Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee, Part 25

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

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His daughter Ida died unmarried, in September 1876, and his daughter Mary died the day after. Dr. Anderson's first child, Edwin P. Anderson, graduated from the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and died, unmarried, in Texas, twenty-two years old.

Dr. Anderson's father, Patrick Anderson, a native of Virginia, came to Wilson county with his father, and

there married Miss Fanny Chandler; engaged in mer- chandising in Lebanon, and died of consumption, thirty-two years old, leaving two .children : Thompson Anderson, now an extensive wholesale dry goods mer- chant at Nashville, and Dr. Joseph M. Anderson, subject of this article.

Dr. Anderson's grandfather, Francis Anderson, was also a Virginian by birth, and after coming to Tennes- see was a merchant and farmer at Lebanon. His wife was a Miss Mottley, aunt of Benjamin T. Mottley, who, in his day, was one of the most conspicuous men in Wilson county, having represented the county several terms in the Legislature, both as senator and represent- ative. No man was ever more highly respected and be- loved by his constituents and the people of his county. The Anderson family originally are of English and Welsh stock.

Dr. Anderson's uncle, Gen. Paulding Anderson, of Wilson county, served many terms in the Tennessee Legislature, and was one of the most prominent men of his county. His son, Col. Paulding Anderson, served in the Confedrate army with conspicuous gallantry and distinction, as did also his brothers, Capt. Monroe An- derson and Rufus and Richard Anderson.

By energy and industry and by staying at one place and pursuing faithfully one line of business, Dr. An- derson has risen to eminence in his profession and to distinction over the State. He is remarkable for the enthusiasm and devotion he has shown for his selected practice. There never was a night so inclement, so dark or so stormy, that he would not go at the call of a patient. As brave as Julius Caesar, he is the soul of honor, of generous hospitality, and kind in his nature, yet he is also impulsive in his intercourse with men, and firm and faithful in his defense of friends.

GEN. RUFUS POLK NEELY.

BOLIVAR.

EN. RUFUS POLK NEELY, of Bolivar, now in his seventy-seventh year, having been one of the carly settlers and now the oldest citizen of Harde- man county, is a sort of encyclopedia of its social, political and business history, and on account.of his fine sense, his humor, wit, and ready repartee, as well as his high character and connection with the railroad and other leading interests of Tennessee, stands promi- nent among the representative men of the State, while his military record is enrolled among the annals of the nation.

The Neely family is of Irish blood, and has a most interesting history, numbering, as it does, among its

members some of the most distinguished and worthy people of Tennessee. Gen: Neely's grandfather was born of Irish parentage in Virginia, settled in Middle Tennessee, in Maury county, and moved to Franklin county, Alabama, near Tuscumbia, where he died at an advanced age, leaving five sons and four daughters : (1). Samuel Neely, who died in his one hundredth year in Franklin county, Alabama. (2). George Neely. (3). James Neely. (4). Pallas Neely. (5). Charles Neely, father of the subject of this sketch. (6). Sophia Neely, who married first Maj. Leonard of the United States army ; and secondly, Col. Ezekiel Polk, grandfather of James K. Polk, tenth president of the United States,

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(7). Catharine Neely, who married Dr. Stephen Doxy. (8). Rhoda Neely, who married first Col. Frazer, first sheriff of Franklin county, Alabama; and secondly, Dr. Stout. (9). Jane Neely, who married Thomas J. Frierson, of Maury county, Tennessee.

The children of Gen. Neely's aunt, Sophia Neely Polk, are: (1). Eugenia, widow of Alexander Nelson, who died at Bolivar. She is now living at Corinth, Mississippi. (2). Col. Charles Perry Polk, now living at Corinth, Mississippi. (3). Benigna, who married William H. Wood, of Memphis. (44). Gen. Edwin Polk, who was speaker of the Tennessee Senate at the time of his death, in 1850. His widow, nee Miss Octa- via Jones, daughter of Gen. Calvin Jones, of North Carolina, is now living at Bolivar, and has one daugh -. ter, Octavia, wife of T. F. Brooks, of St. Louis.

