The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee, 1887
Biographical Sketches, Shelby County
D Surnames
W.H. Dale & Co., leading farmers and saw-mill men, own 960 acres of the best land of the county. This company is composed of J.C., W.H. and D.M. Dale. The father, J.C. Dale, was born in Sumter County, Ala., 1832, being the first white child born in that county, his parents being Hugh and Catherine (Clanton) Dale. Hugh Dale was a native of Ireland, who came to Quebec in 1820, being nineteen years of age at that time. Soon after he moved to Alabama, where he married. The family consisted of ten children, five now living. He followed farming, and died in l867. His wife is now living at the advanced age of eighty-two. Our subject had the very best advantages for an education, which he improved, graduating from La Grange College, Ala., in 1851. He then engaged in farming, and the following year married Elizabeth A. Mayes, a graduate of Athens Female Institute. To this union were born ten children--four sons and six daughters. Having lived in Alabama and Mississippi till 1884 our subject and wife came to the plantation, where they now live. Mr. Dale is a Royal Arch Mason, a Democrat in politics, and for about three years has taught school.
William C. Davis, chief of the Memphis police force, is a native of Tipton County, this State, and was born March 25, 1845. He is the son of Lewis W. and Margaret C. (Freeman) Davis, natives respectively of Kentucky and Tennessee. Our subject was reared and educated in his native county, and in 1861 enlisted in the first company raised in the county, called the "Tipton Rifles." It was assigned to the Fourth Tennessee Confederate Regiment. After one year's service he was discharged on account of his youth. In 1863 he again entered the service as a substitute for his father, serving in the First Tennessee Heavy Artillery until the surrender of Vicksburg, when he entered the Fourteenth Regiment Tennessee Cavalry and served as a private until the battle of Franklin, when he was promoted second lieutenant by Gen. Forrest for gallantry in that battle, and served thus until the final surrender. His father was captured by the Federals while at home on sick list and imprisoned at Alton, Ill., where he died, refusing to the last to take the oath of parole. After the war our subject engaged in mercantile pursuits in Tipton County until 1868, when he came to Memphis and in 1870 was appointed a patrolman on the city police force. During the yellow fever scourge in 1878 he was promoted to a captaincy, and in 1880 he was appointed chief, in which capacity he has officiated ever since to the satisfaction of the public. March 15,1866, he was united in marriage with Miss Nancy H. Sullivan, of Tipton County. To this union there are three living sons and two living daughters. Mr. Davis is a positive Democrat, is a member of the K. of H. and A.O.U.W., and himself and wife are Methodists.
William P. Deadrick was born in Shelby County, Tenn., north of Memphis, September 20, 1826, and is a son of J. G. Deadrick, who was born in Nashville, Tenn., and married Eliza G. Dunn, a daughter of David Dunn, a farmer and a native of Virginia. They hail four children who lived to be grown, our subject being the second child. The father moved to West Tennessee before 1825 and settled on Big Creek, in Shelby County, where he died December 24, 1831. The mother was born in Brunswick County, Va., and died near Buntyn Station, Shelby County, November 2, 1845. William P. Deadrick was raised on a farm and after attending the common schools in the county he spent two years at college at Georgetown, Ky. He was married at Jackson, Tenn., in May, 1855, to Miss Rachael J. Hays, daughter of Samuel J. Hays, a planter and a native of Tennessee. One son, Sam Hays (deceased), was born to this marriage. Mrs. Deadrick was born in Jackson, Tenn., in 1833, and died December 13, 1861. Mr. Deadrick was again married December 6, 1866, in Memphis, to Miss Mattie S. Park, daughter of David Park, one of the well known citizens of Memphis. By this marriage he has three daughters: Jennie Barron, Elese Garland and Anna May. The mother was born in Memphis, February 21, 1844. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church and Mr. Deadrick of the First Baptist Church. In politics he is a Democrat. He owns sixty acres of land four miles south of Memphis. He is a man of fine principles and of a frank and generous disposition.
