Dunaway, Samuel W. 1841-1905, Marion Trustee and Merchant

Samuel Washington Dunaway was the son of Samuel McNight Dunaway (1809 – 1876) and Julia Tarpley (1817 – 1893).  Sam, the father, was an early pioneer in Williamson County and helped settle the village of Bainbridge. He was a merchant, railroad president and he bought and sold much land in Williamson County’s early period. Continue reading

Edwards, Charles M. 1883-1882, Miller & Multi-term City Trustee

Charles Mathew Edwards, the operator of Edwards Mill and twelve-term Marion Trustee, was born April 21, 1833 in Monroe County, Tennessee to John Marshall Edwards (1799-1866) and Susannah Brown (1803-1863). Charles had three brothers; James L.M., John B., and Thomas H. Edwards.

His parents, John and Susannah, were married April 3, 1821 in Rowan County, North Carolina and brought their family to Williamson County in 1853. In 1845, Milton Mulkey built the first steam powered mill in the county in Marion on W. Main Street. Continue reading

Dunaway, Samuel M. 1809-1876, Pioneering Merchant

Samuel Dunaway headstoneSamuel McNight Dunaway, Williamson County pioneer, real estate tycoon, and business man, helped settle the village of Bainbridge in Williamson County and became an early land owner of more than 50 parcels of 40 acres or more.   Buying and selling this land, along with his other business interests which included everything from merchant to railroad president, made him the richest man in the county by the middle 1800’s.  Continue reading

Davis, William T. 1842-1906, Mayor & County Treasurer

William Thompson Davis was a pioneer citizen of the county and according to his obituary was born in Saline Precinct, now named Stonefort Township, near what was known as Sayersville Bridge just west of Stonefort, January 31, 1842, and the entire sixty-four years of his life were spent as a citizen of Williamson County. His parents were John Tribble and Nancy (Thompson) Davis. Continue reading

Duncan, Russell 1904-1991, Teacher

Jessie Russell (Gardner) Duncan, dedicated teacher for over five decades, was born on May 18, 1904 in Lexington, Tennessee, the late-in-life daughter and sixth child of Henry and Jessie Gardner. By the time the 1910 federal census was taken, the Gardner family had moved to Marion and was living at 514 W. Maplewood Street in a home which they owned with a mortgage.

Her 55 year old father, Henry, was working as a laborer at a railroad tie plant, which was likely the American Creosote Company on the south side of Marion on Rt. 37 where Short Brothers is now located. Continue reading