Biographies
Abner W. Frazier, an influential citizen of Rhea County, and resident of Dayton, was born in Rhea County, Tenn., October 21, 1821. His parents, Beriah and Barbara (Gibbs) Frazier, were of Scotch-Irish and German descent respectively. The father was a native North Carolinian, born May 4, 1776, and died in Rhea County October 25, 1858. The mother was born April 18, 1789, in Knox County, Tenn., and died in Rhea County July 8, 1866. They were married in Knox County, Tenn., May 1, 1806, and lived in that county until 1818, at which time they came to Rhea County, and settled eight miles east of Dayton, on the Tennessee River, where they passed the remainder of their Days. They were among the first settlers of Rhea County, immigrating there several years before the Indians left. The father, before he came to Rhea County, was engaged in the service of the Untied States, concerning the Indians on the Tennessee. River. Our subject's father was a farmer and a prominent citizen of Rhea County. He held the office of justice of the peace for several years. The Frazier family is largely connected in Tennessee. Judge Frazier, of Davidson County, was the first cousin to the subject of this sketch. Abner W. Frazier was one of a large family of children. He secured a good academic education, and assisted his father on the plantation, remaining there until the death of his parents. In 1867 he purchased and settled on a farm, giving his attention exclusively to agricultural pursuits up to 1883, at which time he sold out and moved to Dayton, and retired to private life. September 2, 1858, he married Miss Mary J. Craighead, a native of Alabama, born in Jackson County October 8, 1829. This union resulted in the birth of one son and one daughter; the latter, Mary B., was born October 21, 1861, and died September 8, 1886. She had married M. G. McDonald October 8, 1884, and left a son, Carl, who was born August 14, 1886. B. A. Frazier, son of our subject, was born November 21, 1859, and is the well-known and popular editor of the Dayton News-Gazette. A. W. Frazier is a Democrat, and a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church; his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. His grandfather, Samuel Frazier, was born in 1759 beyond the waters. He came to America at an early day, and fought for independence, and took part in the battle of Guilford Court House, North Carolina. The grandmothers, Rebecca (Julian) Frazier, was born March 17, 1749. She was a French Huguenot, and settled in South Carolina with her ancestors.
Creed M. Fulton, A. B., president of the Dayton Masonic College, Dayton, Tenn., was born at Summerfield, Grayson Co., Va., February 24, 1862. He is of an ancestral line no less distinguished for its intellectual acumen than exceptional merits. His father, Capt. Samuel M. Fulton, the youngest of a family of twelve children, acquired at his own expense a substantial business education, and is notorious in his State (Virginia) for his enthusiasm in public affairs and for his political wisdom and ability. Miss Mary C. Ried, of Campbell County, Va., became his wife about 1854. At the close of the late civil war he was high sheriff of his county, and continued in said office for ten consecutive years, when against the voice and free-will of his people, he resigned. In 1877 he was elected to the State Legislature, which position he held to the satisfaction of his constituents. This office he held for two years, and became thoroughly established throughout his State as one of the leaders of the Re-adjusting Party. In 1880 he was strongly urged by the people of his senatorial district for the Senate, but, being in very poor health for the first time in his life, was forced to refuse. In 1881 his congressional district called for him to bear their standard, but again illness prohibited it. He is a Democrat in politics, and was born of a family noted for their piety, all being members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. His eldest brother, Creed, was a man of devout character, and inestimable worth as a Christian minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He was endowed with extraordinary powers of intellect, and wherever he went, Creed Fulton was ever afterward known. His course was per aspera ad astra. As an orator no man of his church stood forth his peer. In the approach of the storms of his age, he was always to be found above the clouds. He soared among the eagles, and dwelt in higher climes. At Madisonville, Monroe County, he formed an academy, and under the influence of one of his gifted educational speeches, Hiwassee College was erected. He continued his labors among the mountains of southwest Virginia, with that peculiarity of character which has ever made him magnetic. He laid the corner-stone for Emory and Henry College, and later died in his mountain home. The remainder of the family, while they have not figured so conspicuously in church and State affairs, are enjoying the abundance of successfully spent lives. They are of Irish, Scotch and French lineage. Our subject is a young man of unquestionable morals, undoubted integrity and unrelenting energy. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and a Democrat in politics. He was educated at Hiwassee College, Monroe County, Tenn., graduating in May 1885. In June of the following month he was elected to the position that he now holds. Under his able management the institution has gained great prominence. He was first chosen for one year, but before the year expired he was re-employed for a term of four years. On the 17th June 1886, Miss Emma V., daughter of Rev. Dr. John and Lucretia Walsh, became his wife. Her father was a man of great literary attainments. He was educated at Dickenson College, Carlisle, Penn., studied theology and dentistry, and ranks among the most successful. As a minister he has few equals and fewer superiors. He is a Republican, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has held the office of United States collector of the Ninth District for six years. Suffering severely from bronchial affection he has been forced to confine himself to a quiet life. He married Miss Lucretia Grittinger, daughter of Adam and Eliza Grittinger, who were of German descent, and members of the Lutheran Church. To our subject and wife was born April 26, 1887, one son, who bears the given name of his father and the maiden name of his mother, Creed Walsh. Mr. Fulton was educated at Christiansburg, Va., in the Montgomery Female College.
W. C. Gardenhire, of Dayton, Tenn., was born in Roane County, May 14, 1838, son of George W. and Polly (Bottom) Gardenhire, both natives of Roane County, Tenn., and both of Scotch descent. The father was born in 1796, and is now living in Rhea County. The mother was born in 1806, and died in Hamilton County, near Chattanooga. They were married in Roane County, and subsequently moved to Hamilton County. The father was a farmer, a slave trader before the war, and a Democrat in politics. W. C. Gardenhire, received a liberal education, and began life as a salesman, which business he followed two years. He then established a mercantile business of his own at Harrison, and on a boat on the Tennessee River, which he continued up to the breaking out of the late, war, when he served three years in teh Confederate Army. In 1866 he went to California and was engaged in the mining stock business in that State up to 1869, at which time he made a voyage to the South Sea Islands, visiting the Fijians and the Sandwichers, Australians and a number of others. He returned to California in 1871, bringing with him four native Fijians, and after exhibiting them in Woodward Garden, San Francisco, for some time at $150 a day, he sold them to P. T. Barnum for $20,000. He returned to Tennessee the same year on a visit, and in the spring of 1872 he went back to California, and was engaged in the mining stock business up to 1878. In the meantime (1876) he went to Arizona, and located the town of Safford, Graham County. In the early part of 1877 he went to New York City, and was one of the charter members of the American Mining and Stock Exchange. About this time Mr. Gardenhire was suffering with Bright's disease, and he spent several months in visiting the celebrated springs in the United States with no improved symptoms. In 1879 he started on a voyage around the world. He visited England, India, Africa, etc., and came into port at San Francisco, Cal., in the spring of 1881. April 3, of the same year, he married Miss Julia Wiseman, a native of Los Angeles, Cal., born May 21, 1858, daughter of William C. and Annie R. Wiseman of California. He afterward went to Arkansas and tested the virtue of the Eureka Spring. In 1884 he had a survey made, and located the town of Dayton, and subsequently built a fine residence there, and was cured of Bright's disease by drinking water at Dayton Spring. He has been very active in the erection of buildings, and in improving the town. He has been instrumental in erecting six brick stores, opera house, brick livery stable, stone bank (called Dayton City Bank), and numerous other dwellings. Our subject is a Democrat in politics and a man well-known and well respected by all who know him. After returning from the South Sea Islands, he wrote a history of Fiji and the Fijians, which had a good sale.
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