USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee. Personal and genealogical, with portraits, Volume II > Part 9
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of health, and was given control of the burial of paupers. In all these places his strict observance of duty and his ready obedience to the orders of his superiors marked him for pro- motion, and in October after his appointment he was made a sergeant. In June, 1879. he was promoted to the rank of cap- tain, and held this position until March, 1904, when he was appointed chief of detectives. Mr. O'Haver's long experience in dealing with the criminal classes has given him superb quali- fications for the position of chief, in which he has the entire confidence of his superiors and the respect of the men under his charge. With such a relationship, it is not difficult to estab- lish a discipline and maintain a system that will reduce the law- lessness and disorder of the city of Memphis to a minimum. Mr. O'Haver is a Master Mason in good standing, and a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, but belongs to no church or club. He is one of those whom no one, once hav- ing met him, need have any hesitancy in approaching a second time. Always ready to listen to the evidence before he con- demns, his discrimination adds to his power as a detective, while his courage makes him one to whom law-breakers give a wide berth.
DAVID W. DEHAVEN, one of the best-known young attorneys of Memphis, Tenn., was born at Ox- ford, Miss., Oct. 26, 1871. In 1877 · his parents moved to Boonville, Mo., where he grew to manhood and was educated, his primary education be- ing secured in the public schools, and his higher education at Kemper col- lege, in that city, from which he grad- uated, in 1891, at the age of twenty. Having a bent for the law, he en- tered the office of Hon. John Cosgrove, member of Congress. as a student, and in 1892 went to Memphis, where he con- tinued his studies in the office of his uncle, B. M. Estes, now deceased. and was admitted to the bar the same fall. He has
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practiced there ever since, meeting with merited success. Mr. DeHaven takes an interest in politics, and enters into the delib- erations of the Democratic party, where his judgment and enthusiasm frequently serve as a guide or an inspiration to his party associates. He was a delegate to the convention which nominated "Bob" Taylor for governor the last time that well- known official was a candidate. Mr. DeHaven is a member and vestryman of St. Luke's Episcopal church, of Memphis.
RICE A. PIERCE, a prominent lawyer and Democratic politician of Union City, Tenn., and the present representative of the ninth district in Congress, was born on a farm in Weak- ley county, of that state, July 3, 1849. His early education was obtained in the common schools, and, although but a boy, when the Civil war began he entered the Confederate service as a member of the Eighth Tennessee cavalry, where he bravely did his part until captured in an engagement near Jackson, Tenn., in 1864. He was held a prisoner until after the close of hos- tilities, and when released took up the study of law in the office of Judge Edward Coingland, of Halifax, N. C. In July, 1868, he was licensed by the supreme court of that state to practice, and shortly afterward located in Union City. From 1874 to 1883 he was the attorney-general of the twelfth judi- cial circuit. In I878 he was elected to this office for a full term of eight years. but resigned to accept a seat in the Forty- eighth Congress, to which he had been nominated and elected by the Democrats of his district in 1882. Since then he has served in the Fifty-first. Fifty-second, Fifty-fifth, Fifty-sixth, Fifty-seventh and Fifty-eighth Congresses. being elected to the last named in 1902, when he defeated the Republican candi- date by a vote of nearly five to one. Mr. Pierce was married. in April, 1873. to Miss Mary Hunter, of Hamburg, Mo.
AUGUSTUS F. DICKSON, of Newbern, Tenn., one of the best-known merchants in Dyer county, was born in Wil- liamson county, Tenn., in the year 1832. His parents, Thomas and Jane (Moore) Dickson, were both natives of North Caro- lina. His grandfather, whose name was also Thomas, was born
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in Lincoln county. N. C., in 1791, his ancestors being among the Scotch-Irish emigrants to this country before the Revolu- tion. Some of the maternal ancestors were among the signers of the Mecklenburg declaration of independence. Augustus Dickson was educated in Gibson county, and began his busi- ness career as a clerk in a store. When the war between the states commenced he and another clerk in the establishment laid aside their yardsticks and took up arms on behalf of the Confederate cause. His first battle was at Belmont, with General Polk, was next at Shiloh, where he was severely wounded in the right leg and lay on the battlefield for two days and a night. He was then taken to Corinth and sent home. After the war, he again engaged in mercantile pursuits. On Nov. 29, 1866. he was married to Laura A. Mccutcheon, a daughter of John D. Mccutcheon. Mr. Dickson takes a com- mendable interest in everything that has a tendency to elevate the moral, intellectual or material interests of the people. He is regarded as one of the most prominent and public-spirited men of his county, enjoys a large patronage because of his well-known reputation for fair dealing, and is a man of the strictest integrity.
