Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee, Part 46

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

USA > Tennessee > Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee > Part 46

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

When Col. Rose was asked what counsel, drawn from his experience and a review of his own history, he wished to transmit to his posterity, he said : " Have some definite aim in view ; select some pursuit and fol- low it with perseverance and fixedness of purpose ; labor assiduously. Few things of value are acquired without labor. Labor is our heritage, but the parent of success. Accumulate, but accumulate honestly. Carry con- science into business and politics as well as into ethics. Always be prompt in the discharge of duty. Promptness is a high virtue. 'Punctuality is the politeness of kings' Cultivate the social virtues, for they are the graves of life, but not to the neglect of the sterner vir- tues, for devotion to duty is the brightest page in the book of life. Be always polite;politeness is the cheapest

208

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

of all investments for the profit it brings. Be proud but not vain ; pride is the strength of character; but vanity is its weakness. Never forget you are a gentleman ! Never forget you are a lady ! Restrain your temper, but preserve your manhood. The beauty of female character is in the cultivation of the gentler and nobler graces of the head and the heart, and a patient discharge of the duties in her sphere. Restrain the extravagances of

prosperity, but meet misfortune with fortitude ; for hu- man virtue should be equal to human calamity. Avoid: indebtedness. Be temperate. Aid religious progress by an exemplary life, rather than by doctrinal theo- ries. Christianity, by the spread of the blessings of civilization beyond all other creeds, is alone sufficient to inspire faith in its truth, and command our zealous support."

COL. JOSEPH RHEA ANDERSON.

BRISTOL.

T HIE Andersons are of Scotch-Irish origin. The lineal ancestors of Col. Joseph Rhea Anderson, subject of this sketch, were rebels in Scotland, settled in the north of Ireland, and subsequently emigrated to Augusta county, Virginia. The grandfather, John Anderson, in 1773, moved to what is known as the " Block House," an old fort, at the head of Carter's valley, Scott county, Virginia, when the country was a wilderness. He raised a family of four sons, William, John, Audley and Isaac, and four daughters, Mary (who married John Skillern), Elizabeth (who married Wil- liam Christian), Sarah (who married Rev. Andrew Gal- braith), and Jane (who married Rev. John .Heniger). The family was twice run out from their dwelling there by the Indians, and took refuge in Fort Clapp, near Abingdon, Virginia. John Anderson died October 13, 1817. His wife, ner Rebecca Maxwell, was a descend- ant of the Campbell family, of whom Alexander Camp- bell was the most notable. She died February 21. 1824.

The youngest son of John Anderson was Isaac Ander- son, father of the subject of this sketch, who raised a family of twelve children on the old homestead. He never accumulated much property except in lands. His character was that of a careful, God-fearing man. He was a Sunday-school teacher, and every Sunday evening he asked and rehearsed the questions in the catechism to his family, and it was the regular Sunday work of his children to get those lessous. He was known as Col. Isane (. Anderson, of Scott county, Virginia, having charge and control of the militia of his day. He filled the office of magistrate in Scott county over twenty-five years. His leading trait of character was unswerving integrity. He could not bear to hear a man tell a false- hood, and was apt to tell him of it if he did. His death occurred February 7, 1872.

Col. Isaac Anderson's wife was Miss Margaret Rhea, who was born on the homestead of her father, Back creek, Sullivan county, Tennessee, August 7, 1791. She was the daughter of Joseph Rhea, a descendant of Rev. Joseph Rhea, who lived at Pontotoc, Pennsylvania, son of Rev. Joseph Rhea, of the Presbyterian church. Her mother, nee Frances Bredin, came from Ireland to this

country, a widow with five daughters, and settled at. what is now known as the Byar's farm, Washington county, Virginia. Mrs. Anderson was well educated in the common English branches. Her characteristics were firmness, decision, industry and perseverance. In the rearing of her children she made persistent effort in teaching them to be self-sustaining and self-reliant, and always to keep out of debt. She was exceedingly economical and taught her children economy and saving habits. She died April 24, 1873, having been the mother of twelve children : (1). Rebecca, who married Joseph Newland. (2). Joseph Rhea, subject of this sketch. (3). John, died March 12, 1819. (4). Andley, married Miss Cornelia Alexander. (5). Samuel Rhea, married Miss Mary Rader. (6). Frances, married J. J. Hughes. (7.) Eliza, married D. J. Carr. (8). Sarah Ann, married H. J. S. Kane. (9). Caroline, died unmarried, June 27, 1830, 5 (10). Mary, married J. H. Earnest. (11). Isaac C.,32 married Nannie Stuart. (12). Jane, married William Stuart. The most of those surviving are now living in' Sullivan and Washington counties, Tennessee.

