GENEALOGICAL TIDBITS FROM THE MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL
DURING THE CENTENNIAL YEAR OF 1876

By Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 2002

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL
JULY-SEPTEMBER 1876

 

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July 1, 1876

Among the political party leaders who spoke at the Republican mass meeting in the Greenlaw Operahouse, Memphis, the early night of June 31, 1876 were:

EDWARD SHAW. "This colored representative of his race gave an account of his action at the Cincinnati convention and then branching out, discussed the capabilities of the Republican candidates and the platform of the party. He pitched into the Democratic Party in his usual style. The festive Edward made his usual harangue, told his old stories again and stalked back to his seat in the semi-circle that was located in the back part of the stage. . . . Edward was cheered by the crowd as his shadow left the foot-lights."

Colonel [JOHN] MALONE. "The colonel is a large, portly black man, bald-headed and with side whiskers after the English Dundrary style. He was a man of color from the north and had

 

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settled in this city some time since. He declared himself as a Republican and backer of the [R. B.] HAYES-[William A.] WHEELER ticket. He eulogized Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. He claimed that when the white people of Boston were standing around and talking as crowds generally do, a black man [CRISPUS ATTUCKS] stepped out and said, 'Come on and lead a charge on the British' and his was the first blood shed in the revolution. . . . Re did not think the financial plank in the platford a matter of any importance. Colonel Malone was evidently jolly, in good humor and had a platform of his own to stand upon. He was a blacksmith and worked for a living, that was his platform. The colonel grew eloquent and was cheered vociferously by his black brethren as he backed out from in front of the platform. [Malone was a Memphis blacksmith.]

BARBOUR LEWIS, who was active throughout this period, influentially in the radical wing of the Republican Party in Memphis and Shelby County, addressed this assemblage as well, casting political aspersions on Samuel J. tilden, the Democratic candidate for President of the United States and berating Democrats for having spent too much of the public monies needlessly.

[BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE AMERICAN CONGRESS, 1774-1971, Washington, D.C., 1971, page 1286:

LEWIS, Barbour, a Representative from Tennessee; born in Alburg, Vt., January 5, 1818; attended the common schools; warn graduated from Illinois College, Jacksonville, Ill., in 1846; taught school in Mobile, Ala.; was graduated from the law department of Harvard University; was admitted to the bar and practiced; delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1860; during the Civil War enlisted in the Union Army August 1, 1861, and served as captain of Company G, First Missouri Volunteers; appointed by the military authorities judge of the civil commission court at Memphis, Tenn., in 1863; discharged from the service November 15, 1864; president of the commissioners of Shelby County, Tenn., 1867-1869; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress (March 4, 1873-March 3, 1875); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1874 to the Forty-fourth Congress; resumed the practice of law in Memphis, Tenn.; moved to St. Louis, Mo., in 1878; appointed to the United States land office at Salt Lake City, Utah; resigned this position in 1879 and moved to Whitman County, Territory of Washington, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock raising; died in Colfax, Wash., July 15, 1893; interment in Colfax Cemetery.

For a decade after the Civil War, Judge Lewis was a powerful political factor in the Memphis locality. After he lost the base of his power, the black vote, he realized his "day had passed" and sought a lucrative position from President Ulysses S. Grant, as noted in the Memphis PUBLIC LEDGER, October 31, 1876:

Ex Judge Barbour Levis is about to leave our city and to establish himself among the Mormons of Salt Lake, he having secured the appointment of Register of the Land Office at Salt Lake from President Grant. Barbour is Appraiser of Customs in this city and gets $3000 per annum for signing his name a few times a month, and we presume the Salt Lake land office is a fatter office by many thousands of dollars. In March next, when Tilden and Hendricks take their seats as President and Vice President of the United States, Barbour will have to migrate from Salt Lake and seek new pastures where the fodder grows taller and where paying offices are in the hands of Radicals.

 

July 2, 1876

RUBY AGNES GARDNER daughter of C. W. and Mary A. Gardner died in Memphis, July 1, 1876, aged 6 months, 13 days old; funeral today.

WILLIAM FRITZ son of John and Margarette Fritz, died in Memphis, July 1, 1876, aged 3 years, 7 months, 15 days old; funeral today.

JENNIE CARTER wife of Captain Edward Carter died in Austin, Mississippi, June 27, 1876; burial in Memphis, June 30.

In memory of HENRIETTA B. RICE, a saccharine piece written by "Maggie," a school-mate of this "little flower;" devoid of any biographical content.

JOHN G. LITTLE, Mt. Sterling, Ky., married MARY BELLE TOOF, Memphis, June 27, 1876 in the Christian Church, Memphis.

 

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July 5, 1876

The funeral of BENNETT HENNING KUKLA son of Frank and Eliza Kukla to be held today.

A Centennal picnic on the eve of July 4 and a cannonading and fireworks display afterwards was the local occasion to celebrate the birth of the United States; on the following day, the fourth, more cannonading, musical bands livened-up the crowd for the speeches of political leaders in court square. American flags were widely displayed from the stores along the city streets. The principal speaker on court square, Colonel WILLIAM AVERY, recalled incidents in the history of Shelby County, a long oration, interesting primarily, now, for references to personal memories of the local persons and events.

After reviewing the early Spanish and United States activities on the bluff on which Memphis was established, Colonel Avery made other historical references,

SHELBY COUNTY was named in honor of Isaac Shelby, the first governor of Kentucky and who, by the side of Sevier, distinguished himself at the battle of King's Mountain. In 1818, together with General [Andrew] Jackson, he negotiated upon this bluff an advantageous treaty with the Chickasaws by which were ceded to the United States all the lands in West Tennessee then known as the Chickasaw Purchase. The county was established by an act of the legislature, then sitting at Murfreesboro, passed November 23, 1819 and on the first day of May, 1820 the first court was organized, composed of William Irvine, chairman; Jacob Tipton, Anderson B. Carr, M. B. Winchester, Thomas D. Carr and Benjamin Willis. The first county officers were: Samuel R. Brown, sheriff; William Laurence, clerk; Thomas Taylor, register; Alexander Ferguson, ranger; William A. Bettes [Bettis] and William Dean, constables and John P. Perkins sworn in as attorney. The first grand jurors of the county were Thomas H. Persons, foreman William Roberts, John Grace, John W. Oadham, Drury Bettis, Patrick Meagher, Thomas Palmer, Humphrey Williams, J. M. Riddle, J. Fletcher, Joseph James and Robert Quimby. The first petite jury ever sworn in the county were Daniel Barkleroad, Robert McAlister, William Thompson, Tilman Bettis, Enos Wade, Wm. Bettis, W. D. Ferguson, Gideon Carr, Wm. West, Arnold Kelly and Benjamin Willis, sworn to try Henry Gibson for an assault and battery. It will be observed that this was the beginning of civil government in our county and that this initial court had all the jurisdiction of our chancery, circuit, criminal and county courts; hence the responsibility of the court was great and the sterling character, unbending integrity and good sense of the men who composed it left their impress upon the community they established. The county of Shelby is the wealthiest in the state, occupying the extreme southwest corner of the state and embracing an area of 720 square miles with a taxable property of about $40,000,000, being one-eighth of the whole taxable property of the whole state. At the organization of the county in 1820 there were but 364 inhabitants; in 1830, 5648; in 1840, 14,721; in 1850, 31,157; in 1860, 48,092 and in 1870, 76,878, showing an increase of population far outstripping any other county in the state. Besides the city of Memphis, the county can boast of quite a number of flourishing villages, situated on the different lines of railroad running out from the city - Bartlett, Germantown, Collierville and others; the last mentioned being 24 miles out on the Memphis and Charleston railroad, a place of much commercial importance with a population of some 1200. [Memphis] was laid out as a town in 1819, on what is known as the John Rice grant, being a grant of 5000 acres of land from the State of North Carolina to John Rice; John Rice having parted with his interest to John Overton, Andrew Jackson, William George and James Winchester, who were the original proprietors of the town. In 1822, however, General Jackson sold his proprietary interest to John C. McLemore. Jacob Tipton was appointed surveyor-general of this, the eleventh surveyor's district. Of the long list of deputy surveyors appointed by General Tipton to lay off and survey this vast territory recently acquired, consisting of John Ralston, William Lawrence, James Vaulx, James Caruthers, John H. Bills, Nathan and Joel Pinson and James Brown, the last mentioned only remains and is today spending the remnant of his days in peace and quietude with his children in the neighborhood of Memphis. The old tavern known as the "Bell Tavern" where Tipton had his surveyor's office and where Jackson and Overton and the Winchesters and McLemore, all of them, used to "put up," still stands on the corner of Loncray's alley and Front street, an old building with cedar posts in the ground and weatherboarded up. I believe it was at that time kept by Nathan Anderson, as grand a type of the old Virginia gentleman as that famous old

