George E. Kenney, a farmer in
the Eleventh District, was born in
August, 1834. in Greene County, where he
has since resided. He began life for
himself when twenty-two years old in
only moderate circumstances, and the
most of what he is now worth is the
fruit of his own industry and good
management. He owns a good farm of about
250 acres. He was married, in 1856. to
Miss Mary Weems, a daughter of William
Weems, a native of Greene County, Tenn.
Two children blessed this union: John C.
Breckinridge (deceased) and Wilbur C.
Mrs. Kenney died in February. 1865. He
was married a second time, in January,
1866, to Miss Louisa Brown, a daughter
of Rev. Alexander Brown, a native of
Greene County, Tenn. One child blessed
the last union — Laura (deceased). Mr.
Kenney is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. and is a Democrat. in
politics. He cast his first presidential
ticket for James Buchanan. He was
elected justice of the peace in 1860,
and has been re-elected at each election
since excepting one, when he was not a
candidate. He has given universal
satisfaction in the discharge of the
duties of his office, none of his
decisions ever being reversed. He was
the eldest of twelve children of James
and Elizabeth (Weems) Kenney, natives of
Greene County, Tenn. The father was a
very successful farmer all his life, and
took quite an active interest and part
in religious affairs. He died
about 1859, aged about fifty-eight
years. Mrs. Kenney died in 1882, aged
sixty-six years. .Mr. and Mrs. Kenney
were of Irish and English descent
respectively. Mrs. Elizabeth Kenney was
a daughter of James and Hannah Weems,
natives of Greene County, Tenn., and of
Virginia respectively. Mr. James.
Kenney's father was of Irish descent.
and was a weaver by trade.
Rufus J. Kidwell, was born four
miles north of Greeneville on the waters
of Roaring Fork of Lick Creek, Greene
County, on April 2, 1825, and is the son
of Elijah and Polly (Hankins) Kidwell.
The father was born in Greene County in
1802 and was the son of Joshua Kidwell,
who was born in the valley of Virginia,
and was the son of a native of Wales,
England. Joshua, the grandfather, came
to Tennessee in about 1787, and settled
in Greene County, of which he was one of
the. pioneers; corning when there were
but few white men here and the country
was overrun with Indians. He and a
brother were engaged in the Indian
campaigns, and the latter was killed in
the assault upon the Indians at Lookout
Mountain. Elijah, the father, was a
farmer and carpenter and carried on the
two vocations jointly, making a success
of both. He was an industrious and
energetic man; though well known and
highly esteemed, he never entered public
life nor ever held a county office,
being of a retiring disposition, and
never asking for office. While at work
erecting the residence in which H. D.
Maloney now resides on Chucky River, he
contracted a fever from which he died on
August 28, 1842. The mother was born in
New Jersery (sic) in 1798, and was the
daughter of William Hankins, who was a
native of Scotland. He immigrated to
Tennessee at the close of the
Revolutionary war, and settled in Greene
County on Roaring Fork of Lick Creek.
She was a pious Christian lady, and died
in 1862. She was a member of the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. A
peculiarity of the grandparents of our
subject was, that each lived and died on
their original farms and the same are in
the possession of their children. Our
subject was raised on the farm. and
attended school at the common schools of
the county, and finished his education
at a private or subscription school
taught by Thomas B. Jarnagin, of
Jefferson County, who was educated at
Tusculum College. At the age of nineteen
years his health failed him, and he
learned the saddler's trade under Joshua
C. Lane of Greenville, serving an
apprenticeship of three years. After
learning the trade he located at
Springvale, near the bend of Chucky, in
Jefferson (now Hamblen) County, and
engaged in tanning and manufacturing
leather into saddles, boots, shoes, etc.
In November, 1856, he removed to
Russellville and engaged in
merchandising and sold goods over two
years. and then opened a large tannery
on the Barton farm, about half-way
between. Russellville and Morristown,
and conducted that establishment during
the progress of the late war. He is a
sympathizer of the Federal Government,
but did not enlist in the War. He gave
freely of his goods to the poor of both
sides, refusing in no instance to
respond to the calls of the people for
leather. At the close of the war he
removed to Morristown, and in connection
with D. Morris and others in
merchandising, tanning and manufacturing
leather, remained at that place until
August, 1875. He then removed to
Rogersville. Tenn.. and for four years
was connected with the Rogersville
Female Institute, and educated his
daughters at that school. He then
located on a farm, nearly two and
one-half miles west of Rogersville,
followed farming until 1882. and then
removed to Warrensburg, engaged in
merchandising, and has continued up to
the present, meeting with much success.
He carries a general stock of
merchandise of about $4,000, and does
about $12,000 of business annually. He
was united in marriage at Springvale,
Tenn., on October 28, 1851, to Emma
McFarland. who was born at the above
place, July 1, 1830, and is the daughter
of Col. Robert McFarland, a son of
Robert McFarland, Sr., and a sister of
Robert McFarland, who was one of the
supreme judges of Tennessee. To this
union eight children have been born, all
of whom are living and grown. Robert G..
the oldest son, is railroading in Texas,
with headquarters at Fort Worth, and
Charles E. is engaged with his father in
merchandising. Florence. the eldest
daughter. is the wife of W. J. McSween,
a lawyer of Newport. Cocke County,
Tenn., and the other daughters are at
home. Both our subject and wife and all
his children are members of the
Presbyterian Church.
Samuel W. Leming. farmer and
stock raiser, was born in Greene County,
August 7, 1840, the son of John and
Rhenemah (Renshaw) Leming, the former a
native of Cocke County, born December
20. 1798, died in this county November
17. 1855. He was a millwright about
eighteen years, and among the first of
his trade in East Tennessee. and also
engaged in farming. Samuel, a native of
North Carolina, was the next ancestor,
and came to East Tennessee at an early
date, being one of the pioneers of East
Tennessee. He was in the Indian wars and
the war of 1812, the scabbard knife he
used in that war being in the possession
of our subject, along with two
conch-shells used by his grandparents.
The mother. a daughter of Washington
Renshaw, was born in this county
September 15. 1810. and died April 22,
1832. Her father came from Rockingham
County, Va. to this county in 1799. and
erected the first mill of any importance
in Greene County, and was active in the
Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject.
the eldest of eight children, was reared
on the farm, and educated at Tusculum
College. which the war caused him to
abandon for the Confederate Army Company
L, Fourth Tennessee Cavalry. He
was at Chickamauga and Murfreesboro, and
surrendered with Gen. J. E. Johnston.
After a trip West he settled on his
present farm in Greene County. In 1878,
he married Martha Mc. Alexander. Their
children are Frank E., J. Gertrude,
Bessie C., Mary P., Susan E., Cora .A.
and Thomas D. He and his wife are
Methodists. He has been president and
treasurer of the county agricultural
association, and is now on the executive
committee. He is a trustee of Tuseulum College, and one of the
committee who built the present
building. He has also been a steward in
his church for eighteen years.
