LAKE COUNTY TN - GOODSPEED - The Biographies of Lake County S - V ********************************************************************************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Jane N. Powell ********************************************************************************************************** S - V Bios, Goodspeed History of Tennessee, 1887 (Not responsible for typos and errors. Please check the original Goodspeed before adding to your genealogical record as absolute proof --- and then remember that the family only told what that wanted the public to know.) William A. Sims, M. D. is a son of William and Julia (Cooke) Sims, who are Tennesseans, born in 1826 and 1833 respectively. They were married in West Tennessee and immediately located in Crockett County where they have since resided. Of eight children born to them five are living - four sons and one daughter. Three of the sons are physicians and one is a teacher, though all have taught school. Both parents and all the children are members of the Christian Church. Dr. William A. Sims was born January 15, 1857 in Crockett County. His early education was quite limited as his father was poor and unable to give his children good advantages, but they all have acquired good educations through their own efforts. The Doctor taught school for some time, and in 1878 began the study of medicine under Dr. W. T. MacLine. In 1880-81 he attended lectures in the University of Tennessee. and in the latter year opened an office five miles west of Tiptonville, where he practiced until 1883 and then completed his course at the Eclectic Medical Institute, at Cincinnati, Ohio graduating the same year. He soon after locate in Tiptonville, where he has since resided and has an extensive practice. In 1883 he married Lillian McCulloch, who was born in Gibson County, Tenn., December 11, 1861. They have one child - Ernest C. Dr. Sims is a Democrat and his wife is a member of the Christian Church. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Thompson, a farmer of Lake County, was the son of Robert and Sallie (Tharp) Thompson. His father was born in Guilford County, N. C., in 1792, his mother in Rockingham County, N. C., in 1790, They were married in Guilford County in 1814, and had eight children, five boys and three girls. They moved to Maury County, and lived there until 1847, when they moved to Lake County, which was then called Obion, and his mother died in 1858 and his father March 28, 1860. They were not connected with any church, though Mrs. Thompson was raised a Quaker. Mr. Thompson was a Democrat. Our subject, Robert Thompson, was of Irish descent on his father's side, and Scotch on the mother's. He was born in Maury County, Tenn., July 5, 1827, was raised on the farm, and when twenty-two years of age married Miss Martha Boyd, who was born in Calloway County, Ky., in 1826, and she only lived seven months after her marriage. Mr. Thompson then returned to his parents and remained with them until 1857, when he married Miss Eleanor J. Davis, who was born in Hickman County, Ky., October 17,1837. They had eight children - five boys and three girls - all living except Robert T., who died March 19, 1886, in his twenty- sixth year. Mrs. Thompson died December 31, 1884, and he married July 5, 1885, Mrs. Martha J. Wood, who was born in North Carolina, in 1836, was raised in Middle Tennessee, and belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mr. Thompson has been a resident of Lake County since 1847 and in connection with farming has engaged in fishing, making from the latter over $3,000 in one year. He is a stanch Democrat, casting his first vote for Stephen A. Douglas in 1861, when only two others in the county did the same. Mr. Thompson is not a member of any church; he is a clever, agreeable gentleman, and has many friends. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joseph G. Tipton, one of the leading citizens and merchants of Tiptonville, is the son of William and Eliza (Gallaher) Tipton. His father was born in East Tennessee, though raised in Franklin County; from there he moved to Tipton County, and finally to Texas, where he enlisted as a soldier, and received for his services a patent to a tract of land. He then returned to Tennessee, and married Miss Gallaher, a native of Missouri, and they settled in what is now Lake County, and lived there until their death. They had six children, three now living. Mr. Tipton in early life was a merchant, then a farmer, and a Democrat in politics. Mrs. Tipton was a devout Methodist; she died in 1860, and he died in 1870. The town of Tiptonville takes its name from him. Mr. Joe Tipton, on his father's side, was of English descent; three brothers originally came from England and settled in Maryland. On his mother's side he was French, Welsh and Irish. In 1861, he volunteered in the Madrid Bend Guards, of the Fifteenth Tennessee Infantry (C. E.) and continued with them until the surrender; was wounded at Shiloh and Jonesboro, Ga. and was captured but once making his escape two hours afterward. Mr. Tipton was born November 10, 1842, in what is now Lake County, and educated there. In 1866 he graduated at Jones' Commercial College at St. Louis, then commenced in the mercantile business at Tiptonville. After clerking six years, he opened a store of his own, and has since enjoyed a liberal patronage. He has one of the best business houses and stocks of goods in the town and owns, 441 acres of land. In 1873 Mr. Tipton married Harriet W. Meriwether. She was born in Kentucky August 9, 1849. They have one child - Hattie. Mrs. Tipton is a Methodist. Mr. Tipton votes the Democratic ticket. Mr. Tipton held the office of chancery court clerk for four years, and has been trustee of the county for the last six years. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- James W. Tipton, a leading farmer and stock trader, of Lake County, is the son of Rev. Joshua and Rebecca A. (Rider) Tipton. The father was born in Wilson County, Tenn., in 1817, and the mother in the same county, in 1819. They married and lived in Wilson County until 1843, when they moved to Carroll County, and in 1845 to what is now Lake County, where they remained until they died. They had ten children, six sons and four daughters. Both belonged to the Methodist Church. While living in Obion County, he was deputy sheriff, and when Lake County was organized, he was the first sheriff of the county. He was a farmer but was for a while also a merchant of Tiptonville, the first post office at that place being kept in his store; he also owned a wood yard, and was a local preacher for twenty- five years. Our subject, J. W. Tipton, was born May 7, 1847, and when only sixteen years of age, went into the army. When seventeen, he took charge of his father's farm of 200 acres. August 5, 1869, he married Miss Tennessee A. Snow, born April 9, 1847, in James County, Tenn. He also cast his first vote on the 5th of August. They had seven sons and one daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Tipton are both Methodists. He is a Democrat. He has always been a farmer, and for twelve years past has run a grist-mill, and cotton-gin; he owns 400 acres of good land; and has been a resident of the county for thirty-nine years, being a good farmer, an honest man and a useful citizens. His mother died in 1870, and his father afterward married Miss M. J. Smith, by whom he had one child. He died in 1877. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Watson, or "Uncle Bob," as he is familiarly called by his friends, was born in Madison County, Tenn., December 28, 1829, and was raised in that county. He was married to Miss Frances A. Burrus September 8, 1853; she was born in Madison County, July 20, 1828, and by their marriage they had three children, one son and two daughters, only one of them survives - the wife of H. M. Peacock. Mrs. Watson was not a member of any church. She died September 28, 1877, and since then Mr. Watson has made his home with his son-in-law, Mr. Peacock. Mr. Watson came to Lake County, when it was first organized, in 1870, locating in the western part of the Fourth District. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and belongs to the Masonic fraternity, having taken the Council degree in that order. He is an outspoken Democrat, and is liked and known all over Lake County, as a gentleman possessing a kind heart and genial disposition. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert T. Webb, trustee and magistrate of Lake County, is a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Taylor) Webb, who were born in North Carolina and Kentucky. The father came to Humphreys County, Tenn., when young, and while there went across to Kentucky, where he married. They soon after located in Gibson County, and a short time after in Crockett County, when the father died. He had been married previous to his union with Miss Taylor, and by his first wife, became the father of six children. His second wife bore him three children, our subject being the only one living. The father was a farmer, and a Democrat, and after his death his widow moved to Lake County, and made her home with her son Robert, who was born May 2, 1834. He secured a common school education, and made his home with his parents, until attaining man's estate, then cared for them until their deaths. He began residing in Lake County in 1870. He was married in 1860, to Harriet M. White, who was born on the 14th of April, 1844. Their union was blessed in the birth of a son - Eddie C., who is a student in the South-western Baptist University, at Jackson, Tenn. Mr. Webb and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and in politics he is a Democrat. During 1874-75, he was tax collector, and for five years has been magistrate. In August, 1886, he was elected county trustee. During his term as tax collector, he helped those in distress, by standing good for their taxes, and thus lost about $3,000. He yet has a good farm of 100 acres, and is shipping agent of Tiptonville. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. J. M. Wright has been an able and popular physician of Lake County for eighteen years, and was the son of Moses and Lericy (Farris) Wright. His father was born in Kentucky in 1812, and his mother in Giles County, Tenn., in 1814. When quite young he came to Tennessee, and married Miss Farris in Obion County, where they made their home. They had three sons, two of whom are farmers and stock raisers in Texas. Mrs. Wright was a Cumberland Presbyterian, but there being no church near her of that denomination, she united with the Methodists. In politics Mr. Wright was a Whig. He was an extensive farmer, and died in 1852. After his death Mrs. Wright spent a few years with her sons in Texas, then returned and lived with Dr. J. M. Wright until she died, in 1883. Dr. J. M. Wright was born April 24, 1837, in Obion County; was raised on the farm, receiving a good education. After studying medicine for a year under Dr. Horace Head, of Troy, Tenn., he entered the medical department of the University of Louisiana, graduating there in 1861, locating at Troy; but the war commencing, he volunteered in Company B, of Twenty-seventh Tennessee Infantry, Confederate Army, as first lieutenant. He was soon disabled by ill health and returned home, soon after returning as assistant medical surgeon. In 1865 he was invited to go before the medical board to be examined for a position in the navy, but failed to reach his destination in time, as the greater part of the railroad route was torn up. For two years after this he practiced medicine in Covington, Tenn., and in 1868 moved to the Seventh District of Lake County, where he has since remained. In addition to professional duties he engaged in farming and stock raising. In 1886 he married Miss Kate Stephens, who was born in Lake County May 18, 1860. Mrs. Wright is a Methodist. In politics the Doctor is a stanch Democrat. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- William J. Wynn, a retired farmer of Lake County, is the son of Ezekiel and Lucy (Threadgill) Wynn. His father was born in Virginia, and when a young man moved to North Carolina, where he married Miss Threadgill. In 1830 they moved to Wayne County, Tenn., and in a few years to Obion County. They had eleven children, four sons and seven daughters. Mrs. Wynn was a Methodist; Mr. Wynn in politics a Whig. He devoted most of his time to farming, and was a good mechanic. He died in 1850, and his wife in 1862. His ancestors were of English descent. W. J. Wynn was born January 11, 1818, in Anson County, N.C. Most of his boyhood was passed at work in the cotton field, never attending school over six months; and when eighteen years of age he relied upon his own resources to make his way in life. For awhile he hired out to cut timber for the first railroad in Louisiana; then gave his time to farming. In 1843 he married Mary Barker, who was born in Benton County, Tenn., in 1828. Of seven sons and six daughters born to this marriage six are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Wynn and five children belong to the Methodist Church. Mr. Wynn is a Democrat, but gives his support to the best man, regardless of party. He has held the office of magistrate for thirty years. He has succeeded so well in business that he now owns 994 acres of land. He is a kindhearted, religious man, and has lived in Lake County ever since its organization.