WM. ARMSTRONG PERCY, at- torney, of Memphis, Tenn., was born in Washington county, Miss., Jan. 24. 1863, where his father was a farmer. He attended the country schools in his earlier years, entered the Uni- versity of the South, at Sewanee, Tenn., and in 1882 graduated with the degree of M.A. He then en- tered the law department of the Uni- versity of Virginia, from which he graduated in 1884. In the following January he located in Memphis and opened a law office, and has practiced there continuously from that time to the present. Politics have little attraction for him, and he takes very little part in political affairs. He affiliates with the Episcopal church.
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but belongs to no secret order, although a man of fine social qualities and charitable instincts.
JAMES NAPOLEON FALLS was born in Macon, Tenn., in 1841, his parents coming to Memphis soon after. He attended school in Mem- phis and at Yellow Sulphur Springs, (). In 1861 he enlisted with the Bluff City Grays, an independent company, the organization afterward becoming Company B, 154th senior regiment of Tennessee. Two years later the com- pany was mounted and transferred to Forrest's brigade, with which he remained until the end of the war. Mr. Falls was engaged at Belmont, Shiloh, Perryville, Chickamauga, Murfreesboro, Nashi - ville and Franklin, as well as in many minor engagements. He was wounded at Shiloh, and captured at Murfreesboro, escaping two months later from Jeffersonville. At the close of the war he was paroled at Gainesville, Ala., and rode his horse back to Memphis. His father, Gilbreath Falls, was one of the earliest cotton buyers in Memphis, and his firm, Falls & Cash, were not only extensive domestic buyers, but among the pioneers in buying for foreign export. The son became identified with the firm in 1865, and in 1871 was admitted as a partner. When the Merchants' Cotton Press and Storage Company was formed, in which he took a consider- able interest, with a capital of $1.500.000, he was elected presi- cent of the organization, and is also president of the Dixie Cotton Oil Company, of Little Rock, Ark. He was one of the pioneers of the cotton-seed oil industry, having built a mill at Friar's Point, Miss., in 1873, and a large mill (the Valley Oil Mill) in Memphis, being its president for a number of years. He then turned its management over to his two sons, Lawson and J. W. Falls. In 1892 he organized the Falls Grocery Com- pany. and in June, 1900. he virtually retired from business, but retained his interests in the companies with which he was con-
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nected, and continues to exercise some supervision, as a director and officer, over most of them. Mr. Falls has at all times been an active worker for the advancement of Memphis, and has been recognized from his carliest years as an energetic, far- sighted man. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church.