James Love, our subject. is one
of the prosperous farmers of Greene
County, and was born about three miles
north of his present home in the Third
Civil District, on June 20. 1824. He is
the son of Charles and Hannah (Evans)
Love. The father was a native of Greene
County, Tenn., and was of English
extraction, and was a farmer. The mother
also was a native of Greene County, and
was the mother of fourteen children —
ten sons and four daughters. Our subject
is the fourth, and was reared on the
farm, and educated in the country
schools. He has farmed successfully all
his life. He had a very limited capital
to begin the occupation with, and has
been very energetic, and by hard toil
has been successful in his calling. He
owns and cultivates a farm of 317 acres,
situated on the Nollichucky River, and
also owns two other farms; one of 250
acres, in the Fifth District. and 142
acres in the Fourth Civil District. His
land is good. and he has it moderately
improved. Some very good timber is on
the land, and all is pretty well
situated. On June 12, 1873, he was
united in marriage with Sarah A. Rader,
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Ottinger)
Rader. Unto the marriage have been born
seven children — two sons and five
daughters — one daughter is dead — viz.:
Birtie Elizabeth, born December 12,
1874; Charles Edgar, born June 3, 1876;
Sarah Jane, born August 19, 1877; John
Anderson, born March 19, 1879; Eliza
Emaline, born March 2, 1881, and Lulie
Susanna, born November 16. 1883.
James Luster, a wagon-maker and
farmer in the Twenty-first District, was
born April 13, 1826, in Greene County.
where he has since resided. He began
life for himself when about twenty-two
years old, a poor man, and what he is
now worth is the fruit of his own
industry and economy. He learned the
wagon-maker's trade at that age, which
he followed in connection with farming.
He owns a fine farm of 300 acres where
he resides. He enlisted in the spring of
1863 in Company A, Fourth Tennessee
Infantry of the Federal Army, and was
mustered out of service in 1865 at
Nashville, Tenn. He was corporal of his
company. He was married in September.
1850 to Miss Lorinda C. Harmon, a
daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Bowman)
Harmon, natives of Greene County. Mr. P.
Harmon was a soldier under Capt. " Bob "
Maloney in the war of 1812. Mr. and Mrs.
Harmon were of Dutch descent. To Mr. and
Mrs. Luster eight children have been
born: Elizabeth, Peter, Catherine,
Elender (dead), Nancy, Mary J., William
A. (dead) and Eliza A. Mrs. Luster
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and Mr. Luster is a Democrat in
politics. He has served as school
commissioner and road overseer for some
time. He was the second of nine children
of William and Catherine (Young) Luster,
early settlers of East Tennessee. Mr.
Luster had four children by his first He
followed teaming and blacksmithing..
J. B. R. Lyon, the subject of the
following sketch, is a printer by
vocation; was born at Cheraw, S. C.,
April 16, 1825, and is the son of Mason
R. and Margaret Ann (King) Lyon. The
father was born at Fair Haven, Vt.,
November 12. 1798: was a printer by
vocation, and was the son of James and
Phila (Risley) Lyon. James was born in
Vermont, April 15. 1775. he was also a
printer by vocation. and. was the son of
Col. Mathew Lyon, a native of Ireland.
Col. Mathew Lyon was a member of
Congress from Vermont when the alien law
was passed, and later had occasion to
speak in opposition to the President of
the United States. This was a violation
of the alien law, because the Colonel
was a foreign born citizen, and he was
imprisoned, but afterward paid his fines
and was released. In 1799, together with
a colony of New Englanders from Vermont,
he immigrated to Kentucky, and settled
on the Cumberland River about
twenty-five miles above the mouth of the
river, in what is now called the county
of Lyon, which county he afterward
represented in the Kentucky Legislature,
and afterward was appointed agent to the
Chickasaw Indians in Arkansas. The
mother of our subject was born in North
Carolina, March 24, 1803, and is of the
King family, to which belongs Hon.
William R. King, of Alabama. She is the
mother of twelve children, of which our
subject is the eldest, but one. He was
educated at Elizabeth, Carter Co.,
Tenn., and has devoted his life to
printing, and at present is proprietor
and editor of the Greeneville
Republican. In 1851 he married Martha M.
Britton, daughter of James Britton. and
to this marriage have been born David
K., James B., Charles M., John M.,
George B., Samuel, Mollie, Maggie and
Willie.
James B. Lyon, editor of the
Greeneville Democrat, and one of the
leading young citizens of Greeneville,
was born in Greene County, Tenn., March
10, 1856, and is the son of J. B. R.
Lyon, a sketch of whom appears above.
When but seven years of age, the subject
of this sketch entered his father's
office to learn the printer's trade,
even before he had learned the alphabet.
and strange as it may appear, the young
printer was able to set up as much as a
column of type before he knew one letter
of the alphabet from another. After
working in the printing office for nine
years. he. at the age of sixteen years,
entered Tusculum College, in Greene
County, and attended that institution
for three years. He next removed
to Knoxville, and for about nine months
worked with daily papers of that city,
and then located at Newport, Cocke
County, and got out the first three
issues of the Newport Sentinel. After
being connected with the Whitesburg
Times, he, on May 1, 1879, established
the Greeneville Democrat, and has
continued the publication of that paper
with success up to the present, it
having now over 1,900 subscribers
weekly. When established the paper had
only five columns. After eighteen months
had elapsed the prosperity necessitated
an enlargement, and an additional column
was attached, and thirteen months later
another column was added, making it now
seven columns, all home print. Our
subject was married October 6, 1875, to
Tennie Dobson, who was born in Greene
County, Tenn., August 12, 1857, and is
the daughter of Rev. J. B. Dobson, D.
D., one of the oldest and most noted
ministers of East Tennessee. To
this union four boys have been born, the
eldest of whom is deceased.
Hugh D. Maloney, farmer, was born
where he now lives, June 6, 1842, the
son of William C. and Louisa (Cureton)
Maloney, the former born in Greene
County, on the homestead, July 13, 1813,
the son of Hugh, who was born in Ireland
in 1781, and became a pioneer farmer of
Greene County, and from 1816 to 1836 a
justice. He worked out the first road
from Warrensburg to Greeneville, and
died in 1849. The father was a farmer,
and was county surveyor for several
years. He was widely known, and died
January 5, 1882. He was a half brother
of Ambrose Hundley Sevier, the
well-known Arkansas senator, and
diplomat, also grandson of Henry Conway,
who was an officer in the Revolutionary
war, and who was stung to death by bees,
and buried with honors of war upon the
homestead, from which he had assisted in
removing the cane. The mother was born
at Cureton's Ferry, Greene County, in
1820, a daughter of Richard Cureton, who
was born at the above place. She was a
Methodist, and died August 21, 1886. Our
subject was educated at the Knoxville
University, Greeneville College, and
Tusculum College, graduating from the
latter in 1860. He then entered the law
department of Cumberland University, and
in 1862 joined Company H, Fifth
Tennessee Cavalry (Confederate). He
served in various capacities through the
war, until paroled at Charlotte, N. C.,
in May, 1865. While cut off from his
command he fell in with Gen. John H.
