Sketches of prominent Tennesseans. Containing biographies and records of many of the families who have attained prominence in Tennessee, Part 88

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 88

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).

-- - -

of the shy sweetheart, to whose modest cheek may steal the timid blush. And to those of you who are blessed with them, go, and again let your presence make happy your dear wives and little ones.

Yes, God bless the babies! Mark the man who does not love babies; there is something wrong in his make-up. I know no place congenial to such a char- acter. The earth is not, for it is dotted all over with the little buds: Heaven is not, for Christ himself has informed us that of such is the Kindom of Heaven, and that we cannot enter there until we become as one of them, As there is but one other locality left, we will press the search for his congeniality no further.

" Then, gentlemen, go to the blessings of your homes and loved ones, and bless them in return; and permit me to assure you, upon the part of the faculty, that you carry with you our best wishes and sincere prayers for your future success, prosperity and happiness. God bless you ! Farewell !"

An accurate estimate of the character of Dr. Menees can, perhaps, be better formed from a study of his splendid steel-engraved portrait that illustrates this sketch, than from any words at the command of his biographer. It is the picture of a southerner, of English and Scotch-Trish descent. The chin, lips and nose indicate coinage of the Roman order; the eyes, fixedness of purpose; the projecting eyebrows, quick- ness of perception ; the lofty forehead, a comprehensive mind and moral dignity. The entire facial expression is that of will-power and self-assertion, Withal, it is the face of a much-enduring man with faith in the final result.

JUDGE M. L. HALL.

KNOXVILLE.

H ERE is a gentleman who is truly a Tennessean. Born in Knox county, of this State, August 16, 1814, he has never lived outside of that county, Raised a farmer's boy, trained to such work early by an indus. trious father, he sometimes says he " knows all about it." When a boy he went to the common schools of the county, and there obtained all the education he has ever received. Always fond of reading, he was in the habit of borrowing books wherever he could find them, and of reading everything that came within his reach. The books he most liked were those which told of the discovery of America, the Indian wars, the Revolu- tionary war, and whatever pertained to the history of the United States. This class of studies he is still par- tial to, and there are few men so familiar with ancient and modern history of all countries, He has also

always been exceedingly fond of standard poetry, par- ticularly blank verse, c. g., Milton, Pollock, Thompson and Prentice. In boyhood, he was uniformly obedient to his parents, lively, loved to fish and hunt, and be- came a crack marksman at rifle shooting. He was never guilty of excesses of any kind, unless it was Box hunt- ing, coon hunting, and the like, at night, The result was his physical constitution has always been hardy aud his health good.

At the age of twenty-two, he married, settled on his father's farm, studied law at home under the intruction, first of his brother-in-law, Judge Robert M. . Ander- son, and next under Judge Samuel .R. Rodgers, after- ward chancellor; was licensed by JJudge Scott and Chancellor Thomas L. Williams, in January, 1811; was admitted to the bar at Maryville the same mouth, and

398

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

at Knoxville, in February of the same year. He, how- ever. still depended on his farm labor for support, as his practice was limited. In 1852, he was elected elerk of the circuit court, at Knoxville, and held that office till the war came on. In the spring of 1864, he was re- elected without opposition, but never qualified, and in April, 1864, he was appointed, by Judge Connally F. Trigg, clerk of the circuit and district court of the United States, for the eastern district of Tennessee, and held that office until August, 1870, when he resigned and stood for the office he now holds, judge of the erim inal court of Knox county, a position which he has filled by successive re-elections now fifteen years, the present term expiring in September, 1886.

It will thus be seen that his mind has been occupied thirty-four years with the public business, and that he has won and retained the confidence of the people of his native county. There are only a few men whose biographies appear in this volume that are representa- tives of the counties where they were born. It is a pet theory of the editor that men should grow up identified with the interests and people of their native localities, as the surest means of forming a high moral character, leading successful business lives, and of being at once happy and useful, and it is with unwonted pleasure that he cites the life and character of Judge Hall as illus- trating this theory.

In May, 1864, Judge Trigg appointed him commis- sioner of the circuit court of the United States, for the Eastern district of Tennessee, and he resigned that office, with his clerkship, in August, 1870.

Judge Hall was raised a Democrat, and was "a Jack- son boy." In 1836, however, he voted for Hugh L. White for president, and after that was a Whig till the war came up, since when he has been, as he is now, an unflinching and uncompromising Republican, but has uniformly declined the solicitations of his friends to go into politics beyond doing his duty as a citizen. He belongs to no secret society, and in religion is a Swe- denborgian, or New Churchman.

