Edward David Bass
1873 - 1960
Senate
- 57th and 58th General
Assemblies, 1911-15
Representing Hamilton
County
Democrat
Born at Chattanooga,
Hamilton County, March 28, 1873; son of
James Arnold
and Ann (Dill) Bass,
Attended public schools of Chattanooga;
studied law and admitted to bar, 1920.
First married in 1891; name of wife not
indicated; she died c.1892; second
marriage in 1897 to Hassie Brooks, daughter
of W. H. Brooks of McMinnville,
Warren County; two children by this
marriage--Edward David, Jr. and Edna;
third marriage; date not indicated, to
Mrs, Margaret Harper of East Ridge,
Hamilton County.
Helped father
in grocery store in Chattanooga in early life; at age twenty-seven
opened
grocery store of own and continued 1900-1906; in real estate business,
1906-10;
practiced law from 1920 except for years in public office.
Elected member
of county court, 1906; member of county election board, 1908
and again in 1909;
elected city commissioner, 1915-27; mayor of Chattanooga,
1927-47; resigned as
mayor three months before expiration of final term, 1947,
because of ill
health.
Removed to Tavares, Florida, but continued to maintain legal residence
in
Chattanooga.
Member board
of trustees, Methodist Episcopal Church, South; sometime
Exalted Ruler Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks; member Knights
of Pythias; Independent Order of
Odd Fellows; Junior Order of United
American Mechanics; Civitan Club.
Died at Tavares, Florida, March 12, 1960.
Buried in Forest Hills Cemetery, Chattanooga.
Sources: Chattanooga News-Free Press, Mar, 14,
1960; Armstrong, History
of Hamilton County
and Chattanooga, I, 326; Hamer, Tennessee, A
History,
IV, 536-37; Moore and Foster, Tennessee, The Volunteer State,
III, 84-85;
Tennessee Public Acts, 1911, 1913.
1908 - Unknown
House - 69th General Assembly - 1935-37
Senate - 71st General Assembly - 1939-41
Representing Hamilton County in both
Assemblies
Democrat
Born at Sinking
Cove in 13th civil district of Franklin County March 14,
1908; son of Johnnie
Crawford and Jeston Elizabeth (Sanders) Bean.
Attended elementary and secondary schools at Winchester, Franklin
County. Received B.S. degree from University of the South, Sewanee,
Franklin County; Received L. L. B. degree from Cumberland University,
Lebanon Wilson County.
Member honor fraternities in both universities.
Married at Marietta, Cobb County, Georgia,
November 22, 1940, to Mary
Frances Kelly of Winchester, daughter of Scott and
Mary (Evans) Kelly.
Children-- Joseph Scott, Jerald Wayne, and Daniel Alan.
Practiced law in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, 1934-44.
Removed to
Winchester where he has practiced law, 1944 to present (
1970).
Member Protestant Episcopal Church, having
been Sunday school teacher
in Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Chattanooga;
member Phi Gamma Delta
and Sigma Delta Kappa fraternities; Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks;
Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Rebecca F.O.E. Sometime president
Young Democratic clubs,
local and of Middle Tennessee; Blue Key Club.
Address (1970), Winchester.
Sources:
Information supplied by sister, Miss Martha Bean, Chattanooga,
Nov, 25, 1966 Chattanooga
City Directories; Tennessee Public Acts, 1935,
1939.
Henry Clay Beck
1853 - 1915
House - 50th and 51st General Assemblies,
1897-1901
Representing Hamilton County
Republican
Born near Chattanooga, Hamilton County, March 10, 1853; son of
Joshua
and Margaret (Hixson) Beck.
Attended "common schools" in native county and at Athens, McMinn
County.
Married, date and place
not indicated, to Rhoda Douglas Wexler; Children--
Mary, Benjamin, and one whose
name is not stated.
Began career as
county register, 1874-90; founder of Chattanooga Abstract
Company and, in 1899,
organized Title Guaranty and Trust Company,
Serving as president of both until
death. Secretary Northside Steamboat Ferry
Company secretary Grandview
Cemetery; director in Mutual Real Estate and
Home Building Association; trustee
and secretary of board of trustees of
University of Chattanooga; treasurer
Chattanooga Land, Coal, and Iron Railway
Company.
Treasurer Methodist Episcopal
Church; member Independent Order of Odd
Fellows; Improved Order of Red
Men.
Died at Heber, Utah,
August 6, 1915, while on way to San Francisco,
California.
Buried in Forest Hills Cemetery, Chattanooga.
Sources:
Information supplied by C. 0. Hon, Chattanooga; Chattanooga
Times,
Aug. 7, 12, 1915; Nashville American, Dec. 28, 1898; Who's Who
in Tennessee;
1911, p. 49; Goodspeed, History of Hamilton County, 831,
908;
Armstrong and Hixson, Hixson-Hixon, 21-22.