Joseph Rhea Anderson was born October 25, 1819. His first fourteen and a half years were spent on the farm with his parents. His principal book talent was in mathematics, and he studied the rudimentary branches by himself, as also grammar, dictionary, geography and astronomy later on, when he went to live with his uncle. The first money he ever made was fifty cents, received for a bushel of Irish potatoes, which he raised on his own patch on the farm. He kept that half-dollar two or three years, thus laying the foundation of his future banking house. In March, 1834, being not yet fifteen years old, he began as a clerk in the store of his uncle, Samuel Rhea, at Blountville, Tennessee, on a salary of fifty dollars a year and board, and remained there until October, 1842-eight years -- in which he acted as sales- man and deputy postmaster. During this time he saved seven hundred and fifty dollars, his salary having been gradually increased. When twenty-one years of age he borrowed five hundred dollars from his father and five hundred dollars from an uncle, and went into business for himself on one thousand, seven hundred and fifty.

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

209

dollars capital, at Eden's Ridge, Tennessee. Hle re- mained there till March, 1811, paid back the five hun- dred dollars borrowed from his uncle, but his father would never receive the money borrowed from him, as he intended, as he said, to give it to his son, but the son redeemed the note, with interest, in February, 1872, after his father's death, and the money went to the heirs of the estate.

In March, 1814, he went into partnership at Blount- ville, with his unele, Samuel Rhea, and remained equal partner, taking charge and conducting the business, until September, 1853, when they dissolved partnership, he having previously purchased of his father-in-law, Rev. James King, one hundred acres of land at what is now known as the town of Bristol. Col. Anderson is the founder of the town of Bristol. He laid out the lots and made a plat of the town in 1852, and is now the only man living there that was there at the time. This one hundred acres, lying partly in Virginia and partly in Tennessee, he named Bristol, after the great manu- facturing city of Bristol, England, in the hope that it might some day become a great iron manufacturing cen- ter. In September, 1853, he moved his family to Bristol, when it was a large meadow, and commenced business as a merchant, in the house now standing at the corner of Fourth and Main streets.

He conducted that business in his own name until 1800, when he took two of his clerks-young men-John P. Wood and J. M. Hicks, into partnership, the firm name being changed to Anderson. Wood & Hicks. Col. Anderson went into the banking business, leaving his partners in charge of the mercantile house, Both busi- nesses were abandoned in 1862, in consequence of the war, and he kept out of the strife as long as he could, but finally acted as assessor and collector of war taxes, collecting only Confederate money, from 1862 to 1865.

Hle resumed business as a merchant in the spring of 1866, and continued alone until 1870, when he formed a partnership with his brother, Audley Anderson, and neph ws, John C. Anderson and A. B. Carr, under the firm title of J. R. Anderson & Co. He left control of this house in charge of the other members of the firm, and in 1870 re-engaged in banking. The firm continued until March, 1882, when Mr. Anderson sold out to J. C. Anderson and A. B. Carr, who are still in the trade at Bristol.

In 1876, he established the First National Bank of Bristol on a paid up capital of fifty thousand dollars. After running that bank awhile he took up the State charter bank, October, 1879, until October, 1883, when he formed the National Bank of Bristol, of which he is now president. The capital has not been changed, though it has been increased, which is a matter private. The bank is reported on a good footing, and does a general banking business. In 1812, Col. Anderson was worth seven hundred and fifty dollars; in 1852, seven thousand dollars ; in 1862, twenty thousand dollars; in

1872, twenty thousand dollars ; and in 1882 he paid taxes on sixty thousand dollars, his property consisting chiefly of real estate and bank stock, while as a banker he does a business of over two million dollars per annum.

Col. Anderson, from his early life and throughout, as clerk, merchant, trader and banker, has conducted his business upon the enduring basis of honesty and truth- fulness. These principles he ineuleates in his family, and also impresses the great principle that man makes nothing unless he saves it, and nothing only by practic . ing self-denial through life. Young men experiment at something and fail, then strike out at something else ; this, he believes, is getting out of a safe boat into one that is leaky. He has had but two occupations in life, merchandising and banking, both in the same line, and his advice to boys is, "stick to one business and make a success of it, as you can, no odds what the business is." Ile has cultivated staying power, saving power, and worked on an average eleven hours a day.