Capt. Charles Neely, father of Gen. R. P. Neely, was born in Botetort county, Virginia, and was an officer under Gen. Jackson through all his campaigns. He married Miss Louisa, daughter of Col. Ezekiel Polk, in Maury county, Tennessee. His occupation was that of a farmer, but having entered the army soon after his marriage, he engaged but little in the business until after the war of 1815, when he settled in Franklin county, Alabama, near Tuscumbia, where he died in 1820, thirty-three years of age, leaving four children : (1). Rufus P. Neely, subject of this sketch. (2). 'Mary C. Neely, now the widow of William W. Atwood, Austin, Texas. She has three children living : Mary Josephine, wife of Major Durst, Austin, Texas ; Adelie, wife of Mr. Pah, near AAustin; and Octavia, who married Prof. Bittle, of Roanoke College, Virginia, The only son of' Mrs. Atwood (Rufus) died in hospital in the Confederate service after being wounded and taken . prisoner. (3). Adelie C. Neely, who is now living without children, the widow, first of James G. Bell, of Sussex county, Vir- ginia ; secondly, of Thomas Chambliss, of Memphis, Tennessee; and lastly of Col. John Pope, the famous cotton planter of Memphis, and author of articles on the subject of cotton cultivation. (4). Col. James Jackson Neely, who is now a leading physician at Boli- var. He was a colonel commanding a brigade ( Rich- ardson's) in the Confederate service, He married Miss Fannie Stephens, daughter of Rev. Dr. Stephens, an Episcopal minister at Columbia and Bolivar, and sister of Judge William H. Stephens, now of Los Angeles, California.

On the maternal side also Gen. Neely is of Irish descent. His mother, Miss Louisa Polk, who, as before said, was a daughter of Col. Ezekiel Polk, whose father was William Polk, of Mecklenburg county, North Caro- lina, and whose mother was a Miss Wilson, of the same State -- both families of Irish origin and both of high standing in the early days of the " Old North State." Col. Ezekiel Polk died at Bolivar, in August, 1824.

Gen. Neely's maternal uncles were: (1). William .

Polk, born in North Carolina, lived in Maury county, moved to Hardeman county, Tennessee, and then moved to Walnut Bend, Arkansas, where he died, a large cot ton planter. (2). Maj. Sam Polk, father of James K. Polk, president of the United States. (3). Thomas Polk, of Robertson county, Tennessee. Gen. Neely's maternal aunts were: (1). Mary Polk, who married Capt. Thomas Jones Hardeman, for whom Hardeman county is named. He was a captain in the war of 1815; was taken prisoner by the British and whipped over the head with a sabre for refusing to give information as to Jackson's position when Packenham attacked the Americans at New Orleans. (2). Clarissa Polk, who married Capt. Thomas Me Neal, of Bolivar. Her son, Maj. Ezekiel Polk MeNeal, now living at Bolivar, is among the most prominent planters and capitalists of Tennessee. ITis individual sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. (3). Matilda Polk, who married John Campbell, of Maury county, Tennessee.

Gen. Rufus Polk Neely was born in Maury county, Tennessee, November 26, 1808. Ile grew up there until nine years of age, and went to school on Car- ter's creek. In 1817 his father moved to Franklin county, Alabama, and died there in 1821, when, with his widowed mother, Rufus returned to Maury county. In 1823 he moved to Hardeman county with his uncles Hardeman and MeNeal, and has lived there ever since, being partly raised by his grandfather, Col. Ezekiel Polk. Like most men of mark, Gen. Neely's early edu- cation was limited. He attended Burrus Academy at Russellville, Alabama, under the celebrated Dr. Cart- wright, and afterwards went to school in Maury county, Tennessee.

He began his business career as a clerk in a dry goods establishment in 1825, selling goods to the earliest settlers of Hardeman county and to the Indians. As soon as the county was organized, he was made register of deeds before he was of age, and had to wait until he attained his majority to be sworn in. He held that office until 1833, when he was elected county court clerk, and served in all, as clerk and deputy clerk, thirty-two years. Meantime he was in various other positions. In August. 1839; he was elected to the Legislature and served in the session of 1840. In 1842 he was appointed a commissioner to clean out and pay for the improvement of the Big Hatchie river, to fit it for navigation. In 1812 he went to farming, at which he was quite successful. After this he returned to his old office of county clerk. His elections were by the court up to 1832-33, and by the people after 1836.