James Degnan, vice-president of the board of education and dealer in wall paper, painters' colors, etc., is a son of Philip and Margaret (Cassarly) Degnan, both natives of County Roscommon, Ireland, and both came to America about 1854, the father settling in Tennessee and the mother in New York. Their marriage occurred at Cincinnati, Ohio, and after living a short time in Mississippi and Paris, Tenn., they came to Memphis in 1862. Both were members of the Catholic Church. In their family were three children--two sons and one daughter. The father was a railroad contractor. He died in 1863, and about two years later the mother married Robert Walsh (deceased) by whom she had one son. The mother is still living. Our subject was born June 1, 1856, in Mississippi. His early educational advantages were very meager, having only attended school a part of three sessions. Having commenced as a newsboy he followed that till about the age of sixteen, when he took an apprenticeship in his trade. In 1880 he began business on his own capital and has since had a good share of patronage, making a specialty of decorative work. In 1883 he was chosen vice-president of the board of education, which position he has held in a highly creditable manner since. He belongs to the following societies: A.O.U.T.W.,K. of H.,K. of I.and K. of R.B. In both politics and religion Mr. Degnan is independent.
S.A. Douglas, farmer, of Shelby County, was born in Tipton County, in 1856, and is the son of Andrew J. and Laura (Smith) Douglas. The father was a native of Virginia, and when young came to West Tennessee and married Miss Smith. They made their home in Tipton County, and their family consisted of four sons, of whom our subject was second. He received his early education in the common schools, and subsequently attended the University of East Tennessee, situated at Knoxville. In 1878 he married Carrie T., a native of Shelby County, born in 1862, and the daughter of Rev. Andrew H. Kerr, D. D., a native of Virginia, born in 1812. Mr. Kerr came to West Tennessee about 1854, and the town of Kerrville, which was laid out in 1873, was named in honor of' him. He was one of the leading lights in the Presbyterian Church, spending about forty-four years of his life in the ministry. T he Newport News & Mississippi Valley Railroad would have run one and a half miles east of where the town of Kerrville now stands, but Andrew H. Kerr offered forty-four acres of land, 100,000 bricks for a depot, and $3,500 to turn it through the town. The population of this village is about l50. They have a two-story school building, a Presbyterian Church, five stores, and adjoining the school grounds is a fair ground of eighteen acres. Our subject and wife are members and active workers in the Presbyterian Church. They have a fine farm of 1,900 acres, on which they settled soon after marriage, and where they have since remained. Mr. Douglas is a thorough Democrat in polities.
G.L. Douglass, a farmer and resident of the First District of Shelby County, was born in Virginia and is a son of John Douglass. The father moved to Tennessee when our subject was eighteen years old, and settled in the First district of Shelby County. G.L. Douglass attended school in Virginia, but left before his education was completed, and acquired a great deal of information from his general reading at home. He has always made farming a business. In 1835 he was married in Georgia to Miss Joanna Sanderford. They have had eleven children; seven of them are living: Bettie, wife of Dr. D.G. Godwin, a physician in the First District of Shelby County; Kate, the wife of Dr. C.M. Stewart, a physician also in the First District; Dr. J.P. Douglas, a physician at Arlington, in the Eighth District; Dr. J.B. Douglass, a physician in the Sixth District; Mattie, wife of A. E. Cole, a merchant at Arlington; G. R. Douglass and AC. Douglass, both farmers in Shelby County. The children that died were Mollie, the wife of J. A. Stewart, a merchant at Memphis; Anna, Emma, and Alice. The entire family are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. Douglass is a Mason and is a sound Democrat.
J.P. Douglas, M. D., a prominent physician of Shelby County and a native of that county, is the son of G. L. and J. W. (Sanderford) Douglass. The parents are natives of Virginia and Georgia, respectively. The father followed agricultural pursuits, and he and wife are now residing in this county, the father being seventy years of age and the mother sixty-nine. Our subject received his education in the best school of the county, and his medical education at the University of Nashville, graduating from that institution in 1873. He then located first at this place and has since practiced in Tipton County, but returned to Arlington and resumed practice in 1880. In 1873 he married C. L. Pittman, of this village, a daughter of Capt. and M.T. Pittman. One child, Oscar P., was born to this union. He died September 3, 1883. In 1862 Dr. Douglas enlisted in the Confederate Army, in the Fifty-first Tennessee Regiment Infantry, and at the expiration of twelve months he joined Forrest's cavalry and remained with him until the close of the war, surrendering at Gainesville, Ala., in 1865. He is a member of the K, of H.
