Memphis Tennessee

Biography of Aaron S. Rauh

Aaron S. Rauh has since 1912 filled the position of vice president of the RiceStix Dry Goods Company of St. Louis, controlling one of the mammoth mercantile enterprises of the city, the business being capitalized for six million, eight hundred thousand dollars. Close study of the trend of the times, individual enterprise and long experience have enabled Aaron S. Rauh to contribute in large measure to the continued success of this undertaking. Mr. Rauh is a native son of Tennessee. He was born in Memphis on the 26th of November, 1872, his parents being Samuel and Jeannette (Rice) Rauh, both … Read more

Biography of Jackson Johnson

Jackson Johnson of St. Louis, who as chairman of the board of the International Shoe Company has gained not only American but world leadership in connection with shoe manufacturing interests, was born in La Grange, Alabama, on the 2d of November, 1859, a son of James Lee and Helen (Rand) Johnson, the former a native of Mississippi, while the latter was born in Alabama. The father owned and conducted a plantation up to the time of the Civil war. Jackson Johnson pursued his education in the public schools of his native state and when nineteen years of age initiated his … Read more

Biography of Robert Wray Brooks

For twenty-seven years Robert Wray Brooks has been identified with the wholesale paper trade of St. Louis and has developed an extensive business under the name of the Brooks Paper Company, of which he is the president. Studying closely every phase of the trade, actuated in all that he undertakes by a progressive spirit and by firm determination that enables him to overcome all obstacles and difficulties in his path, he has made steady progress toward the goal of success and is now controlling extensive and important commercial interests. Tennessee numbers him among her native sons. He was born in … Read more

Biography of Jacob Kissel

JACOB KISSEL, junior member of the firm of Church & Kissel, began at a very early age to assume the practical duties of a business life, and by diligence, good habits, and a judicious use of natural tact has developed a character which will tell for usefulness in his day and generation. He has acquired a commercial standing which portends for him that prosperity and rank among his fellow-men vouchsafed alone to those who have worthily earned them. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1854, and is a son of Jacob Kissel who was born in Germany, but … Read more

Biography of Nathan Adams Gibson

Nathan Adams Gibson has been an active representative of the legal fraternity in Muskogee for the past twenty-eight years and has been accorded an extensive and gratifying clientage. He is a native of Stanton, Tennessee, and a son of James K. and Rosa S. Gibson, the former a banker. His preliminary education was supplemented by study in Vanderbilt University of Nashville, Tennessee, which institution conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1888 and that of LL. B. on the completion of a law course in 1890. In the latter year he was admitted to the bar at … Read more

Biography of Jeremiah L. Seitz

Jeremiah L. Seitz is one of the pioneers of McPherson County. He came to Kansas a short time after the close of the Civil war, in which he had served as one of the youngest volunteers on the Union side. As a homesteader, farmer, public official and business man he had played a worthy and influential role in McPherson County since pioneer days. He is still active and had a good business as a collecting agent and auctioneer. Mr. Seitz was born April 16, 1847, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, son of Jacob and Barbara (Shellebarger) Seitz. His parents were natives of … Read more

McKenzie, Huela Van Mrs. – Obituary

Baker City, Baker County, Oregon Huela Van McKenzie, 79, of Baker City, died Dec. 27, 2005, at St. Elizabeth Health Care Center. A memorial service will be scheduled later. Huela was born on Feb. 11, 1926, at Plant City, Fla., to Hulon and Gladys Hamilton Van. After graduating from high school, she attended Florida Southern College at Lakeland, Fla., where she studied music. In June 1948, she married Robert McKenzie at Memphis, Tenn. They moved to Pendleton in 1950. She was a housewife and the mother of five children. Huela later worked in Portland as a receptionist at Physicians and … Read more

Biography of Samuel Sharper Davis

In considering those among Rock Island’s citizens whose activities have been directed toward developing that City’s industries, and whose foresight has been rewarded in a most substantial manner, one’s mind instinctively turns to the subject of our present sketch, Samuel Sharpe Davis. He was born February 1, 1858, at Covington, Kentucky, his parents being John B. and Anna E. (Sharpe) Davis. To this couple three children were born: Thomas B., Samuel S., and Mary. The parents were of Scotch-Irish origin. Thomas Bodley Davis, the paternal grandfather was a native of Pennsylvania. In early life he moved to Kentucky, and for … Read more

Slave Narrative of Emma Grisham

Person Interviewed: Emma Grisham Location: Nashville, Tennessee Place of Residence: 1118 Jefferson St., Nashville, Tennessee Age: 90s “I wuz bawn in Nashville. I’se up in 90 y’ars, but I tell dem I’se still young. I lived on Gallatin Pike long ‘fore de war, an uster se’d de soldiers ride by.” “Mah marsters name wuz Wm. Penn Harding. Mah daddy wuz sold at Sparta, Tennessee ‘fore I wuz bawn en Marster Harding bought ‘im. Mah mammy erready ‘longed ter de Hardings.” “I don’ member much ’bout slavery I wuz small, but I know I wore a leetle ole slip wid two … Read more

Biography of James G. Harris, M. D.

Dr. James G. Harris, a physician and surgeon of Muskogee, who is specializing in urology, was born on the 18th of February, 1889, in Muskogee county, and is a son of P. Collins and Mary A. (Davis) Harris, who were natives of Georgia and of Alabama respectively. The father served for two years with the Confederate army in the Civil war and was taken prisoner, being incarcerated for about a year. Soon after the war, owing to the fact that he was part Cherokee, he received an allotment from the government in Oklahoma, then Indian Territory, and removed to this … Read more