 

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state ever sent to the wilderness of the west. He has children and grandchildren still among us bearing his honored name. Although the town was laid off in 1819 yet it was not until 1826 that by an act of the legislature it was made an incorporated town and on the third of March, 1827, the first election was held for town officers, composed of M. B. Winchester, mayor and Joseph L. Davis, John Book, N. B. Atwood, Geo. F. Graham and John R. Dougherty, aldermen; the two last of whom, however, died during the year, their places being filled by Nathaniel Anderson and Littleton Henderson. During that year, too, the county seat was moved from Memphis to Raleigh, where it remained for more than forty years. The first postmaster in Memphis was Captain Thomas Stewart, an officer of the twenty-fourth regiment of United States Infantry and formerly a citizen of Jonesboro, East Tennessee. He, however, died soon after his appointment and is buried where the First Presbyterian Church now stands, at the corner of Third and Poplar streets, that being the first graveyard in Memphis. Marcus B. Winchester was the successor of Captain Stuart [sic] and remained postmaster for many years. The first bank in Memphis was the Farmers and Merchants, established in 1835, with Robert Lawrence, president and Charles Lofland cashier. The old building which did its first business still stands on the northeast corner of Main and Winchester streets, with figures 303 prominently painted high up on its walls. This was the first place, in Tennessee, where LaFayette landed in his triumphal visit to the United States, in 1824, and the last that the immortal [David] Crockett ever saw of his native state when he turned his face toward struggling Texas to meet his sad fate at the fall of the Alamo. The population of Memphis in 1820 was 53; in 1830, 663; in 1840, 2000; in 1850, 10,000; in 1860, 27,623; in 1870, 48,230. The city directory for 1876 shows 15,260 names against 13,472 in the last directory. . . . In 1826, the first corporate year of Memphis her cotton receipts were 300 bales, all told in 1830, 1000 bales; in 1840, 85,000; in 1850-51, 163,000; in 1860-61, 396,000. The sales of cotton this year amounted to $39,000,000; sales of merchandise to $9,700,000. . . . Up to about the years 1836-37, as some amongst us may still remember, a great rivalry existed between Randolph and Memphis; the former town at one time shipping as much cotton and doing as much business as Memphis; and it seemed about to wrest from her the palm of commercial superiority. But about that period the United States government purchased from the Chickasaws that vast scope of magnificent country which now makes up the whole of north Mississippi, the rapid settlement of which, all tributary to Memphis, thew into her lap a large and increasing trade and Randolph perished as a place of business. It is ever pleasant to recur to the early history of our county and our city and of the sterling men who founded them, but particularly so upon this CENTENNIAL occasion. We ought, indeed, to fully appreciate this great opportunity of putting upon record, in something like undying form, their names and deeds. The history of every country shows that the pioneers, the first settlers, the men who blazed the pathway and established the civilization of the country, were marked men in their day and generation; men noted for their high integrity, energy and enterprise. They are the men who stamp the impress of their character upon the country they establish. Look at the Boons, Shelbys, Clays, Hardins, Hendersons and Adairs of Kentucky; the Bentons, Atchisons and others of Missouri; the Houstons, Busks, Austins, Burlesons of Texas; the Jacksons, Carrolls, Craigheads, Whites, Overtons, Seviers, Tiptons, Crocketts, Winchester of Tennessee; and then, coming along down to our own goodly county - look at the character of the men who were its first settlers - the men who wrested from the savage, who had held undisputed possession of this vast country, the scepter of civilization and planted deep and broad in the fairest portion of our state. . . . Let me put upon record such of their names as I can call to mind, that they may be remembered and their memories cherished: Nathaniel Anderson, M. B. Winchester, Anderson B. Carr, Charles D. McLean, James Rose, John Horeston, Neil B. Holt, Zacheus Joiner, Tillman Bettis who landed at the mouth of Wolf River on a flatboat with his family; Enoch and James Banks, Solomon Rozell, Wilkes Brooks, N. Ragland, Eugene Mcgevney, Isaac Rawlings, Robert Lawrence, G. B. Lock, Grazer Titus, S. M. Nelson, Samuel Mosby, Joseph H. Mosby, J. J. Rawlings, W. D. Ferguson, Charles Lofland, JOhn ralston, Wyatt Christian, Robertson Topp, Seth Wheatley, Hezekiah Cobb, Samuel Leake, Richard Leake, John R. Frayser, Starkey Reddett [Redditt], John F. Scabel, John Y. Bayless, Emanuel Young and his worthy sons, Gus, Thom and Henry, James D. Davis, Edwin Hickman, Frederick Christian, Jesse Benton, Roger Barton, William Battle, John K. Balch, Joseph Graham, John D. Graham, John W. Fowler, S. T. Concray, Ozarto Bias, Geo. W. Fisher, James C. Jones and then the Reaves, Remberts, Smiths and Taylors of Raleigh; the Harrells, Messicks, Prescotts, Peytons, Parks, McKeons, Greenlaws,

 

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Newsoms, Richards, Kimbroughs, Persons, Bonds, Lakes, Fowlkes, Dotys, Dunns, Duncans, Eckols, Ecklins, Hardaways, Hawkins, Harts, Howards, Holmes, Popes, Rudisills, Sanderlins, Spickernagels, Trezevants, Triggs, Whitsetts, Epps and John D. White; Yates, Dunns, Tates, Buntyns, Goldstys and many others I might mention. . . . Of the merchants let me mention Wilkes Brooks, Joseph Cooper, Isaac Rawlings, M. B. Winchester, Anderson B. Carr, Wiley Kimbrough, Samuel Mosely, W. B. Dabney, Nelson &. Titus, Lawrence & DAvis, Neil McCoul, Nat. Anderson, Park & Graham and W. B. Miller who was the pioneer wholesale merchant of the city. The doctors were Dr. Wyatt Christian, a great and good man; Wheatly & Frayser, our present estimable Dr. John R. Frayser and M. B. Sappington. The lawyers consisted of R. C. McAlpin, P. G. Gaines, Seth Wheatley and Robertson Topp whose mortal remains were followed to the grave the other day by a large concourse of the oldest citizens of the city. The preachers at this early period principally were Father Whitsett, Silas T. Loncray, Elijah Coffee and now venerable Thomas P. Davidson still living in the neighborhood whose circuit extended throughout the length and breadth of this wilderness of the west. The first newspaper published here was the Memphis ADVOCATE by Thomas Phoebus. Soon thereafter it was supplanted by the Memphis GAZETTE published by P. G. Gaines and James H. Murray, printed on material purchased from our venerable patriarch, Charles D. McLean, himself the pioneer of the press in West Tennessee and then published in Jackson, Tennessee, the leading journal in all this country - the Jackson GAZETTE. About this time, however, there was being published at Randolph, Tennessee the rival town heretofore alluded to, a large paper called the Randolph RECORDER by F. S. Latham, one of the pioneers of the press in this country, who is still living not many miles away and illustrates more vividly the character of the hard-handed granger, with hayseed in his hair, than of the honest, bold pioneer journalist of earlier days. In 1836 Latham started the ENQUIRER with whom that accomplished journalist, J. H. McMahon, subsequently became identified. McMahon afterward established the BULLETIN. And Lathan again, in about 1841, printed at Fort Pickering the Memphis EAGLE which I have seen him myself distribute to his Memphis subscribers from a bundle tied up in a bandana handkerchief. After the ENQUIRER followed the WESTERN WORLD AND MEMPHIS BANNER OF THE CONSTITUTION by Bolon Sorland. What a name! Then came that noble old Roman H. Vanpelt with the APPEAL, which alone of all this long list, together with many others I might mention, has stood the vicissitudes of time and still maintains its high place as a journalistic power in the land. The AVALANCHE founded by M. C. Gallaway, in 1858, also takes rank among the leading journals of the day. The LEDGER, a live evening daily, besides half a dozen westerlies, both religious and secular, go to swell the newspaper record of our city. . . . I have personally known every chief magistrate Memphis has ever had save those appointed by military authority during the war, from M. B. Winchester, the first, down to his honor Judge Flippin who is helping us celebrate here today. I have seen every stately structure that now stands between Pinch and Pickering rise from the earth in their majesty and beauty, monuments, as they are to the skill, enterprise, energy and public spirit of such citizens as Lemuel Austin, the Saffarans, Charley Jones, the lamented Greenloaw and many others who builded up this young city of ours. . . . All peoples of all nations who seek an asylum in our midst, though born to a new liberty and awakened to a new citizenship and baptized in a new dispensation, never banish from their recollection the memories of the land that gave them birth. . . . The Frenchman, when he seeks a home among us still loves best the vine clad hills of France. The Italian, though true and steadfast to his adopted country, each year must renew his vows of love to the land of Columbus. The Englishman, full of the glory of his sea-girt isle is full, too, of the thought that she is mistress of the seas. The German, coming as he does, from the home and birthplace of learning and of science, each returning MAT-FEST rekindles a fresh, unfading memory of his fatherland. Who can chide the rugged son of grand old Scotia for cherishing in his heart a filial devotion to the land of Bruce and of Burns, of Wallace and of Walter Scott? The Irishman, too, eager as he ever is to enlist in the war and fight the battles of his adopted country, never can forget his green isle of the ocean, his shamrock and his shallaly and every ST. Patrick a day in the morning pours out anew the offering of his heart upon the altar of his native land. . . . This fourth of July is a common heritage. Men of the south, as well as men of the north, aided in establishing this empire of freedom. It [is] the united work of both. The south gave to the country him who wrote the charter of our liberties. The south gave to the world a Washington. Let the names of Washington and Jefferson be forever linked with those of Hancock, Adams and Franklin. We of the south have an undying glory in our nation's birthright. The great principles

