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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
"B" Surnames
Baker, Joseph Nelson
Banker and miner; born Cherokee Co., Ala., Jan. 21, 1859; German-Irish descent; son of John Douglas and Amanda (Keaton) Baker; father, blacksmith and farmer; paternal grandparents Elijah and Elizabeth (Crockett) Baker, maternal grandparents Elijah and Mary (Cowan) Keaton; educated in the country schools of Roane Co., Tenn.; married Mary Lyon, Jan. 7, 1883; began his career as coal miner and teamster; was stockholder and general manager of the Brown Mining Co., Rockwood, for about 15 years; general manager for the Cumberland Coal & Coke Co., and Crawford Coal & Iron Co., 3 years; organized Baker Coal & Coke Co., of Newland, Tenn., in 1907, being president and general manager for a year and a half; organized the Attalla Mining & Mfg. Co., Attalla, Ala., in 1890, gikdubg geberak nabagership for 6 months; was member Co. Democratic Ex. Com.; is at present president of Baker Mining Co., president Rockwood Bank & Trust Co., Rockwood Ice & Coal Co., chairman of Board of Education; member Christian church. Source: Who's Who in Tennessee (Memphis, TN, Paul & Douglass Company, 1911), 496.
Byrd, Thomas B.
Thomas B. Byrd, an extensive farmer, now residing on a part of the old homestead, in the Seventeenth District, owns, also, two other farms in the county, one of 230 acres, and the other of 130 acres. His grandfather, Jesse Byrd, located on the site of Kingston about 1795, the first ferryman at what was Byrd's Ferry, now Sevier's Ferry. In 1808 he abandoned the ferry, and locaed five miles above Kingston, south of the Tennessee. He was one of the first justices after Roane County was organized, and constructed some of the first houses erected in Kingston, some still standing. He died in 1847, and his wife a few years before, both at advanced ages. Joseph Byrd, the father, was the eldest of two sons and four daughters. In youth he served in the Indian war under Gen. Jackson, and at his majority married Ann Pride. He was a farmer who occasionally boated from Kingston to Huntsville, Ala., and was considered interested in the slave trade. He served eight years as sheriff of Roane County, and was also many years a justice. At the removal of the Cherokees, in 1836, he formed a company, and was afterward colonel of the regiment. He died in 1858, and his widow in 1885. He had nine sons and three daughters. Our subject, three brothers and two sisters, are living. Five brothers were in the Union service, one as colonel and one as quartermaster. There were also two in the Confederate service, one as colonel. Our subject was born in 1825, and has always lived in Roane County. To his wife, Savanna E. (Margrave), have been born three sons and five daughters, one of each sex being deceased. The family are Methodists, and he is Chaplain of the F. & A. M. lodge. Source: Who's Who in Tennessee (Memphis, TN, Paul & Douglass Company, 1911), 496.