The Goodspeed Publishing Co., Nashville TN, 1886-1887

Biographical Sketches Shelby County

transcription donated by Rose-Anne Cunningham Bray

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 William A. Albright, a farmer by occupation, was born in Haywood County, Tenn., September 30, 1838, and was the second child in a family of two sons and two daughters born to Jonathan and Mary (Marr) Albright, and is of German-Scotch descent. The father was born in North Carolina, December 30, 1812, and moved to Haywood County, Tenn., where he married and lived until 1845, when he moved to Shelby County, and settled near the present home of our subject. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church the greater part of his life and died at his home April 18, 1863. The mother was born in Virginia, October 1, 1810, and died at the homestead in Shelby County, December 1, 1861. Our subject was raised on the farm, and has always given his time to agricultural pursuits. He enlisted in the Confederate Army and belonged to Col. Baker's regiment. He was captured at Island No. 10, and taken North where he was held first, at Camp Randall, at Madison, Wis., then at Camp Douglas, at Chicago, for four months and was then exchanged at Vicksburg, Miss. He was married at Marshall County, Miss., September 25, 1866, to Miss Sallie E. Ford, a daughter of Rev. Miles H. Ford, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and a native of Tennessee. Eight of the nine children that were the issue of this marriage, are living. The mother of this family was born at Oxford, Miss., June 8, 1848. Mr. Albright is a Mason and a Democrat. He owns 514 acres of land four miles northwest of Collierville, and raises grain and cotton, making the latter the chief market product. Mr. and Mrs. Albright are worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He possesses fine business qualifications, and is justly entitled to the respect and confidence accorded him by all who know him.

C. H. Albright, agent of the Southern Express Company for Memphis, was born in Alamance County, N. C., October 9, 1846. His parents are still living at the old homestead. His father, John G. Albright, who is postmaster at Graham, N. C., is over seventy years of age. Our subject received a fair English education, and at the age of fifteen enlisted as a soldier in the Confederate Army, serving under Magruder at Yorktown and in front of Richmond till after the hard fighting around that city in 1862, when he was mustered out of service on account of his youthfulness. In 1864 he re-enlisted in Gen. Wade Hampton's cavalry corps and served till the end, at Appomattox. After the war he remained at home engaged in business till January, 1866, when he went to Vicksburg, Miss., where he engaged in the hotel business for two or three years, leaving it to go to merchandising, which he followed till 1871, when he sold out and entered the service of the Southern Express Company. He has continued with that company since, filling various positions with credit to himself and profit to his company in Memphis, Jackson (Miss.), St. Louis, Mo., and just prior to assuming the duties of his present position, was route agent west of the Mississippi River. He has been agent at Memphis about two years. He has a family consisting of wife and two bright little boys, and lives in his own home, a beautiful cottage in a large yard, within easy reach of his office. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. She was the daughter of an old Presbyterian minister of Memphis — Rev. James O. Stedman, D.D., who died several years ago.

James P. Alexander, grocery and drug merchant at 380 Beale Street, Memphis, established the business in 1886. He is the son of John D. and Emma (Pirtle) Alexander. The father was general passenger agent for a railroad corporation. Our subject was born and reared in Rutherford County, Tenn., and was educated at Sweet Water, E. Tenn ;. also at Woodbury and Tiptonville, of the same State. Soon after completing his education he engaged as clerk in the drug business in Tiptonville, and here continued for three years. He then purchased the stock of his employer and remained in business at this place for four years, after which he went to Little Rock, Ark., and established a drug business there. After a short time he sold out and came to Memphis, where he established his present business, in which he has been quite successful. In 1880 he married Emma Whitford, daughter of A. S. Whitford, a cotton factor of Memphis. This union resulted in the birth of three children, all of whom are living. Mr. Alexander is a Democrat in politics, and a pleasant, social gentleman.

Rev. J. D. Anderson was born in Tippah County, Miss., March 22, 1852, and is the son of James Anderson, who was born in Jackson County, Tenn., in 1809, where he was raised and educated, and in 1834 moved to Mississippi, where he married Miss M. J. McGill, who was born in the year 1823, and is still living at the old homestead in Tippah County, Mississippi. Seven sons and two daughters were born to this marriage, our subject being the fifth child. The father was a farmer all of his life, and an old line Whig in politics, and was strongly opposed to secession, using his vote and his influence to keep his State in the Union; but when the war commenced he went with his State, and while on a trip to Louisiana to procure supplies for himself and neighbors, he contracted the disease from which he died in May, 1862. Our subject was raised on the farm, and received his preparatory education in the common schools of the county, and afterward spent two years at the Mississippi College, then two years at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Greenville, S. C., and two years at the University of Mississippi, from which he graduated in five departments, and two years later received the honorary degree of A. M. from the Southwestern Baptist University at Jackson, Tenn. Mr. Anderson has been in charge of the Baptist Church at Germantown for four years. December 29, 1874, he was married at Blue Mountain, Miss., to Miss Maggie E. Lowrey, daughter of Gen. M. P. Lowrey, who held the rank of brigadier-general, under Hood, during the war. Four daughters have blessed this marriage: Florence Modena, Mary Rolly, Janie Sanford and Agnes Brooks. The mother was born in Corinth, Miss., January 29, 1852. Mr. Anderson is a Democrat, and strongly in favor of prohibition. He is a prominent Mason. Mrs. Anderson is a devout member of the Baptist Church. They have a pleasant home in the central part of Germantown. Mr. Anderson is a minister of fine ability, possessing rare oratorical power and being an unusually well read man. He has been very earnest and very successful in his work, and has the respect and affection of all who know him.