 

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that underlie the foundation of our government . . . are the great bulwarks on which we rest as the sheet anchor of our liberties as a people and our perpetuity as a government.

 

July 6, 1876

CLARA O'BRIAN daughter of Richard 0'Brian and wife died in Memphis, July 5, 1876 aged 9 months, 24 days old; funeral today.

LIZZIE TOPP second daughter of Edward L. and Eudora Bayliss Topp died in Memphis, July 4, 1876 aged 4 years, 8 months and 5 days old; funeral today.

NELLIE BROWN wife of Lt. J. K. Brown, dec., also known as Sargeant Brown of the Metropolitan police, died in Altoona, Pennsylvania, June 24, 1876. "Before her death she was anxious to return to Memphis but had not the means. Her little daughter, EVA, has found a good home among sympathizing strangers."

 

July 7, 1876

The Reverend ALFRED J. MORRISON, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Selma, Alabama, died in the residence of C. C. Graham, Memphis, July 6, 1876 in the 27th year of his age; burial to be in North Carolina. [Died of typhoid fever; surviving was his widow who was about to be delivered of their child.]

EDWARD WARBURG, a native of Harnburg, Germany, died in Memphis, July 6, 1876 aged 40 years and 12 days; burial in Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis. [Confederate section, #387 (937)].

Dr. EUGENE M. THOMPSON died in Memphis, July 6, 1876 [of cancer]; burial in Elmwood Cemetery. Buried in lot 116, Lenow Circle, Elmwood Cemetery, with tombstone: In memory of Eugene M. THOMPSON Born Aug. 5, 1835 Died July 6, 1876.

 

July 8, 1876

Notice, "The business of the firm of [Z. N.] ESTES, [John C.] FISER & Co. will be continued under the same name and style as before the death of General JOHN C. FISER, the estate of the deceased partner being represented and interested therein according to the terms of the will. A continuance of the patronage heretofore extended us is respectfully solicited."

Judges appointed by the county court for the voting districts in the August elections:

        First District-J. W. Bledsoe, J. H. Sink, G. L Douglass.
        Second-T. M. Edwards, D. A. Morrill, C. C. Perkins.
        Third-W. T. Carmack, J. M. Bennett, J. O. Ward.
        Fourth-W. S. M'Gee, Dr. J. F. Means, S. A. Eliff.
        Fifth-First ward, M. H. Reilly, P. J. Kelly, P. Kearns. Second ward, John Smith, P. J. Mallon, F. Fielding. Third ward, Jacob Steinkuhl, P. C. Rogers, V. Bacugalupo. Eighth ward, Jas. Nolan, M. F. Kennedy, H. Seessel, Jr. Big Springs, W. Cunningham, Jos. Lory, B. B. Barnes.
        Sixth-Virgil A. Rawlings, John M'Collum, P. A. Taylor.
        Seventh-Wm. H. Gallaway, B. H. Eddins, C. G. Polk.
        Eighth-K. Garrett, Joseph Cody, J. W. Herring, at Wythe depot; John Mathes, R. Galaspie, Perry Wilie, at Log Union.
        Ninth-Fisherville, P. M. Williams, J. K. Polk, John Dixon. Masonic hall, N. J. Justice, J. H. Patrick, W. R. Ecklin.
        Tenth-Collierville, F. M. Gilleland, J. B. Shelton, G. W. Reed; Forest Hill, L. G. Waller, B. J. F Owen, W. M. Perkins.
        Eleventh-Thomas D. Coopwood, N. F. Harrison, F. A. Hurt.
        Twelfth-Ed. O. Watson, George Holmes, Wm. Hudgens.
        Thirteenth-Dr. B. L. Raines, C. G. Smith, J. C. KeIly.
        Fourteenth-Fourth ward, Jno. Roush, S. W. Green, P. Kallaher. Fifth ward, John Botto, A. J. Roach, P. Dougherty. Sixth ward, C. G. Fisher, M. V. M'Keon, Thomas Burns. Seventh ward, R. C. Williamson, J. A. Forrest, L Solari. Tenth ward, M. Burke, S. H. Gibson, B. P. Anderson.

 

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        Fifteenth-T. C. Bettis, M. Crosson, Ben T. Carr.
        Sixteenth-The judges will be selected next Monday.
        Seventeenth -Walnut Grove, W. E. Elliott, T. G. Jenman, A. Goddesey. M'Connel's Church, Jeremiah Massey, A. C. Roark., S. Bryant.
        Eighteenth-W. P. Deadriak, Henry Kimball, C. C. White.

 

July 9, 1876

R. F. LOONEY, JR. married MAMIE L. WILLIAMS, Memphis, July 8, 1876. [The July 11 issue noted that Looney was aged 19 years and his bride 16 years old.]

The business firm of H. SEESEL, SR. and Sons, Memphis, was dissolved July 7, 1876 as ALBERT SEESEL was retiring. The firm would continue operation under the. name of H. SEESEL, SR. and Son [H. Seesel, Jr.].

 

July 11, 1876

JOHN JACOB HUBER son of J. J. and Josephine Huber died in Memphis, July 10, 1876 aged 5 months, 17 days old; funeral today. [Buried in unmarked grave, lot 423, Fowler section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis]

E. B. GOODWIN married ELLA M. THOMAS, both of Memphis, in the city, July 10, 1876.

"WILLIAM BOWMAN was convicted in Lexington a day or two ago of having murdered JAMES DODD in Henderson County [Tennessee] in 1865. He was sentenced in [to] the [state] penitentiary for two years."

 

July 12, 1876

Funeral of ELLA KELLEY infant daughter of Mike and Jane Kelley, aged ten months, to be held today.

JOSEPH FROST married NORAH GORE, in Memphis, June 20, 1876.

Someone's old-time relative lost from the family conscientiousness?
A white man, dressed in a checked shirt, grayish trousers and coat, appearing to be about 50 years old, with fine features, light blue eyes, heavy but short beard and mustache, speckled with gray, managed to walk to the Adams Street police station in Memphis, where he collapsed and "died calmly and without a moan,"suffering from something like dysentery. In the inquest held over his death it was revealed that the man had told someone that he was a varnisher from Pine Bluff but failed to give his name. He was to be buried in potter's field [north of Memphis].

 

July 13, 1876

JOHN GREIENER, a locomotive engineer, aged 28 years old, fell from a locomotive north of Brownsville, Tennessee and died from the resulting injuries, July 12, 1876. His home was in Water ValIey, Miss. where his mother and sister lived.

Someone's ancestress?
On March 16, 1876, Mrs. MARY NOTGRASS wife of J. H. Notgrass, Henderson County, Texas, gave birth to four daughters, each well-formed and weighing five lbs. "The first child was born at ten o'clock and lived two hours. The second child was born half an hour later and lived two hours; the third was born at one o'clock in the morning and lived two hours; the fourth child was born dead at two o'clock in the morning." It was firmly believed that the children would all have lived if the mother had not fallen off a doorstep some two weeks before she delivered.

 

July 14, 1876

W. H. REDFORD married LILLIE S. HYATT, in Memphis, July 13, 1876.

An item from the New York WORLD, July 7, 1876. "Twenty years ago WELLINGTON COLEMAN, then aged sixteen years, disappeared from his father's home in Westport, Pennsylvania. His room was found in disorder and bloody garments and a dirk on the floor. It was supposed the boy had been murdered by his French tutor who disappeared at the same time and his body hidden. Long and diligent search, however, failed to reveal the boy, either dead or alive.