Morgan and staff. with whom he rode into
Greeneville, the evening before Morgan
was killed by the Federals. He was in
the battle of Chickamauga, through the
North Georgia campaign, and in the last
skirmish in the streets of Columbia,
when the city was evacuated by the
Confederates. He has since been
successfully engaged on his farm.
February 16, 1871, Annie, a daughter of
W. C. Scruggs, became his wife. She was
born in Grainger County, June 8, 1853.
They have four children.
Henry G. Marsh, a merchant at
Home Depot, Greene Co., Tenn., was born
at Papersville, Sullivan Co., Tenn.,
January 6, 1850, and is the son of Eli
and Harriet J. (Burkhart) Marsh. The
father was born near Home, Greene Co.,
Term., December 5. 1805. and is the son
of Gravner and Elizabeth (Oliphant)
Marsh. Gravner was a native of
Pennsylvania, and a son of Gravner
Marsh, Sr., who immigrated to East
Tennessee during its early settlement.
The mother of our subject was born in
Sullivan County, Tenn., April 1, 1813,
and died in Greene County in 1862. She
was the mother of nine children — six.
sons and three daughters. Our subject is
the youngest but one, and was reared on
the farm. and educated at Bristol and
Tusculum. At the age of sixteen years he
went to merchandising at Rheatown,
Greene County, and has been
merchandising ever since. In 1881 he
married Minnie Ramsay, a daughter of
William Ramsay, of Greene County. One
daughter, Nina, and one son, Halbert,
have blessed the marriage. Our
subject is a self-made man, and is
practical and successful in business. He
is well respected by all who know him.
Joseph W. McDannel, trustee, was
born in Greeneville, Greene County,
January 10, 1855, the son of Blackstone
and Louisa (Britton) McDannel, the
former born in Knoxville, January 15,
1811, the son of John McDannel, of
Pennsylvania, born in 1787. Marcus
McDannel was the next ancestor. John
came to Tennessee in the early part of
1808, settled in Knox County. and on the
12th of July, 1809, married Sarah
Whitson. He served in the Creek Indian
war, in Capt. Rufus Morgan's company and
Col. Brown's regiment, and returned to
Knoxville in 1814, and died January 31,
1837. Blackstone, like his father, was a
mechanic, reared in Knoxville, and
resident of Greeneville, after 1829. He
was first assistant of Maj. Samuel
Milligan, a commissary in the Mexican
war, and afterward engaged in the
pension and claim agency of the wars of
1812 and 1846. President Lincoln
appointed him United States marshal for
East Tennessee, both terms, and he was
re-appointed by President Johnson, but,
on account of the health of his family,
be resigned, and engaged in his old
agency business at Greeneville. He had
become intimately acquainted with Andrew
Johnson when both were working at their
trades, and they frequently engaged in
public debate on the Indian and other
questions. and this was the beginning of
the latter's career. The mother was born
near Greeneville December 27, 1821, the
daughter of James Britton, and
granddaughter of Daniel Britton. She was
married March 23, 1854, and died in
Greeneville April 8, 1876. Our subject
was educated at what is now Grant
Memorial University, Athens. Tenn. In
1878 he became deputy register of Greene
County, and then became deputy clerk and
master, deputy trustee and deputy county
court clerk, holding all the positions
at the same time. In 1886 he was elected
as a Republican to his present office.
He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow and is
steward in the Methodist Episcopal
Church. August 6, 1872. he married Emma
C., a daughter of William G. Horton Sr.,
clerk and master of McMinn County. She
was born August 22. 1855, in the latter
county. Two of their five children are
living.
J. W. McDannald, of the firm of
McDannald & Weems, at Mohawk Postoffice,
was born in 1842, in Greene County,
where he has since resided. He was
captured in 1861. while crossing the
mountains to Kentucky to join the
Federal Army, put in prison on James
Island, South Carolina. and kept two
years, after which he went to New York,
and from there to Kentucky. and from
there to Indiana, where he worked as a
hired hand on a farm. He hired
shortly afterward to the Government as a
teamster, at which he continued until
the war closed. He then engaged in
farming for himself, and in 1882 he
built and equipped a flouring mill in
partnership with Joseph Lane, style of
firm name being McDannald & Lane.
Mr. Lane retired from the firm in 1886.
Mr. G. J. Weems was taken into the firm
in 1884, the style of firm being
McDannald, Lane & Weems, and upon Mr.
Lane's retiring in 1866, the style of
firm name became McDannald & Weems.
The capacity of the mill is fifty
barrels per day, and the mill is
generally run day and night. so great is
the demand for their flour. Mr.
McDannald was married in 1867 to Miss
Louisa Wisecarver, a daughter of Samuel
Wisecarver, a native of Greene County,
Tenn. Five children blessed their
union: Corrie, James A., Samuel.
Ernest and Emma. Mrs. McDannald is
a member of the Missionary Baptist
Church, and Mr. McDannald is a
Republican in politics, and he is an I.
O. O. F. He is the third of six
children of James and Leah (Coble)
McDannald, natives of Jefferson and
Greene Counties, respectively. Mr.
McDannald died in 1855, aged forty-three
years. Mrs. McDannald is still
living, and she is seventy-two years
old. Mr. McDannald was Scotch, and Mrs.
McDannald was of Dutch descent.
James McDannald was a son of Alexander
and Hannah McDannald, natives of
Jefferson County, Tenn. J. M.
McDannald began life for himself a poor
man, and most of what he is now worth is
the result of his own good management.
Besides his splendid mill property he
owns 200 acres of fine bottom land.
D. W. Mercer, farmer, was born in
1836, in Blount County, but from infancy
has lived in Greene County. Since he
began, in his twentieth year, he has
acquired 162 acres at his home, besides
eighty-one acres elsewhere. In 1863 he
enlisted in Company A, Fourth Tennessee
Federal Infantry, as sergeant, and was
mustered out August 1, 1865, at
Nashville, Tenn. In 1855
Priscilla, a daughter of John Hartman,
became his wife. Their children were
John F., Recina, Mary A., Robert
(deceased) and Sarah (deceased). His
wife died May 21, 1873, and September
30, 1883, he married Margaret, a
daughter of Samuel Henry, of Greene
County, Tenn. She is a Presbyterian,
while his first wife was a member of the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He
is a Democrat. His parents, Elbert
F. and Rachel (Thompson) Mercer, are
natives of this county. The latter
died December 7, 1838. The father then
married Mary A. Norwood. a native of
Blount County, Tenn., and after her
death, June 20, 1860, married Charlotte
Hull, a native of Greene County.