In 1867, he was appointed by Gov. Brownlow State director of the Knoxville and Kentucky railroad, and filled that position one year, but resigned, not approv- ing of the methods of the directory with whom ; he was associated.

Judge Hall married, in the Second district of Knox county, Tennessee, February 4, 1836, a neighbor girl, Miss Sarah Adaline McCampbell, who was born Feb- ruary 23, 1809, daughter of John McCampbell, who came from Kentucky to Knox county in 1820, a farmer, blacksmith and surveyor, an elder in the Presbyterian church, and of Scotch-Irish stock. Thomas and Andrew MeCampbell, of Nashville, were of the same family. Mrs. Hall's]mother, Martha Bennett, came from Virginia with ;her husband to Kentucky, and from there, in 1820, moved to Knox county, Tennessee. The mother, nee Miss MeCamp-

bell, died in 1837, and the father, John McCampbell, died in 1853, leaving nine children, namely: Flora, wife of Judge William E. Anderson, formerly of the Su- preme court of Tennessee; Catharine, wife of Robert M. Anderson, brother of Judge William E. Anderson- brothers marrying sisters; Elizabeth, died in Livings- ton, Sumter county, Alabama, wife of James Hare, a lawyer and a Pennsylvanian ; Jane, married a cousin, John McCampbell, and both died 'in Knox county; Mary, died wife of Heury T. Mitchell; Ellen, died at Nashville, unmarried; Sarah Adaline (Mrs. Hall); Benjamin B., a farmer; John M., a farmer. These are all dead, except Mrs. Hall.

Mrs. Hall was educated in the common schools of Kentucky and Tennessee.' Like her husband, she has been a reader of everything she can get her hands upon; is a member of the Presbyterian church, but a full be- liever of the doctrine of the New church, Swedenbor- gian. She is a lady of determined character, kind and charitable to worthy distressed persons. During the war she was outspoken for the Union cause, but was alike swift to relieve sick, wounded or distressed Confederate or Federal soldiers. Her husband has often consulted her on legal questions, as to how he should decide a case, first submitting to her the facts and asking her opinion as to the right or wrong of the case, on the principle that what a woman knows she knows quick, as by intuition. During the war, Judge Hall remained at Knoxville, with his family, speaking freely his opin- ions, but was never very seriously molested, though sometimes annoyed with threats held in terror over him. He and his brave wife were determined to live and die at their own home.

By his marriage with Miss MeCampbell, Judge Hall has had eleven children, only three of whom are living. Three died in infancy, Ellen, Samuel and Nancy. Three sons, William, John and Robert, when grown, went to Kentucky and joined the Federal army. At the close of the war, William was killed at Knoxville. John first joined the army in Kentucky, was taken sick and captured at Cumberland Gap, but was afterwards with the army in Kentucky and Ohio. He finally enlisted in the United States navy, as mate on the " Narcissus," and perished, January 4, 1866, with all on board, the ship being lost in a storm. . John and William were both in the battle of Stones River. In that battle Wil- liam was wounded, and was lame till his death, in Sep- tember, 1865. . John took part in all the fights with Admiral Farragut, at Mobile, New Orleans, and other points. Robert joined the army at eighteen, took cold from exposure, and finally died of consumption, in No- vember, 1869. William married, in 1864, a Kentucky lady, named Susan Jones, of Louisville. Judge Hall's daughter Martha, twin child with William, married Rev. C. L. Bowling, a Baptist preacher, of Campbell county. She died in 1871, at the age of thirty-two years, leaving an infant that died two weeks after her

399

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

death. Another of Judge Hall's daughters, Frances, died in 1875, wife of A. Tindell, of Knox county. The children living are: Helen, Evelyn and Mary F., young ladies, still under the paternal roof, educated at Knox- ville, and are of the New church faith.

The Halls are of English descent. The grandfather of Judge Hall, Thomas Hall, was a native, of Orange county, North Carolina, married Nancy Hay, of that State; was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, was taken prisoner and confined for six months in Charles- ton, South Carolina, a circumstance he could never mention without his anger rising up at the recollection of the cruel and beastly treatment the king's soldiers heaped upon him. He settled in Knox county just before Tennessee was admitted into the Union. He left ten children, nine sons and one daughter. all of whom lived to be old, the youngest dying at seventy years of age. Their descendants are nearly all farmers. This family came to Knox county when it was a wilderness, which they helped to subdue. They have never been a litig- ious people, have been good neighbors, and made their living by hard licks. Some of them have been justices of the peace, and a very few merchants.