David O. Andrews is a native of Mississippi, and was born June 8, 1854, and was brought by his parents to Memphis when a child, and was here reared and educated. He first engaged in the grocery business as clerk for C. R. Ryan and finally became a member of the firm, and is now the active manager of the establishment. February 18, 1879, he was joined in matrimony to Miss Lula Betts, of Mississippi, and by her has two living children, both daughters. Mr. Andrews is a Democrat, a. member of the K. of H. and of the I. O. O. F. and of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The firm of C. R. Ryan & Co., wholesale and retail grocers, is composed of Frank T. Ryan and D. O. Andrews. The business was established by the late C. R. Ryan in 1876, Mr. Andrews becoming a member in 1884, and Frank T. Ryan taking an interest in November, 1885, upon the death of C. R. Ryan. The firm has one of the largest retail trades in the city, and employs four commercial travelers and twenty-eight men to do the business in this city. Their trade extends over Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri.

E. M. Apperson, senior member of the firm of E. M. Apperson & Co., first came to Memphis in 1838, and located here in 1840, selecting this place from many he had visited throughout the South. In 1841 he formed the partnership, Allen & Apperson, which existed until 1847 when he bought Allen's interest and formed the present firm, though his associates have been often changed. His partners have been as follows: C. D. Laach, David Adams, W. A. Jones, G. B. Rambeau, and J. D. Crigley, the latter being the present partner. Mr. Apperson is a native of Virginia, and was born near Richmond on July 13, 1814. At the age of ten years he was left an orphan, and went to live with a relative in North Carolina. While living here he helped to build the first bridge over the Roanoke River and to construct the Wilmington & Welston Railroad, the third road built in the United States. His parents were John and Susan (Morecock) Apperson, natives of Virginia and agriculturists by occupation. The father died in 1825 and the mother in 1827; the former was of Scotch descent and the latter of English. In 1831. our subject married Miss Susan B. Morecock, who bore her husband nine children, only three of whom are now living. Mr. Apperson is an ex-president' of the German National Bank and of the Memphis City Fire Insurance Company. Before the competition in trade became so strong, he sold annually as high as $1,500,000 worth of goods and handled annually as high as 43,000 bales of cotton. His annual trade is now about $200,000. Before the war he owned as high as 300 slaves. He is a member of the Masonic order.

T. B. Armistead, of the firm of Armistead Bros., dealers in staple and fancy groceries, dry goods, etc., is a native of Mississippi, and came to Tennessee in 1879, locating in Lauderdale County. Here he remained till 1884, when he came to Shelby County, located in the village of Arlington, and in partnership with his brother established his present business. Mr. Armistead received a limited country school education in the State of Mississippi. His parents, T. R. and Drucilla (Baird) Armistead, are natives of Georgia and Alabama, respectively. The father follows agricultural pursuits and is now a resident of De Soto County, Miss. The mother of our subject died in August, 1886, and was well esteemed and respected by her acquaintances. Mr. Armistead is a member of the K. of H.

Spencer F. Armour, farmer of Shelby County, is a son of Arthur and Susan (Shelton) Armour. The father was a native of Ireland, born about 1800, and came to America, settling in Mecklenburg County, N. C., where he met and married Miss Shelton. Both passed the remainder of their days in that county tilling the soil. Their family consisted of seven children — four sons and three daughters. Our subject was the fifth child of this family. He was born in Mecklenburg, N. C., May 28, 1832, and received a very limited education. At the age of twenty-one he went to Mississippi and farmed till 1871, when he came to this county. In 1862 he entered the Confederate service on detached duty, having volunteered five times and each time rejected on account of ill health. He served throughout the entire war, being detailed as deputy sheriff of Rankin County, Miss., which position he held the last nine months of the war. In 1856 he married Sarah Frances Ashley, of Mississippi, and the result of this union was seven children. As a farmer Mr. Armour has been very successful. When he came to Shelby County in 1871 he had nothing; now he owns 162 acres of the best land as the fruits of his own exertions. For fifteen years he has been a resident of this county, and has succeeded in gaining the reputation of a good farmer and an honest, upright citizen. He is a Master Mason, and his wife is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. He is a Democrat in politics.

