Montgomery County TN Archives Biographies.....Peay, Austin 1876 - 
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Author: Will T. Hale

   AUSTIN PEAY. Among those who are ably upholding the high standard of the

legal profession in Montgomery county is Mr. Peay, who is engaged in successful

practice at Clarksville, the county seat, and who is a citizen to whom is

accorded the fullest measure of popular confidence and esteem. He is a scion of

old and influential families of Kentucky and the name which he bears has been

identified with American history since the early colonial epoch, when the

original progenitors in the new world came from England and established their

home in Virginia, that gracious cradle of much of our national history.



   On the old family homestead in Christian county, Kentucky, Austin Peay was

born on the 1st of June, 1876, and he is a son of Austin and Cornelia (Leavell)

Peay, both of whom were likewise natives of Christian county, where the

respective families were founded in the pioneer days. The father of him whose

name initiates this review was born on the 29th of February, 1844, and continued

to reside in his native county until the time of his death, in 1898. He was one

of the extensive and prominent agriculturists of Christian county, where he

owned a valuable landed estate, and he was also an influential figure in public

affairs, as a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic

party. He represented his native county in the state legislature for a number of

terms and also served with marked ability as a member of the state senate. When

but sixteen years of age he tendered his aid in defense of the cause of the

Confederacy, and he continued in active service, as a member of General

Forrest's gallant command of cavalry, until the close of the Civil war, when he

received his parole at Washington, Georgia, about the time he attained to his

legal majority. His continued interest in his old comrades in arms was shown by

his affiliation with the United Confederate Veterans' Association, in the

affairs of which he took an active part. He was a man of Democratic views and

unassuming personality, strong in individuality and inflexible in his integrity

of purpose, so that he merited and received unequivocal popular esteem. He was a

member of the Baptist church, as were also his first and his second wives. His

first wife, Mrs. Cornelia (Leavell) Peay, was summoned to the life eternal in

1880, and he later married Miss Anna Lewis, no children having been born of the

second union. Of the four children of the first marriage the eldest is Mary

Belle, who is the wife of Earle M. Gary, of Clarksville, Tennessee; Anna

Pendleton, the second child, died at the age of twenty-five years; Austin, Jr.,

is the immediate subject of this sketch; and Miss Frances likewise resides at

Clarksville, Tennessee. The father was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He

was a son of Austin and Anna (Pendleton) Peay, who were the founders of the

family in Kentucky, to which state they removed from Virginia in the pioneer

days. The parents of his first wife were Livingston and Mary Ann (Buckner)

Leavell, and they too were identified with the pioneer activities in the fine

old Bluegrass commonwealth.



   In the public schools of his native county Austin Peay, Jr., gained his early

educational training, which was effectively supplemented by higher academic

studies in Washington & Lee University, at Lexington, Virginia, He next entered

the law department of Center College, at Danville, Kentucky, and in this

institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1895, with the degree

of Bachelor of Laws. Clarksville, Tennessee, has been the stage of his

professional edeavors from the initiation of his practice, and from 1901 until

1906 he was here a member of the law firm of Gholson, Lyee & Peay. He

represented Montgomery county in the general assembly 1901 and 1903. He gained

distinctive prestige as an able trial lawyer and effective and conservative

counselor. He became the manager of the campaign of Hon. M. R. Patterson, who

was the Democratic governor of Tennessee and a candidate for reelection in 1908.

He showed admirable discrimination and finesse in manoeuvering the political

forces at his command and his able efforts were potent influences in bringing to

Governor Patterson a splendid majority in his notable contest with Hon. Edward

W. Carmack. He was later chairman of the state Democratic committee. Mr. Peay

now controls a large and representative business in the practice of his

profession, and in connection with which he represents important interests and

has been concerned in much litigation of a character that has demanded the

highest technical and practical skill. His success stands in emphatic evidence

of his ability in his profession, and his clientage is such as to indicate fully

his sterling attributes of character, since popular confidence and esteem are

not commonly given save when one measures up to the required and rigid metewand

of objective approbation.



   Mr. Peay is not self-centered but is essentially broad-minded and

public-spirited in his civic attitude and takes a lively interest in all that

concerns the welfare of his home city and state. He is affiliated with the

Masonic fraternity, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Knights

of Pythias, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Baptist church.



   On the 19th of September, 1905, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Peay to

Miss Sallie Hurst, the accomplished daughter of John Hurst, a representative

citizen of Clarksville, and she has recognized position of leadership in the

social activities of her home city, where her circle of friends is coincident

with that of her acquaintances. Mr. and Mrs. Peay have two children, Amaryllis

and Austin III. The daughter was named in honor of her maternal grandmother,

Mrs. Amaryllis (Smith) Hurst.





Additional Comments:
From:



A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans : the leaders and representative men in

commerce, industry and modern activities

by Will T. Hale

Chicago:  Lewis Pub. Co.,  1913





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