Judge Hall's father, William Hall, was born in Orange county, North Carolina, in 1788; came with his father's family to Knox county about 1796, had a mod erate education, lived a farmer's life, was prosperous, lived well, and never held an office, except that of school commissioner. He belonged to no church, was a Jackson man, but after the Hugh L. White split- off, was a Whig and Union man. He died in March, 1868.

Judge Hall's mother, nce Nancy Nelson, was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, in 1797, daughter of Eli- jah Nelson. She came with her father to Knox county

about the year 1800. She married in Knox county, in 1813, was a constant reader, and a kind, obliging, in- dustrious woman. She died in 1837, leaving eight chil- dren : Major Leroy Hall, subject of this sketch ; Joyce Lawson Hall, who married a distant relative, Pulaski Hall, of Knox county: Fanny, now wife of John C. Mynatt, of Knox county, and has four children living, Oliver, John, Flavius and Clack ; Elijah Thomas Hall, a lawyer of Knoxville, formerly judge of the Knox county circuit court: Parmelia, who died the wife of Alfred Mitchell; Martha Jane is the wife of J. L. Brown, of Knox county, and has one child, Pink Law- son; Louisa, who died the wife of Joseph R. Dew, leav- ing two children, Willie and Martha: William Hall, a merchant at Jacksborough, Campbell county, Ten- nessee.

The first principle taught Judge Hall by his parents, was to be honest, and to correct any mistake made in his favor. He has been true to friends, studious, in- dustrious, always busy, always engaged at something useful. at the same time adhering to principle, but not opposing the holders of errors on personal grounds. He is a strong advocate of religious principles, without which he believes a people must soon go to destruction ; takes a deep interest in the welfare of his country, but avoids the scrambles of politics. When he has any- thing to do, he does it without putting it off; avoids debi, does not owe a cent. and never sued but one man for a fee. As a judge. he looks at things in a common sense way, his main reliance being on the natural right. and wrong between parties, but yields to statutes and authorities. when they are clearly applicable. Plain, common. good sense, he maintains, with reason, when applied to the facts, will reach the law of a case, ninety- nine times in a hundred.

HON. JO. C. STARK.

SPRINGFIELD.

TUDGE JO. C. STARK, of Springfield, Robertson J county, one of the best and most favorably known jurists in the State, was born in Sumner county, Ten- nessee, December 29, 1817, and there reared and edu- cated, being raised as a farmer. He taught school some eighteen months, in Sumner county, to improve him- self, and at the same time to make money enough to educate himself for the legal profession, which calling he determined upon when a mere youth of seventeen. HIe read law under Maj. John J. White, at Gallatin, in 1840-41, and went to Springfield, in July, 1811, where he began practice, having been licensed at Gallatin in

that year by Chancellor Bramlett and Judge Thomas Maney, Being of a studious nature, and taking to his books with alacrity and assiduity, he did not mix much with the public, hence his growth in practice was rather slow at first, but steadily increased until within a period of three years it had grown quite lucrative. From 1844 to 1851, under the appointment of Chan- cellor Terry 11. Cahal, he was clerk and master of the chancery court at Springfield. In 1851, he purchased a farm of some eight hundred acres, near Springfield, stocked it, and ran it for a while, and then sold it for twelve thousand dollars. In 1851-52, he was elected

400

PROMINENT TENNESSEANS.

State senator from Robertson and Montgomery coun- ties, and on his return from service in the Legislature, the chancellor, John S. Brien, again tendered him the clerk and mastership, which he declined, as it inter. fered too much with his practice.

In 1858-59, in connection with E. A. Williams, he built eleven miles of the Edgefield and Kentucky rail- road. He was, for a short time, a director of the com- pany, and for many years, before and after the war, au attorney for the road. In 1859, he and Mr. William, built the large flouring mills at Springfield. In 1860-61, having bought Williams out, he ran the flouring mills, to which he attached a saw mill, and then sold them, in 1861. Since the war, he practiced law until elected judge, also farming to some extent, which latter occu- pation he still keeps up. In 1878, he was elected, for a term of eight years, circuit judge of the Tenth judi- cial cirenit, comprising the counties of Sumner, Rob- ertson, Montgomery, Stewart, Houston, Humphreys, Dickson and Cheatham. This position he now holds, his term expiring September 1, 1886.

