Shelby County Tn - Biographies - The Goodspeed Biographical Sketches "T" Surnames
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Julius A. TAYLOR, a member of the law firm of Taylor & Carroll, began reading
law while acting as deputy clerk and master, at the age of seventeen years, and
when the war broke out was reading in an office.  He stopped his studies and
enlisted in the Twenty-first Tennessee Confederate Infantry, with which command
he served a year as lieutenant and was then transferred and held the same rank
under Gens. Chalmers and Forrest until the cessation of hostilities.  He then
returned to Memphis and resumed the reading of law, and in 1866 was admitted to
the bar.  Except a few months he practiced alone until 1878 when the present
firm of which he is a member was formed.  From January, 1876, to January, 1882,
he was attorney for the county of Shelby.  He is one of a family of ten sons and
four daughters, of whom four sons and two daughters survive.  In 1866 he was
married to Miss Margaret Ruffin, a native of Mississippi, who bore the following
children, all living: James R., Fanny H., Rosa R. and Julius A.  His wife died
in 1879, and in 1881he married Miss Louise Crawford, who has presented her
husband with two children, both living: Margaret and West C.  Mr. Taylor is a
member of the following orders: F. & A. M., K. of P., K. of H. and A. O. U. W.
His father was Dr. William V. Taylor, who was born in Yorktown, Va., in 1790.
His mother was Fanny H., daughter of Chief Justice Henderson, of North Carolina,
and was born in 1796.  Dr. Taylor was assistant surgeon in the United States
Navy during the war of 1812.  He practiced medicine for sixty years and died in
1872.  After his marriage he lived in North Carolina, until 1836, then at
LaGrange, Tenn., until 1840, then in Holly Springs, Miss., till 1848, then in
Memphis until his death.



George W. THOMAS, an enterprising merchant at Germantown, Tenn., was born in
Mississippi, May 23, 1837.  His father, L. W. Thomas, was a native of North
Carolina, and immigrated to Mississippi in 1837, settling at Pontotoc, where he
was a merchant and a farmer, doing business with his brother, Dr. Thomas.  He
was married in North Carolina to Miss Nancy McClintock.  Eight children were
born to them, George W. being the fourth child.  Both parents died in
Mississippi, the mother in April, 1847, and the father August 25, 1851.  Our
subject was raised on a farm, and through his own efforts secured a good
education.  He served in the late war; although opposed to the manner of
settling the trouble between the North and the South, he entered the army and
discharged his duty in a faithful, courageous manner.  He was married in Fayette
County, Tenn., October 3, 1865, to Miss M. F. Scott, daughter of M. Scott, a
farmer, and a native of Virginia.  They have had five sons and four daughters.
The mother was born in Fayette County, where she was raised and educated.  The
Thomas family is an old one in this country, and is of English and Scotch
descent.  Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are active members of the Missionary Baptist
Church; he is a Democrat, a Mason, and a K. of H.  He owns 1,000 acres of land,
150 acres of it being in the home place at Germantown, Tenn., where he has a
beautiful residence.  Mr. Thomas has a frank, sincere disposition and is known
as a man of probity and kind heart, and has many friends.



The Memphis Carriage Works, located at 81 to 83 Madison Street, was established
in December, 1886.  Mr. G. W. TOMLIN, the manager of this great enterprise, was
reared in Jackson, Tenn., and came to Memphis in 1865.  He has since that time
been identified with the carriage business, having acted as manager for Woodruff
& Oliver for fifteen years.  At the time of the failure of said firm, he and
William Benges purchased their stock and manufacturing department, and engaged
in business under the firm name of Tomlin & Benges.  Mr. Tomlin withdrew from
the firm in November, 1886.  He is the son of James S. and M. L. (Hawkins)
Tomlin.  In 1867 our subject married Martha Tanner, of this city, and a daughter
of John A. Tanner.  To this union were born eight children, two of whom died
during the yellow fever epidemic of 1878.  In May, 1861, Mr. Tomlin enlisted in
the Confederate Army, Sixth Tennessee, as orderly sergeant, and near the close
of the war was promoted to first lieutenant.  He is a member of the I. O. O. F.,
the K. of H. and the K. of P.



William A. TUCKER, one of the leading citizens of Kerrville, is a son of William
B. and Elizabeth (Murphy) Tucker, both natives of North Carolina, where they
were reared and married.  They came to Tipton County in 1833, and here passed
the residue of their days.  Their family consisted of nine children—two sons and
seven daughters.  Our subject was born in Tipton County, Tenn., in 1834, and
followed farming and merchandising until 1872, when he went to Memphis and was
here engaged in mercantile pursuits till 1881.  He then moved to Kerrville, and
is still engaged in his last named occupation.  In connection with this he
carries on his farming interest, being the owner of about 600 acres of land.  In
1861 he volunteered in a company of Arkansas cavalry, but ill health prevented
his remaining long in service.  In the fall of the same year, having
sufficiently recovered, he enlisted in Company I, Fifty-first Tennessee
Infantry, and during three and a half years of service was never taken prisoner.
At the battle of Murfreesboro he received a wound from a bursting shell.  At the
conclusion of the war he returned home and engaged in mercantile pursuits until
he removed to Memphis.  Previous to the war, in 1857, he married Helen Montague,
of Fayette County, who bore him four children—one son and three daughters.  Mr.
and Mrs. Tucker are both members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  Mr.
Tucker has been in business for about fourteen years, and has added much to the
business progress of the county.



T. B. TURLEY, a member of the law firm of Turley & Wright, attended the
University of Virginia one year in the literary department, and one year in the
law department, from 1865 to 1867, and began the practice of law at Memphis in
1870, continuing alone one year, and then as a member of the firm of McKissick &
Turley, until 1875; then with Harris, McKissick & Turley until 1880; then with
Harris & Turley, and subsequently the firm of Turley & Wright was formed.  They
have a good practice, which is steadily increasing.  Thomas J. Turley, the
father of our subject, was a native of Virginia, and the mother, whose maiden
name was Flora Battle, was a native of North Carolina, but was reared mainly in
Shelby County.  The father came to West Tennessee in his youth, and located in
this county previous to 1840, and here married our subject’s mother.  He
practiced law in Memphis until his death in 1854.  The mother is still living.
Our subject was an only child, and was born in April, 1845, and has always
resided in this county.  When the war broke out he enlisted in the One Hundred
and Fifty-fourth Senior Tennessee Confederate Regiment as a private, and
participated in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville (Ky.), and numerous ones on
the Georgia campaign, serving with honor and distinction until peace was
declared.  In 1869 he was joined in matrimony to Miss Irene Rayner, daughter of
Eli Rayner, of this county, and by her has the following children: Rayner,
Flora, Thomas and Mary.  Mr. Turley is a Democrat, a member of the K. of H., and
is one of the leading citizens of the city and county.