ELIAS LOWENSTEIN, one of the firm of B. Lowenstein & Brothers, wholesale and retail dealers in dry- goods, Memphis, Tenn., has demon- strated his right to the claim of being one of the foremost business men of the great South. He is a native of Hesse-Darinstadt, Germany, having been born in that country in 1835. In 1854 he came to America, and from New Orleans, where he landed, he proceeded direct to Memphis, where he arrived with 35 cents in his pocket. Commencing as a salesman, he so continued until 1860, when he and his two brothers opened a retail store in a room 17x75 feet. From this modest beginning, the firm of B. Lowenstein & Brothers has grown to be the largest wholesale and retail store in Mem- phis, the business having extended until it amounts to $6,000,- 000 annually. Mr. Lowenstein is not only one of the most active members of this company, but he is a stockholder and di- rector in both the Bank of Commerce and in the Memphis National bank. He is also a stockholder and director in the Factors Insurance Company and in the Pioneer Cotton Mill. Having lived in Memphis for half a century, Mr. Lowenstein feels that there is only one place for him, and that is the splen- did city which he calls home and for which he has given his best efforts since he entered her hospitable gates. Wealthy in friends, associations and purse, he is thoroughly identified with Memphis and her interests, and will pass his days with the people with whom he has lived so long. He is of the Jewish faith and is high in the councils of his church, being at one time
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president of the Congregational Children of Israel, and con- nected with several benevolent and social organizations, both Jewish and Christian. He was married, in 1864, to Miss Babette Wolf, of Memphis, and to this union were born five daughters and a son. Mrs. Lowenstein died, April 13, 1887, at the age of forty-six. Mr. Lowenstein is a member of the B'nai B'rith and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
HARVEY H. HANNAH, adjutant-general of Tennessee, was born in Louisville, Ky., in August, 1868. In 1872 his parents returned to their old plantation home in Anderson county, Tenn. Here Harvey lived until 1880, moving in that year to Oliver Springs, in the same county. After some years in the country schools, he went to Cartersville, Ga., where two years were passed in a private school, followed by a year in the Georgia Agricultural college, at Dahlonega. In 1887 he entered the University of Tennessee, graduated in law therefrom in 1891, and was admitted to the bar in the same year. Forming a partnership with Judge B. K. Young, he commenced practicing at Clinton, Tenn., but a year later went to Oliver Springs, and opened an office there. He was appointed United States commissioner in 1893, holding that place until 1896, when he. resigned to become presidential elector on the Democratic ticket. In 1897 he was appointed pri- vate secretary to Gov. Robert L. Taylor, which position he held until 1898, when he resigned to become lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Tennessee volunteers and in November of that year went to Cuba, where he remained for about five months. Dur- ing the campaign in Cuba the regiment was divided, and he was sent to Sanela Spiritus, in command of six companies. He was appointed military governor by Gen. John Brooke, which posi- tion he held until his return to the United States in April, 1899. and in May, he was mustered out at Savannah, Ga. A year's illness followed, but in 1900 he was restored to health suffi- ciently to permit him to take the stump for the Democratic ticket. At the close of the campaign he resumed the practice of law at Oliver Springs. In 1902, at the request of the Dem- ocratic national committee. he stumped the state of Maine,
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speaking from Bar Harbor to Bangor. While thus engaged. he was nominated for Congress in the second district of Tennessee, a district with a usual Republican majority of 18,000 to 19,000 votes. Colonel Hannah held joint debates with his opponent. Henry R. Gibson, for twenty-eight days, and greatly reduced the majority. In January. 1903, he was appointed to his pres- ent position by Governor Frazier. He is a Presbyterian, a member of the Masonic fraternity, Knights of Pythias, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and has served as junior vice-commander of the Spanish-American War Veterans of Tennessee.
FRANK M. GUTHRIE, of Mem- phis, Tenn., is the youngest son of the late Rev. Robert Guthrie, a Meth- odist minister, who was a native Ten- nesseean. The son was born in DeSoto county, Miss., near Memphis. Nov. 22, 1868. While he was quite young, his father removed to Arkan- sas, but only remained a few years, when he returned to Memphis. While yet a boy of fifteen, young Guthrie was employed by the H. Wetter Man- ufacturing Company, until he was forced to abandon his work. on account of injuries to his lower limbs, received in child- hood, which finally necessitated the amputation of both. He was then about nineteen years of age, with only a limited education, but he had indomitable industry, and a determination to succeed in spite of his misfortune. He attended school and took up the study of shorthand and typewriting, and after four months he had sufficiently mastered this profession to hold im- portant positions in the circuit and chancery court clerks' offices. and in 1891 he entered the office of Smith & Trezevant, law- yers, as stenographer, typewriter and notary, and read law at odd times. He was soon known as an expert operator on the typewriter, and was able to take depositions direct on the ma- chine, without requiring the use of shorthand, operating his
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machine with case, without looking at the key-board. 1894 he was advised by his friends to make the race for magis- trate, and after a spirited campaign was elected for a term of six years. He continued in the office of Smith & Trezevant for several months after he was elected, and in January, 1895. was admitted to the bar to practice in all the courts. In May, 1895. he opened an office as justice of the peace, on Madison street, receiving civil business principally, and in 1900 he was re-elected to office by a vote larger than that of his opponents combined. He still has his office on Madison street, and during this time he has tried about 20,000 civil cases, and the majority of his decisions have been upheld by the appellate courts. He has been prominent and active in the discharge of his duties as a member of the county court, contending at all times for what he believed to be the best interests of his constituents, and is generally known as one of the watch-dogs of the county treasury. Mr. Guthrie has been successful in his business un- dertakings, and is a prominent member of the Business Men's club, of Memphis. He has always taken an active part in both state and county politics, having been elected delegate several times to county and state conventions, and is always in touch with the mass of the people and knows the political stiuation of his party. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a member and deacon in the Third Presbyterian church of Memphis, Tenn.