Col. Anderson married at Sappling Grove (now Bris tol), June 5, 1845, Miss Melinda W. King, born June 27, 1821, daughter of Rev. James King, a Presbyterian minister, of a Virginia family. Her mother, nec Miss Mourning Micajah Watkins, was born in North Caro- lina, daughter of Col. Watkins, a planter, near Halifax, Mrs. Anderson on her mother's side, is related to the Williams family, of Tennessee. Mrs. Anderson gradu- ated at the Young Ladies' Seminary, Knoxville, under Dr. Esterbrook. She is noted for her traits of kindness and her work with the infant classes in Sabbath-school, and having joined the Presbyterian church in 1836, has been a faithful and constant Christian worker from that beginning.

By this marriage six children have been born : (1). James, born April 4, 1816; still living with his father, an afflicted child. (2). Sarah Aun, born August, 1847; died May 6, 1853. (3). John Campbell, born March 27, 1850; graduated at Princeton, New Jersey, 1872; now a merchant at Bristol; married his cousin, Sarah Ann Anderson, daughter of Audley Anderson. She died in September, 1884, leaving five children, Audley King, Joseph Rhea, Margaret Melinda, Alice Florence, and an infant, who died the week after the mother. (4). Isaac Samuel, born December 9, 1854; attended . King College, Bristol, and graduated at Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia; unmarried; is now a Presbyterian minister, and has been an evangelist six years in Lee and Scott counties, Virginia ; present residence, Jones- ville, Virginia. (5). Margaret Micajah, born November 1, 1857 ; graduated at Rogersville Female College, and afterwards at Oxford, Ohio; married John H. Caldwell, son of Rev. George A. Caldwell; now book-keeper in the First National Bank, Bristol ; has three children, Margaret Melinda, John Hardin, and Joseph Rhea. (6). Joseph King, born August 10, 1861 ; died January 3, 1863.

Col. Anderson's boyhood was exemplary. so much so

210

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

that he thought himself as good as members of the church, and he did not see the necessity of joining a church until, when eighteen years of age, he attended a revival in 1838, at the Presbyterian church in Blount- ville, conducted by Rev. Daniel Rogan. He kept' up his connection with the Blountville church from 1838 to 1853, when he removed to Bristol, and joined the church there. He has been an elder for the past twenty-seven years, and a Sabbath-school teacher forty- five years ; was superintendent of the school at Bristol from 1853 to 1860. He regularly attends the Sabbath - school to this day ; however, preferring to teach, loving to study the lessons and to investigate the Bible.

Col. Anderson does not know the taste of brandy or whiskey; never drank a drop of intoxicating liquor in his life, and has never tasted wine, only in the sacra- ment of the Lord's Supper. He has never chewed to- bacco. He smoked cigars occasionally, after his major- ity, but since his marriage has not used tobacco in any form. When a boy he never dissipated his nights, but stayed in the counting-room at the store, studying. He has never been sick in bed a day in his life, all attribu- table to his regular habits of eating and drinking whole- some diet. In personal appearance, he looks glad and grateful ; stands five feet ten inches high, and weighs one hundred and sixty-eight pounds.

In politics, he began as a Democrat, but as is nat- ural to suppose, he believes in paying every dollar of the State debt, and opposed the 50-3 settlement. The only office of a political nature he has ever held was from 1858 to 1876, when he was either the mayor or

a member of the board of aldermen of Bristol. In 1862 he became a Mason, and has taken twelve de grees, including Knight Templar, and is now Eminent Commander of Johnson Commandery at Bristol, and has served as Worshipful Master and Captain of the Host. Since 1812 he has been a Son of Temperance and has occasionally lectured on temperance. Hle is now Grand Worthy Patriarch of the State of Tennes see, elected in October, 1883, and again in 1884. Out side of the church, his principal work has been that of advocating temperance, organizing societies and con ducting " Bands of Hope " -- taking little boys into th. pledge, some of whom are now grown men, and fre- quently write him letters of thanks for his care in set- ting them out in life on a temperance basis. Ninety per cent. of the members of his " Bands of Hope " have. stood faithful to the pledge.

- Col. Anderson was a railroad director from 1863 to 1865. having at that time charge of the funds of the East Tennessee and Virginia road. In 1868 he became a director again and continued such until 1883, under the auspices of the East Tennessee and Georgia railroad.

His life is one of great simplicity and directness of manner and unimpeachable integrity, his object and aim being to elevate the morals of the people and bring them up to a higher standard. As a rule he has few intimate, personal friends outside of his family, and very few persons know much about his business. But his philanthropic life has won for him the reputation of being "a good man," and what title is higher or more honorable than that?

PROF. A. T. BARRETT, LL.D.

