Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee, Part 113

Author: Speer, William S
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Nashville, A. B. Tavel
Number of Pages: 1278

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The war over, he remained in Washington county, Virginia. Early in 1869 he went to Knoxville, and did a commisssion business there two years, then re- turned to Jonesborough, looking after his interests there. Under Brownlow's administration he was sued for an aggregate of three hundred and ninety thou- sand dollars for imaginary grievances of Union men, all his property being levied upon, and he, besides, indieted for treason in the State and United States courts. It took him ten years to get out of these suits, but he finally did get out without loss, except lawyers' fees and personal expenses. Judge Deaderick was re- tained as his counsel until he went on the Supreme bench of Tennessee and became chief justice, and it was under his able and skillful management that Gen. Jack - son recovered his property. Against the advice of some of his best friends, to give up everything and begin life anew, he was determined to save his property, for which he had labored so hard for forty years, Judge Deaderick stood by him to the last, and finally brought him through, and his estate was saved. His life has been that of a trader, farmer and merchant, all con- centrated in one line, and his property now consists of houses and lots and lands in six counties, amounting in all to some ten thousand acres.

In 1872, he had an opportunity to show his gratitude, and he was not slow to do so. In that year he was a member of the judiciary convention that assembled at Nashville to nominate candidates for Supreme judges, and in that convention, and prior to it, he worked zeal- ously to elevate his old friend, Judge Deaderick, to the Supreme bench.

The Bristol (Tem.), News, of July, 1873, contains an interview of its editor with Jefferson Davis, the ex- President of the Confederate States, and, as showing the high appreciation of Mr. Davis for the character and achievements of Gien. Jackson, we copy from it the following: " Mr. Davis enquired particularly as to the health of his old friends, Capt. Sevier and tien, Alfred E. Jackson, of Jonesborough. To the latter he as- cribed in a pre eminent degree integrity, honesty and vador, adding significantly, when we have chopping to do iron is better than goldl." It is with some hesitation that we give publicity to his language touching any gentleman, but his compliment to Gen. Jackson was so generous and so just that we do not feel at liberty to withhold it. It is due to that ' gallant and true man,' as Mr. Davis again spoke of him, and we place it on public record.

Gen. Jackson, previous to the war, was an old line Whig, but since the war he has been a Democrat of the strictest seet. He has never aspired to political life, and the only office he ever held was that of postmaster, at Tempest Valley, on his Chucky river farm. He was appointed by Amo- Kendall under direction of Presi- dent Jackson, but was not an applicant for the place, though the postoffice was created at his solicitation. President Jackson, in appointing him, said: " You are a sensible man, not to want an office. Every young man that comes here wants an office." Gen. Jackson was formerly a member of the Odd Fellows. In religion, he is an Episcopalian.

It can readily be seen that throughout his life he has had many difficulties to overcome. He had to pay seven thousand dollars for Embree, after his death, and other large sums as security, but he has always made it a point to go through with whatever he undertakes: never became discouraged, but more determined as difficul- ties multiplied. For kindness shown to Mrs. Johnson and family during the war, President Johnson issued to him a special pardon, and through Gov. William B. Campbell, and other members of Congress, Gen. Fisk gave an order for the restoration of his property, which had been libelled for confiscation.

His life has been a temperate and a regular one: he has never been above doing manual labor. Even after the war. he went to work on rented land, hoed and plowed a mule and a horse and made one thousand five hundred bushels of corn, in 1866, the sale of which brought him his first money after the war. His wife, too, was industrious and economical, and assisted him to retrieve the losses caused by the war. He lost twenty negroes and five thousand bushels of corn at one time, be- sides cattle, hogs, horses and tobacco to a large amount, during the war, and his eribs and granaries were fre quently raided by the Federal foragers. He never gave a mortgage or deed of trust in his life; has the reputa- tion of a man of will power and working force; is a saving man, never tries to make a show, but lives and

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has always lived the bountifully hospitable life of a genuine Tennessean and a genuine southerner. He has always found it difficult to refuse a fayor to a friend. Hle is remarkably quick, prompt and decided in his conversation and business transactions, is very indi- vidual, and of strongly marked personality.

The most popular name in the United States is Jack- son ; a name that is given to cities and towns and coun- ties in every State in the Union, a synonym for personal courage and iron will, for chivalry, urbanity and success, and the subject of this sketch is a representative of the family in all these respects.

