Knox County TN

Biography of J. C. Hickey

J. C. Hickey, of Santa Ana, is a native of Knox County, Tennessee, and was an infant when his father died. He was reared by his step-father, who moved to Alabama about 1845. At the age of fifteen years he left his stepfather, on account of cruel treatment, and started for California. He traveled on foot through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. At San Antonia he joined Dr. Edwards and others who were starting to California with cattle, in 1854. After arriving in Los Angeles, Mr. Hickey worked by the day for two months, and then for seven years was … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George W. Cross

George W. Cross, a prominent lawyer of Manchester, Tennessee, was born in Anderson County August 31, 1849. He is the son of William and Jane (Black) Cross, both of English descent and natives of Anderson County. The former, born in 1810, is still living; the latter, born about 1820, died February 26, 1885. Married in 1836 the elder Cross-engaged in farming. He is a democrat, and sympathizes with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of which his wife was a member. Our subject, the fifth of eight children, was educated chiefly at Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tennessee, and the military school of … Read more

Biography of William S. Childress

William S. Childress, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Ashmore; was born in Knox Co., East Tenn., April 11, 1827; he is a son of Richard and Rebecca Childress. In 1831, his father removed to Edgar Co., and settled just on the line between Illinois and Indiana. In 1848, Mr. Childress came to Coles Co., being the first of the family to settle here, his father following in the spring of 1849; his father died about 1862; his mother still survives, and now resides in Farmington, in Coles Co., at the age of 75 years. Mr. C. was married April 30, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Harry Elmer Duff

Duff, Harry Elmer; manufacturer; born, Bloomington, Ill., July 23, 1873; son of Jos. G. and Mary Ellen Lowdon Duff; graduated from the University of Tennessee, in 1893, taking Bachelor of Arts degree; in 1902, graduated from the New York Law School, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws; in 1894, came to Ohio, and became identified in a manufacturing business, which a few years later was purchased by the American Sheet Tin Plate Co.; since that time, has been continuously associated with that corporation; local sales representative of the American Sheet & Tin Plate Co.; vice pres. Union Metal Mfg. … Read more

Biography of William Sims, Major

Maj. William Sims. The late Maj. William Sims, whose death occurred July 23, 1907, on his farm in Shawnee County, Kansas, had an enviable record both as a soldier of the Civil war and as a citizen in the years that followed that struggle. He was born May 15, 1831, on a farm in Muskingum County, Ohio, and was a son of Mahlon and Myron (Riley) Sims. He grew to manhood in his native community, securing his scholastic training in the common schools, and when still a young man served for a number of years as a clerk in the … Read more

Slave Narrative of Joseph Leonidas Star

Person Interviewed: Joseph Leonidas Star Location: 133 Quebec Place, Knoxville, Tennessee Place of Birth: Knoxville, Tennessee Age: 81? Occupation: Shoemaker, Poet If the poetic strain in the Dunbar Negroes of the south is an inheritance and not “just a gift from On High,” Knoxville, Tennessee’s aged Negro Poet,-born Joseph Leonidas Star,-but prominently known in the community as “Lee” Star, Poet, Politician and Lodge Man,-thinks that Georgia’s poetic genius Paul Lawrence Dunbar, “maybe took his writin’ spells” from him. “My grandfather and Paul Lawrence Dunbar’s grandfather was cousins. He were a much younger man than I am, for I was eighty-one … Read more

Knox County, Tennessee Cemetery Transcriptions

Tennessee Cemetery records are listed by county then name of cemetery within the Tennessee county. Most of these are complete indices at the time of transcription, however, in some cases we list the listing when it is only a partial listing. Following Cemeteries (hosted at Knox County, Tennessee Tombstone Transcription Project) Asbury Cemetery Bays Mountain Baptist Church Cemetery Beulah United Methodist Church Cemetery Bishopville Cemetery Calvary Catholic Cemetery Conner Cemetery Dailey Cemetery Doyle Cemetery Ebenezer UMC Church Cemetery Grassy Valley Cemetery Greenwood Cemetery Highland Memorial Gardens Cemetery Highland Memorial Gardens Cemetery Huckleberry Methodist Cemetery Knoxville National Cemetery Lynnhurst Cemetery Lynnhurst … Read more

Biography of William Davidson Hume

William Davidson Hume, conducting a real estate, loan and insurance business and also closely identified with the oil industries through the handling of oil and gas leases, was born November 12, 1864, in Jefferson county, Tennessee, a son of David Patterson and Rebecca (Thomas) Hume. The father devoted his life to the occupation of farming and William D. Hume remained on the home farm to the age of twenty years, gaining intimate knowledge of farm life and methods through actual experience in the work of the field. He supplemented a public school education by study in the business college at … Read more