He died March 19, 1887. He was a
deputy sheriff of Blount, and a trustee
of Greene, County, several years. Mr.
Mercer was of English-lrish origin, and
followed carpentering and farming. He
was a son or John Mercer.
William E. F. Milburn, lawyer,
was born at Milburnton. Greene County,
November 15, 1844, the son of Rev.
William and Martha (Frame) Milburn. The
former was born near Winchester, Va.,
September 16, 1797, the son of Jonathan
and Nancy Milburn, natives of Virginia.
The former was a soldier in the war of
the Revolution, and a pioneer of Greene
County about 1804. The father was
a minister of the Methodist Episcopal
Church for five years more than half a
century. He was during the war of
the Rebellion an avowed Union man, and
was much persecuted, and imprisoned by
the rebels for his Union sentiments.
He, was chaplain of the Eighth Regiment
Tennessee Cavalry Volunteers, United
States Army. The mother was born
near Harper's Ferry, Va., April 10,
1802, and died February 14. 1861. She
was a member pf the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Our subject served as a
soldier from November 20, 1862. to
October 25, 1863, in Company B. Twelfth
Regiment Tennessee Cavalry, Volunteers,
United States Army, in the war of the
Rebellion. He was engaged in the
battles of Florence and Shoal Creek, and
Sugar Creek, Ala.; Pulaski, Triune,
Clifton, Spring Hill, Columbia,
Campbellsville, Franklin and Nashville.
Tenn.; and the fourteen days of
continuous skirmishing with Gen. Hood's
retreating forces, from Nashville to
Eastport. Miss. After the war he entered
school. and was graduated with the
degree of A. B., and won the highest
honors of the class of 1871 in the East
Tennessee Wesleyan University. For
the two successive years. 1872 and 1873,
he was professor of mathematics in his
then alma mater. In the year 1874
he was graduated. upon examination, from
the University of Michigan, with the
degree of Master of Arts. He was
president of the Holston Seminary for
one year, 1874-75. in the meantime
reading law, so as to be admitted to the
bar in 1876 at Athens, Tenn., his
license being signed by Judge Hayle and
Chancellor Bradford. In 1879 he
removed to Abilene. Kas., and early in
1880 he located at Greeneville, Tenn.
From January, 1882. to July, 1885, he
was special examiner of the United
States Pension Bureau in the State of
Kentucky, with headquarters at Bowling
Green, after which he resumed the
practice of haw at Greeneville. In
November. 1886, he was elected. as a
Republican, to represent the county of
Greene, and served with ability and
distinction in the Legislature of 1887.
He was a member of the executive
committee of the State Temperance
Alliance. and took an active part in the
canvass to adopt the constitutional
Prohibition amendment in 1887.
October 1. 1878, Florence Ella,
daughter of Mr. John H. Williams. of
Golden, Col., became his wife. She
was born at Ducktown. Tenn., March 10.
1850. To this union have been born
three children, namely: Lulu Belle,
Frank Emily and Blaine. Mrs.
Milburn is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.
Rev. Jere Moore, A. M., was born
at Tusculum, Greene Co., Tenn.. November
G. 1845, the son of Anthony and Nancy P.
(Holt) Moore. The next ancestors were
Anthony, born June 26, 1803, in Greene
County, and died July 20, 1885;
David, born May 14. 1769, in
Pennsylvania, and Anthony, Sr., born in
1732, in Pennsylvania, coming to East
Tennessee with his family in 1778.
The latter, detained a year to raise a
company to go through what was then
called " The Wilderness," liked the
country so well that he remained here,
one of the earliest settlers of East
Tennessee. The mother was born in
Greene County, March 26, 1807, and died
April 18, 1879. She was the
daughter of David Holt, of Rockbridge
County, Va. Our subject, the next
youngest of eight children, was
educated at Greeneville and Tusculum
College, and graduated in 1871;
then in 1874 graduated from the Lane
Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio.
In September, 1874, he was ordained by
the Holston Presbytery at Kingsport, and
for a year was a Presbyterian
missionary. He has since preached
at Mount Bethel, Oakland, and other
churches. He was a member of the General
Assembly at Pittsburgh in 1878, and at
Saratoga in 1883. He was giving
his life to the ministry, when, in 1883,
he was called to the presidency of the
Greeneville and Tusculum College, which
he accepted in June, 1883. On
December 10, 1874. he married Belle R.,
a daughter of E. E. Mathes, of
Washington County, where she was born
September 4, 1850. Their children
are Myrtie L., born February 8, 1876;
David E., born October 7, 1877; A.
Holt, born August 19, 1879; Melvin
M., born February 6, 1882; Maggie
B., born September 21, 1883, and one boy
unnamed, born April 23, 1887.
J. S. Neilson, a farmer, was born
April 16, 1831, in Greene County, always
his home. When he was eighteen he began
independently by managing his father's
farm, and in 1861 he began farming for
himself. In 1853 he married M. E.
Baker, a daughter of Allen Baker, a
native of Greene County. Their children
are James T. and Jesse B. She is a
member of the Baptist Church, and in
politics he is a Democrat, first voting
for Scott. He is the fifth of seven
children of W. D. and Eliza (Evans)
Neilson, natives of Greene and Claiborne
Counties, respectively. The father
commanded a company in the war of 1812,
and was afterward commissioned colonel.
He followed farming most of his life,
and the latter part was engaged in
general merchandising. The grandfather,
Hugh, was a native of Scotland, and one
of the pioneers of Greene County, Tenn.
The mother was of English stock. The
farm of our subject consists of 375
acres of fine, mostly bottom, land.
showing the hand of a successful
agriculturist.
Augustus H. Pettibone, one of the
leading lawyers and citizens of
Greeneville, Tenn., was born at Bedford,
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, January 21, 1835,
the son of Augustus N. and Nancy L.
(Hathaway) Pettibone. The father
was horn in Vernon, N. Y.. in 1802, and
was the son of Elijah Pettibone, a
soldier of the Revolutionary war. The
father removed to Ohio early in life,
and established the first woolen mills
west of the Alleghany Mountains, at
Newburg now part of Cleveland, Ohio. He
was a Whig, and a strong supporter of
Henry Clay. He died in 1849. The
mother was born near Burlington. Vt.,
about 1804, and was the daughter of
Zepheniah Hathaway. a native of Taunton,
Mass. She died in 1843. Our
subject was educated at Hiram College,
Ohio. and at the University of Michigan.
graduating in 1859. He studied law with
Hon. Jonathan E. Arnold at Milwaukee,
Wis., and entered in the practice at La
Crosse. Wis. He entered the Federal Army
as a private. in 1861, and was promoted
to second lieutenant and captain of his
company. and on December 7, 1862. was
promoted to major of the Twentieth
Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers. He
served through the war, and then located
at Greeneville. Tenn., and resumed his
law practice. He entered politics and
was first elected attorney general of
the First Judicial Circuit, of
Tennessee, and was a Grant and Colfax
presidential elector in 1868. He served
for several years as assistant United
States district attorney for the Eastern
District of Tennessee, and was the Hayes
and Wheeler elector for the State at
large in 1876. He was elected to the
XLVII. XLVIII and XLIX Congresses as a
Republican. He is now a member of the
law firm of Pettibone, Worder & Sharp,
of Chattanooga. but resides at
Greeneville. He was married, July 16.