Dr. W. T. Arrington, of Memphis, Tenn., was born in Weakley County, Tenn., in 1836. There were six children in his father's family, three living. The parents were James H. and Mary W. Arrington, both natives of North Carolina. The father was born in 1801, and was educated at Chapel Hill College, North Carolina, and moved to Weakley County, Tenn., at an early date, where he was a farmer and where he died in 1862. The mother was a Miss Spruill, a daughter of Dr. Benjamin Spruill, who was an eminent physician; her mother was a Miss Blount a relative of William Blount. Mrs. Arrington was born in December 1804, and died in 1861. Dr. W. T. Arrington was educated in this State, then commenced the study of medicine, but afterward abandoned, it for that of dentistry, and in 1856 graduated at the Philadelphia College of Dental Surgery; he then located at Trenton, Tenn., and practiced until 1860, when he moved to Memphis. In 1859 he married Miss Emma C., daughter of Archibald and Christiana Levy. Mrs. Arrington is a native of Gibson County; they have two sons: William T. and Guy. Dr. Arrington served some time in the Confederate Army, in the quarter-master's department, but owing to ill health was compelled to resign, and after the war returned to Memphis. Dr. Arrington is a man of energy and perseverance, and has done a great deal for the profession in Tennessee; was one of the organizers and the first secretary of the Tennessee Dental Association, also took a prominent part in organizing the Southern States Dental Association at Atlanta, Ga., in 1868, and was unanimously elected its first president; was elected to a professorship in the Cincinnati College of Dental Surgery in 1867, which position he resigned after serving one term. He also during that year became a member of the National Dental Association. He is a great lover of science and devotes much of his leisure time to study and scientific research and is a man of broad and advanced views. He served for a number of years on the public school board of Memphis, where he did much to correct abuses and bring about reform. Having secured and retained the confidence and esteem of his community, he has ever enjoyed a large and lucrative practice, commanding as he does the highest fees for his professional services. Dr. Arrington is justly regarded as one of the leading members of the dental profession.

Miss Cora H. Ashe. Among the prominent names in the history of North Carolina appears that of Ashe. Samuel was a distinguished lawyer of that State, its chief justice, and finally its governor. His son, John B., served through the Revolutionary war, reaching the position of lieutenant-colonel. He was a member of the First Continental Congress, and later yet, governor. Samuel P., son of John B., was a member of the North Carolina Legislature. He came to Tennessee about 1830 and settled in Haywood County. One of his sons, Shepherd M., married Martha Rogers, also a native of North Carolina, and this union resulted in the birth of ten children, two sons and six daughters now living. The two sons, Haywood S. and Henry M., are physicians. Maggie L. and Annie A. are students of art in Paris, France; Cora H. follows the profession of teaching. Having received her education in the private schools of Memphis, she began in the lower grades. Gradually she arose from this to teacher in the high school and such was the tact and ability displayed that she was promoted in 1884 to the principalship of one of the city schools.

J. A. Austin, the leading wholesale clothier of this section, is a native of Brownsville, Tenn., and a son of Robert S. and Margaret B. Austin. Both were Virginians, but, at time of death, residents of Brownsville, where the father had been farming with great success for some time. The subject of this sketch served four years in the Confederate Army. He enlisted in the Thirty-first Tennessee Infantry, of which he was promoted to the rank of adjutant. In 1865 he went to New York, and engaged in the wholesale dry goods and woolen trade, in which line he continued until he came to Memphis. The firm of "Grubbs & Austin" was established in 1872, in the wholesale clothing business. In 1879 the partnership ceased to exist. It was succeeded by J. A. Austin & Co., with our subject as sole owner and proprietor. He carries a fine and extensive stock of clothing and furnishing goods, transacting annually about $250,000 worth of trade. He is known and liberally patronized all through Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama. Eight traveling salesmen are kept on the road, and about thirty hands constantly employed in the manufacture of certain lines of goods. Mr. Austin is a gentleman of ability and enterprise, and one of Memphis' most substantial and respected residents. In 1871 he wedded Miss Azalia Fowler, of Memphis, with whom he had three children, all of whom are living. The mother died in 1879, and in 1881 Mr. Austin married Miss Lillie Martin, of Mississippi, to whom one child was born, but which they had the misfortune to lose.

Benjamin Babb & Co. are cotton brokers who established their business in 1881, the firm being composed of B. Babb and Dennis Smith. Mr. Babb, the senior member of the firm, is a native of Virginia, and came to this city in 1844. He is the son of John and Elizabeth (Pope) Babb. After coming to Memphis our subject spent several years clerking for different cotton establishments until 1859 when he was admitted as junior partner in the firm of Harris, Hunt & Co., and has since that time directed his attention exclusively to the brokerage business. June 9, 1859, he married Mrs. Mary (Smith) Kennedy, of this city. She is a member of the Catholic Church. Mr. Babb has always been a good citizen, and has been for several years, and is still a director in the Union & Planters' Bank.

A. R. Barret & Son are merchants in the First District of Shelby County, dealing in general merchandise, and carrying a stock of goods valued at $18,000. The business was first established in 1869 under the firm name of Barret & Witherington, and in 1873 A. R. Barret purchased his partner's interest, and in 1882 took his son, J. H. Barret, as a partner. The firm has done an extensive business, the yearly sales having averaged $100,000. A. R. Barret was born in Henderson County, Ky., and moved to Tipton County, Tenn., when young, and to Shelby County in 1857. He married Miss Rebecca Hill, a native of Virginia. They have had five children; four of them are living. Mr. and Mrs. Barret are active members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and he is a Mason, and in politics a Democrat. J. H. Barret, the son, was born in Shelby County in 1860. He was educated at Lebanon, Tenn., and as soon as he left college went into business with his father, as above stated. He is a young man of fine moral character, and belongs to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is an enthusiastic Democrat, anticipating a brilliant future for the New South under Democratic rule.