Judge A.H. Douglass, ex-criminal judge, was admitted to the bar at Somerville, Tenn., in 1843, and practiced there a few months and then removed to De Soto County, Miss., and followed agricultural pursuits in connection with real estate dealings until 1850, when he came to Memphis and has since resided here. He was a non-participant in the war, and at its close resumed the practice of law. He was mayor of Memphis from 1855 to 1857, and during that time the celebration of the completion of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad took place. In August, 1884, he was elected criminal court judge. Our subject's parents were Burchett and Martha (McGee) Douglass, natives of Smith County, Tenn., and were among the earliest settlers there. The paternal grandmother, in more than one engagement with the Indians at Fort Lick Creek, loaded the guns for the men to disperse the savages. Soon after marriage the parents settled in Wilson County, but in 1836 moved to Fayette County, where they both died. The father served in both houses of the State Legislature from Wilson and Fayette Counties, and was speaker of both the Senate and House. He was a very useful, honorable and prominent public man. He was for many years president of the branch State Bank at Somerville. Our subject is one of seven children, and was born August 28, 1820, in Wilson County. He attended Clinton College, graduating in 1837. In 1843 he married Miss Martha A., daughter of Gen. A. C. N. Robertson, of Hardeman County. They have one child-- Margaret--Mrs. John West, of Mississippi. The mother died in 1848, and in 1850 he married Miss Eliza B. Randolph, who has born him the following children: Eliza A., Richard R., Ida May, Adda H., Eugene B. and Mattie. The mother died April 30, 1886. Judge Douglass is a Democrat and a member of the K.of P. and the A.F. & A.M.
Dr. William H. Douglass, a farmer and retired physician of Shelby County, was born in Smith County, Tenn., June 30, 1826. His father, Ila Douglass, was born in the same county November 17, 1797. He was a farmer and moved to Shelby County in 1850, settling ten miles from Memphis, on the "pigeon roost" road, and died March 20, 1885. The mother's maiden name was Miss Elizabeth Harris, a daughter of John Harris, a native of Virginia. She died in Wilson County, Tenn., four miles north of Lebanon, in 1845. The Douglass family were among the very early settlers of the State. Elmore Douglass, our subject's grandfather, moved to the State when the land where Nashville now stands was unbroken and without a house, and they could only live in forts. He had seven brothers who came from Virginia to this State at the same time, our subject's father being next to the youngest brother. Edward Douglass, who died in Missouri, was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was at the battle of New Orleans, and Burchett Douglass was a representative in the General Assembly of the State, when the statutes of the State were revised by Nicholson and Caruthers, and he afterward represented Fayette County in the Legislature. Our subject was raised in a farm and had fine educational advantages. He spent three years at Irving College, Warren County, Va., then read medicine with Dr. Felix McFarland, of Haywood County, Tenn., then attended lectures at Louisville, Ky., and commenced the practice of medicine in Shelby County, where he now lives, and continued it with marked success until the close of the war. He was married in Shelby County in 1861, to Miss Ann Eliza Wynne, daughter of W.D. Wynne, a farmer, and a native of Tennessee. He died in De Soto County, Miss., where he had moved some time before. No children have been born to this union. Dr. Douglass owns 600 acres of land, 400 being in the home place six miles southwest of Germantown, where he has a handsome residence. Dr. Douglass is extensively known and very popular in his neighborhood, where he exerts an influence for good, and is one of the leading farmers in the county.