1868, to Mary C. Speck, of Rogersville,
Tenn., daughter of George C. Speck,
deceased.
W. H. Piper, county clerk, was
born in Knoxville, Tenn., April 26.
1854, the son of Albert M. and Martha O.
(Allen) Piper, the former born in
Virginia, August 20, 1820, the son of
Joseph, a native of Pennsylvania, and of
German parents. The father became a
Rogersville merchant about 1838.
From 1846 he was in Knoxville as clerk,
and from 1851 as partner, in the Coffin
Brothers firm, with whom he had removed.
In 1857 he became a partner of S. B.
Boyd, until 1859. He was mayor of
Knoxville for a time. In 1859 he bought
a farm, and up to 1867 was a Greene
County merchant. In 1871 he became
United States deputy revenue collector.
He was in the Indian wars. He died June
11, 1873, the first victim of the
cholera epidemic of that year. The
mother was born December 9, 1824, in
Greene County, the daughter of James
Allen, of Irish descent. She died May
14, 1869. Our subject was educated at
Clear Springs Academy, Greene Co., Tenn.
He taught school and studied law with
Maj. Pettibone, until 1882, and in May,
1881, was admitted. In August, 1882, be
was elected to his present position, the
first Republican to hold the office.
January 17, 1883, Carrie Brannan became
his wife. Their children were Bessie,
Blaine (deceased) and Gracie. He is a
member of the United Brethren Church,
while his wife is a Presbyterian.
During the war of the Rebellion the
father, Albert M., and all the members
of his family, were uncompromising
Unionists.
C. G. Rankin was born at Rheatown,
Tenn., March 5, 1337, being the son of
John and Louisa (Gray) Rankin, the
former a tanner and merchant, who died
at .Johnson City, Tenn., in 1879, aged
sixty-four, and a native of Greene
County. The mother, a native of this
county also, was the laughter of
Benjamin Gray, and died in 1843. Our
subject and two sisters were the only
children. He left school at thirteen
years of age, and clerked for his father
until he was twenty-one. Since then he
has farmed on an extensive scale. In
1858 he married Louisa, a daughter of
Frederick DeVault, of Leesburg, Tenn.
Three daughters and the mother are
deceased. The sons are John A. and
Charles In 1872 he, Hon. D. T. Patterson
and W. B. Rush organized the Home Woolen
Company, and located their mill a half
mile north of Home Depot. At present our
subject is the sole proprietor and
manager, and employs about twenty-five
persons constantly, the capacity of the
mill being 30,000 pounds of wool per
year. Blankets, yarns, cassimeres,
jeans, flannels, etc., are sold directly
to the consumer. He is a Master Mason,
and a Knight of Honor. He has
merchandised since 1867, first at home
and later at his mills, where the old
stone dam, the first in this region,
gave its name to the historical camping
grounds and a Methodist Church built
there.
D. W. Remine, a farmer in the Fifteenth
District, was born in 1837 in Virginia,
and came to this locality in 1847, where
he has since resided. He received his
education at Limestone Academy and
Tusculum College. When eleven years of
age he was thrown upon his own
resources, a poor boy, and has followed
farming ever since. He was married in
1858 to Miss Phoebe Keizel, daughter of
Enos Keizel, a native of Rockingham
County, Va., who came to Washington
County in 1856. To this union has been
born fourteen children; Fannie L.,
Rebecca, Calvin K., Edward E.
(deceased), Mollie E., Schuyler Colfax.
Minnie B., Horace Maynard, Lummie Lynn,
Carrie Bays, Frederick Fuller, Bell
Carter, Annie Lee and Kate. The parents
are members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and Mr. Remine is a Republican
in politics and a prohibitionist in
principle, a Good Templar, and a Son of
Temperance. He is the third of seven
children born to Hiram and Nancy (Bays) Remine, natives of Virginia. He was a
soldier in the late war, and was
captured and detained in Castle Thunder,
Libby, Abingdon, Jonesboro, Greeneville
and Knoxville prisons on account of his
views on Abolitionism, he being a
pronounced Abolitionist, and very bold
in declaring his views. Three of his
sons were soldiers in the United States
Army. He is a son of William H. Remine.
a native of Tazewell County: Va.. and
was a stock dealer and distiller. He was
justice of the peace for many years.
Mrs. Nancy Remine was a daughter of
James and Ruth Bays, either natives of
or very early settlers in Russell
County, Va. Mr. Bays was a prominent
minister of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Bays Mountain took its name from
this family, they being noted as great
hunters. They have furnished a great
number of very excellent and able
ministers.
James H. Robinson was born two miles
from Greeneville, on June 26, 1835, and
is the son of James and Mary (Temple)
Robinson. The father was born in Greene
County. and was the son of David
Robinson, who was a native of Virginia,
and immigrated to Tennessee at a very
early date and was one of the pioneers
of Greene County. The father was a
farmer and a prominent citizen, and for
a number of years served as magistrate.
He died in 1863, his funeral occurring
on the last day General Longstreet's
army passed through Greeneville, going
into Virginia. The mother was born in
Greene County, and was the daughter of
Thomas Temple, a native of Greene
County, who was the son of Maj. Temple,
a native of North Carolina, who
participated in the battle of King's
Mountain. She died in 1867. Our subject
was reared on the farm, and attended
school at Tusculum College. While in
school his health failed him, and he
visited California, where he remained
for over two years. Returning home he
studied law for a time and then
re-entered Tusculum College, from which
school he graduated with honor on June
7, 1860, he being the valedictorian of
the graduating class of that year. He at
once resumed his law studies in
Greeneville under Maj. James Britton,
and on February 18, 1861, was admitted
to the bar, his license being signed by
Judge David T. Patterson and Chancellor
Seth J. W. Lucky. He was not sworn in at
once, and the war coming up, upon advice
of friends he did not take the oath
until after the war. He enlisted in the
Confederate service in 1862, and was
appointed deputy agent at Greeneville,
which he held until the latter part of
that year, and then enlisted in Capt.
Jackson's Company of the Eighty-first
Regiment of Confederate Tennessee
Infantry, as a private. He was with his
regiment but a short time until he was
appointed provost-marshal and put in
command of Greene County, with the rank
of captain. He served in that capacity
until the evacuation of East Tennessee
by the Confederate troops. On leaving
Greeneville he became a member of Col.