Thomas Barrett is the vice-president and general manager, and largest stockholder of the Citizens' Street Railroad Company, of Memphis. His parents, Edmund and M. Ford Barrett, were natives of Ireland, but came to the United States at an early day and located at New Orleans, where they died, his mother in 1849, and his father in 1855. The subject of our sketch, full of ambition and energy, went to California in 1857, where he remained until 1862, and was very successful during his five years in California. When the war broke out he returned to the States and took the position of chief clerk in the quartermaster's department at Baltimore, with Capt. P. T. Turnley, and afterward at St. Louis, Mo., which position he resigned to take the office of secretary to a military commission under Gen. P. H. Sheridan, which was appointed to examine war claims at St. Louis in 1862. When Gen. Sheridan was assigned to other duties, Mr. Barrett resigned and removed to Memphis in 1862, where he took charge of the quartermaster's office, under Capt. H. S. Fitch, as chief clerk, and during the time he was connected, with the quartermaster's office at Memphis, he made a great many friends by the many acts of kindness he did in getting their property restored to citizens from whom it was taken by the provost marshal and other officers, and since the war he has assisted several parties to get paid for property used by the Government during the war. In 1863 he invested in real estate at Memphis, where he permanently located, and has since then become closely identified with its commercial and railroad enterprises. Politically, Mr. Barrett is a Democrat, and always has been. He served for a short time as councilman, and was the man who introduced in the council the resolution to wind up the old city government so as to vacate all the offices, and make room for the new government, known as the Taxing District. He is considered a very substantial, enterprising citizen, and a bold financier. In 1876 he married Miss Maria J. Frost, a very bright, intellectual young lady; formerly of Chicago, but who removed to Memphis in 1871. They have three bright, promising sons, T. Frost, Hosmer J., and Dover J. Barrett.

G. T. Bassett, secretary and treasurer of the Cole Manufacturing Company, came to Memphis in 1857 and engaged in the lumber business until the commencement of the war. He was connected with Baxter & Rose. In 1861 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Senior Tennessee Regiment, Confederate States Army, and served with credit until the cessation of hostilities, when he returned to Memphis and accepted a clerkship with M. E. and J. MT. Cochran in the lumber trade, and continued until 1870 and then became agent for the Memphis Woodworks Manufacturing Company, but quit in 1874 when that company was burned out. January 1, 1875, he formed a partnership with C. B. Moore, under the style of Moore, Bassett & Co., which partnership expired January 1, 1880, when a connection was formed with the Cole Manufacturing Company, which still continues. Our subject was born February 5, 1837, in Delaware County, N. Y., and is one of a family of fifteen children of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Cushing) Bassett, the mother being a niece of Hon. Caleb Cushing. They were married at Schenectady, N. Y. The father was a participant in the battles on the lakes during the war of 1812, and was a member of the State Legislature in 1836—37. He died in 1864 and lies buried in the same cemetery as Washington Irving. The mother died when our subject was a child. The latter graduated at Columbia College, New York, in 1854, and was for a short time engaged in the grain trade in the Upper Mississippi Valley. July 3, 1866, he was married to Miss Lucretia Lockwood, a native of Iowa, and to these parents eight children have been born, one son and two daughters still living. Mr. Bassett is a Democrat, and is a member of the F. & A. M., K. of P., K. of H. orders, and he and family are members of the Episcopal Church.

George H. Battier, a citizen of Memphis, is engaged in the drug business at No. 120 Beale Street. The business was established by his father, R. Battier, in 1866, and the father managed it very successfully until his death in 1883, when it passed into the hands of George H. Battier. During the most trying times of the yellow fever epidemics the firm were never known to leave their posts. To the marriage of R. and Alice (Donnell) Battier, were born two children, George H. and R. C. George H. was married to Miss Mary Burton, who was born in Memphis, and is a daughter of Andrew Burton. Three children have been born to this marriage. Mr. Battier is a member of the A. O. U. W., Chickasaw, No. 40. He is a sound Democrat, and is well known throughout the city, and regarded as one of Memphis' most correct business men.

W. D. Beard, a member of the legal firm of Beard & Clapp, is a graduate of the law school at Lebanon, Tenn., class of 1859, and immediately after graduation began the practice of this profession at Memphis, continuing until 1862, when he enlisted in the Confederate service, and was placed on the staff of Gen. A. B. Stewart, where he remained for one year, and was then transferred to the command of Gen. Jackman, of Shelby's division, and served here until the close of the war. He then resumed the practice of law in Memphis as one of the firm of Wilson & Beard, but in 1879 became associated with J. W. and W. L. Clapp, under the firm name of Clapp & Beard. In 1885 J. W. Clapp withdrew, and the present firm was formed. Our subject was born at Princeton, Ky., in 1835, and remained at home until he began the study of his profession. In 1860 he married Miss Amelia Henderson, of Lexington, Mo., and they have two children — R. H. and Lee. R. H. was born April 23, 1861, and upon reaching early manhood attended the Kentucky Military Institute, and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. In 1885 he was elected secretary and treasurer of the Woodruff Lumber Company of this city in which capacity he is yet serving. He is one of the most promising young business men of the city. (See elsewhere for a sketch of the Woodruff Lumber Company.) Lee, the youngest son, was also educated at the Kentucky Military Institute, and graduated in his eighteenth year. Immediately thereafter he took a position with Fulmer, Thornton & Co., one of the leading wholesale houses of Memphis, and for several years past has occupied the responsible place of cashier of this firm. The father of W. D. Beard was a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, at Princeton, Ky., where he resided until 1853, when he moved to Lebanon, Tenn., and became professor of theology in the Cumberland University, continuing until his death in 1880. Rev. Dr. Beard was a man of deep piety and profound learning, and was born in Sumner County in 1799, and in 1834 married Miss Cynthia Castleman, a native of Davidson County, where she was born in 1806. W. D. Beard is one of the most successful and prominent members of the Memphis bar.