 

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The father left town and the affair was nearly forgotten when last week a stranger appeared at the village hotel and said that he was Wellington Coleman. He told the story of his leaving home from a desire to go to sea and his subsequent wanderings and hardships. He was drawn home by a desire to see his father whom he had not heard from after going abroad. Someone passing the house soon after heard two pistol shots. Search was made and the stranger was found dead in one of the rooms with two pistol shot wounds in his head.

In the July 12, 1876 issue of the newspaper a long article had appeared, exploiting the misfortune of a transvestite, FRANCIS THOMAS alias THOMPSON. On the night of July 10, this black man, a resident of Memphis for twenty-seven years, was arrested "on the charge of wearing female clothing." At the stationhouse several doctors examined this man and found him "to be a fully developed man . . . not even an hermaphrodite as he claimed to be." He was charged with a misdemeanor. Thompson had testified before the congressional committee sent to investigate the Memphis racial riots of 1867, to the effect that "he was a respectable lady of color and had been ravished eighteen times by as many different Irishmen in this city. This story of rape went the rounds of the Radical press, calling forth the most vindictive articles and a demand for troops."

An article appearing on July 14, 1876:

FRANCES THOMPSON.

Interesting Interview with Thompson-
His Statement, Complaint
and Accusations

        An APPEAL reporter yesterday visited the Adams street stationhouse, and there in company with several persons, engaged in conversation with the man Frances Thompson, who is so well known to the public. Thompson says that he was owned by Mr. Walker, formerly of Virginia, and that during the entire time of his slavery he wore female apparel. He thinks the white persons who brought him to this country should be punished, if anyone is to suffer for his wearing woman's attire. He accompanied his master, and remained with him i the late war. He thinks it hard that he should be imprisoned because he wore female clothing, for he was regarded always as a woman, and had female attire during the time of his slavery. As to the chief of police and Tim Hops, stationhouse-keeper, he deems them very severe officials, and says that the latter has treated him very grossly whenever an opportunity presented. He complains of Tim's evident delight in exhibiting him to the curious eye of the public, and alleges other acts which we cannot in public print. Thompson, who has all along been the keeper of a vile establishment intimates that he could disclose startling secrets, which would bring disgrace upon and ruin many a white man in Memphis. He regards his condition in the cell as that of persecution, and will leave Memphis for some other home as soon as he is released. He complains of the partiality of the medical examination recently made, and, having been born and raised in Virginia, deems the people of Memphis and the negroes of Memphis and the negroes of Tennessee illiterate and illiberal. This is in substance his story, but how far it is to be believed can easily be ascertained by recounting his character, mode of life, and perjurous evidence before the congressional investigating committee.

 

[After a brief period of notoriety when even his picture was taken for sale much as later people would distribute postcards with local "subjects", FRANCIS THOMPSON retreated to north Memphis, living there in a cabin where he became ill with dysentery; hospitalized he died in the city hospital during the evening of November 2, 1876 and his remains were buried in potter's field north of Memphis.]

 

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July 15, 1876

EUGENIA AINSLIE daughter of John and Missouri Ainslie died near Trenton, Todd County, Kentucky, July 11, 1876 aged 2 months and 29 days old.

OTTO SAUPE son of Dr. F. Saupe died in Memphis, July 14, 1876 aged 9 years; funeral today. FRAI~K RUSSELL second son of F. B. and Mary Russell died in Memphis, July 14, 1876 aged 9 months and 20 days old; funeral today.

 

July 16, 1876

Mrs. MARTHA STOCKS died in residence of son-in-law, J. B. SURPRISE, Memphis, July 15, 1876 aged 75 years; funeral today.

MARIA E. BIBB wife of Colonel W. H. Bibb, Memphis, died July 14, 1876.

[WILLIAM H.] SNEED, member of the Shelby County quarterly court died near Raleigh, July 14, 1876, "a respected and esteemed citizen." [Sneed was a magistrate from Civil District 5 of Shelby County. The Shelby County probate file 2756, reveals that W. H. Sneed died July 13, 1876 leaving a widow, Eliza; a son, James R. and a daughter, Virginia, wife of H. D. STONE.]

ADOLPH KEEFABER married KATIE COPPERTHWAITE at St. Mary's Catholic Church, July 4, 1876; followed by a repast served by John Gaston at Mrs. SALLIE SULLIVAN's residence; the couple were residing in their cottage on Alabama Street in Memphis.

Although in blotchy old-time print the obituary of JOSEPH E. BORUM (1828-1876) merits replication here:

Joseph B. Borum.

        Died, at his residence, in Mississippi county, Ark., on Friday, July 7, 1876, after a short illness, JOSEPH B> BORUM, in the forty-ninth year of his age.
        Nothing is more terrible than sudden death. To see one who, but a few days or hours before was apparently the embodiment of life and health, stretched cold and lifeless before us, causes the strongest of us to quail. This is more especially true when the stricken one is a man of fine physique, built to withstand the storms of the greatest allotted time of human existence; and the blow acquires additional force if he be a man of importance - a leader among his people. All thee. circumstances combined to render the death of JOSEPH B. BORUM, chronicled above, an event long to be remembered and deplored in the community in which he lived.
        Born in VirginIa in 1828, and acquiring his education there, in his early youth he moved to Henderson, Ky., where he engages in tobacco planting. In 1855, having in the meantime married, he removed to Mississippi county, Arkansas, where be settled at the foot of the celebrated stretch of the Mississippi river called Canadian Reach. Here he immediately commenced raising cotton, and when the war broke out had cleared himself a handsome farm. A Virginian, true to the instincts of his race, when the hostilities between North and South began he sided with his people and went into the Confederate arm y. His military career is known to thousands of readers of the APPEAL, who served with him under Van Dorn and other commanders in the Southwest. He was, while commanding a company of cavalry, severely wounded at the battle of Corinth (the writer thinks) and for a long time was disabled, but as soon as he was fit, rejoined his command and did good service until the surrender. When the war closed he went back to his Arkansas home and the pursuits of peace and from the day on which he laid down his arms to the Federal authorities, to his unexpected decease, was a law-abiding, industrious citizen whose greatest ambition seemed to be to provide for his family and help his people. During the days which tried men's souls in Mississippi county, when Fits Patrick and his emissaries were stirring up those passions among the ignorant negroes which resulted in the "Black Hawk War" and cost the lives of many good men, Colonel Borum was a tower of strength to his friends. After the expulsion of the disturbing elements and the restoration of quiet, he was made a member of the County Board of Supervisors, and in this capacity served his People for two years. For the last two years of his life Colonel Borum was not in politics, but was a man whose opinions on all subjects pertaining to county or State affairs was eagerly sought by his friends and neighbors. His last illness was brought on by exposure to the heavy rains which prevailed during the early part of this month at his house, and to fatigue. He was at the landing receiving freight on Tuesday evening, and Friday morning was a corpse. He Leaves a wife (who was formerly Miss Eva Dobbins, of Maury county, Tenn.) and three young children. His remains were interred in Elmwood Cemetery, near his first wife (Luan Hill, sister of a Napoleon Hill, of this city). His memory will long remain green in Mississippi County, where he was known from the Missouri line to Frenchman's Bayou by all classes, and loved and respected by all who knew him.

F. L. J.            

 

[Lot 129, Chapel Hill section, Elmwood Cemetery: JOSEPH BEVERLY BORUM, Capt. Co. B, 38 Ark. Inf., 1830-1876]

 

(Page 54)

July 18, 1876

Professor WILLIAM H. OWEN, late of North Carolina, died in the residence of JOHN W. BONDURANT near Hickory Withe, Tennessee, Fayette County, July 13, 1876.

Mrs. ANNA GOODMAN widow of Walter Goodman, mother of Major W. A. Goodman of Memphis, died in Holly Springs, Miss., July 13, 1876.

 

July 19, 1876

DAVID IRVINE MILLIGAN son of James M. and Sarah L. Milligan died July 18, 1876; funeral today.

 

July 20, 1876

Mrs. MARGARET L. SCARBOROUGH wife of A. Scarborough died in Fayette Co., Tenn., July 19, 1876 aged 71 years, 4 months and 19 days old.

Funeral today of CARRIE daughter of N. H. and Larue RANDOLPH.

J. J. HORN died in Dover, Tennessee, ostensibly July 19, 1876 aged 23 years, 3 months and 16 days old.

 

July 21, 1876

Mrs. P. P. BRADSHAW died in residence of son-in-law, G. W. APP, Memphis, July 20, 1876 in the 52nd year of her age; funeral today.

HANORAH O'REILLY youngest daughter of Michael and Mary D. O'Reilly died July 20, 1876; funeral today.