Judge Stark was originally a Henry Clay Whig, and so remains, in principles, to this day, though in the present formation and attitude of political parties, has . been impelled to go with the Democracy, and has so voted since the close of the late war. In 1860, he was a delegate from his congressional district to the national Whig convention, at Baltimore, which nominated Bell and Everett: While in the State senate, he was chair- man of the committee on common schools and education. He has three times canvassed his district for congress, subject to the nominating convention, but was defeated.

In 1842, Judge Stark became a Mason, at Springfield, in Western Star Lodge, No. 9. He has taken the Chap- ter, Council and Commandery degrees, and has served as Master, King, Priest and Seribe. He has occa sionally delivered Masonic public addresses, but on one occasion an old negress, listening to him, and mistaking him for a preacher, commenced shouting, an incident which made Judge Stark rather sensitive on that sub- jeet, and he has not delivered many Masonic addresses since. Judge Stark belongs to no church, though a believer in the Christian religion, and is a contributor to the support of charitable enterprises. Owning three thousand acres of land at the Greenbrier station, on the St. Louis and Southeastern railroad, he laid off on it town lots, and donated lots for church purposes, to both white and colored, from a desire to improve the human race, and from his respect for the Christian re- ligion.

Judge Stark married, in Fayette county, Tennessee, in April, 1817, Miss Lamiza A. Baird, daughter of Capt. Charles Baird, a native of North Carolina, son of a farmer, Thomas Baird, of Robertson county, originally from North Carolina. Her mother, Nancy Robards, daughter of Rey. William Robards, of Williamson coun- ty, died in Fayette county, leaving five children, two of

. ,

1 whom, Benjamin F. and W. L. Baird, are now physi- cians, in Hardeman county. Mrs. Stark's sister, Emma Il., is the wife of L. T. Cobbs, a lawyer, at Springfield. - Mrs. Stark graduated from the female college at Som- erville, is the " literary department " of the Judge's family, and is remarkable for her piety, her love of the Methodist church, of which she is a devout member, and for her kindness to the poor. By his marriage with Miss Baird, Judge Stark has six children living : (1). Charles B. Stark, now a lawyer, practicing at St. Louis, and ranks exceptionally high in his profession. (2). Jo. C. Stark, jr., is a merchant, at Laredo, Texas. (3). John Lee Stark, is practicing law at Springfield. (4). Robert Lee Stark. (5). Felix J. Stark. (6). Annie Stark, now in school, and admirably proficient in music and literature. Three of Judge Stark's children died in early childhood.

The Stark family is of Scotch origin, the most noted of whom, in early atimes, was Gen. John Stark, made famous by the battle of Bennington, and his saying to his soldiers, "Do you see those red-coats yonder? They have to be taken or Molly Stark is a widow !" (See Bancroft's History of the United States). Judge Stark's grandfather, John Stark, was a native of Virginia; where he married, and afterward emigrated to Sum- ner county, Tennessee, and engaged in farming and school-teaching. He helped to build the first Baptist church on Drake's creek, in Summer county. Judge Stark's father, also John Stark, was born in Virginia, came with his father to Tennessee, lived in Sumner county all his life, a farmer, and died in 1862, at the age of seventy-five, leaving a reputation for being con- scientious in all his dealings with men, a principle which he took pains to inculcate in the mind of his son, the subject of this sketch. Judge Stark's mother, Margaret Stark, who died at his house, at the age of eighty-four, was a daughter of John Primm, a Vir- ginian by birth, who moved to Illinois, not far from St. Louis. She left five children living, of ten: Jo. C., Ann (wife of Enoch Cunningham, of Davidson county), Mary (wife of Alexander Cartwright, of Nashville), John P., living near Salem, Illinois, and Catharine, who died the wife of Benjamin Reives.

From early life, Judge Stark has never dissipated, and has been remarkably free from the vices on which, as upon sunken reefs, many lives and characters and fortunes are wrecked. He has always impressed upon his boys the importance of good character and habits of industry, and to his great gratification, they are fol- lowing both his precept and example. As a lawyer, he

has never advised a man to take an appeal, a thing very unusual in the history of a lawyer. He has never abused witnesses, to gain a law suit by that process, and he has long borne the name of an honest lawyer. These particulars serve to throw light upon his character, and evince that his is the highest type of the judicial mind, logical and impartial. On the bench, he is an early,

Lan F. Kimbley MIX.