WINCHESTER.

A TEACHER whose pupils in their junior year can calculate eclipses, and develop all the formulas of plane and spherical trigonometry, is entitled to the notice of a biographer, and the attention of those who would assist in moulding the institutions of the country and leave their impress on the times.

Prof. A. T. Barrett is such a man. He was born at. Kingsville, Ohio, April 12, 1817, and there spent his boyhood, working on a farm in the sunner and going to school in the winter till 1858, when he went to De- troit, Michigan, and spent one year with his oldest brother, Myron E. Barrett, then president of the Bryant & Stratton [Mercantile College, that city. He then re- turned to Kingsville, entered the academy there, under the tuition of Profs. C. W. Heywood and A. J. Barrett, L.L. D.f the latter being his brother, a graduate of the University at Rochester, New York, and now pastor of the Baptist church in that city. Under their tuition he

studied four years, but for lack of means did not go to college. Instead, he went to Niles, Michigan, in 1863, and entered the service of J. S Tuttle, where he spent two years, when he again returned to Kingsville, where his parents lived, and studied in the academy another year. In 1865, he entered the University of Rochester, remained there four years, and graduated in 1869, hav- ing taught school, at odd times, to get means to pay his way. On graduating he took the highest prize given in the university-the Davis gold medal-a prize given for excellence in scholarship and oratory. He then went to Loweville, New York, and became connected with the Loweville Academy, occupying the chair of belles-lettres ; thence to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he became associated with his brother-in-law, M. R. War- ner (who had married his sister, Emily Barrett), as gen- eral insurance agent, his field being western Pennsylva- nia and eastern Ohio. After remaining in this position

211

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

nearly two years, he was, in the summer of 1871, elected by the trustees of Mary Sharp College, Winchester, Tennessee, professor of mathematics, and has filled that chair ever since, with honor to himself, to the insti- tution and the South.

In politics, Prof. Barrett is a Democrat ; in religion, a Baptist. He is also a member of the Knights of Honor and of the Knights and Ladies of Honor. He joined the church at the age of fifteen, and has always lived the life of a consistent and devoted member. Thus he had a good induction and a good " send off," being well equipped for the contest with a rough roll and tumble world.

Prof. Barrett married at Kingsville, Ohio, August 22, 1871, Miss Kate C. Stanton, born February 23, 1848, daughter of Warren Stanton, a merchant of that place, who was arrested by the Federal authorities during the war for hurrahing for Jeff. Davis, and was confined at the Columbus military prison, where he contracted a cold, which resulted in his death. His father was an old resident, and one of the early settlers of Kingsville, Ohio, having moved there from New York in 1817.

Mrs. Barrett's mother, nee Miss Mary Wellman, of a New York family, is now living with Prof. Barrett at Winchester. Her other children, Jimmy and Fred, died in early life. Mrs. Barrett was educated at Kings- ville, is a lady of rare culture, and is noted for her exceptional good judgment and administrative ability. Before marriage she had a successful experience as a teacher, and is now a member of the faculty of Mary Sharp College.

To his union with Miss Stanton, three children have been born to Prof. Barrett, all born at Winchester: (1). Daisy A., born September 18, 1872. (2). Maud S., born September 6, 1874. (3). Roy W., born August 7, 1877.

The Barretts are English people. One of Prof. Bar- rett's ancestors fired the first gun in the American Revolution. There were two divisions of the family ; one came south; one remained in New England, and from this latter branch Prof. Barrett is descended. His father, Amos Barrett, was a native of Oneida county New York, moved to Ohio, a single man, and engaged in farming. He has held several offices in the town of Kingsville, is a man of line brain, scholarly and of un doubted integrity. His life has been consistent. and he has been a leader in the Baptist church at Kingsville for a generation, and is one of the standard men of that place. He married (1827) Miss Maria Brown, of a New York family, by whom he had ten children, eight of whom are living: Myron, Perry, Judson, Stephen, Clinton, Emily (wife of M. R. Warner, before men- tioned), Susan Adelaide and Albert Tennyson, subject of this sketch. The two children that died were ('la- rinda and Adelaide, the latter Prof. Barrett's twin Nister.

Prof. Barrett's mother died in August, 1881, at the age of seventy, a lady remarkable for devotion to her

children, making every sacrifice for their education, her life being one of toil for this purpose till her death. All the qualities which adorn woman were conspicuous in her. She was never so happy as when making others happy. She, also, was a Baptist. A few years before her death her golden wedding was celebrated, at which were present. her children and nineteen grandchildren.