Julian Bedford (deceased), who was a farmer by occupation, was born in Nashville, Tenn., March 5, 1825, and was the third child of nine sons and three daughters, born to B. W. and Martha A. (White) Bedford, and was of English descent. His father was a native Virginian, and immigrated to Tennessee. When our subject was six years of age he moved to Fayette County, and two years later to Panola County, Miss., where our subject was raised and educated, afterward graduating at the Nashville University, and was a man of superior information, well known and greatly respected in the county. He settled in Shelby County in 1851, and married at the present homestead August 5, 1851, Miss Virginia Kenney, a daughter of Col. Edward Kenney, who was formerly a farmer of Virginia, but was born in Dublin, Ireland, June 11, 1802. He came to America when twenty-one years of age, end settled in Virginia. He was educated in Edinburg, Scotland, for the ministry, but not liking the profession, in order to avoid it, he joined the English Navy. After arriving in Virginia he taught school, and married Miss Lucy Ruffin. Mrs. Bedford, our subject's wife, was the only issue of this marriage. Her father moved in 1830 to Hardeman County, and in 1837 to Memphis, where he went into the commission business under the firm styled Ander, Carr, Walker & Co. He died at the present home September 25, 1857. His wife was born in Mecklenburg County, Va., and died March 25, 1861. Our subject's family consists of two daughters and two sons — Rosa (McDonald), Ellen, Willie H. and Julian. Mrs. Bedford was born in Hardeman County, Tenn., January 27,1832. Mr. Bedford was an old line Whig. He was opposed to secession, but went with his State. He died September 3, 1879. He left his family 1,800 acres of land, 640 acres being in the home tract, four and a half miles west of Collierville, on the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Mr. Bedford was a man of fine ability and sound judgment, sincere in his friendships and devoted to his family.

Hugh L. Bedford was born in Fayette County, Tenn., June 11, 1836. His father was B. W. Bedford, who was born in Mecklenburg County, Va., June 8, 1794, and when six years of age was brought by his parents to Middle Tennessee, and settled on Stone River, where he was raised and educated, but before he attained his majority he accepted a clerkship in Nashville, where he married Miss M. A. Whyte, daughter of Judge Robert Whyte, who was on the supreme bench of Tennessee for twenty-four years. After the close of the war of 1812, he commenced merchandising in partnership with his brother, William H. Bedford — for whom the county of Bedford, Tenn., was named — and they continued the business for several years. On account of the cholera in Nashville in 1834, the family moved to Fayette County, where they settled temporarily. After this they moved to Panola County, Miss., as he owned large plantations in that State. The last few years of his life were spent in Shelby County, Tenn. He was a man of extensive information, sound judgment and fine business qualifications. A short time before his death he made arrangements to move to Florida, and died at Tampa, Fla., while on his way to his new home, October 23, 1883. Our subject's mother was born at Nashville, Tenn., March 4, 1804, and died in Shelby County, Tenn., May 17, 1872. Hugh L. Bedford was raised on a plantation in Mississippi, and had the finest educational advantages. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, the Kentucky Military Institute, and from the law department of the Cumberland University at Lebanon. He practiced law three years in Memphis before the war, then enlisted in the Confederate Army, and rendered valuable service in the engineer's department at Fort Donelson. During the engagement at the above named place he was in command of the ten-inch columbiad, and was made a prisoner of war, and was held at Johnson's Island for six months. After being exchanged, he received a field appointment as commander of a battalion, which he held for four months, and was then made lieutenant of artillery on ordnance duty, which was soon followed by provisional rank of captain. He served until the close of the war, and was surrendered at Jackson, Miss., in May, 1865. May 23, 1867, he was married at Grenada, Miss., to Miss Louisa McLean, daughter of Judge Robert D. McLean. Two sons, Benjamin W. and Hugh R., were born to this union. Mrs. Bedford was born in Granada, Miss., March 8, 1845. Mr. and Mrs. Bedford are influential members of the Presbyterian Church. Politically he is an active and ardent Democrat, and has done a great deal for the party in his section of the State. He owns 1,100 acres of land, 755 acres being in the home place, twenty miles east of Memphis. Mr. Bedford is a man of great force of character, a lawyer of marked ability, and a man of broad culture.

William D. Bethell — president of the State National Bank, director of the Security Bank of Memphis, director of the Memphis Cotton Press & Storage Company, director of the Chickasaw Cooperage Company, director of the City Oil Mills, director of the Bluff City Stove Works, director of the Memphis Water Company, and also of several insurance companies of the city — was born in St. Mary's Parish, La., in 1840, and is the only survivor of a family of four children born to Pinkney C. and H. E. (Smith) Bethell, natives of North Carolina and Mississippi, respectively. The parents were both taken to Louisiana in childhood, and there grew up and were married, but moved to this city when our subject was a child. They accumulated valuable property in this city, which at the father's death our subject inherited. The father was a man of more than ordinary character and capacity, and died in February, 1884, but the mother is still living. At the age of eight years our subject entered the preparatory department of Baltimore College, with which institution he remained several years. He also attended other popular institutions of learning, concluding with the Western Military Institute, at Nashville. He was here when the war broke out, and immediately enlisted and was made captain in the Twenty-Second Tennessee Regiment, which position he retained until placed on Gen. Pillow's staff. Later he was placed on Gen. Biffell's staff and served thus until the close of the war. After the war he located in Louisiana, but in 1873 moved to Maury County, Tenn., and engaged in stock raising, agricultural pursuits, etc., continuing until 1883, when he came to Memphis, and has since been interested with the State National Bank. In June, 1861, he married Cynthia S. Pillow, niece of Gen. Pillow, and daughter of Jerome B. Pillow. They have the following children: Bessie P., wife of Dr. Foster, of New Orleans; J. Pillow, Pinkney C., Jennie W. and William D. Mr. Bethell is a Mason and he and family are members of the Presbyterian Church.