DUDLEY D. SAUNDERS, M. D.

MEDIPHIS.

O NE of the best known and most honored names in the medical profession of Tennessee is that of Dr. Dudley D. Saunders, of Memphis. He was born at Rocky Hill, near Courtland, Lawrence county, Ala- bama, February 26, 1835. He was reared on a planta- tion, and was afforded all the facilities for acquiring an education by an indulgent and appreciative father, who was a wealthy southern planter.

In 1852. he graduated at LaGrange College, Alabama, but not having decided what profession he would follow he engaged in planting at his old home for two years. He then went to Mobile, Alabama, and studied medi- cine under the celebrated Dr. J. C. Nott, at Nott and Le Vert's infirmary, remaining there twelve months. He then entered the medical department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, took his first course of lectures there, and his second course at the University of New York, receiving diplomas from both institutions. After this he was house physician at Bellevue hospital. New York, for one term. To be- come even more proficient in his profession, he next went to Europe, traveled over the continent. and pur- sued his studies at Paris, France, for some time.

Returning to the United States, he settled at Mem- phis, in the winter of 1859, and was succeeding well in his practice when the civil war broke out. In the early part of the war, he was appointed surgeon in the Con- federate army, and soon after was made assistant diree- tor of hospitals for the army of Tennesee, a position which he filled with great ability and universal satis. faction until the surrender, when he returned to Mem- phis and resumed his practice.

Dr. Saunders has twice filled important chairs in the Memphis Medical College-that of surgery previous to the war, and that of anatomy and surgery since. He is a member of the Shelby County Medical Society, the tri-State Medical Association, and the Tennessee State Medical Society. He was president of the latter body in 1885. He is also a member of the American Medical.Association. He remained in Memphis at his post of duty through the epidemies of 1867, 1873, 1878 and 1879, and during the 1878 epidemie was stricken down with yellow fever himself. During the epidemic

of 1878 he was president of the board of health, at a time when all of the other members of the board were down with the fever, and at the time that the able secretary of the board, Dr. John HI. Erskine, died.

Although not an active politician, Dr. Saunders has always voted the Democratic'ticket. In 1860, he was a Douglas man and opposed secession, but when the time came to take sides, he unhesitatingly espoused the cause of the South. He took the degree of Master Mason in Angerona Lodge. No. 168, at Memphis, in 1860. Hle is also a member of the Knights of Honor.

His father, Hon. James E. Saunders, a lawyer at Courtland, Lawrence county, Alabama, now living, at the age of eighty years, at his residence, Rocky Hill, three miles from Courtland, is a man of wonderful vitality, well preserved in mind and body, active and full of business energy. He is one of the purest of men, of finely organized intellect ; modest as a girl, yet courageous as a lion. He is an ommiverous reader of books, and a man whose mental digestion of a great va- riety of subjects is wonderful, as is evidenced by his fund of accurate information on a remarkably wide range of knowledge. He read law with the late Hon. Francis B. Fogg, of Nashville, and practiced until his health began to fail, when he engaged in planting in Alabama. He always endeavored to avoid public life, but was made collector of the port of Mobile during the administration of President Polk, who was his warm personal friend. In 1860, he was elector for the State at large, in Mabama, on the Douglas ticket, con- ducted a vigorous and spirited campaign in his State, and fought secession on the stump. But when his State severed her connection with the Union, he went with her. He at once volunteered as an aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. N. B. Forrest, was in the engagement at Murfreesborough, Tennessee, July 13, 1862, when For- rest captured the connnand of Gen. Crittenden. In this battle Maj. Saunders was shot through and through while storming the court-house. Gen. Forrest said of him, " Though he is one of the most cautious men 1 ever saw, yet he is fonder of fighting than Iam. His caution is only to get accurate information." During the campaign of 1860, the great orator, Hon. William

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1. Yancey, said of him, after one of his discussions with ex-Gov. Matthews, of Mississippi, " His political information is as accurate and as general as that of any man I have ever seen on the stump." He was married when eighteen to a lady aged sixteen.

Dr. Saunders' grandfather was Rev. Turner Saunders, a Methodist preacher, who came from Virginia and set - tled at Franklin, Tennessee. The Saunders family is of English descent.