Mrs. M. T. OLIVER widow of Major Simeon Oliver died near Hernando, Miss., July 20, 1876 in the 77th year of her age.

 

July 22, 1876

HENRY BERRY who died in Marion County, South Carolina, July 16, 1876, aged 82 years "left a clause in his will directing his heirs to burn his body, selecting the spot on which the burning should be performed and the tree which was to be cut down and used as firewood. He directed that should his instructions not be carried out, his heirs should be disinherited. His body was burned as directed on Monday."

MAY BURTON [or BERTON] was a "mulatto" musician, graduate of Fisk University, formerly a teacher in the Memphis public schools but most recently a teacher in Bolivar Co., Miss. A mob of blacks sought her out July 20 in the residence of SARAH WILLIAMS and MARY CARTER on DeSoto Street in Memphis and started a ruckus, claiming these ladies were prostitutes. Burton was rescued, taken to the police station. It was determined that the charges made against her were unsubstantiated but she was kept in the jail overnight for her safety.

 

July 23, 1876

EUGENE T. HARRIS oldest son of Isham G. Harris died in Memphis, July 22, 1876; funeral today. [Buried in lot 172, Chapel Hill section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, with tombstone: EUGENE T. HARRIS, Son of Isham G. & Martha M. Harris Born Aug. 26, 1844 Died July 22, 1876. Isham G. Harris was a former governor of Tennessee.]

Mrs. ELLA V. ATLEE died in Ft. Madison, Iowa, recently, in the 82nd year of her age; burial in Memphis today.

MARTIN REYNOLDS, barkeeper, died in Memphis, of consumption, ostensibly July 22, 1876 aged 27 years; funeral today. A native of Ireland, his only local relative, Martin Reynolds, died in the yellow fever epidemic of 1872.

PATRICK FRANCIS HOLLYWOOD son of John and Hannah Hollywood died ostensibly July 22, 1876 aged 9 months old; funeral today.

 

(Page 55)

Captain TENCH SCHLEY, formerly of Memphis, died in his father's residence in Baltimore, Maryland, June 26, 1876.

WILLIE SHIDE died in Memphis July 22, 1876 aged 4 years, 7 months; funeral today.

Tribute of Respect for OSCAR A. HERMON, recently deceased; by Philomatique Club, Memphis, dated July 21, 1876.

 

July 25, 1876

As a consequence of the death of F. G. TERRY, the firm of Hill, Terry and Mitchell was dissolved in Memphis, July 1, 1876; the partners, I. M. HILL and W. B. MITCHELL, would continue their partnership as Hill & Mitchell Co.

 

July 26, 1876

WILLIAM WILLIAMS, reported to have been the oldest resident of Blount County, Tennessee died July 15, 1876 in the 95th year of his age; burial with masonic ritual.

 

July 27, 1876

The masonic funeral of JOHN T. STRATTON to be held today at Angerona Lodge #168. He died July 26, 1876 in his residence on Carroll Avenue; well respected local businessman. [Resolutions of respect in his memory by the Cotton Exchange and Chamber of Commerce were published in the July 28, 1876 issue of the newspaper. Stratton is buried in lot 299, Chapel Hill section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis with a tombstone: JOHN T. STRATTON Born in Simpson Co., Ky., June 12, 1824. Died July 26, 1876 aged 52 years. He shares this large, ornate shaft tombstone with his wife, Anna Stratton. THE MASONIC JEWEL, Memphis, volume 7, August 1876, page 223, "In Memphis, July 26, Bro. JOHN T. STRATTON, for many years a faithful and deserving member of Angerona Lodge No. 168, aged 52 years. He was buried with masonic honors."]

 

July 28, 1876

In this issue the election officials and polling places for the August 3, 1876 general election are given. The polling places, given in their civil districts:

First Civil District: Union Academy
Second Civil District: Milwood
Third Civil District: Lucy Depot
Fourth Civil District: Old Union
Fifth Civil District: Big Spring (tollgate)
Sixth Civil District: Raleigh
Seventh Civil District: Bartlett
Eighth Civil District: Withe Depot and Log Union
Ninth Civil District: Fisherville and Ecklin's
Tenth Civil District: Collierville and Forest Hill
Eleventh Civil District: Germantown
Twelfth Civil District: Oakville
Thirteenth Civil District: Arnold's
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Civil Districts: Memphis (see below)
Sixteenth Civil District: Albert Pike Masonic Lodge
Seventeenth Civil District: Watnut Grove and McConnell's Church
Eighteenth Civil District: Buntyn Station

Memphis Wards:
Ward One: Corner of Winchester and Main Street
Ward Two: Courthouse
Ward Three: Irving Block
Ward Four: Second Street near Greenlaw Operahouse
Ward Five: 179 Beale near Hernando Road

 

(Page 56)

Ward Six: Waldran Block
Ward Seven: Seale Street near Orleans
Ward Eight: Poplar Avenue near Markethouse
Ward Nine: Fourth and Greenlaw streets
Ward Ten: Miss. House near South Street

Only the qualified voters in Memphis, Raleigh, Bartlett and Collierville would vote for the justices in those incorporated municipalities (and the citizens in those places would vote also for the justice of the peace in their respective civil districts).

 

July 30, 1876

DANIEL McMAHON died in residence of his son, John McMahon, Bartlett, Tenn., July 29, 1876 in the 90th year of his age; funeral today.

DENIA WINDLER daughter of Henry and Carolina Windler died ostensibly July 29, 1876 aged 4 years, 10 months and 12 days old; funeral today.

 

August 1, 1876

JOSEPH FUCHS, native of Freeburg, Baden, Germany, died in Memphis, July 31, 1876 aged 29 years; burial today. [Buried in unmarked grave in lot 269, Fowler section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis]

 

August 2, 1876

RUSSELLE MAY HOLLAND daughter of T. P. and S. E. Holland died August 1, 1876 [aged 9. years, 4 months and 26 days]. [Her brother, WILLIE, died last spring.]

HARRY SEESSEL CAREFOOT died August 1, 1876 aged 1 year, 9 months and 9 days old; funeral today. [Buried in unmarked grave in lot 3781/2, Turley section, Elmwood Cemetery.]

PHILIP DEAN youngest son of William and Anna Dean died August 1, 1876 aged 7 months; burial today.

 

August 3, 1876

HENRY WILMERLOGWOOD infant son of Thomas H. and Kate E. Logwood, Memphians, died in home of a relative in Florence, Alabama, August 2, 1876; burial in Florence.

In the late afternoon of August 2, 1876, two black men got into an argument resulting in the death of one of them; SAM BIZZELL, from Ripley, Ohio, who was a local barber renting a shop for that purpose. COLUMBUS C. STEWART, a native of Columbus, Ohio and brother-in-law of J. A. THOMPSON, the black justice of the peace in Memphis, was a painter and paperhanger. Stewart behaved belligerently towards Bizzell, resulting in a fight. Bizzell shot Stewart twice, killing him. Bizzell was arrested.

 

August 4, 1876

JOHN L. HAWKINS died in Memphis, August 3, 1876 aged 32 years; funeral today.

Mrs. AGNES JOHNSON died in Memphis, August 3, 1876 in the 65th year of her age.

 

August 5, 1876

N. T. SKELTON died in Memphis, August 1, 1876; funeral today; surviving him were his widow and two children.

SIDNEY STEVENS PLEASANTS son of Dr. Joseph B. and Mollie F. Pleasants died in Memphis, August 4, 1876 aged 8 years, 3 months and 16 days.

JOHN CAMERON infant son of James A. and Maria O. Cameron died in Memphis, ostensibly August 4, 1876 aged 5 months old.

 

(Page 57)

August 6, 1876

Funeral of JOHN EDWARD CARROLL only child of John and Mary Ann Carroll held today. [His little tombstone in Calvary Cemetery, Memphis, reads: JOHN E. CARROLL son of J. & M. Carroll Born June 20, 1875 Died Aug. 5, 1876 aged 1 yr., l mo. & 16 ds.; verse too worn to be read. The little fellow died from chronic diarrhea.]

 

AMERICUS BRADSHAW died near Memphis, August 4, 1876 in the 71st year . of his age; burial in Columbia, Tennessee.

 

August 8, 1876

Funeral of ANTONIO P. SIGNAIGO son of John B. and Margaret Signaigo from their residence at Charleston Ave. and Jefferson Street. [Antonio died Aug. 5, aged 5 months, of colitis.]

MONIKA LINDEMANN wife of [HENRY] LINDEMANN died Aug. 7, 1876; funeral today. [Her tombstone in lot 196, Fowler section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis: MONIKA LINDEMANN Born Villigen, Baden, May 4, 1832 Died May 7, 1876. "Trennung ist unsen loos, wiederschn unsre Hoffmmy." Roughly translated this inscription conveys the sorrow of parting by death but looking forward to meeting again in eternal life. She died from enteritis.]