Gen. Neely has seen considerable military life, having been connected with the war of 1836, between Mexico and Texas, the Mexican war and the late war between the States. In 1836 he was elected brigadier-general of the Twenty-second Tennessee militia brigade, covering the counties of Shelby, Fayette, Hardeman and Me- Nairy. Under the proclamation of Gov. Canon in

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1:36, he raised troops to aid Gen. Edmond P. Gaines and Gen. Sam Houston, then struggling for Texas inde- pendence on the Sabine. Gen. Neely organized a regiment at Jackson, Tennessee, and was elected its colonel, but the troops were disbanded by the governor, at the instance of President Jackson, as the United States were then at peace with Mexico. After being mustered out of service he came home, but kept the company he took from Bolivar organized until Gen. Scott called for troops to remove the Cherokee and Creek Indians. With his company he reported to Gen. Scott at Fort Cass (Cherokee Nation), and served in getting the Indians west of the Mississippi river until 1×38, after which he was quiet till 1846, when he aided in raising a company for the Mexican war. Although he mustered part of the troops into service at Memphis, he did not himself go into active service in Mexico. The second Monday in May of every year the survivors of his old company have a reunion and dine with Gen. Neely at his hospitable home. There are but ten of the members of the company now living.

In 1855-6-7 he was engaged in building and operating the Mississippi Central and Tennessee railroad, now a part of the great Illinois Central system. He operated the road as president from 1856 until the war broke out, and has been connected with the road from the first shovel of dirt (which he himself threw) until now, either as secretary, superintendent, president or re . ceiver.

In 1861, after a visit to Montgomery, Alabama, in company with Jefferson Davis, to be present at the inauguration of President Davis and Vice-President Alexander H: Stephens, he. returned home and in company with Hon. Milton Brown, went to Nashville to confer with Gov. Harris and Gen. "Zollicoffer on the subjects of secession, independence of the South, rais- ing of troops, etc. Gen. Neely at once set about raising a regiment for the Confederate service. He went out as captain of the " Pillow Guards" of Hardeman county, which company became a part of the Fourth Tennessee infantry regiment, and at the organization of the regi- ment at Germantown, Tennessee, Gen. Neely was enthusiastically elected colonel, and under him that gallant regiment acquired its celebrity. With Col. John V. Wright's Thirteenth Tennessee and Col. Knox Walker's Second Tennessee regiments, Gen. Neely went with his command from Memphis to Randolph. After fortifying that place he was ordered to Fort Pillow, and it was he who struck the first lick there. He remained there until relieved by Gen. Leonidas Polk, who ordered him to Island No. 10, but before he got there Gen. Pillow ordered him into Missouri in connection with the regiments of Col. John V. Wright and Gen. Preston Smith. He took his command to Bentonville and then back to New Madrid, and up the Mississippi river to Hickman and Columbus. Late in the battle of Belmont, Missouri, Gen. Neely commanded

his regiment. (Fourth Tennessee), and the Twelfth Louisi-ma regiment.

At the battle of Shiloh Gen. Neely was conspicuous for his bravery and efficiency .. He went into the fight at the head of his beloved Fourth Tennessee and cap- tured a Federal battery. The second day he also com- manded the remnant of Tappan's Arkansas regiment, which had been cut to pieces at Belmont. The orders came thick and fast, several additional regiments were assigned to his command, and in the afternoon he was ordered to take Polk's battery off the field, which he did under cover of the unerring rifles of the Fourth Tennessee.

Not only at Shiloh but again at Perryville, the Fourth Tennessee distinguished itself, under command of Gen. Strahl, Gen. Neely being confined in prison at Alton, Illinois. The regiment went out from Memphis with one thousand and sixty-three men ; was reduced by loss and detail at Shiloh to five hundred and odd. Gens. Polk and Pillow both had great faith in the regiment, and it was generally placed where it would get hurt. At the close of the war the regiment surrendered with eighty-two men.

In the latter part of 1862, Gen. Neely was captured by the Federals and kept a prisoner at Alton, Illinois, until released by special order from Gen. Grant. He returned home on parole to remain within the Federal lines until exchanged, but was rearrested shortly after and returned to the Alton prison in the winter of 1862-3. He was sent from Alton to Camp Chase, Ohio, in May, 1863, to prevent him from -persuading Confed- erate prisoners against taking the oath of allegiance. From Camp Chase he was sent to City Point, Virginia, and exchanged in the fall of 1863. Hle reported at Richmond and was commissioned to gather up the troops said to be behind the Federal lines in Tennessee and unable to get out. He was engaged in that sort of work until the close of the war, and surrendered at Bolivar in 1865.

Gen. Neely lost two sons in the war, William and Charles Rufus. Another of his sons, Dr. James Neely, went out to the war when under fifteen years of age, and came through unharmed.

Since the war Gen. Neely has been prominently iden- tified with the railroad interests of Tennessee ; as re- ceiver and resident director for Tennessee, and also as director in the M. & T. ; as president of the M. & K. (now M. & N.); and as director in the Canton, Aber- deen and Nashville, and the Yazoo Valley railroads.