William A. Bickford, a pioneer citizen of Memphis, was born in Madison, Carroll Co., N. H., June 15, 1808, and is the son of Moses and Lydia (Richards) Bickford, both natives of New England and of English descent. Our subject was reared in his native State and was educated at the New Hampton Institute, at New Hampton, N. H., where he studied civil engineering and afterward taught a public school in Bridgewater, N. H., in 1829-30. In 1833 he went to New Orleans, and was engaged in contracting and building until May, 1834, when he came to Memphis, and continued the same occupation about seventeen years, accumulating a handsome property, notwithstanding considerable loss during the late war. He is one of the most substantial citizens of the city, and his character is above reproach. He was one of the earliest public school visitors of the city, was trustee in the first medical college, and vestryman of Calvary Church, and continued to serve in these institutions for many years. He never had any political aspirations; was formerly an old line Whig, but since the dissolution of that party he has affiliated with the Democratic party. He is conservative in all things and liberal in his opinions. In 1838 he married Miss Louise Howland, a native of Boston, Mass. These parents have two living sons: William A. and Henry H., the latter a practicing physician of this city. They have been constant attendants of Calvary Church (Episcopal) since 1844, and are now the oldest members of that congregation living.

Henry H. Bickford, M. D., is a native of this city and a son of W. A. Bickford, a well known pioneer citizen of Memphis. Our subject was born September 16, 1848, and was reared to manhood in this city. He received his literary education in the University of Toronto, Canada, and in 1872 entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he graduated in 1875. He then entered the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1877, after which he accepted a position as resident physician of the Protestant Episcopal Hospital of Philadelphia, and remained there until 1880. He then received a diploma from the institution, and the same year located in St. Louis, where he soon established a good practice, which, however, he was compelled to abandon on account of ill health. After sojourning at different times in Colorado he came, in the fall of 1885, to Memphis, where he has since remained, engaged in the practice of his profession, meeting with satisfactory results. In 1872 he married Elizabeth, daughter of George Winchester, the well known cotton merchant of this city, and a lineal descendant of Wm. Winchester, of Baltimore, Md., one of the original proprietors of Memphis. By this union they have two children living. Dr. Bickford and family are mem hers of the Episcopal Church.

B. J. Bicknell, salesman for John E. Randle & Co., is a native of New York who emigrated to the South in 1857, and in 1865 located in Memphis. He was very prosperous in early life, and at one time was engaged in a lucrative wholesale dry goods business in this city. For the last twelve years he . has directed his attention principally to machinery. He was twice married while in New York, his second wife dying in 1860. In 1866 he married Miss Thompson, of Mississippi, and this union resulted in the birth of two children. Mr. Bicknell took an active part in the late war between the North and South, and was a gallant soldier. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and also of the S. of H.

R. J. Black, cashier of the Security Bank, of Memphis, vice-president of the Memphis Abstract Company, a member of the firm of R. J. Black & Co., real estate dealers, vice-president of the Woodruff Lumber Company, and a director in the following boards, viz.: Mercantile Bank, Phcenix Insurance Company, the Workingmen's Building & Loan Association, and the Memphis Bethel; is a native of Fayette County, Tenn., where he remained until his parents removed to Haywood County prior to the late war. He was principally educated in Fayette County, but attended one term at New Salem Academy, in Shelby County, and one term at a school at Olive Branch, Miss. At the commencement of the late war he enlisted in Hill's cavalry, a company organized in Tipton County, Tenn., which became a company in Logwood's battalion; afterward merged into and designated as Company B of the Seventh Tennessee Cavalry Regiment, with which branch of the service he remained until the close of the war in April, 1865, said regiment having been with Gens. W. H. Jackson, J. R. Chalmers, E. W. Rucker and Lieut.-Gen. N. B. Forrest. Soon after the war he moved from Haywood County to Memphis, accepted a clerkship in a dry goods house, but about one year later he received the appointment of deputy chancery court clerk and served in that position until 1878, when he was appointed clerk and master of the chancery court, continuing in that office until 1884, when he engaged in the real estate business in the firm of R. J. Black & Co. and is thus connected at present. In 1886 he was elected to his present position in the Security Bank. Mr. Black was born November 27, 1841, and is one of three survivors of a family of five children. His parents were William and Jane (Teas) Black, natives of Virginia. They were married in Humphreys County, Tenn. The mother died in our subject's childhood, but the father is yet living in Haywood County, and is following agricultural pursuits. In 1869 our subject married Miss Fannie M. Somerdell, of Tipton County, who has presented her husband with the following children: Robert J., Fannie M., Joseph S. and Janie,the last one dying in infancy.