STODDERT CARUTHERS, late of Jackson, Tenn., one of the leading attorneys at the Madison county bar, was born in that city, Feb. 21, 1845, his parents being James and Frances (McCorry) Caruthers. His father was educated for the law, but never followed that profession. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his father. Joseph Caruthers, the grandfather of Stoddert, was with Washington during the Revolution, being present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, which practically closed the struggle for independence. With such antecedents. it was natural that he should become a soldier in the Confed- crate army during the Civil war. When hostilities commenced he was a student at the West Tennessee college, but laid aside
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his books to join a company of boys, the oldest one in the con- pany being the captain, John S. Groves, who was but nineteen years of age. This company was made Company G, Ninth Tennessee cavalry, and assigned to Forrest's brigade. The regi- ment remained with Forrest until after the battle of Chick- amauga, when it was transferred to Wheeler's command, and it served there until ordered to report to General Martin for de- tached duty in Eastern Tennessee. During the Atlanta can- paign young Caruthers was with Kelly's brigade, and was later again under Forrest in the military operations about Franklin and Nashville. After the final surrender at Gainesville, Ala., in May, 1865. he returned home and entered the law department of Cumberland university, from which he graduated in June, 1867. Since then Mr. Caruthers won an honorable name for himself in the legal profession and attained a wide influence as a citizen. He never ceased to be a student, and few attorneys in his section of the state were better equipped to enter into the trial of a difficult case. In 1888 he was appointed attorney- general for the eleventh judicial circuit, where he made a record as an efficient, conscientious and courageous official. As a coun- selor he was always conservative, never advising his clients to go to law unless he was almost certain that they had a good cause; as an advocate he was earnest and energetic, his argu- ments rarely failing to have the desired effect on the court or jury; and as judge of law he was fully conversant with all the leading authorities, which made his opinions worth observing. In private life he was a genial, affable gentleman, always ready to assist any worthy charity or to further any movement for the good of the general public.
JAMES WESLEY DURHAM, attorney, Memphis, Tenn., was born at Danville, Ky., Dec. 15. 1854. His father, Milton J. Durham, was born in Mercer county, Ky., May 16, 1824, reared in that state, and graduated from Asbury (now De- Pauw) university, at Greencastle. Ind., in the class of 1844. He followed this with a course in the Louisville Law school, from which. he received his diploma in 1846. Among his class- mates were the Hon. Michael C. Kerr. afterward a speaker of
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the national house of representatives. He opened a law office at Danville, Ky., practicing until 1862, when he was appointed circuit court judge of his district, but after serving three years, he resumed his practice. In 1872 he was elected to Congress from the eighth district, and was twice re-elected. In 1876 lie was elected grand sire of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and is now the oldest living past grand sire in the world. In April, 1885, he was appointed first comptroller of the United States treasury, and served four years, during Cleveland's first administration. In 1889 he went to Lexington, Ky., organized the Central bank, of Lexington, and was its cashier from that time to 1901. The grandfather of the subject of this sketch was John D. Durham, a native of Virginia and a pioneer in Kentucky. James W. Durham was educated at Centre college. in Danville, graduating in 1873. He entered the Louisville Law school, from which he was graduated in 1874, taking two courses in one, and returned to Danville, where he entered into partnership with his father, Hon. Milton J. Durham. at that time member of Congress from the eighth Kentucky district. This partnership continued until Jan. 1, 1886, when he was appointed deputy surveyor of customs at Louisville, Ky., under John T. Gathright, and continued in that position for four years, under Cleveland's first administration. In March, 1888. he was elected colonel of the First regiment, Uniform rank. Knights of Pythias, and held that position until 1891, when he removed to Memphis, Tenn., where he has since practiced his profession. In 1901 he was elected to the legislature from Shelby county for two years; served on the judiciary committee. on a special committee for the redistricting of the state, and on the special committee to visit the charitable institutions of the state. Mr. Durham is an ardent Democrat, and takes an active part in politics. In 1880 he was a delegate to the Demo- cratic national convention, which met at Cincinnati and nom- inated Hancock and English. He was a delegate from Boyle county, Ky., to all state, district and county conventions from the time he was eighteen years of age.