Gen. Neely is a Democrat, as all of his family con- nections have been, and in State politics he is known as a "sky-blue." He and ex-Gov. James D. Porter were delegates at large from Tennessee to the national Democratic convention which nominated Gen. Winfield S. Hancock for president in 1850. He has also been a member of the press, having owned several newspapers at Bolivar-the Bolivar Democrat, the Boliver Pullu-

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dium, and had an interest in the Bolivar Bulletin. Hle was made a Master Mason at Bolivar, in 1832, and has several times served as Worshipful Master. His mother having been a Presbyterian, he has followed in her footsteps ; his wife and all his children are Presby- terians; he attends that church, contributes to it and in his faith is orthodox, according to the Presbyterian standard.

Gen. Neely was married to Miss Elizabeth Lea, at Bolivar, Tennessee, May 18, 1829, he being only twenty years of age and his bride sixteen. Mrs. Neely is a daughter of John Lea, a native of Delaware, a merchant and a man of literary and scientific ability, having published several valuable treatises on the sub- ject of cholera. Her mother's maiden name was Catha- rine McClement, also of a Delaware family. Hon. John M. Clayton, United States Senator from Delaware, is Mrs. Neely's cousin. Isaac Lea, of Carey & Lea, the well-known Philadelphia book publishers, is her pater- nal uncle. Mrs. Neely was born in Philadelphia, educated at Cincinnati, and is in all respects an intel- ligent, superior Christian woman, excelling in the different and delicate arts of hospitality ; even tempered, public-spirited; a woman of wonderful go-ahead ac- tiveness, never undertaking anything she does not accomplish. She is now seventy-one years old, but young-looking and active for her advanced years. Their golden wedding was celebrated in 1879, at which their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were present.

General and Mrs. Neely have had ten children born unto them : (1). William Henry Neely, who went to California in 1850, and never returned. He was killed near El Paso, in 1861, on his way to join the Confeder- ate army. (2). Harriet McClement Neely, who died the wife of John A. Jarrett, a merchant at Bolivar. (3). Mary Bell Neely, first the wife of Col. J. HI. Un- thank, a lawyer of Memphis, Tennessee, by whom she has two children : Lizzie, wife of Charles A. Miller, a lawyer at Bolivar, and at one time a member of the Tennessee Legislature; he is a son of Judge Austin Miller ; and Sallie, who first married Walter Calhoun, a

conductor on the railroad at Canton, Mississippi, now dead; at present she is the wife of R. L. Walker, a claim agent of the Illinois Central railroad, at Bolivar, by whom she has one child, Nellie. (1). Louisa Neely, now the widow of Dr. A. A. Coleman, who died of yellow fever in 1878; she had five children, John R. and Fannie now living. (5). Kate Neely, wife of Thomas Collins, a farmer and educator at Bolivar; has four children, Linda, Kathleen, Neely and William. (6). Elizabeth Neely, who died the wife of Hon. Francis Fentress, an eminent law- yer at Bolivar, leaving three children, Elizabeth, Frank and Louise. (7). Dr. James J. Neely, graduated. ut Oxford, Mississippi, and at Bellevue Medical College, New York, now practicing at Bolivar. He married Julia, daughter of Judge Thomas R. Smith, of Memphis, and has three children, Rufus, Thomas and Frank. (8): - Fannie Neely, wife of Austin Miller, a lawyer and farmer at Bolivar; has one child, Bessie. (9). Prudence Neely. (10). Lillie Neely, who died in childhood.

Such is the interesting record of this honorable and prominent family-a record of which the venerable patriarch may well look back upon with affection and pride.

Gen. Neely began life owning only a little tract of land which he let the celebrated Davy Crockett, his agent, live upon several years. In his busy career he has made several fortunes, has always been successful at money making, but has also lost much by insurance companies, by fires, war, and by going security. He did business for good men when he was young, was econom- ical, did not stray off into wildness and dissipation, but applied himself diligently to whatever he undertook. Ile has never been ambitious to be merely a millionaire but in accumulating property has had in view the laud- able object of leaving his family comfortable, and above all, to leave them a good name. His services have been generously appreciated, and his fortune has come to him through salaries and fees and enhancement of stocks and properties, won on fair terms, honestly, without joining syndicates or resorting to wild speculation-a fortune gained honestly and a name that will never bring the blush of shame to the cheeks of his offspring.

EDWARD L. JORDAN.

MURFREESBOROUGH.