Battles' Cavalry Battalion, which
organization was composed of a number of
parts of different regiments. His health
failed him after awhile, and he left
the ranks, and purchased the newspaper
outfit of the Southern Banner, which he
removed to Wytheville, and published a
weekly paper until the close of the war,
and issued the last paper in the
Confederacy, an issue being made after
Gen. Lee's surrender, the paper being
common brown wrapping paper. He was with
his command, however, at the surrender
at Christiansburg, Va., in 1865. At the
close of the war he went to Illinois
and then to Louisville, Ky., where be
was engaged for a few weeks as salesman
in a wholesale merchandising house. From
Louisville he went to Batesville, Ark.,
where he began the practice of his
profession, he having previously been
licensed to practice in the courts of
Arkansas. He removed to East Tennessee
in 1869 and settled in Greeneville,
forming a partnership with Maj. A. H. Pittibone. He remained with Maj.
Pettibone for about five years, and then
formed a partnership and practiced with
Thomas Maloney, and with him was counsel
for four years for President Johnson's
estate, and conducted the noted case,
before the supreme court, of Bessie M.
Johnson, the widow of Andrew Johnson,
Jr., against the administration of
President Johnson's estate, which case
was argued four different times before
the supreme bench of Tennessee. He began
practicing by himself, and has continued
up to the present, having built up a
fine practice and established for life
an excellent professional standing, and
for six years was local attorney for the
East Tennessee & Virginia Railway. He is
a man of fine legal talent, and a
progressive and public spirited citizen.
broad and liberal in his views. He has
always encouraged all public enterprises
of a worthy nature, and is now president
of the board of enterprise of Greene
County. He takes an active part in
politics, and, during recent canvasses,
stumped a large portion of this section.
He takes an interest in the schools and
churches, and is a member of and an
elder in the Presbyterian Church of
Greeneville. He was married to Ellen
Temple, June 7, 1860, only a few moments
after he delivered his valedictory
address at college. His wife was born in
Greene County, April 19, 1843, and is
the daughter of Col. M. S. Temple, one
of the prominent citizens of Greene
County, who represented his county in
the State Legislature, and was also at
one time superintendent of the East
Tennessee & Virginia Railway. To this
union eight children have been born, two
of whom are dead. The eldest, Frank P.,
is a practicing physician of Cocke
County. and Bird M., another son is
connected with the Indian agency at
Standing Rock, Dakota, who read law with
his father, and on November 6, 1883, was
licensed to practice by the supreme
court of Tennessee. June 6, 1873, our
subject was called to Tusculum College,
and the degree of A. M. conferred upon
him. He is, and has been for years, a
trustee of Tusculum College. He was
prosecuting lawyer in the celebrated
case of Johnson vs. McHenry.
D. L. Russell, farmer and stock raiser,
was born near his present home in Greene
County, October 14, 1841, the son of
John and Minerva (Thompson) Russell. The
father was a farmer, and died at his
home in Greene County, in February,
1885, aged seventy-two years, and the
mother, also a native of Tennessee, was
the daughter of Henry Thompson. Of nine
children, those living are Daniel L.,
Samuel C., William F.. Edward G., John
and Alfred H. Our subject was reared on
the farm, and educated at the common
schools. When of age he joined the
Confederate Army, was in service four
years, and has since been successfully
devoted to farming. He now owns a farm
of 350 acres, well improved. In 1867 he
married Mary V., a daughter of James
Johnston. Their children are .John W.,
James J., Sudie and William. She died
December 30, 1876 and in 1878 Sarah R.,
a daughter of H. Wells, became his wife.
Their children are Minnie, Humphries,
Jennie and David C. Our subject is a
Presbyterian.
A. N. Shoun, lawyer, of the firm of
Ingersoll & Shaun, was born in Johnson
County, Tenn., November 1, 1851, the son
of G. H. and Theodosia (Wilson) Shaun,
the former born in that city in 1821,
the son of Andrew, a native of the same,
and he a son of Leonard, a pioneer of
that county. The father, a successful
merchant, is now retired at Rheatown,
where he removed at the close of the
war. The mother was born in 1824 in
Johnson County. and is the daughter of
Andrew Wilson. Both parents are members
of the Christian Church. Our subject was
thirteen years of age when the family
moved to Rheatown. and he spent one year
(1865) in Emory and Jefferson College.
Knox County; then one year in the Rheatown Academy, and finally graduated
from Emory and Henry College, Va., in
June, 1871. Be read law in the office of
Judge H. H. Ingersoll two years, and
was admitted to the bar in 1873. his
license being signed by Judges Smith and
Gillenwaters, and also by the master of
the supreme court. For over three years
he was engaged as merchant with his
father, studying meanwhile, especially
history. In 1878 he began his present
law partnership. In 1873. Kate, a
daughter of Thomas Johnson, became his
wife. They have four children. She is a
Methodist.
R. J. Snapp was born in Sullivan County,
Tenn., October 1, 1843. and is the son
of W. C. and A. E. Snapp. In September,
1851, he entered Jefferson Academy, of
Sullivan County, and attended this
institution eight winters, laboring on
the farm during the summer seasons, and
passing his youth without noteworthy
event. In 1859 he was placed under the
control of Rev. J. J. Smith. of
Shelbyville. Ind.. who carefully
directed his education for four years.
In 1863 he returned to Knoxville and was
there employed by Fishel & Elsas, as
clerk in their dry goods establishment,
but in 1866 obtained a position as clerk
with Stokes & Waters, Lebanon. Tenn.. also
in the dry goods business. Two years
later (1868) he removed with this firm
to Cherry Valley, Middle Tennessee, but
the following Year (1869) returned to
his father's house at Rheatown. Greene
Co., Tenn. In 1870, he attended Laurel Hill
Academy one term, and. in 1872, entered
H. G. Eastman's Commercial College,
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from the business
course of which institution he graduated
in four months. He then returned to his
father. whose health was beginning to
fail with the approach of old age, to
take charge of the farm. and continued
thus four years. From 1876 to 1877, he
was engaged in the brick business at
Greeneville. Tenn., and in 1876 embarked
in the family grocery business with W.
D. Culver as partner, the firm name
being Snapp & Culver. In the fall of 1879,
he bought out Mr. Culver. and is still
continuing alone, having in 1883 added
to his business a tannery and a boot,
shoe, harness and saddle manufactory. He
manufactures more leather than he can
use and ships it in the rough to
Eastern cities. In 1886-87, he built,
under the supervision of J. F. Fields,
architect. "Snapp's Opera House" the
lower floor being used for stores, and
the building being the most attractive
in the place, and a credit to both owner
and town. April 30. 1877, he was united
in marriage with Miss Lizzie Lane,
daughter of Thomas Lane, of Greeneville,
which union has proven a very happy one,
two bright boys, Earl and Clarence,
having come to bless their parents. Earl
is eight years old. and Clarence would
have been four, had not God, for some
wise purpose, seen proper last autumn to
call him home.