Beginning life without a cent, Prof. Barrett has achieved financial -success as well as distinction in his profession. Strict economy and a sacrifice of every in- terest in the performance of duty, lie at the bottom of his success. Working with patience, satisfied with moderate income, and with an eye single to the accom- plishment of one thing; turning a deaf ear to flatter- ing entreaty from other directions, and with a deter- mination to make character in his chosen profession of mathematics, he has won a most enviable fame as a teacher of rare culture and excellence, and possessing executive ability, which opens the future in most prom- ising aspect.

As a teacher, some of his methods are somewhat novel and peculiar. The fundamental principles to which he adheres in all his instructions are: 1. To generate in the student a love for the subject under consideration, and not to move a wheel until he succeeds in that. 2. To generate in the student a desire to acquire an educa- tion, as an end rather than as a means; thus reversing the theory so long held by educators of the past. 3. To move upon the principle that education is the growth of the individual mind. and not mere mental accretion. 4. That instruction, unless assimulated, is food undi- gested. 5. That education is a force which acts from within outward, and an essential element of this growth is the consent of the pupil's will. He holds that you can no more educate a child than you can grow an oak. The child is the germ of the man, as the acorn is the germ of the oak ; as we may supply moisture, heat and light to the one, to induce growth, so we may furnish in- struction to the other, by means of which the mind is developed. Instruction is food; but it must be taken, masticated, digested and assimilated as material food is. 6. In the government of his school he throws the responsibility upon the honor of the pupil, while recognizing the wisdom of Solomon, that a child left to herself will bring her parents to shame.

It was through the personal persuasion of Dr. A. C. Graves that Prof. Barrett accepted the chair of mathe- maties in Mary Sharp College. He received the degree A. B. in 1869, that of A. M. from the university at Roch- ester, New York, in 1871, and that of LL. D. from the Southwestern Baptist University at Jackson, Tennessee,

Two of his brothers, Judson and Stephen, graduated at the same university ( Rochester), the former in 1851: the latter in 1859. Stephen Barrett is now principal of the high school at Lincoln, Nebraska. Perry Barrett is a physician of considerable eminence in Oregon. Clinton Barrett is.a prominent and efficient railroad

212

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

man, now located at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Myron Barrett has attained great celebrity as a penman and business man. His sister. Emily, is a lady of high lit- erary culture, and his sister, Susan, stands in the high

1 est rank as a musician, both as a pianist and vocalist. Every member of the family are Christians in fact as well as in name, and adorn' society wherever they go. It is a talented and brainy family

CAPT. W. D. HAYNES.

BLOUNTVILLE.

T' HTE Haynes family is of German origin, as the 1 1

family features so plainly indicate. The original German name was Heine. The celebrated Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, was of the same family though the name is spelled somewhat differently.

Capt. W. D. Haynes' grandfather, George Haynes, was a native of east Virginia, Westmoreland county; was a farmer ; a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and a member of George Washington's body-guard. His son, John Haynes, father of Capt. Haynes, was born in Car- ter county, Tennessee, and was a millwright by occupa- tion. He married Miss Elizabeth Hyder and moved to MeMinn county, where he died in 1835, at the age of thirty-five, leaving four children: (1). James. P. Haynes, who married Miss Margaret Elliott, and now lives at Dayton, Nevada. (2). Martha J. Haynes, now wife of John W. Hyder, Carter county. (3). William D. Haynes, subject of this sketch. (D). John T. Haynes, who died in 1865, ummarried.

Capt. Haynes' mother, ace Elizabeth Hyder, was born in Carter county, Tennessee, daughter of Michael Hy- der, a farmer, who lived to his ninety-ninth year on the place where he was born. His father, John Hyder, came from Germany; was a Revolutionary soldier, and settled in Carter county, near Gen. Taylor's, among the first settlers of the county. Capt. Haynes' mother (who afterwards married John Hill) is now living at the age of seventy-eight, in MeMinn county, and is as stout and active as most women are at fifty. She is a Southern Methodist, and is a lady of straightforward, unpretend- ing manners, of simple piety, and strong common sense. She had three brothers, Ben, Hampton and John Hyder. The latter was trustee of Carter county, and also repre- sented his county in the Tennessee Legislature, and won for himself' the name of " Honest John Hyder." Her sister, Eleanor Hyder, married James P. Haynes, Capt. Haynes paternal uncle. Her half brothers, by her father's second marriage (with Sarah Bowman), were Samuel Hyder, Joseph Hyder, and her half-sister was Catharine Hyder. The latter married Hampton Edens, of Carter county.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee, Part 46

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