Dr. Saunders' mother was Miss Mary F. Watkins, daughter of Robert 11. Watkins, of Elbert county, Geor- gia. She is now seventy-eight years of age, is a woman of deep piety, and has been a member of the Methodist church since her childhood. Her father was a planter and owned large landed property in Alabama, to which State he moved from Georgia. Before his death he called his children about him and administered on his own estate, saying he wanted no trouble over his money after he was gone.

Dr. Saunders has been twice married. His first mar- riage took place at Memphis, February 14, 1860, to Miss Kate Stuart Wheatley, daughter of Seth Wheatley, a lawyer, of Memphis, who died in 1858. Her mother was Miss Cook, daughter of the late Chancellor Cook, one of the old true men of Tennessee. She is descended from the Browns and Littles. of South Carolina, and was a cousin of Morgan L. Brown, of Nashville. The an- cestry of the family runs back to the Stuarts-the royal family of England. Mrs. Saunders was educated. at Staunton, Virginia, and was a woman remarkable for truthfulness, great vivacity, bright and impulsive dis- position, with her impulses generally in the right di- rection. She died at Marietta, Georgia, in January, 1864, while her husband was post surgeon at that place. To this union were born two children: (1). Mary Lou Saunders, born in April, 1861 ; now wife of Samuel G. Brent, of Alexandria, Virginia, son of Col. George W. Brent, formerly adjutant-general on the staff of Gen. Braxton Brage, commander of the army of Temessee. They have one son. (2), Kate Wheatley Saunders, born at Marietta, Georgia, in January, 1861.

In February, 1867, Dr. Saunders was married to his second wife, Miss Mary E. Wheatley, sister of his first wife. By this marriage there are also two chil- dren : (1). Dudley D. Saunders, jr., born in March, 1869. (2). Lizzie W. Saunders, born in 1873.

The present Mrs. Saunders was educated in Memphis and at a convent in St. Louis. She is a woman of re markably fine mind, brilliant in conversation, sunny in disposition, with a keen sense of the ludicrous. She is well educated and well informed, with a lofty idea of justice, a great contempt for anything little, and an in-

nate piety which is worn every day, not Sundays alone. Her instruction to her children is to be truthful under all circumstances, and always too proud to do a mean thing. She, as is also her husband, is a member of the Protestant . Episcopal church.

In his early life, Dr. Saunders was much given to out- door sports, hunting and fishing, which were the means of laying the foundation of his strong constitution. He is six feet one inch in height, and weighs two hundred and thirty pounds a splendid specimen of the phys- ical man, yet also filling the idea Horace had of a perfect man : " Mens sana in corpore sano." His standard of success in a medical man is thorough qualification. The permanent reputation of a medical man, among other things, depends greatly upon the estimate placed upon him by his professional brethren. He has ever cultivated a spirit of frankness and friendship toward them, believing that trickery bas never yet accom- plished any permanent good. A cheerful, pleasant manner toward the patient, backed by hard work, close attention to business, and an effort to digest thoroughly all knowledge acquired, have characterized his profess- ional life. Good medical books and first-class period- icals have ever been his daily companions and his nightly friends. A thorough knowledge of medicine and the self-reliance necessary to a proper application of it under all circumstances and emergencies, has been his motto. Temperance, morality and purity of char- acter he has ever regarded as essentials of success.

The following is the estimate placed upon Dr. Saun- ders as a boy, by his father. When seventy nine years of age, he wrote to his grandson, Dudley D. Saunders, jr., on his fifteenth birthday : " Your father had the endorsement of all his teachers, that he was gentlemanly in his manners, high-minded and fearlessly truthful. He was not remarkable for application to his studies, but when he did study, he concentrated his mind upon his lesson. He managed to get a good education in medicine and literature-I think it was owing to his power of concentration. If he read, he read ; if he played, he played; if he shot, every nerve was strained for a good aim: if he fought, it was manibus pedi-

A prominent gentleman of Memphis says of Dr. Saunders: " He is a man of great intellect and great force of character. He would have been a success in any line because of his strength of intellect and finished scholarship. In argument he has few superiors. He stands at the head of his profession, and leading physi- cians all over the country will tell you that Dr. Dudley D. Saunders, of Memphis, is authority ou almost all matters pertaining to his profession."

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HION. T. W. BROWN.