William
James Bass
1853 - 1923
House - 63rd General Assembly, January 1 to July 3, 1923
Representing Hamilton County
Democrat
Died some three months after legislative session
ended.
Born near Nashville, Davidson County April 16, 1853; son of Major
William
J. and Caroline (Watkins) Bass.
Attended public schools; Anderson and Campbell
Academy, in Nashville,
Kentucky Military Institute,
Discontinuing after two years
because of gymnasium accident.
Married, date and place not indicated, to Ida
Maddin, daughter of Dr.
John W. and Anne (Downs) Maddin of
Nashville. Children--Jack and
Louise.
Had begun work as a clerk in Nashville by 1878; salesman for various
concerns; by 1890 had become member of Nashville firm of George W.
Stoekell
and Company, dealers in implements and seeds; represented that
firm in
Birmingham, Alabama, 1892.
Had moved to Chattanooga,
Hamilton County, by 1895, where he was
member of firm, Bass, Clifford, and
Company, managers of manufacturing
concern of Milburn Wagon Company: the following
year was secretary of
Milburn-Bass Wagon Company, which soon became Chattanooga
Wagon
Company; continued as secretary of firm until retirement, c.1920;
president
of Chattanooga Transfer Company, c.1905-19Q9.
Elected city commissioner
of Chattanooga 1923.
In World War I;
served in Tennessee National Guard; promoted from rank
of capt. to that of
major.
Member Methodist Episcopal
Church; Free and Accepted Masons; Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks;
Knights of Pythias.
Died at Chattanooga July 3, 1923.
Buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville.
Sources:
Information on biographical form filled out by self, 1922, in
Manuscript
Division, Tennessee State Library and Archives; Chattanooga
Times, July
4, 1923; Nashville Tennessean, July 4, 1923; Nashville City
Directory,
1878-1892; Chattanooga City Directory, 1895-1920;
Tennessee Vital Statistics,
Death Certificate 259.
Frederick J.
Bennett
1836
- Unknown
House, 46th General Assembly, 1889-91
Representing
Hamilton County
Republican
Born in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania,
in 1836; name of father not
stated but mother Maria J.
Bennett, died in Chattanooga, Hamilton County,
March 11, 1890.
Subject
attended "common schools" in Pennsylvania;
attended for three years
Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania; attended
Union College in New
Jersey, 1860-61.
Nothing found to indicate he ever married.
Settled in Chattanooga after Civil War,
1865, and entered lumber business,
continuing to 1875;
removed to Missionary Ridge, Hamilton County, to enter
real
estate business and to inaugurate fruit cultivation; was
again living in
Chattanooga, 1903, where he was listed as fruit
grower; was living in
Chattanooga as late as 1913; not listed in
city directory of 1915; organized
Missionary Ridge
Land
Company; promoter of good roads; secured extension
of
Chattanooga electric transportation to Missionary Ridge; president Hamilton
County Fruit Growers Association; in 1896 gave land for first
public park in
Chattanooga; author of many newspaper articles
on fruit growing.
Elected justice of the peace, 1882, for 9th
civil district of Hamilton County.
Died at undetermined
date after 1913; place of burial not determined.
Sources:
Chattanooga Times, Feb. 7, Mar. 11, 1881; Mar. 13,
1890; Smith,
East Tennessee, Historical
and
Biographical, 271-75; Armstrong, History of
Hamilton County and
Chattanooga, II, 99; Chattanooga City Directory,
1875-1915; Acts
of Tennessee, 46th General Assembly, 2nd Sess.,
1890, p.103.
Peter Bolton
1824 - Unknown
House, 43rd General Assembly, 1883-85
Representing
Hamilton County
Republican
Born in Rhea County, February 27, 1824;
son of Robert and Anne (Holt)
Bolton.
Attended subscription
schools of Hamilton County.
Married in Bledsoe County in 1852
to Salena L. Merriman, daughter of
Bryant and Martha
(Fergudon) Merriman; children--Tennessee, Virginia, and
William.
Came to
Hamilton County, 1839, after schooling; worked as
blacksmith
twenty-five years; became carpenter; lived at Sale
Creek, 11th civil district
of Hamilton County.
Elected justice of the
peace, 1864; postmaster at Sale Creek, 1871-83; tax
collector
for 11th district, 1868-69; deputy sheriff. Deacon in
Missionary
Baptist Church; on board of trustees of
Masonic Academy.
Date
of death and place of burial not determined.
