Negro Postmen of Knoxville

In spring of 1935 The Knoxville Journal featured the postmen of Knoxville.  Pictures and a short biographical sketch of the letter carriers in Knoxville.  Near the end of that series the paper featured six Negro postmen.  I offer them below.

The Knoxville Journal
April 5, 1935

Homer Fowler's Find-A-Grave Memorial.

The Knoxville Journal
April 6, 1935

The Knoxville Journal
April 7, 1935

Alonzo H. Baylor's obituary and Find-A-Grave Memorial.

The Knoxville Journal
April 9, 1935

Adrian B. Reid's obituary and Find-A-Grave Memorial.

The Knoxville Journal
April 10, 1935

Luther F. Burke's Find-A-Grave Memorial.

The Knoxville Journal
April 11, 1935

Charles S. Guy's obituary and Find-A-Grave Memorial.

images from Newspapers.com

Victims of the 1919 Knoxville Riot

At the end of August, 1919, a riot broke out in downtown Knoxville.  The cause of the riot centered around the arrest and holding of Maurice Mays, a black man accused of murdering of Bertie Lindsey, a white woman. 

I won't be retelling that story or the story of the riot here.  The Beck Cultural Exchange Center published an overview of the riot.

PBS presented a video on the riot, Knoxville's Red Summer | The Riot of 1919.  

From official records I can only find that two people died during the riot, although newspaper reports that many were were killed.

I'm sure that scores were were injured.
 

News spread quickly around the South and then the whole country.

So, who were the two men that were killed?

According to his death certificate Joseph S. Etter, died August 30, 1919.  Cause of Death?  Gun shot wound during riot.  

"Tennessee Deaths, 1914-1966," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DW29-BP8?cc=1417505&wc=34D9-SP8%3A1580568501 : 11 October 2018), 004183649 > image 1775 of 2197; Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.

The Knoxville Sentinel quickly printed his funeral notice.

 Joseph S. Etter is buried at Eastport Cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee.  His memorial at FindAGrave.

According to his death certificate James W. Payne died on August 31, 1919.  Cause of Death?  Gun shot wounds.  More details can be found in the story in The Journal and Tribune on September 1, 1919.

"Tennessee Deaths, 1914-1966," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DW29-1Z3?cc=1417505&wc=34D9-SP8%3A1580568501 : 11 October 2018), 004183649 > image 1782 of 2197; Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.

James Payne is buried at Big Hill Cemetery in Providence, Kentucky.  His memorial at FindAGrave.

Two deaths too many.

newspaper images clipped from newspapers.com

William H. Gass, Knoxville Mayor - the early years

William Houston Gass

(Mayor, 1904-1905)

The Honorable William Houston Gass was Knoxville’s 51^st mayor, serving in 1904 and 1905.

The son of David R. Gass and Mary Jane Russell, William was born in early 1860. The family is listed in the 1860 US census in Greene County, Tennessee. David is a merchant.  (source)

A decade later the family has expanded, with Sarah F. becoming a younger sister to William. David now goes by the name Rufus. He’s still a merchant, still in Greene County. William is “at school”.  (source)

In 1880 William is found at home with his parents, who still reside in Greene County. David’s occupation has expanded to Merchant & Farmer. William is now a “Student of Law”. Sarah was not with the family but daughter Ida Jane was 5.  (source)

According to the city directories of Knoxville, Gass was a travel agent (1882, 1884), a salesman (1887), then settled into the banking industry as a cashier (1888-91, 1893-94, 1897-98). In 1900 he is listed as the President of Knoxville Banking Co. and remained in that position through 1910.

In January 21, 1893 an article in The Knoxville Sentinel about the Knoxville Savings Bank changing its name to the Knoxville Banking Company, Gass is given a glowing write up:

W. H. Gass, the cashier, is one of the most successful young business men in the south and as a financier he ranks with the foremost in the state.

The almost unparalleled success of the bank is principally due to Mr. Gass’ business sagacity. He has been cashier since the organization of the bank, and is eminently fitted for the position which he holds. (source)

On December 14, 1893, William married Annie Boyd Houk in Knoxville. The Reverend Dr. Thomas C. Warner, pastor of the First M. E. Church (Knoxville), performs the ceremony. Annie Boyd Houk was about 13 years his junior.  (source)  The happy couple honeymooned in Florida.  (source)

Gass first appears in the society pages of the Knoxville newspapers in January of 1896 when he and his wife invite friends for an elaborate dinner held at the Palace Hotel.  (source)

In December of 1897 Gass announced his desire to be on the ballot for Alderman of the Fourth ward.  (source) 

In mid-January he defeated his opponent, Howard Cornick, 95 votes to 50. Both ran under the democrat banner.  The Journal and Tribune of January 15, 1898 reported that:

Mr. Gass made a very short canvass, but received nearly two-thirds of the vote of the ward. His friends say that he must be the candidate for mayor two years hence. (source)

By February of 1899 Alderman Gass was chairman of the school committee.  (source)

In May of 1900 Gass was elected as a member of the Board of Education.  (source)

In the 1900 US Census, William H. Gass was living with his wife, Annie, his brother-in-law Ed Houk and a servant, Mary Street, on Cumberland in Knoxville. William and Annie have not yet had children. In this census we find that Gass was born in March of 1860.  (source)

In July of 1902 W. H. Gass is described as “president of the Knoxville Banking company, and ex-alderman from the fourth ward.”  (source)

Mayor Joseph Tedford McTeer, Sr. passed away on January 6, 1904. His friend William Gass was nominated as his replacement on the ticket that month.  Election day came and went. Gass tallied the most mayoral votes in each of the 11 Wards, gathering almost five times that of his opponent, Keller.  (source)

A later post will look at Gass' life after his term as mayor of Knoxville and then at his death in 1921.  (obituary) (burial)

Note:  Links to newspaper sources will lead to clippings from Newspapers.com.  Links to census and other government documents will lead to records at FamilySearch.org.  You may need to register (free) at FamilySearch to view these documents.

Burials at Knoxville College Cemetery

I found two listings of interments at the former Knoxville College Cemetery, now known as the Freedmen's Mission Historic Cemetery.

From digital copies of The Aurora, the student newspaper of Knoxville College, I found notice that Harry Jarnagan and Alrena Parks, were laid to rest.

The Aurora - June, 1913
C.M. McClung Historical Collection, Knox County Public Library

The Aurora - January, 1918
C.M. McClung Historical Collection, Knox County Public Library

This cemetery isn't fully documented and has been neglected for some time.  I have added these two individuals to the Find A Grave cemetery listing.

Chisholm Tavern not Chisholm Tavern?

When is Chisholm Tavern not Chisholm Tavern?  When it is on the wrong lot.

From the June 16, 1957 edition of The Knoxville News-Sentinel, we find a story that states the colonial building on Front Avenue isn't the original Chisholm Tavern built in the 1790s.

In Samuel G. Heiskell's book, Andrew Jackson and Early Tennessee History, there is a chapter on James White and the founding of Knoxville.

Here's the map of the original plan of Knoxville, with lots 32 and 17 highlighted, followed by a partial list of those that purchased the lots. 

Two images of the building from the Library of Congress.

Knoxville area historian, Kevin Bogle, has a nice write up on the Chisholm Tavern at his site, Historic Places In & Around Knoxville, Tennessee.

Another architectural mention of the Chisholm Tavern can be found at the site run by Tommy H. Jones, under the Craighead-Jackson House entry.

Old Knoxville Pharmacies

Paula Johnson, of Knoxville Food Tours, gave a very interesting brown bag lecture at the East Tennessee History Center, about the Lost Restaurants of Knoxville.

She spoke of several early and influential individuals associated with Knoxville eateries, and the restaurants themselves.  After the lecture my family and I went north on Gay Street for our first visit to the Phoenix Pharmacy and Fountain. 

I wanted to learn more, so I went digging  through the pamphlet, Progressive Knoxville, 1904, A Pictorial Review of the City (published in 1903 by Russell Harrison), I found three interior shots of local pharmacies.  I've also found an interior shot from the 1903 edition of Progressive Knoxville.

Peter Kern Company
Progressive Knoxville, 1904

Kuhlman's Big Cut Rate Drug Store
Progressive Knoxville, 1904

Pharmacy, F.B. Sharp
Progressive Knoxville, 1904

W.W. Hall & Co.
Progressive Knoxville, 1903
image from the C.M. McClung Historical Collection, Knox County Public Library

Some Old Knoxville Newspapers

Here are some of the newspapers published in and around Knoxville...

Calvin Morgan McClung historical collection of books, pamphlets,
manuscripts, pictures and maps relating to early western travel
and the history and genealogy of Tennessee and other southern states (1921)

Norwood's Knoxville Directory  (1884)

Andrew Jackson and Early Tennessee History (1920)

Some Knoxville Churches - 1905

Some religious architecture of Knoxville.

Second Presbyterian

Clinch Street Methodist Episcopal

Third Presbyterian

First Presbyterian

St. John's Episcopal

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From Vol. 4, Nos. 2 & 3 North & South, June-July, 1905.

Locations mentioned in "The Great White Way"

To augment my recent post about "The Great White Way"of Knoxville, or the electric lighted signs in 1908, I assembled a rough map of where those businesses were located.

I used the 1908 City Directory to find the addresses of the businesses, then overlaid some of them on a 1903 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map.