 

H. L. [HENRY] GUION died August 7, 1876; funeral today. [Memphis PUBLIC LEDGER, August 8, 1876 noted that he had been born in Hertford County, North Carolina, February 21, 1810; moved to Sumner County, Tennessee in May 1827; thence to Denmark, Tennessee; and in January 1840 to Shelby County, Tennessee where he died August 7, 1876. Presbyterian. The GUION tombstone in lot 104, Chapel Hill section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis has the inscriptions: HENRY L. GUION Born Hertford Co., N.C., Feb. 21, 1810 Died Aug. 8, 1876; "My Wife, "MARY ANN GUION dau. of Wm. M. and A. McMillan Died Sept. 29, 1842 aged 20 years, 11 months. (They were married in Madison County, Tennessee, December 28, 1838.) "My Wife, "MARGARET J. dau. of Jas. S. & P. P. Lemaster. Died Sept. 8, 1855 aged 30 years, 3 months & 25 days; her last words. Farewell . . . asleep in Jesus . . . eternal home. Lydia Guion Died Dec. 8, 1849 aged 10 years & 13 days. John Guion Died Sept. 11, 1852 aged 11 months & 1 day. Mary Ann and Lydia Guion were reburied in this lot in mid-March 1857, having probably been brought there from Winchester Cemetery in Memphis. Henry Guion married Margaret Lemaster, October 19, 1848; married, thirdly, Annie Smith, April 4, 1857.]

 

August 9, 1876

D. H. WILLIAMS of Tyro, Miss. had two men in his employ, N. D. ORR, a South Carolinian, aged about 35 years old and PHILLIP JACKSON, Englishman, aged about 23 years; he accused his wife of infidelity with Orr but she denied it. Williams planned to move to Waul's Hill, away from the influence of these two men and went to make preparations for the move; on his return he found his wife and the two men gone. He located them in Lexington, Miss. where Jackson and Mrs. Williams were living as a married couple named Margetts and the step-daughter, aged 14 years, had been seduced by Orr. Jackson was tried and given a prison term but Orr was released for lack of sufficient evidence.

 

(Page 58)

August 10, 1876

WILLIAM T. WHELAN died in Memphis, August 9, 1876 in his 27th year of his age; funeral today.

FRANCIS HALLY son of R. and Mary Hally died in Memphis, August 9, 1876 aged 5 years and 6 months old of typhoid fever; funeral today.

 

August 11, 1876

FRED MORTI married ANNIE E. NORTON, both of Memphis, at Ft. Madison, Iowa, August 9, 1876.

 

August 13, 1876

JOHN C. WEAVER died in Memphis, August 12, 1876 aged 70 years; funeral today. [Buried in lot 31, Turley section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis]

 

August 15, 1876

MAGGIE ROPER daughter of James and Catherine Roper died ostensibly August 14, 1876 aged 5 years, 11 months old; funeral today.

Mrs. L. V. WILKINS wife of W. G. Wilkins of Memphis died in Augusta Co., Virginia, August 7, 1876 in her 27th year of age.

H. R. McSWINE died in Garner, Mississippi, August 7, 1876.

 

August 16, 1876

KATIE L. STREET only child of the late James A. Street, Memphis, died in residence of Henry RUFF, Harford Co., Maryland, August 12, 1876, aged 15 years, 5 months and 10 days old; funeral in Memphis today.

MAGGIE E. MADIGAN daughter of E. and P. Madigan, dec., died August 15, 1876 aged 2 years, 6 months and 9 days old; funeral today.

MORRIS LEIGH DUNCAN died in Memphis, August 15, 1876 in the 58th year of his age; burial in Cincinnati, Ohio.

 

August 17, 1876

PAUL KINGSTON married Mrs. LIZZIE CUNNINGHAM, Memphis, August 16, 1876.

 

August 18, 1876

WILLIS JONES, young white man, was killed with a baseball bat by MARSH WALKER, aged about 20 years, in Holly Springs, Miss., August 16, 1876. Both were members of baseball teams and got into an argument about which team had the right to a play-field, a disagreement that led to Jones' death.

 

August 19, 1876

WILLIAM McFARlAND died in Ft. Pickering [now part of Memphis], August 18, 1876.

ORISON ROWE died Helena, Ark., August 15, 1876 of consumption.

A. H. SIMPSON, Tibbee, Colfax Co., Miss. raised the first new bale of cotton received in Memphis this season; it weighed 490 pounds and was received by Thomas H. Allen & Co., merchants, in Memphis.

 

August 20, 1876

ERNEST L. TAYLOR died near Holly Springs, Miss., August 19, 1876 aged 14 years, 6 months old; funeral today.

ROBIE [ROBERT H.] McWHIRK son of Alexander and Amanda McWhirk died Aug. 17, 1876 aged 7 years, 7 months old. "Our darling was taken from u. s in the full flush of school-boy health after a few days illness (congestive chill)."

 

(Page 59)

August 22, 1876

FREDERICK HOWARD HOOK only son of John C. and Annie M. ARMOUR HOOK died in Memphis, ostensibly August 21, 1876; funeral today.

WILLIAM GOSLING died Shelbyville, Tennessee, August 20, 1876.

WILLIAM CAMPBELL died on the steamer "Frank Forrest" enroute to Memphis, August 19, 1876 and was buried on the bank of the Mississippi River in Crittenden Co., Ark.; his widow, Mrs. JANE R. CAMPBELL, lived in Baraxfield, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

 

August 23, 1876

JIIIMY MULLIGAN drowned in the Wolf River and he would be buried in Calvary Cemetery, Memphis, today. [If he has a tombstone the present writer did not find it in the summer of 2002.]

 

August 24, 1876

HILARY P. JONES, M. A. and HORACE W. JONES, proprietors of Hanover Academy in Taylorsville, Virginia, commenced the 27th session of this school, or would do so on October 1, 1876; persons interested in its program could write to them for a catalogue.

 

August 25, 1876

MORRIE SCARBOROUGH infant son of A. M. and Loula J. Scarborough died August 24, 1876 aged 19 months, 14 days; funeral today.

JOHN EDWARD FITZGIBBONS adopted child of Michael and Bridget Fitzgibbons died August 24, 1876; funeral today; his own surname was given as Renehan. [He was 15 years old.]

ANIDA A. SI4ITH infant daughter of B. P. and Pattie A. Smith died in Nashville, Tenn., ostensibly August 24, 1876.

Funeral of JOSEPH KOLLER to be held today by fellow members of the German Mutual Benevolent Society. [Koller, a carpenter, died of a job related injury on August 24, 1876.]

 

August 26, 1876

Colonel S. A. ELLIFFE, a model farmer of the Big Creek community in north Shelby County gave a "grand picnic and barbecue" at his homeplace on the Cuba Road, 12 miles north of Memphis, August 22, 1876. "Dancing was kept up throughout the day and all were delighted with tripping the light fantastic, etc."

MARY B. [BISCOE] HINDMAN widow of General Thomas C. Hindman died in Helena, Ark. of consumption, August 18, 1876; her husband had been murdered [Sept. 27, 1868] by Haywood Grant who had been executed [hanged] for this crime.

 

August 27, 1876

ALBERT FERDINAND RINGWALD son of John and Caroline Ringwald died in Memphis, August 26, 1876 aged 10 years, 5 months and 8 days; funeral today. [Buried in lot 133, Chapel Hill section, Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, with a "cradle" tombstone: ALFRED F. son of J. & C. RINGWALD Died Aug. 26, 1876 aged 10 yrs. 4 mos. & 8 dys.]

JAMES A. SAYERS died in Memphis, August 26, 1876 in the 36th year of his age; funeral today.

 

August 29, 1876

LIZZIE GREEN daughter of J. M. and Mary Green died ostensibly Aug. 28, 1876 aged 5 years, 5 months and 22 days; funeral today.

Mrs. ELIZABETH J. BINGHAM died in Memphis, Aug. 27, 1876 aged 41 years; funeral today.

SEXTERS [SEXTUS] NEFF died in Memphis, Aug. 28, 1876 agedabout 61 years; funeral today. [Buried in unmarked grave in lot 652, Turley section, Elmwood Cemetery; the Neff lot has a seal gate inscribed "Sextus Neff." Neff was a saloonist at 122 Main.]

 

(Page 60)

THOMAS CAMPBELL son of Joseph and Grace Campbell died in Memphis, August 28, 1876 aged 1 year, 5 months and 28 days; funeral today.