T' ITIS gentleman was born in Williamson county, near Triune, July 23, 1817, youngest son of Archer Jordan, a native of Lunenburg county, Vir- ginia. Archer Jordan was the eldest son of William Jordan, also a native of Lunenburg county, Virginia, who, at the early age of eighteen years, became a soldier of the Revolution. Archer Jordan, the father of the

subject of this sketch, was the oldest son of William Jordan, who had nine brothers, all of whom succeeded well in life, with one exception, and made good estates and raised large families.

Mr. Jordan's mother was Elizabeth Walker, daughter of Thomas Walker, a farmer of good family and a na- tive of Lunenburg county, Virginia. Her mother was

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a Miss Jeffries, of the family so well known in Virginia until the present time. She was married to Archer Jordan, father of the subject of this sketch, in 1794, and went with his father's family to Lexington, Ken- tucky, where they remained one year and then moved to Davidson county, Tennessee, and settled in the Maxwell neighborhood. It is mentioned as an interest- ing incident of their trip to Tennessee, that they crossed the Cumberland river on the ice with all their goods. After remaining in the Maxwell neighborhood four years, they bought land near Triune, in Williamson county, and settled there permanently, and there died, leaving twelve surviving children, all of whom married and achieved fair success in life. Of these twelve children, five are now living, the oldest of whom, Mrs. Ralston, of Ralston's station, Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis railroad, is eighty-five years of age, and the next, Dr. ('lem. Jordan, is eighty-four, while the youngest, the subject of this sketch, is sixty-eight.

Edward L. Jordan was brought up on a farm until the death of his father, which took place in 1835. His opportunity for education was but moderate, being con- fined to the old field schools, for he never went to a college or an academy. In 1836 he entered the store of Thomas F. Perkins & Co., at Triune, as a clerk. and re- mained with them until January, 1839, when, in con- nection with Col. William P. Cannon, son of the late Gov. Newton Cannon, he bought out the firm. They continued together for three years, and then Cannon married and left the business, which was carried on by Mr. Jordan until 1844, at which time he sold the stock of goods. He then retired from merchandising and bought the old homestead of Hon. Meredith P. Gentry, in Williamson county, where he lived until 1851, when he settled at Murfreesborough, where he still resides, following merchandising as well as farming, until the war.

Immediately after the war Mr. Jordan organized the Murfreesborough Savings Bank, and was its president up to the time it was merged into the First National Bank of Murfreesborough. Some years later he was made president of the last named institution, which position ho still holds.

Before the war Mr. Jordan was a Whig, and during the war was a staunch Union man, though he did much to aid the soldiers of the Confederacy, spending his money for their relief. Since the war he has never

identified himself with any political party, always vot- ing for his friends, rather than for party. He has, however, been a strong State credit man. At the early age of twenty-one he was made a magistrate at Triune, but since that time has never held any political office and has never been an active politician.

Mr. Jordan has been three times married: First, at the age of twenty-three, to Miss Martha Fletcher, daughter of Monford Fletcher, of Rutherford county, and a man of considerable prominence there, being sheriff of the county for several years. One of her uncles, James Fletcher, was for many years clerk and master of the chancery court of Rutherford county, and her grandfather, John Fletcher, was chairman of the county court of Rutherford county for a long time. By this marriage . Mr. Jordan had six children, three of whom are now living.

After the death of his first wife, he was married to Mrs. Jane Cook, daughter of James Caruthers, of Franklin, Tennessee. By this marriage there were no children. The second Mrs. Jordan died in 1858, and in the latter part of 1859 Mr. Jordan was married to his third wife, Mrs. Mildred Williams, daughter of Dr. George Hopson, of Port Royal, Montgomery county, Tennessee. She was brought up in Montgomery county and went to Murfreesborough after the death of her first husband to educate her three children. By this last marriage there have been two children, the elder, a daughter, is now wife of Rev. E. A. Taylor, pastor of the First Baptist church at Knoxville. The youngest child, a son, twenty-one years of age, is connected with the railroad office at Murfreesborough. Mr. Jordan has five children now living, besides the three of his last wife by her former marriage, and there are twenty-eight grandchildren.

Mr. Jordan's ancestors were members of the Baptist church far back in the family history, and he himself has been a member of that church for nearly thirty years, and is now well known as one of the leading Baptists of his county. His three wives have all been members of the Baptist church.

Mr. Jordan began life a poor boy with the idea that a man should be industrious, attentive to business, and always correct. By carrying out these principles, and adhering to the determination to keep out of debt, he has achieved success in life and accumulated a hand- some property.

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Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee, Part 25

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