MEMPILLS.

D ISTINGUISITED'alike as a lawyer, an orator and a statesman, this gentleman manifestly inherited much of his mental constitution from his parents, both of whom were gifted with exceptional intellectual fac ulties. Some account, therefore, of his father and mother will properly precede our sketch of the man him-elf.

Robert Brown, the father, was a merchant from county Antrim, in the north of Ireland, a descendant from the Scotch settlers, who, many generations before, estab- lished themselves in a district of the province of Ulster, called the Ulster plantation. He was trained at Belfast, in mercantile pursuits, and was as fine a specimen of that school of commercial men, contributed by the north of Ireland to Boston, New York and Philadelphia, as ever landed upon American soil, notably among them the late A. T. Stewart, of New York. He first emigrated to Philadelphia, a city whose commercial system was first inaugurated by Scotch-Irish colonists and north of Ireland men, and is now controlled by their descend- ants. Not finding here the opening for his business enterprise which he sought, he moved, successively, to Howard county, Missouri (where he married). thenee to Henry county, Kentucky, where he engaged for sev- eral years in mercantile pursuits, and finally to Shelby county, in the same State. Here he soon became iden- tified with the works of internal improvement, which, about that time, were inaugurated in Kentucky. In this work at last his excellent administrative talents found an appropriate field for their exercise. Through his skill and experience in such works, he was placed in control of some of the most important enterprises, which gave him congenial employment for the rest of his life. He died, in 1850, in the fifty-sixth year of his life. Intellectually estimated, precision of thought was his leading characteristic, one which constituted him a fine mathematician ; morally, he was noted for his strict integrity in all the relations of life.

'The wife of the above, Mes, Matilda Brown, ze Ma tilda Wooldridge, mother of our subject, was a native of Dublin, Ireland, daughter of Richard Wooldridge, a Welshman, and a merchant in Dublin. Her mother was a Miss Mary O'Toole, of a family of historical importance in Ireland. Lawrence O'Toole, a member of the same family, was the first Irishman who wore the cardinal's hat ; he was canonized after his death.

The O'Tooles were the leading sept in county Wick- low, and were active for centuries in the struggle against Noruian and British supremacy in Ireland ; as an inevi- table consequence they were always a conspicuous mark for oppression and cruelty on the part of the predomi- nant race, but, so far as history shows, no one of the family ever betrayed the cause of Ireland, or failed to

strike a blow for Irish liberty and independence when- ever it was practicable to do so.

Mrs. Brown died in Shelby county, Kentucky, at the age of forty five years. She is remembered as a lady of remarkable beauty, having an entirely Grecian face, and as specially noted for the purity and grace with which she pronomneed the English language. She was exceedingly generous, caring nothing for money, except to gratify her liberal impulses. She told her only child that it was disgraceful to hoard money, which made a lasting impression upon him. . Exceedingly graceful in person and manner, she attended much to dress, but never sacrificed to her taste in this regard the sub- stantial comforts of her family nor intercepted for it out of her humble means her bounty to the poor. She was a strongly marked character, endowed with remarkable personal courage under circumstances that would have intimidated most women. She did not know what fear was. Proud of her lincape, she delighted to speak of her descent from the O'Tooles, yet never made an in- delicate manifestation of hauteur. The poet, Thomas Moore, was frequently a guest at her father's house, in Dublin, and she used to relate many interesting inci- dents connected with his visits. She often heard him sing his own songs and accompany his voice with some musical instrument. She was, in fact, much cherished in society wherever she lived ; delighting in the com- pany of intellectual men and accomplished women, but with all this she was known and beloved for her sym- pathy with the unfortunate and needy. Such women are rare enough now-a-days.

In the paternal line, Judge Brown is connected with men of eminence in many departments of life. His grandfather. Thomas Brown, was an Irish landholder, a man of education, and of firmness and resolution of character. He lived to the age of ninety years. Not to mention the late Hon. B. Gratz Brown, the St. Louis statesman, ex-governor of Missouri, and vice-presiden- tial candidate on the ticket with Horace Greeley, and his brother, Col. John Mason Brown, the prominent lawyer of Louisville, Kentucky ( who married a daughter of Gen. William Preston), the family boasts many emi- nent personages in Europe. The illustrious Field Marshal Ulysses Maximilian Brown. a favorite officer in the armies of the Empress Maria Theresa, of Austria, and who distinguished himself' at the batte of Prague, was a member of this family, as was also the celebrated Scotchman, Thomas Brown, author of " Brown's Mental Philosophy," aud recognized as the famous metaphysi - cian, physician, poet and philosopher.