401

PROMINENT . TENNESSEANS.

late and laborious worker, and has great partiality for the young men of the profession, encouraging and aid- ing them in their pleadings and practice. At his elec- tion to the judgeship, his county of Robertson cast three thousand five hundred votes, and there were only two hundred and fifty cast against him, and they on ae- count of relationship to a competitor, a fact that in- . dieates his high character where he is best known. He stands tall, erect, and dignified as a Presbyterian divine

or a West Point cadet, has an intellectual face, and eyes that seem to be looking inward, as if weighing, con- sidering and balancing the facts, the law and the argu- ments, pro and con, to ascertain just what the right and justice of the case is. His appearance is that of a modest. and gentle-natured man, loyal to logic and utterly incapable of being flattered or terrified from laying down or following out his own convictions of honor, truth and duty.

PROF. VAN S. LINDSLEY, M. D.

NASHVILLE.

P ROF. VAN SINDEREN LINDSLEY fills the chair of opthalmology and otology in the combined medical departments of Nashville and Vanderbilt Universities. As a skillful surgeon and operator upon the eye, car and throat, he is widely known. A large number of essays, addresses and lectures have been prepared by him and delivered before various scientific societies. He was again and again elected president of the Nashville Medical Society, and is an active member of the leading associations of his profession in the country.

From "Physicians and Surgeons of the United States," we find he is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, is a member of the American Medical Association, and was a delegate to New York in 1880, and to New Orleans in 1885; was a delegate from the State Medical Society to the Interna- tional Congress at Philadelphia, in 1876, is a member of the Public Health Association, and a member of the State Historical Society. Dr. Lindsley spent some time in Europe, visiting the hospitals and medical centers of the old world. He contributes largely to medical lit- erature, his papers always attracting marked attention, and are widely noticed and copied. Papers on the " Reproduction of Bone " and " Orthopaedic Surgery," and " Disease of Mastoid Region," have been read by him before the State Medical Society, besides, lectures on "Sound and Hearing practically Mustrated," The Eye as an Optical Instrument," etc.

Dr. Lindsley's practice comes from fourteen States, besides a large local practice. He has operated more than one hundred times for cataract alone. One of the most remarkable of these cases was that of a man born blind. He had consulted many surgeons and ocu- lists who declined to operate. Dr. Lindsley thought differently, and his judgment was vindicated in the finding of perfect sight through his skillful operation. He was associated, as office partner, for years in general

practice with the late eminent physician, Dr. W. K. Bowling, whose confidence and friendship he prized.

He was drawn very near to the hearts of the people of Nashville, as a skilled and faithful practitioner and a fearless worker throughout the terrible epidemics which have devastated Nashville since the war, giving his service as freely to the poor for their blessing as to the rich for their reward.

Dr. Lindsley was born at Greensborough, North Carolina, October 13, 1810. His father was Silas Con- diet Lindsley, native of New Jersey, and a distinguished graduate of Princeton College. His mother's maiden name was Amelia Spottiswood, of an honorable Pen- sylvania family, a woman of great piety and noble Christian character. He was a nephew of Dr. Philip Lindsley, founder and president of Nashville Univer- sity, ard of the eminent physician, Dr. Harvey Linds- ley, of Washington, D. C. The family is old in the history of England. The American branch descends from John Lindsley, one of the carliest English settlers of the New Haven colony, Connecticut, who came from London before 1610. Dr. Lindsley's ancestry shows an American record of eight generations, embracing a period of two hundred and forty years,

Primarily educated at Greensborough Institute, of which his father was principal, he was graduated A. M. at the University of Nashville, in 1861, and immedi- ately commenced the study of medicine, and in 1863 received his diploma from its medical department, by whose faculty he was subsequently elected demon- strator of anatomy. After his return from Europe he was elected professor of surgical anatomy, which po- sition he occupied until 1871, after which, he filled successively the chairs of physiology and anatomy. In 1876, he was elected to the chair of opthalmology and otology. His profound knowledge of the human sys- tem, its mechanism and all its functions, combined with a fearless boldness in operating when required, and a

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 88

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