• Kuhlman's Drugs - 301 S. Gay Street
• Hope Brothers Jewelers - 519 S. Gay Street
• Hotel Imperial - 530 S. Gay Street
• Ashe's Restaurant - 601 S. Gay Street
• Ritter's Cigars - 603 S. Gay Street
• Colonial Hotel - 806 S. Gay Street
• KECO - 716 S. Gay Street
• Kern's - 1 Market Street

1908 Locations on a 1903 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map

* NOTE - I've updated the map, using new info from Robert McGinnis on fb.

The “Great White Way” of Knoxville

     The stranger who enters the city of Knoxville at night cannot help being impressed with the effective quality of the illumination of Gay Street, the city’s “great white way.” In the half mile which he traverses on his way from the railroad station to his hotel, he cannot fail to note that ingenuity, originality, and a certain broad spirit of civic pride are manifest in the sure sign of a city’s progress – the illumination of its streets and buildings. This fact becomes even more remarkable when it is known that it is only since the year 1905 that electric signs have been permitted by the city government of Knoxville, and that therefore practically all improvement and progress in the spectacular illumination of the city has been accomplished in the past three years.

     Going south on Gay Street, at Commerce, on come upon one of the most important signs in the city, stretching across the street – the sign Kuhlman’s, advertising the principal drug company of the city. This same name is also repeated in a large vertical sign on their store.

     “Have You Seen Smith?” – the question is blazed out at you, and of course you find yourself unconsciously asking, “Who and what is Smith?” Smith, you are informed, is the leading furniture dealer in the city – and the sign has served the purpose for which it was created.

     The store of the Peter Kern Company, purveyors of “Good Things to Eat,” is another example of the generous use of spectacular lights. Surmounting the building is a large American flag in electric lamps, and the shop is further ornamented and distinguished by two signs bearing the word “Kern’s,” one running vertically on the corner of the building and one across the sidewalk.

     Hope Brothers, jewelers, have succeeded in obtaining a most striking effect for the façade of their shop. Above and across the sidewalk is an elaborate sign displaying the name “Hope,” and underneath, “Jewelers.” This sign is fastened on the street end to the tall, dignified post-clock which further marks and advertises the name of the shop, besides being of very useful and practical services to the belated citizens of Knoxville.

     The Hotel Imperial is marked by a large sign running vertically down the building, and by another across the top of its doorway. The Colonial Hotel, with its quaint line of arches, reminiscent of foreign architecture, displays a huge horizontal sign composed of single letters spelling its name. Far down Gay Street one can see these luminous, welcoming signs; and the stranger in Knoxville has no excuse for asking, as the farmer did on entering New York by train, "Which is the way to the hotel?"

     If you are hungry, perchance, you will be more than forcefully reminded of the fact as you approach Ashe’s Restaurant, where you will be boldly confronted with the very suggestive word "Eat," exhibited in a large, staid electric sign of uncompromising appearance. This sign was originally one of three of a class, the other two being "Smoke," which is still displayed over Ritter's Cigar Store, and "Drink," which served as a potent motto for a nearby saloon before the town "went dry."

     While the photographs given in this article illustrate some of the best and most striking examples of Knoxville's spectacular illumination, they only serve to furnish a fair idea of the city's general display. All along Gay Street, which by no means belies its cheery cognomen, are gay little shops and theatres, all of which, with scarcely an exception, are brilliantly illumined at night with some form of lightsource, plentifully and effectively applied. All sorts of signs there are – little signs and big signs ; serious signs and comic signs; theater signs, hotel signs, shop signs; automatic signs; ornamental signs; even snake signs. In front of the Miller Department Store are seven of the so named "Doherty gas lights," while for the window display well-shaded electric lights are used with excellent effect.

     The electric lighting interests in Knoxville are controlled by the Knoxville Electric Company, an illustration of whose store, with its handsome electric sign, "K. E. Co." and brilliantly lighted window, exhibiting electrical apparatus and lighting fixtures, is given in this article.  It is not to electricity alone that Knoxville owes its good illumination. Since Henry L. Doherty has been in charge of the Knoxville Gas Company, the gas-lighting of the city has been of the most excellent quality. Skirting Gay Street, in front of its shops, are ornamental posts, with handsome gas lamps, which would afford Gay Street good illumination even without its generous supply of electric arcs. Since the gas lighting properties have been controlled by Mr. Doherty, much improvement has been made, not only in the plant, but in the general policy of the management of all the property. The office of the Knoxville Gas Company is now located in the downtown district, and the company has manifested in many ways a worthy spirit of progress and public benefaction. It has devoted one floor of its building to the service of church societies, in which to bold bazaars, dinners and other functions instituted for charitable purposes. They not only donate the room, but also furnish the stove and gas for cooking, and demonstrate to the public the use and convenience of the gas stove – of which, by the way. the company sold 81 carloads during the past year.

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The article, The “Great White Way” of Knoxville by R.P. Williams, appeared in the The Illuminating Engineer, Vol. III, No. 3, May 1908.