Sources:
Armstrong, History of Hamilton County and
Chattanooga, I, 308;
Goodspeed, History
of Hamilton County, 898, 912; Rhea County Marriage
Record, 1808-1845,
p. 38; U.S. Census, 1860, Hamilton County.
Reese Bowen Brabson
1817
- 1863
House, 29th General Assembly, 1851-53
Representing
Hamilton County
Whig
Born
at Brabson's Ferry near Knoxville, Knox County,
September 16, 1817;
son of
John and Elizabeth (Davis) Brabson.
Attended
Dandridge Academy,
Jefferson County;
graduated from Maryville
College
Blount County;
studied law at Dandridge and admitted to bar, 1848.
Married September 24, 1844, to Sarah Maria
Keith, daughter of Judge
Charles Fleming and Elizabeth Douglas (Hale) Keith of
McMinn County;
children -- John Bowen,
Ada, Maria Marshall, Catherine Douglas, Mary
Louise,
and Rose Douglas.
Began
practice of law at Chattanooga, Hamilton County and continued
throughout
life; also engaged in farming, raising of blooded stock, and growing
extensive vineyards
and orchards.
Lived
at "Mansion" on Brabson Hill near Chattanooga.
Presidential
elector, 1848, on Whig ticket of Zachary Taylor and Millard
Fillmore;
unsuccessful candidate for Congress, 1855, on ticket of American
or
Know-Nothing Party; again presidential elector, 1856, on American or
Know-Nothing
ticket of Millard Fillmore and Andrew Jackson Donelson;
elected alderman, 1857;
elected, 1859, to U.
S. House of Representatives as
nominee of Opposition Party,serving from March 4, 1859, to March 3, 1861;
strong supporter of Union, did
not run for reelection in 1861. Offered commission
of colonel in Union army but
declined.
Died
at Chattanooga, August 16, 1863; buried in Citizens Cemetery.
Son-in-law of Charles
Fleming Keith; father-in-law of John J. Littleton
sometime members Tennessee
General Assembly.
Sources:
Biographical Directory of American Congress; Hamer, Tennessee,
A History, III,
16-18; Moore and Foster, Tennessee, The Volunteer State,
II, 56; Armstrong,
History of Hamilton County and Chattanooga, I, 144;
Nashville.Republican Banner, Aug. 8, 1859; Nashville Patriot, Aug. 9, 1859.
John
B. Brannan
Unknown
House, 48th General Assembly, 1893-95
Representing Hamilton
County
Democrat
Only additional information: was
"moulder"by trade; head of Federation of
Trades in Chattanooga, Hamilton County; head janitor for U.
S. custom house.
Chattanooga; described as self-made man.
Source: Chattanooga Times, Oct. 9, 1910; Chattanooga
City Directory,
1893, 1896, 1899-1900, 1900-1901, 1905-1909.
Eugene Jackson Bryan
1888 - 1958
House, 59th General Assembly, 1915-19
Senate, 62nd
and 63rd General Assemblies, 1921-25
Representing Hamilton
County at all sessions
Democrat;
Speaker of Senate in 63rd
Assembly
Born at Chattanooga, Hamilton
County, June 25, 1888; son of Daniel G.
and Carrie (Burg) Bryan.
Attended public schools;
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knox County,
where he
was president of freshman class and from which he
graduated in
1911; graduated in law, 1912, from University of Chattanooga.
Married October 16, 1912, to Mary Ruth Bates, daughter of
Creed F.
Bates; children—Eugene Jackson, Jr.,
Elizabeth Ann, William Bates, George,
and Charlene.
Practiced law at
Chattanooga; member of boards of Erianger and Carver
hospitals
for sixteen years, holding post of secretary. City commissioner
for
Chattanooga,
1925-41, serving as head of fire and police
departments and as
vice-mayor; in 1941 named U.S.
Referee in Bankruptcy, serving until death;
had been reappointed
for
another term shortly before death; member
Democratic
State Executive Committee, 1923-30, 1932-42. Member
Methodist
Episcopal church, later of Presbyterian Church;
elected, 1943,
International Judge Advocate of Civitan Club while
serving as president of
local club; named, 1948,
president-designate of Civitan International;
president, 1950, of
International Civitan Club; co-chairman, 1946, of fund
drive for
crippled children and adults.
Died at Chattanooga
October 11, 1958; buried in Forest Hills Cemetery.
Sources:
information from biographical form filled out by
self, 1923, in
Manuscript Division, Tenn. State
Library and Archives; Chattanooga News-
Free Press, Oct. 11, 1958;
Blake, Lawmakers and Public Men of Tennessee,
85; Tenn.
Public Acts, 1915, 1921,
1923;
Tennessee
Vital Statistics, Death Certificate 25,455.
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