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JOSEPH W. BUCHANAN, at- torney, of Memphis, Tenn., is a na- tive of North Carolina, having been born in Chatham county, of that state. His parents soon after moved to Chickasaw county, Miss., where he passed his early life. He received his primary education in the schools near his home, and in 1860 graduated from the University of Mississippi. He enlisted in the Chickasaw Guards on Jan. 10, 1861, and accompanied. them to Pensacola, Fla., where he remained about one month. In April the Guards were sent to Virginia, where they were as- signed to the Eleventh Mississippi infantry, being Company H of that organization. Mr. Buchanan served as a private until the following August, when he was honorably discharged for physical disability.
Returning to his home in Mississippi, he · raised a company in Chickasaw county, which became Company H of the Twenty-fourth Mississippi infantry, and he was elected its captain, serving as such until August, 1864, when he was left on the field as mortally wounded, at Jonesboro, Ga., and cap- tured by the Federal troops. A few days later he was recaptured by the Confederates and sent to the hospital at Cuthbert, Ga., where he remained until November, 1865, when he returned to his Mississippi home, where for four years he was an invalid from the injuries received at Jonesboro. He was with his com- mand at Perryville, Ky., Murfreesboro, Tenn., and from Dalton to Atlanta, besides numerous skirmishes of a minor nature. In 1868 he was admitted to practice law, and located at Hous- ton, Miss. Two years later he removed to Okolona, where he continued to practice until 1888, when he located at Memphis. where he has remained. . . Judge Buchanan has had much ex- perience, not only in the law, but in legislative duties. He was a member of the Mississippi legislature from 1880 to 1884. being twice elected. In the latter part of 1882 he was appointed judge of the first judicial district of Mississippi, by Gov. Robert Lowry, and served in that position until March 1, 1887. when
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he resigned to become attorney for the Kansas City, Memphis &. Birmingham Railroad Company, with headquarters at Mem- phis. He is also local attorney for the Postal Telegraph and Cable Company. Always loyal to the memory of his cause, he takes much interest in his comrades in arms, and served for two years as commander of General Walthall's Veteran Legion. He was reared in the Presbyterian faith, is a Knight Templar Mason, a Knight of Pythias, and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The following is a tribute from Gen. Stephen D. Lee, of Mississippi : "Judge Buchanan, in his mili- tary record, is an illustration of the heroic spirit which pervade:1 the South in its great struggle for constitutional liberty, and displays in his maimed body that fortitude peculiar to his people. a fortitude which never yielded to adverse conditions. In his civil career he bent every energy to the upbuilding of his des- olated land, showing that determination and resolve which were exhibited by the Southern people everywhere after the heroic days of 1861 to 1865. thus showing themselves even greater amid unsurpassed gloomy political conditions than when engaged in battle. As a lawyer he exemplifies his all-round and varied talents to fill well and ably every honor and duty devolved upon him; always holding the confidence of his associates at the bar and of those high in official positions who sought his skill as a practitioner. Promotion after promotion has been his just reward. From boyhood to mature manhood he was always the genial, courteous, accomplished gentleman and companion, which was a great factor in his uniform and gradual success in life."
RICHARD D. JORDAN, of Memphis, Tenn., attorney-at- law and referee in bankruptcy for the western division of the western district of Tennessee, was born in Hampton, Va .. in 1844. He is the son of Rix Jordan, a native of Virginia. having been reared near Richmond, where he was a successful merchant and one of the prominent citizens of his day. His wife was Sarah Banks, daughter of Maj. G. D. Banks, a dis- tinguished lawyer of Yorktown, Va. They removed to Essex county. Va., and later to Hampton, near Fort Monroe, where both died. Their remains lie entombed in the cemetery of
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