Julius J. DuBose, judge of the criminal court of Shelby County, was born in this county December 13, 1839, and is the son of the late Dr. A.B.C. and Camilla F. (Dunn) DuBose, natives, respectively, of South Carolina and Alabama. Dr. DuBose, in his day, was one of the most successful planters and prominent citizens of Shelby County. His death occurred in 1865. Julius J. was liberally educated in youth, finishing his education in Oxford, Miss., and in Wesleyan University, at Florence, Ala. He then studied law in Cumberland University, Lebanon, graduating in 1860. In 1861 he enlisted in the Ninth Arkansas Regiment (Confederate), and served as ensign twelve months, and was assigned to duty in the trans-Mississippi department. In 1862 he was promoted to second lieutenant and was assigned to duty in Arkansas. About a year later he was made chief of ordnance and inspecting officer of North Arkansas and Indian Territory, ranking as captain of ordnance. Returning home after the war he secured an interest in and edited the Public Ledger, of this city, three years. I n 1870 he was elected to the state Senate, representing Shelby and Fayette Counties. From 1873 to 1886 he practiced law in Memphis, and was then elected judge of the criminal court, and in this position is yet serving. November 29, 1870, he married Miss Mary M., daughter of Col. George W. Polk, of Columbia, Tenn. They have three sons and three daughters living.
John J. Duffy, one of the wholesale and retail grocers of Memphis, was born in Ireland, in 1849. His father, James Duffy, was teller in a bank in the old country, and died in 1850, shortly after coming to America. Our subject in his youth received his education in the schools of Memphis. For about eight years he was bookkeeper for E. Mulholland & Co., of that city. He was for a time senior member of the firm of Duffy & Cary, but this firm soon dissolved partnership and Mr. Duffy established his present business in 1880. The following year he married Jennie J. Barry, of Memphis, by whom he had two children-- John and Ella M. For about twelve years our subject was a member of the board of education, and two years of that time he was vice president of the same. He took an active part in introducing the present system of city school laws. During the yellow fever scourges of 1873 and 1878 Mr. Duffy was a member of the Citizens' Relief Association and also a volunteer member of the Howard Relief Association. He holds the position of president of the Security Building & Loan Association and is director in the Arlington Insurance Company. He is also director of the Irish American Building & Loan Association. For two years he was one of the commissioners to provide a sinking fund to discharge the city debt, being appointed by Gov. Hawkins.
P.H. Duffy, grocery merchant at 175 De Soto Street, established this business in May, 1881. Mr. Duffy is a native of Ireland and came to America in 1868. He came direct to Memphis and began clerking. In 1870 he became a member of the police force and in 1873 a member of the fire department, discharging the duties of these offices with credit and satisfaction. In 1878 he again engaged in the grocery business, which he continued until he established the business for himself. He married Bridget Roper, also a native of the "Emerald Isle," and to them have been born five children, only two of whom are living. In June, 1875, Mr. Duffy returned to Ireland, the place of his nativity, on a visit to relatives and friends. He was accompanied by his daughter, Miss Maggie. Mr. and Mrs. Duffy are members of the Catholic Church. He is a member of the K.of H., the K.of I., and a stanch Democrat in politics.
Dr. George K. Duncan was born in Limestone County, Ala., April 24, 1828. His father, Benjamin Duncan, was a native of Virginia. He moved to East Tennessee and settled near Greenville; was a stonemason by trade, but was afterward a merchant at Mooresville, Ala. He was married in East Tennessee to Nancy Ross, and they had six sons and four daughters, our subject being the youngest. The father moved, in 1835, to Shelby County and settled on Big Creek, on the old Jesse Benton farm, and died at Raleigh, Shelby County, June 21, 1860. The mother was a native of East Tennessee, and died at the home on Big Creek in 1838. Dr. Duncan was raised in Shelby County and educated in the common schools. He read medicine under Dr. Samuel H. Lapsley, of Raleigh, and graduated from the Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, in 1851, and has since then practiced medicine in Shelby County. In 1873 he was elected physician of the poor asylum of the county, and in 1876 was made superintendent and physician, and still holds the position. He was married in Shelby County, March 1, 1854, to Miss Annie Lamphier, daughter of John Lamphier, a native of Virginia. They had three children--Edith V., Elizabeth and Albert B. The mother was born in Kentucky, and died July 11, 1881, at Raleigh, and Dr. Duncan was married again in Memphis, March 5, 1884, to Miss Sophia Anderson. He was an old line Whig before the war but is now a Democrat and a member of the A.O.U.W. As a physician he has met with great success, and as a man has been greatly esteemed for his many excellent qualities.