Dr. Nicholas Blackwell, is a prominent physician of Bartlett, Shelby County, Tennessee, and is the son of Gen. Nicholas and Sarah (Baldwin) Blackwell. The father moved to Alabama when our subject was quite young, afterward moved to northern Mississippi, where Dr. Blackwell attended the school in Pontotoc County (now known as Union County), and completed his education at Union University, at Murfreesboro, Tenn. March, 1860, he graduated in medicine at the Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, and located for one year at New Albany, Miss., when he enlisted in the Forty-third Mississippi Regiment under Col. Harrison, and a month afterward was made captain of the company, fighting gallantly under this rank until the war closed. He was in the battles of Corinth, Franklin, Nashville, and at Atlanta was slightly wounded in the head and knee. When the war closed, he returned to his home in Mississippi, and, though only twenty-seven years of age, was identified with the leading citizens of his State, and was a delegate in the State convention. December, 1865, he located in Shelby County and resumed the practice of medicine, where he is regarded as a skillful physician, and well posted in his profession. He married Miss L. V. Ward, a daughter of Mr. J. P. Ward, and granddaughter of Col. Alexander, who was one of the earliest settlers of this section of the State, and an opponent of the renowned Davy Crockett in the race for Congress. One daughter, Miss Willie, was born to this union. Mrs. Blackwell died in January, 1870. She was a true Christian, and a member of the Baptist Church. Dr. Blackwell is a Mason and Odd Fellow, and in politics a Democrat. He is a cultured gentleman and a fine physician.

George H. Blood was born in Worcester, Mass., June 9, 1822. He is the son of Joshua and Caroline Blood, natives of Massachusetts, and of English descent. Our subject was reared and educated in the Empire State. He worked for a few years in the mercantile business in Hamilton, Ontario, but left there in 1859 and came direct to Memphis and engaged in the wholesale and retail hardware and stove business, and conducted one of the largest institutions of the kind in the city or the Southwest until 1873, when he engaged in the cotton-seed oil trade here and at Pine Bluff, Ark., in which business he has since been engaged, having met with more than ordinary success. Mr. Blood is a Republican and a Mason, and is connected with the largest oil company in the United States. In 1843 he married Miss Margaret Thompson, a native of Scotland, and by her has four living children: Henrietta, wife of E. Urquhart, vice-president of the American Oil Trust Company, of New York ; Emma A., the wife of C. W. Schulte, of this city; Margaret, the wife of Frederick Heakes, manager cf the oil-mills at Pine Bluff, Ark., and Charlotte, wife of William R. Moore, of Memphis.

J. P. Bone, M. D., was born in Hopkins County, Ky., in 1831. He is the son of Andrew M. and Mary A.. (Alexander) Bone. The father was a farmer by occupation, and lived in Hopkins County, Ky., at the time of his death, which occurred in 1857. The mother died previous to this in 1852. Our subject was reared on a farm, and realized but little benefit from schools. He was, however, very studious at home, and is a self-made man. By his own efforts he earned the means to pursue his medical studies, and entered the medical department of the university at Louisville, Ky., in 1856, where he graduated in 1859. He located at Nebo, Hopkins Co., Ky., and practiced until 1861, when he enlisted in Company B, Forrest's cavalry, as a private, serving both in the field and hospital. After the close of the war he practiced in Fayette County for twelve years, and in 1878 came to the village of Arlington, where he has had a large and lucrative practice up to the present time, serving through the yellow fever epidemic in 1878. In 1867 he married Mrs. Nettie (Thompson) Clary, daughter of Squire George Thompson and widow of Dr. J. W. Clary. Four children were the fruits of this union, three daughters and one son. His son, George A., at the age of eighteen graduated in the Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tenn. The Doctor is a Mason and a K. of H.

George C. Borner, dealer in staple and fancy groceries, established his business in 1868 at No. 971 Beale Street. He was born in Memphis in 1849 and is the son of Herman G. and Mary W. Borner. The father is a native of Germany and came to the United States in 1837, locating in Memphis in 1839. He was the father of three children, of whom our subject is the eldest. The mother died in 1867 and the father in 1873. George C. was educated in the city of Memphis and in 1872 was united in marriage to Mary E. Passmore, of Olney, Richland County, Ill., who bore him eight children, six of whom are living. Mr. Borner is engaged in business on the same lot that the house stood on in which he was born. His children were also born on the same lot. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and from present prospects expects to pass the remainder of his days in Memphis.

Thomas Van Brady was born in Huntsville, Ala., October 13, 1828. His father, Edward Brady, was born in Halifax County, Va., and immigrated to Alabama when thirteen years of age. After attaining his majority he married Elizabeth Van, daughter of Bryant Van, and by this marriage had four sons and a daughter, our subject being the second child. The father moved to Marshall County, Miss., in 1835, where he engaged in farming, and died in 1875, at the advanced age of eighty-eight. The mother was born in Marshall County, Ala., and died in Marshall County, Miss., at the age of forty-two. Thomas Van Brady was raised on a farm and educated in the common schools. At the age of seventeen he went into the mercantile business as a clerk at Tullahoma, with Eckles & Howze, remaining with them three years, and was then employed by Strickland, Sanders & Co. for three years, when he became a partner in the firm of Howze & Brady, at Wall Hill, where he continued five years. He was married in Marshall County, Miss.,December 13, 1853, to Miss Catherine H. Wilson, daughter of Rev. LeGrand W. Wilson, of Virginia. She was a native of Virginia, and died April 15, 1878. Eight children were born to them ; five are living. Mr. Brady was an old line Whig, but is now an independent Democrat. He is a Royal Arch Mason of thirty-five years standing, and a worthy member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Brady is a farmer and mechanic, and was at one time a magistrate in Marshall County, Miss. He has always been an energetic man, upright in all business transactions and generous in disposition.

