersburg, where he received a common school education, and at the age of eighteen years he entered the merchandizing and cotton business in that place. in company with his father, J. E. Roberts, and was also engaged in manufacturing staves at Dyersburg and built an oil mill there. He moved to Chattanooga in 1891, and in 1894 organized the Chattanooga Cotton Oil Company, later known as the Richmond Cotton Oil Company. He also built a mill
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at Chattanooga. He was the vice-president and general manager of the Chattanooga Cotton Oil Company, and when it was merged with (or into) the Richmond Cotton Oil Con- pany Mr. Roberts was made general manager of the new corporation. When the company built a mill in Memphis, Mr. Roberts went there to look after the interests of the company. and has lived there since 1899. The other companies with which he is connected have been organized since he became a resident of Memphis. Mr. Roberts is a business man of unusual capacity, as is evidenced by the remarkable success which has attended every venture in which he has been inter- ested. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, the Cotton exchange and the Merchants' exchange, but has no connection with any other organization outside of business interests, and does not take any part in politics.
MARYE B. TREZEVANT, one of the leading lawyers of Memphis, Tenn., was born in that city, Aug. 2S, 1846. His paternal ancestors were Huguenots, who were among the early settlers of South Carolina. His grandfather and great-grandfather were both surgeons in the American army during the Revolutionary war. His mother was a Miss Louisa Beattie, a native of Virginia. M. B. Trezevant received his primary edu- cation in the Memphis schools, and was just about to enter the University of Virginia when the Civil war came and upset his plans. Like many other patriotic young Southerners, he heard the call of duty, and enlisted as a private in Company A, Fourth Tennessee infantry. His regiment was mustered into the Confederate service on Aug. 19, 1861, and before the close of the year he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and assigned to duty with a company in the Fortieth Tennes- see. He was with his command at Island No. 10 and at New Madrid, in the spring of 1862. When General Pope made
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his descent upon the Confederate encampment, on the night of March 3rd, of that year, Lieutenant Trezevant, by his recognition of the voice of Col. O. F. Strahl, of the Fourth Tennessee, and his prompt and decisive action, saved the Con- federate army from what threatened to be a complete annihila- tion. After some months along the Mississippi river, with only now and then a slight skirmish, he was transferred to the ordnance department at Columbus, Miss. From there he was sent to Charleston, S. C., and a little later to the arsenal. at Columbia, where he served to the close of the war, and was paroled there in April, 1865. Although but nineteen years of age when the war closed, his record as a soldier is without a blemish. If, in his boyish love for his parents, he grew homesick at times, he smothered the feeling and turned his face to the enemy, ready to do or die for his cause. After the war, he returned to Memphis and took a position in the office of a coal dealer, but after a few months there he became asso- ciated with his father in the real estate business. Here he con- tinued for several years, devoting all his spare time to the study of law. In 1870 he was licensed to practice by Chan- cellor Smith, with whom he formed a partnership some years afterward. Mr. Trezevant soon acquired a reputation for dili- gence, carefulness and ability that gave him an honorable standing at the Memphis bar and placed him on the highway to professional success. His practice has extended to the courts of Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi, as well as to the Federal courts. He has a large clientage, and is one of the successful attorneys of Tennessee and the South. Early in his professional life he realized the truth of the old adage, "There is no excellence without great labor." and during his entire career he has been an unremitting worker. In the body politic, he takes a commendable interest in all those things that conduce to the public good, and has always preserved an unim- peachable name in the law, in business and in politics. Several years ago he was confirmed into the Episcopal church by Bishop Quintard, and has become a potent factor in the coun- cils of the diocese of Tennessee and a member of the standing committee. Mr. Trezevant was married. in 1865. to Miss Sue
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K. Simmons, of Charleston, S. C., and they have six children living. His home life has been unruffled by discords. and. hand-in-hand, he and his companion are journeying down life's pathway to that green old age where they can enjoy in peace and quietude the fruits of their labors in earlier years.
OWEN LILLY, president and manager of the Lilly Carriage Com- pany, Memphis, Tenn., was born near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Prov- ince of Ulster, Ireland, in 1837. While quite young his parents emi- grated to America, selecting Ten- nessce as the objective point for their home, and at the present time are remembered by many of Tennessee's oldest citizens as being prominent among pioneer Memphians. After re- ceiving his school education, being of a decidedly mechanical turn of mind, he readily mastered in detail the art of carriage- making in its many intricacies, including drawing and drafting to a scale. At that time the use of machinery in carriage- - making was unknown, and the true artisan of such a calling was one who perfected himself thoughtfully, and was not a mere machine hand. In 1862, after the capture of Memphis. Mr. Lilly joined the Confederate army, and, as there was immediate demand for men of mechanical tendencies, he was : then assigned to the ordnance department. He was paroled at Macon, Ga., after the surrender of General Lee, having served with credit, and at the close of hostilities returned to his native town to take up his chosen career anew. In 1867 he started in the carriage manufacturing business in a modest way. Pos- sessing a thorough knowledge of his business and persevering, characteristic tendencies essential for a successful business career, from time to time he has enlarged his manufacturing plant, so that today he stands at the head of one of the fore- most industries of its kind in the South, and is considered pre- eminent among her most progressive industrial men. With his
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years of experience in times of peace and war, he has always been a strong advocate of the manufacturing industries of his section of the country, which, in accordance with his ideas, are not pushed with the energy and zeal that would render them most effectually beneficial to the Southern people. Mr. Lilly has several times been elected vice-president of the National Carriage-Makers' association, which position he holds at pres- ent, and it is with pleasure that we voice some of the views of successful business men of Mr. Lilly's type, who, by their knowledge and ability, have contributed so much to the in- dustrial growth of the South.
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