 

August 30, 1876

Shelby County Chancery Court: THEODORE BERKSON vs JENNIE R. BERKSON & Others. It appearing in the bill of this cause that JENNIE RODGESKY BERKSON, PAUL KAHN and wife, CELINE RADGESKY KAHN, LOUIS D. RODGESKY, IDA RODGESKY, LULA RODGESKY, GEORGE E. STAHL and SIMON BERKSON were non-residents of Tennessee; they were directed in this notice to appear before Edmond A. Cole, Clerk and Master, to answer the complainants' bill on or before the first Monday in October 1876.

 

August 31, 1876

MARY ANNIE HOWELL wife of Henry B. Howell died in Memphis, August 30, 1876 aged 40 years and 26 days old; funeral today. [Unmarked grave, lot 27, Chapel Hill Sec., Elmwood Cem.]

A. J. POLLOCK died in Forrest City, Ark., August 30, 1876; funeral in Memphis, today.

Hon. JAMES H. McDONALD of north Alabama married Mrs. LOU C. DUKE in the residence of Barney ARMSTRONG in south Memphis, August 30, 1876.

 

September 1, 1876

"Mrs. STERLING DALY of Perry county [Tennessee] recently beat her husband to death because he whipped one of their children."

Forty-nine children and grandchildren assisted in the birthday celebration of Mrs. ANDREW KNOTT in her residence five miles from Knoxville, Tennessee, August 30, 1876. She was 67 years old.

 

September 2, 1876

MARY E. QUIGLEY infant daughter of P. J. and Martina A. Quigley died in Memphis, August 1, 1870 aged 1 year, 22 days; funeral today.

FOSTER G. FINLEY died Sept. 1, 1876 aged 16 years, 10 months old; funeral. today.

JAMES THOMAS GREENE son of Mrs. Mary Greene died Sept. 1, 1876 aged 10 years, 7 months and 2 days old; funeral today.

 

September 3, 1876

EMILE T. S. SEBRING youngest son of W. H. and Annie Sebring died in Cleveland, Tennessee, August 22, 1876.

THOMAS COOKE died Sept. 2, 1876 aged 37 years; funeral today.

Mrs. ELIZABETH R. WESTON wife of G. M. Weston died Sept. 2, 1876; funeral today. ANTONIO SPECHT youngest son of Joseph Specht and wife died Sept. 3, 1876 [of scarlet fever], aged 5 years and 3 months old; funeral tomorrow.

Tribute of Respect for ERNEST L. TAYLOR who died in Holly Springs, Miss., August 19, 1876 aged 14 years; by the Hall of Temple of Love #l, Memphis, dated August 25, 1876.

Obituary of JOHN C. WEAVER who died August 12, 1876 aged 70 years.

FRANCIS MELLEREH married MARTHA HILL, both of Memphis, August 30, 1876.

 

September 5, 1876

CATHERINE BECKER wife of John Becker died in Memphis, Sept. 4, 1876 in the 43rd year of her age; funeral today.

WESTON MORGAN SINNOTT son of H. T. and D. C. Sinnott died Sept. 4, 1876, Memphis, aged 23 months, 3 days old; funeral today.

 

(Page 61)

ANNA W. SCHWRAR wife of the Reverend J. M. Schwrar of Somerville, Tenn., died Sept. 4, 1876 [of consumption]; burial today from St. Mary's Church.

FRANKY HYNDEL, an orphan, died in the Leath Orphanage, September 4, 1876, aged four years old; funeral today.

Dr. W. W. WHITE died in Austin, Miss., September 3, 1876 aged 22 years; funeral today.

ACHSAH G. WILKINS infant daughter of William G. Wilkins and wife, Memphis, died in Augusta County, Virginia, August 27, 1876.

$80 Reward.

        WE will pay the above amounts for the apprehension and return to us on President's Island, the following described convicts, or twenty dollars for either one of said convicts, and a like amount for any convict who has or may escape from the Island:
        BOONER BAILEY-aged 40 years; 5 feet 51/2 inches high, dark color; thin and short upper lip, which gives him the appearance of grinning when in conversation.
        HENRY JONES-aged 25 years; dark brown; 5 feet 7 inches high; quick spoken; lives east of Memphis 7 or 8 miles.
        WM. DEBERRY-aged 35 years; 6 feet 2 inches high; dark color; lives on the Wildberger place; left eye sore when he left.
        THOMAS CARTER- aged 36 years; 5 feet 61/2 inches high; dark color; has a scar on right temple shaped like a hall-moon; he wworked at Catholic Cemetery on Hernando road; his family lives near that place.
        JESSE KELLY-aged 31 years; fair complexion; blue eyes; light and short hair; his father is a shoemaker, and lives in Fort Pickering.
        JOHN DANCY-aged 21 years; 5 feet 31/2[?] inches high; fair complexion; blue eyes; red hair; his parents live at Decatur, Ala.
        CHAS FAIN-aged 25 years; brown; 5 feet 91/2 inches high; black hair and eyes; scar on left side and left hip; blacksmith by trade; used to work for Jameas & Roosa.
        The first four escaped yesterday, the others during the summer.

W. M. FORREST & CO.

 

September 6, 1876

N. W. CAMPBELL died in Memphis, Sept. 5, 1876 aged 30 years; funeral today; burial in Hernando, Mississippi.

General GEORGE W. GORDON married P. O. PAIN [PAYNE], Bartlett, Tenn., Sept. 5, 1876. He was "the youngest officer of this rank in the Confederate army."

 

September 7, 1876

WILEY G. GALLAWAY, native of Aberdeen, Miss., died in Memphis, Sept. 6, 1876 aged 18 years, 8 months old; funeral from residence of Colonel M. C. Gallaway.

ALICE J. HUSE only daughter of Frank C. and Tillie J. Huse, died in Memphis, Sept. 6, 1876 aged 3 years old; funeral today.

H. [HART] LEHMAN died in Memphis, Sept. 5, 1876; funeral today. [Aged 65 years, native of Lorraine, France; burial in Temple Israel Cemetery]

J. C. CHAMBLEE, Pine Bluff, Ark. married LAURA FARLEY in her father's residence, near Collierville, Tenn., September 6, 1876.

 

September 8, 1876

EDNA EARLE GATTI infant daughter of James P. and Lena Gatti died in Memphis, September 7, 1876 [aged 8 months old]; funeral today.

 

September 9, 1876

ANTONIO DOVOTO died in Memphis, September 8, 1876 in the 46th year of his age; funeral today from St. Peter's Catholic Church.

 

September 10, 1876

WILLIAM HOUGH died in residence of his cousin, JAMES HOUGH, Memphis, Sept. 9, l876 aged 30 years; funeral today.

LULA YOUNG youngest child of J. P. and Emma Young died September 9, 1876 aged 8 months and 1 day old.

HARRIET DOUGLASS wife of Alex Douglass, blacks, died September 9, 1876; she was a favorite nurse in the family of J. W. Page, Jr. for the past ten years, a person they had come "to regard as one of their own family."

 

(Page 62)

September 12, 1876

Mrs. M. A. CRAFT died in the residence of William WATT, Memphis, September 11, 1876 aged 81 years and 29 days old; funeral today.

CATHERINE ROPER wife of James Roper died ostensibly September 11, 1876 in the 25th year of her age; funeral tomorrow [notice repeated in September 13 issue].

 

September 13, 1876

The Reverend EDWARD SLATER, JR. died in Whiteville, Hardeman Co., Tenn., a few days ago; born in Madison Co., Tenn., Aug. 23, 1855. [His obelisk tombstone in Riverside Cemetery, Jackson, Tenn. reads: Rev. EDWARD EARLY SLATER son of Dr. E. C. & Mary Slater. Born Aug. 22, 1855 Died Sept. 4, 1876]

His obituary appearing in the Jackson, Tennessee SUN, Sept. 8, 1876:

        SLATER-In Whiteville, Hardeman county, Tenn; on the 4th Inst., of typhoid fever, REV. EDWARD C. SLATER, JR., youngest son of Dr. E. C. Slater, pastor of the First Methodist Church in this city.
        Deceased had just enetred upon his majority and from his gentle manners, ______ deportment, and scholarly attainments, his friends had centered their highest hopes for a brilliant and useful future. But the "Reaper' came and took him ere those hopes could be realized. When the laborers are so few in God's vineyard on earthh, is it not strange that such a shining mark as our young friend should have been removed from the field of his usefulness? Surely His ways are past finding one yet we bow in humble submission to his providences, however mysterious they are, knowing that "He doeth all things well."

 

JOHNSON SULLIVAN residing near Sardis, Miss., fell from a wagon filled with fodder and was kicked to death by the mules attached to the wagon, September 6, 1876; son of Dr. Isaac Sullivan.