Oliver M. Dunn, superintendent of the Memphis line division of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, was born in La Grange County, Ind., August 14, 1847 ; is a son of William B. Dunn and Emma (Hatch) Dunn, natives of Elmira, N.Y., and Great Bend, Penn., respectively, who immigrated to La Grange County, Ind., in 1835, when that country was comparatively a wilderness. Their family consisted of five sons and two daughters. By occupation the father was a lawyer and merchant and took quite an active interest in politics, being a stanch Republican from the organization of that party. Our subject received a fair common-school education; in 1868 he married Hattie Seely, a native of New Jersey and then a resident of Brimfield, Ind. To this union one child was born, Seely, who now holds the position of private secretary to his father. Mr. Dunn entered the service of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad (afterward consolidated with the Lake Shore, and now known as the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern) in 1864, and remained in its employ in various capacities, as warehouseman, telegraph operator, ticket and freight agent, etc., at different points until 1872, when he was offered and accepted a position with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad as agent at Shepardsville, Ky., where he remained until 1874, when he was appointed to the agency at Pulaski, Tenn., from which position he was appointed to the general agency at Owensboro, Ky.; from there to the charge of transportation department, New Orleans division same road, at Mobile, Ala., where he remained over two years, when he was made superintendent of the Owensboro & Nashville Railroad, a line owned by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, and then under construction. After that road was completed he was made superintendent of the New Orleans & Mobile division of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, with headquarters at New Orleans, La., and in 1886 was again transferred to the position he now holds. The prominent positions Mr. Dunn has held speak well for his efficiency as an officer. He is prompt and courteous in his dealings with the public and his employees, and wins a large circle of friends wherever he goes.
Samuel H. Dunscomb, president of the Bank of Commerce, is a son of Samuel D, and Ann W. (Rayburn) Dunscomb. The father was born in New York City and the mother in Montgomery County, Va. At an early day they removed to Kentucky, where they were married. In their family were four children--two sons and two daughters--of whom only one is now living. The father was a farmer by occupation. During the war of 1812 he went on the campaign to Canada, under Shelby. After his death the mother married William C. Baker, by whom she had two children. Our subject is of English and Irish descent, born December 18,1822, in Simpson County, Ky. He received his education in the common schools, and at the age of eighteen began as salesman in a mercantile house, where he remained about eight years. In 1846 be came to Memphis and engaged in the commission, cotton and grocery business. In 1854 he married Marietta C. Elder, and by her had five sons, two of whom are in the commission business and one secretary of the Hernando Insurance Company. Mr. Dunscomb, his wife and three children, as well as his mother, are Methodists, he having been steward and treasurer of the First Methodist Episcopal Church about twenty-eight years. Since 1869 he has been in the banking business, having been elected vice-president of the De Soto Bank, which position he held till 1874, when that consolidated with the Bank of Commerce, and in 1880 he was elected president thereof. Besides he holds other places of trust and honor, having been president of Hernando Insurance Company since 1867; was also vice-president of the Desoto Building & Loan Association; director in the Water Company; treasurer of the Board of Education, and trustee and treasurer of the Lee Orphan Asylum some twenty years. He is a member of the I.O.O.F., was a Whig before the war, but since that time has voted with the Democrats. As a business man Mr. Dunscomb has been very successful, having started on a small capital, and has accumulated all his property by close attention to business and a firm reliance in an over-ruling Providence.
Albert L. Duval, manager of the Memphis & Para Rubber Company, of this city, was born in Philadelphia, Penn., September 10, 1848, being the son of George W. and Margaret (Lavallette) Duval, both parents being of French descent, born respectively in South Carolina and Pennsylvania. They came to Memphis in 1846, the father being a lieutenant in the United States Navy, coming here with our subject's maternal grandfather, Commodore Lavallette, to establish the navy yards. Albert L. was born while his parents were on a visit East, and was brought up and educated in this city. For five years he was in the employ of Bigley, Mellersh & Co., in the coal business, and was then with B.J. Semmers & Co. until 1883, when he engaged in his present business and has been highly successful. January 4, 1882, he was joined in matrimony. to Miss Nannie V. Bowles, of this city, and by her has one son, Albert L. Mr. Duval is a Democrat, a Knight Templar in Masonry, and himself and wife are members of the Calvary Episcopal Church, of Memphis.