Montgomery-Davidson County TN Archives Biographies.....Stout, Josiah Wilkins ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tn/tnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com October 25, 2005, 4:37 am Author: Will T. Hale JOSIAH WILKINS STOUT. As chancellor of the sixth chancery division of Tennessee, with jurisdiction over ten counties, Judge Stout of Clarksville has one of the highest positions in the state judiciary. During ten years in the office his course has been marked by an unwavering fidelity to the best ethics of the bench, and his systematic industry has set a record for the transaction of business in a court which the world over is known for the slow process of litigation. Judge Stout, whose family is one of the oldest in Tennessee, was born in the capital city of Nashville. As a boy he attended the public schools of that city and a private school in Dover, after which he began reading law under Judge Scarborough. After his admission to the bar in December, 1878, he opened an office in Dover, where he soon gained distinction as a lawyer of solid ability and integrity. It was these qualities that made him a reputation among the people, and his first important public office was that of state senator, his term beginning in 1889. In the senate he was a member of the judiciary committee and chairman of the committee on enrolled bills. He continued in practice at Dover until his election as chancellor in 1902, and in 1910 he was re-elected without opposition. As long as Tennessee has been a state there have been members of the Stout family among its citizens. Great-grandfather Abraham Stout gained the rank of captain during his service in the war for American independence, and was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati. About the time of the Revolution or somewhat later he established his home on the west slope of the Alleghenies at Redstone Old Fort, where Brownsville, Pennsylvania, now stands, and there his son Samuel Van Dyke Stout, the grandfather of the judge, was born. The grandfather followed in the tide of emigration into the Kentucky region, and later became one of the early settlers of Nashville, where he established the first carriage factory and made it an important industry in the early history of the city. Judge Stout's parents were Ira A. and Sarah (Graham) Stout, both of whom were natives of Nashville, the father, born here on March 6, 1817, and the mother on June 22, 1823. He learned his trade in his father's factory and continued as a carriage manufacturer until the beginning of the Civil war. His military record was a notable one. During the thirties he was a private in Captain Grundy's Company in the Seminole war. During the Mexican war, in the quartermaster's department, he was stationed at New Orleans. Though beyond the military age, he gave his help during the Civil war and was with the quartermaster's department throughout the war. He was a Democrat, a Mason, and a member of the Presbyterian church, while his wife, was a Methodist. He died in September, 1899, and his wife in 1862. Her father, Andrew Graham, was a native of Scotland, where he was a successful merchant, and after retiring from business came to America and spent the rest of his days in Nashville. Ira A. Stout and wife were the parents of six children, and the three now living are: Irene, the wife of Dr. E. A. Harbert, of California; Josiah W.; and Samuel Seay Stout, who became one of the early settlers in the Salt River valley of Arizona and has had a very successful career in ranching and farming there. Judge Stout has had a happy domestic life and his home circle includes seven children. He was married January 19, 1881, to Miss Emma Brandon, a daughter of Colonel Nathan and Minerva (Morris) Brandon. Her father, who was lieutenant colonel of the Fourteenth Tennessee Infantry, Confederate Army, was wounded in action in 1862, being made cripple for life, and came home and spent the rest of his days in Dover. The children of Judge and Mrs. Stout are: Irene, the wife of James C. Kendrick, of Chattanooga; Gilbert M., a resident of Atlanta, Georgia; Horace B.. a graduate of the Lebanon Law School and now a rising young attorney at Dover; Sarah Van Dyke, who is an instructor in Whitworth College at Brookhaven, Mississippi; Josiah W., Jr., Eleanor and Emma J., all at home. Judge Stout has membership with the Methodist church while his wife belongs to the Christian denomination. Fraternally he is a Mason and a hereditary member of the Society of the Cincinnati. 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 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/montgomery/bios/stout173nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/tnfiles/ File size: 5.1 Kb