Lawrence P. Speck, farmer and merchant
miller, was born in Rogersville, Tenn.,
October 28. 1841, the son of George C.
and Mary D. (Russell) Speck. The father.
a native of Augusta County, Va.. was
born in 1804, and died in 1847, and was
of German-French origin. He was a
tailor, and also dealt in live stock,
and about 1844 moved from Hawkins County
to Morristown, where his death occurred.
The mother was born in Greene County,
Tenn., June 24, 1814, and died February
20. 1886. Her children are Thos. J.,
Mary C.. Lawrence P. and George E. Our
subject was reared in Rogersville and
Morristown, and received a limited
education in common schools, and a few
terms at McMinn Academy. He was a clerk
in early life, and worked several years
in a printing office. With the opening
of the war, while residing at Camden,
Ark., he enlisted in Company C, first
Arkansas Volunteers, Confederate Army,
and was paroled at the close at
Jamestown, N. C. He returned to
Rogersville and then moved to New
Orleans, and was employed in the cotton
trade, with a firm engaged in that
business. In 1867 he married Elizabeth
Robertson, of Kosciusko, Miss. He then
engaged in the newspaper business and
merchandising at Morristown, Tenn. In
1880 he went to Rockford, Blount County,
where he engaged in merchandising and
manufacturing cotton goods, but in 1885
he began farming at his present home. His children are George C., born October
10, 1869; Hugh W., born January 10,
1872: Annie L., born January 6. 1874;
Thomas A., born April 16, 1876; Eugenia
A., born February 22, 1878; Mary P.,
born December 21, 1880; Bessie L., born
January 29, 1883; and Laura B., born
December 28, 1884.
A. J. Stephens, sheriff, was born twelve
miles south of Greeneville, in 1843,
being the son of Samuel L. and Mary J.
(Farnsworth) Stephens, the former born
in this county April 2, 1805, the son of
Andrew Stephens, of Pennsylvania. but a
resident of Greene County since 1790.
Samuel died April 26, 1874. The mother
was born in Greene County October 13,
1820, being the daughter of Thomas
Farnsworth. She is a Lutheran. and is
still a resident of this county. Our
subject was educated in a mill, and
attended Richland Creek Academy. In 1862
he joined the Fourth Tennessee Federal
Infantry, and was captured while en route for Kentucky, and taken to
Knoxville and put in the Confederate
service, but ran away at the first
opportunity, and helped raise Company E,
Second Federal North Carolina Mounted
Infantry, of which he was chosen Second
Lieutenant, serving until August 16.
1865, when. by special order of the war
department, he was mustered out at
Knoxville. He then established a
wool-carding machine at Little Lick
Creek. running it for three years, and
then engaged in iron mining for two
years. He was then a farmer and mill-wright
until August, 1886, when he became
sheriff. He is a Republican. In 1867 he
married Martha E., a daughter of John
Susong. She was born in Greene County in
1843, and is a Presbyterian. They have
had four children.
S. J. R. Stephens, senior member of B.
F. Stephens' Bros., of the Greeneville
Woolen Mills, is the superintendent of
the weaving department. The mills were
first established at Birdsbridge in
1879, and afterward moved to Greeneville
by the present firm. They are the
largest between Knoxville and the
Virginia line, and have a capacity of
150 pounds of yarn, and 500 yards of
jeans cloth per day, though a general
variety of goods is manufactured.
Twenty-two of the best looms and
thirty-five hands are employed, and they
do an annual business of about $75,000.
Our subject was born in 1849, in Greene
County, and was educated in Tusculum
College. He began flour-milling and
taking out iron ore from the furnace
near Birdsbridge, then after a year on
the farm, he and his brothers
established their business. In 1864 he
married Florence, daughter of Andrew
Bowers. They have had four children. B.
F. Stephens, the second member, and
superintendent Of the spinning
department, was born in 1856, and
educated at Mosheim Station, and then
entered the flouring-mill and
woolen-mills, removing to Greeneville in
1884. In 1878 he married Josephine,
daughter of J. B. Bird. They have one
child. Fox Stephens, junior member and
book-keeper, was born in 1858, and was
educated at Mosheim College. at Blue
Springs, and began with his brothers on
leaving school. In 1879 he married
Josephine, daughter of Thomas N. Brooks.
Samuel L., and Mary J. (Farnsworth)
Stephens, the parents, were born—the
former in Pennsylvania in 1805, and the
latter in Greene County, Tenn., in 1820.
The father was the son of John Stephens,
a native of Germany, who came to
Pennsylvania about 1809 or 1810. He was
a farmer and blacksmith, and a Lutheran.
He died in 1874. The mother, a daughter
of Thomas Farnsworth, is also a
Lutheran, and lives with the junior
member of this firm, Fox Stephens.
A. D. Susong, merchant, was born in
Greene County, November 10, 1820, the
son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Eason)
Susong, the former horn in Rockingham
County, Va., in 1777, the son of Andrew,
Sr., a native of Germany, and a soldier
throughout the Revolution, who became a
pioneer of Greene County in 1817, and
died in 1826. Andrew. Jr., was a
successful farmer in Greene County, and
died in 1832, universally esteemed. The
mother was born in Montgomery County,
Va., a daughter of Samuel Eason, a
native of Virginia, and owner of the
Virginia site of Bristol, Tenn. She died
in 1856. Both were Lutherans, but the
mother after his death became a
Presbyterian. Our subject was educated
at Tusculum College, and then engaged
for three years in a hardware store at
Greeneville, since which he has been in
his present general merchandise store at
Timber Ridge. in connection with which
he owns and cultivates from 700 to 800
acres of land. He was postmaster from
1847 to about 1859. and from 1866 to the
administration of President Arthur. lie
is a broad-minded man, and a
Presbyterian. In 1868 he married Sarah.
a daughter of Robert Cochran, of Greene
County. She was born in 1840, near their
present home. Sic is a Presbyterian.
Three of their four children are living.
He has been an elder of his church for
the last thirty years.
L. W. Tipton, merchant, was born in Crab
Orchard, Ky., June 20, 1838, the con of
Jonathan and Mary (McJimpsey) Tipton,
the former born in North Carolina in
1811, the son of Jonathan Tipton, a
native of Carter County, Tenn. The
father, a farmer, was killed in 1864, by
Confederate soldiers, in retaliation for
his sons being in the Federal Army. The
mother was born in Catawba County, N.
C., in 1818, the daughter of William
McJimpsey. She now lives in North
Carolina. Our subject was educated at
Burnsville, N. C., and in 1862 joined
Company D, Eighth Federal Tennessee
Cavalry, but June 11, 1863, he was
transferred to Company A, Third United
States North Carolina Mounted Infantry,
as second lieutenant. He was mustered
out August 7, 1865, and has since been
farming a mile east of Greeneville. He
has also, since 1881, been engaged in
the grocery business at Greeneville. He
is a Mason, and a member of the Baptist
Church. He is an intelligent and
successful man. August 25, 1865,
Clementine, a daughter of Eliza
Headerick, became his wife, and five
children have been born to them. She was
born near Fall Branch in 1836.