 

September 14, 1876

CORNELIUS MURPHY died ostensibly Sept. 13, 1876 aged 52 years; funeral today.

HOUSTON T. FORCE married ANNIE E. LUMPKIN, both of Memphis, in Calvary Church, Memphis, Sept. 13, 1876.

 

September 15, 1876

PATRICK KERNAN died in Memphis, September 13, 1876 in the 13th year of his age; funeral today.

WILLIAM B. HAMLIN died in Memphis, September 14, 1876 in the 62nd year of his age; funeral today. His adopted daughter, Annie Lumpkin, had married the day before. Burial in Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis. Lot 130, Chapel Hill: WILLIAM BROWNE HAMBLIN, about Apr. 14, 1815-Sept. 14, 1876]

PAUL MOORE son of Tom O. and Anna Moore died September 13, 1876 aged 5 months, 10 days old.

Obituary of Mrs. ARY ANN WARREN widow of Dr. R. P. Warren of Rockingham Co., N.C., died in residence of her son, William R. Warren in Haywood Co., Tenn., September 12, 1876.

 

September 16, 1876

PHILLIP KEPP was killed midday, September 15, 1876 when an elevator he was riding in the Baun shoe shop in St. Louis, MO. fell.

 

September 17, 1876

Resolutions of Respect for THOMAS COOK, recently deceased; by F.M.T.A. and B. Society, Union of Abstinence, Memphis, undated.

In Memoriam: EDNA EARLE GATTI infant daughter of James P. and Lena Gatti, died in Memphis, September 7, 1876 aged 8 months old.

Obituary of Mrs. MARY ANNE HOWELL wife of Henry B. HoweIl; she died Aug. 30, 1876; daughter of Edward and Jane Howell; born Marshall Co., Miss., August 4, 1836; married June 9, 1857; member of Second Presbyterian Church, Memphis.

 

September 19, 1876

EDWARD T. HOLMES, second son of W. R. Holmes, dec. and L. C. Holmes, died in Memphis, Sept. 18, 1876 aged 6 years, 10 months old; burial in Elmwood Cemetery today. [Lot 197, Chapel Hill]

PATRICK CONROY died in Memphis, Sept. 18, 1876 aged 58 years; funeral today.

 

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VIRGINIA POPE wife of Major Reddick Pope of Cross Co., Ark. died in the residence of Mrs. Joseph H. MOSBY, Memphis, September 17, 1876 aged 33 years.

Obituary of ROBERT BARNWELL RHETT who died in St. James Parish, La., Sept. 14, 1876, of cancer, aged 75 years; at an early age served as attorney-general of South Carolina and served from that state in Congress; he was author of the ordinance of secession for South Carolina; "old, blind and weary." [BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE AMERICAN CONGRESS, 1774-1971, Washington, 1974, page 1602:

RHETT, Robert Barnwell (formerly Robert Barnwell Smith) a Representative and a Senator from South Carolina; born in Beaufort, S.C., December 24, 1800; completed preparatory studies; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Beaufort in 1824; elected to the State house of representatives for St. Bartholomew's Pariah in 1826, 1828, 1830, and 1832; elected attorney general of South Carolina November 29, 1882; elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth and to the five succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1837-March 3, 1849); at his request and by act of the General Assembly of South Car6llna, his name was changed to Robert Barnwell Rhett in 1838; member of the Nashville convention in 1850; elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John C. Calhoun and served from December 18, 1850, until his resignation effective May 7, 1852; delegate to the South Carolina secession convention in 1860; delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress in 1861; was chairman of the committee which reported the constitution of the Confederate States; moved to St. James Parish, La., in 1867; delegate to the Democratic National Convention at New York City in 1888; died In St. James Parish, La., on September 14, 1876; interment in Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston. S.C.

 

Sir WILLIAM H. ROBERTSON died in Bath, England, August 29, 1876 in the 80th year of his age; born in Londonderry, Ireland; married, first to Rachael ALEXANDER, 1820 and at her death in 1850 he remarried; four children in first marriage and three in the second. As son of the first marriage, RICHARD ALEXANDER ROBERTSON, immigrated to the United States in 1851 and practiced medicine in New Orleans; served in Confederate army and was killed in uniform in 1864.

 

September 21, 1876

W. W. JAMES married MINNIE BOWLES, both of Memphis, September 19, 1876.

JAMES SMITH married Mrs. KATE WILKINSON, September 20, 1876 in the residence of her father, J. R. Robertson.

 

September 22, 1876

ELBERT BERRY WAINWRIGHT infant son of George and. Fanny Wainwright died ostensibly Sept. 21, 1876 aged 19 months old; funeral today.

JOSEPH BRANDY youngest son of M. L. and Mary J. Brandy died September 21, 1876 aged 1 year, 11 months and 21 days old; funeral today.

From the Murfreesboro, Tennessee HERALD. RUFUS TODD, born in 1773, fought the Creek Indians and was at the battle of New Orleans [War of 1812]; married twice; father of twenty children; five years ago his progeny numbered 180 persons. He was born in Georgia but had lived in Williamson Co., Tenn. for seventy years. "He says he cuts his own [fire] wood and does his own work. He is well and hearty; has never used tobacco or drank coffee and but very little whiskey; has lived on his present farm amounting to one hundred acres for sixty-two years. The only medicine he ever took was given him by a surgeon in General Jackson's army and he regrets that he ever took that. He lives twelve miles from town and rode horseback to town yesterday, arriving at the toll-gate just as the sun was rising."

 

September 23, 1876

On September 21, 1876 about 500 veterans of the 7th Tennessee Confederate Cavalry and the 6th and 9th Tennessee infantries assembled in the fairgrounds near Covington, Tennessee for a "bountiful supper" prepared by the local citizenry. General N. B. Forrest and other well-known people attended and heard the Arnold's brass band.

 

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The regiments were formed by colonels W. F. TYLER, H. L. DOUGLASS and Captain F. F. AIDEN, headed by the band and marched to the fairgrounds. General Forrest was called upon to address the group; among his comments, "He knew they were as loyal to the union as they were to the Confederacy and if occasion demanded they would fight for the stars and stripes as valiantly as they had for the stars and bars." A large number of other citizens attended the gathering as well.

 

September 24, 1876

Little son [LINDSEY] of L. and Letitia JENNINGS died September 13, 1876 aged 6 months, 12 days old; burial in Decatur, Alabama.

 

September 26, 1876

TOM O. MOORE, justice of the peace, died near Big Creek, Tipton Co., Tenn., Sept. 24, 1876 in the 39th year of his age.

JOHN J. SCHERMASTER infant son of John and Annie V. Schermaster died in Memphis, Sept. 25, 1876 aged 9 months and 12 days old; funeral today.

 

September 27, 1876

J. P. GOURLAY, bookkeeper for Cubbins and Gunn, Memphis, died Sept. 26, 18T6; funeral today.

Mrs. L. GREER died in residence of son-in-law, B. W. HICKASON, Memphis, Sept. 26, 1876 in the 68th year of her age; funeral today. [Properly, Louisa GEERS.]

Colonel JOSIAH MAPLES of Red Fork, Ark., died in Raleigh, Tenn., Sept. 22, 1876; burial in Rossville, Tennessee.

JOHN A. McCONNELL, Fulton Co., Ky., married IDA D. SMITH, Memphis, in Obion Co., Tenn., August 31, 1876.

 

September 28, 1876

Mrs. JOANNA M. ELLIS youngest daughter of David CRAIGHEAD, dec., Nashville, died in Stonewall, Ark. in residence of James B. Craighead, Sept. 18, 1876; burial in Nashville, Tenn.

JOE M. JONES married NELLIE NICHOLLS, Memphis, September 26, 1876.

 

September 30, 1876

FRANK ANTONIO BONAVITO only child of Antonio and Alice Bonavito died in Memphis, Sept. 29, 1876 aged 1 year, 8 months and 11 days old; funeral today. [The city death records reveal that this child was twenty months old.]

Funeral of JIMMIE McKINNEY to be held at residence of J. B. BETTIS, Memphis, today.

JAMES L. GAY married MARY F. MUNN, both of Shelhy Co., Tenn., near Bartlett, in residence of Alex. Munn, Sept. 28, 1876.

Resolutions of Respect for T. D. MALLORY a member of the Memphis Bar; died August 21, 1876; by the Memphis Bar, undated.

ED BREATHITT, Memphis, was buried in Elmwood Cemetery, September 29, 1876. [Lot 57, Chapel Hill section, Elmwood. He was 51 years old. The Memphis DAILY AVALANCHE, September 29, 1876 mentions death of Colonel EDWARD BREATHITT who died ostensibly September 28 aged 51 years, 9 months and 6 days old.]

 

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