Eugene L. Brown, a member of the firm of Manfield & Co., wholesale druggists, was born in Jefferson County, Ala. After attending the common schools, he finished his education at the University of Alabama, and then engaged in the drug business in Mississippi for about three years. He then moved to St. Louis, and soon after to Louisville, Ky., and from 1869 to 1881 he acted as traveling salesman for R. A. Robinson & Co., one of the largest drug firms of that city. At the close of his service there he went to Little Rock, Ark., and engaged in the wholesale drug business under the title of Lincoln & Brown. In 1883 he came to Memphis, and the following year joined the firm of Manfield & Co., where he has since continued. In 1883 he married Annie Green, of Alabama, by whom he has one child, Eugene L. Mr. Brown has followed mercantile pursuits all his life. His father was also a merchant, which business he carried on in connection with farming. Our subject is a member of the Knight Templars of Louisville Commandery, and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

M. S. Buckingham, cashier of the State National Bank, is a native of Memphis, and was born in 1816 and has all his life resided in this city. He was educated here and began business life as collector for the Jackson Insurance and Banking Company, and since that time has risen to his present position through all the intermediate steps of the banking business. He is well qualified for his important trust. December 29, 1876, he was united in marriage with Miss Annie Gifford Nash, a native of New Orleans, to whom these children have been born: Miles Gifford, Theophilus Nash and Cornelia Beckwith. Mr. Buckingham and family are members of the Episcopal Church and he is a Democrat. He is one of four survivors of a family of seven children born to Henry G. and Eliza (McIntosh) Buckingham. The father is of the well known Buckingham family, of Connecticut; was for many years of the firm of William C. Tompkins & Co., wholesale jobbers of dry goods in New Orleans, La. He retired from business some years ago on account of bad health and resides in Memphis. The mother was a native of Nashville, but married her husband in Memphis, and here her death occurred in October, 1886.

Dr. R. E. Bullington, dentist, is a native of Mississippi, born September 2, 1847, and the only child reared by D. E. and Caroline (Stubblefield) Bullington. He received his literary education at the Kentucky Military Institute. In 1870 he began the study of dentistry, and graduated from the New Orleans Dental College in 1872. He then located at Huntsville, Ala., where he successfully practiced his profession for one year, after which he returned to his old home, Hernando, Miss. He here continued the practice of dentistry until 1885, when he came to Memphis. December 30, 1869, he married S. A. Peete, of Mason, Tenn., and the daughter of Dr. John S. and Ann E. Peete. Seven children were the result of our subject's marriage — six daughters and one son. Since coming to this city the Doctor has built up an extensive practice and is one of the leading dentists of the city and is prominently connected with the Southern Dental Association. He is a Democrat in politics, a member of the I. O. O. F., the K. of H. and the K. of P. He and wife are members of the K. and. L. of H., and are also members of the Baptist Church. His father was born in Richmond, Va., about 1813 and was a dentist by profession. He moved to Nashville, Tenn., about 1838, and from that city to Franklin, where he remained some time. He then moved to Hernando, Miss., and here died, October 24, 1878. The mother of our subject was born in North Carolina, in 1829, and her earthly career ended in 1884.

Michel Burke, general superintendent of the Mississippi & Tennnessee Railroad, is the son of Michal Burke, a native of Ireland, who came to Vermont when young and here married Catherine Lane, who bore him a family of seven children, three of whom are now living. The father was a Democrat in politics and followed the occupation of a farmer. Both parents lived to a good old age. Our subject was born in Crittenden County, Vt., March 24, 1834, and received a good academic education. At the age of sixteen he served an apprenticeship as a machinist and then was fireman on an engine a short time. From 1854 to 1861 he served as machinist, being foreman in the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad machine shops. In 1861 he enlisted in Company F, First Tennessee Infantry, as first lieutenant. After the battle of Fort Donelson he was on detached railroad duty till the close of the war. In 1865 he came to Memphis as master mechanic of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad and in 1872 was elected to his present position. In 1867 he married Annie Baker, of Memphis. Mr. Burke is a stanch Democrat and takes an active part in politics. He and Mrs. Burke are members of the Presbyterian Church.

C. L. Byrd & Co., the most extensive jewelry establishment in the South, dates its origin back to 1841. The business was established by Merriman & Clark, by whom it was conducted for seven years. It then took the firm title of James E. Merriman & Co. About 1865 it assumed the title of Merriman, Byrd & Co., and in 1870 Mr. W. C. Byrd, of the, firm, took charge of the business, which he successfully conducted up to the time of his death in 1874. Our subject became his successor, and the firm became C. L. Byrd & Co. C. L. Byrd is a native of Ohio, as were also his parents, Charles and Mary Byrd. Of their family only two sons, both residents of Memphis, are now living. Our subject came to Memphis in 1867, and for many years was a bookkeeper. In 1875 he married Alice Bruce, daughter of W. S. Bruce. Mr. Byrd's establishment at Memphis is a perfect wonder in completeness of arrangement, in magnitude and in richness of stock.