Col. J. G. Weems, farmer, was born July
4, 1829, in Greene County, where he has
since resided. He was -first engaged for
seven years in the firm of Bailey &
Weems. merchants and stock dealers, but
since 1857 he has been farming. His
father gave him $1,500, and be now owns
about 500 acres of land where he
resides, besides 267 acres elsewhere.
May 15, 1850, he married Mary J., a
daughter of William M. Williams, a
native of Greene County. Their children
were Laura E., George M., Eliza M.
(deceased), Thomas B., Joel A., Charles
P., John G. (deceased), Mary E., William
M., James R. and Robert T. Both are
Methodists, and he is a leader among
Prohibitionists. Politically he was a
Democrat until 1831, at which time he
took up. the cause of the
Prohibitionists. He served four years as
a justice, and then resigned. He is a
Master Mason. He is the second of eight
children of George and Matilda (Keele)
Weems, natives of Greene and Jefferson
(now Hamblen) Counties, respectively,
the former deceased in July, 1839, aged
forty-four, and the latter in December,
1863, aged about fifty-nine. John Weems,
of North Carolina, was the next
ancestor, and of Irish stock. Our
subject was a colonel of State militia.
G. J. Weems, farmer and miller, of the
firm of Weems & McDannald, was born in
1838 in Greene County, where he has
since resided. He began with $3,000
worth of property. and now owns a fine
farm of 300 acres at his home, and two
other tracts of 293 acres, besides a
half interest in the valuable mill
property. In 1862 he enlisted in Company
D. Eighth Tennessee Federal Infantry,
and served until June, 1863, when he was
mustered out at Nashville, having
received a severe wound at Kenesaw
Mountain. In 1865 Mattie J., daughter of
William Ross, of the county of Greene,
became his wife. Their children are Mary
M. (now Mrs. Barlow), William R.,
Charles E., Livy A. S., Rebecca J.,
Dollie 0. and Nancy Alice. Both are
members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and he a Prohibitionist.
Joseph A. Williams, the subject of our
sketch, is a farmer in the Ninth Civil
District and was born in Greeneville,
Tenn., May 3, 1832, and is the son of
Dr. Alexander and Catherine Douglas
(Dickson) Williams. The father was a
native of Surry County, N. C., and was
born in November, 1793, and died at
Greeneville in August, 1852. The mother
was born in Greeneville, Tenn., in 1802,
and died in Greeneville in 1870. She was
the mother of six sons and four
daughters, of which children there now
(1867) live only three sons, viz.:
William D., Joseph A. and Thomas L.
Joseph A., our subject was reared in
Greeneville, and was educated in
Greeneville and Knoxville, and early in
life studied medicine and practiced the
profession for a short time, and then
began farming in Greene County, Tenn. He
was farming when the civil war broke
out, though he never enlisted, yet his
sympathy was in favor of the Federal
Army. In 1861 he married Lucy M. Rumbough, and it is said that Lucy betrayed
Gen. John Morgan to the Union soldiers
at Greeneville, but hereby the statement
is denied. She was not the betrayer of
the General, but was a sympathizer with
the Union army, and never had an
opportunity of betraying Gen. Morgan.
In 1881 our subject was united in
marriage with Mary Pattent for a second
wife. She was an intelligent woman of
noble character, and a devoted
Christian, and her death occurred
fourteen mouths after her marriage with
our subject. Mr. Williams is a practical
farmer, and owns and cultivates a
portion of the Greeneville College farm.
He is a man decisive in character, and
is a faithful friend, and a well
respected citizen.
Thomas L. Williams was born in
Greeneville, Tenn., September 7, 1838;
and is the son of Dr. Alexander and
Catherine (Dickson) Williams. The father
was born in Sorry County. N. C., in
November, 1793, and died in Greeneville,
Tenn., in August. 1852. The mother was a
native of Greeneville, Tenn., and was
born in 1802, and died in 1870. She was
the daughter of William Dickson, an
early settler of East Tennessee. She was
the mother of six sons and four
daughters. of which family there are now
(1887) living only three sons, viz:
William D.; Joseph A. and our subject,
who was reared in Greeneville, and
educated at Greeneville, Knoxville and
Chapel Hill, N. C. At the outbreak of
the war. he left college at .Knoxville,
and entered the Confederate Army, in
Company E, Sixteenth Battalion.
Buckner's Legion. and afterward was
transferred to Vaughn's Brigade. He
became captain, and was paroled as such,
and surrendered at Anderson Court House.
S. C. Such was the prejudice against him
in his native community, which was
principally of Union sentiment, that he
was forced to leave his native county,
and went to Baltimore and elsewhere.
About six years after the war he settled
in Greene County, and has farmed ever
since. He owns and cultivates a portion
of the. Greeneville College farm, and is
a practical farmer. In 1870 he married
Mary Simpson, daughter of Hon. Richard
F. Simpson. of South Carolina. She was
born March 1, 1842, and is the mother of
nine children, of whom only six now
(1887) live, viz: Eliza S., Richard F.,
William D., Thomas L.. Maria L. and Anna
Simpson.
William Houston Williams, merchant, was
born December 5, 1834, in Blount County,
and is the son of W. B. and Elizabeth
(Hubbell) Williams. natives of Smyth
County, Va., the former born in 1796,
being the son of Major Samuel Williams,
a native of Rye Valley, Va.. and a
soldier of the Continental war. He was
also an extensive iron works owner in
his native state. He settled in Blount
County in 1822, and was a farmer, a
captain in the militia, and also a
deputy sheriff, and died in 1852. The
mother was born in 1806, being the
daughter of Joel Hubbell, a farmer of
Smyth County, Va. She died in 1826, when
our subject was a child. Both parents
were Baptists. Our subject was educated
at Maryville College, Blount County, and
Mossy Creek (now Carson) College, and
taught for one year, when he joined
Company K, Fifth Tennessee Cavalry
(Confederate), as orderly sergeant. In
December, 1863, he was captured at
Knoxville, but escaped near Richmond,
while en route for Camp Chase, Ohio. He
taught then two years in Kentucky, one
in Alabama and three in Tennessee. In
1871 he began extensive wheat dealing in
Greeneville for the Kenesaw (Ga.) mills,
continuing up to 1882, gaining the title
by which he is generally known, of "
Wheat William." Since that date he has
been a successful merchant. He is a
stockholder in the public schools, and
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. He is also a Knight of Honor. In
1874 he married Mary J., a daughter of
Lemuel White, a Methodist divine of
Hawkins County, where she was horn in
1844. She taught several years in Greene
and Washington Counties, and at
Weaverville, N. C. Two of their four
children are deceased. His wife is a
Methodist.
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