Thomas Wooldridge Brown, the subject of this me- moir, was one of several children, all of whom, except himself, died in early childhood. His constitution was

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delicate by inheritance, emailing on him a sickly child- hood and youth. In spite of this his education com meneed carly, and he obtained distinction at schmol.

Born in March, 182%, he entered Centro Colleve, Dan ville Kentucky, in IS13. Hi preliminar: roll was the more searching on account of his youth ; it resulted in his admission to the junior class, in which his examination at the end of the year placed him -ve and in rauk. His father Lept him at home the next year (150). thinking him too young to graduate: but for this there is little doubt he would have graduated at the unprecedentedly early age of sixteen

He completed his course in 1815, graduating with the senior class of that year. Centre College was highly prosperous at this time. and Brown's graduating class included some of the most brilliant young men of the southern and western States, among those who have since become distinguished, being Hon. John M. Har- lan, of the United States Supreme court ; Judge Samuel Breckenridge, of St Louis Rev. Robert Brank. pector of the leading Presbyterian church in St. Louis Hon Joseph Lewis now of the Supreme bunch of Kentucky distinguished as a brigadier general of the Confederate army, and Dr. Robert C. Brockinridge, an officer of the medical staff on duty at Richmond, Virginia, during the civil war. Many other class mates held distin- guished positions in after life.

It is college course completed, he commenced teaching school in the Presbyterian Academy at Bardstown, Kentucky, He was the youngest teacher who ever had charge of that academy, and had many pupils there older than himself His predecessor in charge of the school was James D. Nourse, a gentleman of consider- able literary distinction in those days. He did not continue long there, but soon commenced the study of law at Shelbyville, Kentucky, in the office of J. M. and W. C. Bullock, and after eight months' preparation, was admitted to the bar by Judges William F. Bullock and Mason Brown. During the early years of his prae tice he became acquainted with the celebrated Benja min Hardin and witnessed some of the brilliant efforts which adorned the closing years of that eminent law- yer's career. After Hardin's death. Brown was ap pointed to take charge of two of his most important cases in Spencer county, which he conducted with signal ability and won. This was a great triumph for so young a lawyer, and gave him great relat in the courts, establishing him at once among the leading practitioners therein.

Shortly after this, important constitutional questions had to be litigated in the Kentucky courts in conce- quence of an act of the Legislature suppressing the State lotteries. This gave to Brown the opportunity of distinguishing himself in the funon Shelby Cul lege lottery case, the decision of which is quoted as

1 authority in all the lottery cases of the present day. He advised the institution of the suit and conducted it

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to a successful conclusion against the advice of older and more di tinenished comrel, e tabli bine the le- reality of the lottery and sure to Shelby College, his client over one hundred din and dollar The first struggle in this case vas Lelon the judiciary committee of the Kentucky Legislative to which body Shelby College had applied for relief. The leading adverse counsel was the Hon, Jolm W. Stevenson, since gov. ernor of Kentucky and Inind State senator, who was then already part middle wa and high in authority as a constitutional lawyer. Brown had already acquired reputation for galement and ability in handling consti- untional questions, still the contest was regarded as a very anequal one, especially as all the lotteries in the United States were arrayed as dust the college through their desse to put down a rival competitor. After a long and located contest, conducted on his side by Brown alone, the judiciary committee reported in faver of the application of Shelby College, much to the chagrin and disappointment of Mr. Stevenson, which Was apgrayated by the compliments paid by the com- mitter to the young lawyer. his antagonist.

After thi- Brown practiced for several years in the same place. classed by the consent of all men among the first lawyers of Kentucky, but about 1200. he de- termined to remove to Memphis, Tennessee, then believed to be the best field in the southwest for the exercise of the talents of a first class lawyer. It re- quired a year to close up his Kentucky business, and within that interval the civil war broke out.

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Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee, Part 113

Author: Speer, William S Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Nashville, A. B. Tavel Number of Pages: 1278

Author: Speer, William S
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Nashville, A. B. Tavel
Number of Pages: 1278