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In 1882, Samuel Josiah Abner Frazier returned to Chattanooga after the Civil War to start his life as a young lawyer and settle in a community that had literally saved his life a few years earlier.
Today, Frazier Avenue is a main thoroughfare in Chattanooga’s Northshore community. It runs parallel to the Tennessee River from North Market Street to the Veterans Bridge at Barton Avenue. It is the hub of shopping, dining and community activity. Most Chattanoogans don’t know that it is steeped in history … named by a Civil War hero who made his home there and whose offspring became one of the most prominent families in Tennessee.
These families lived through the period of Chattanooga’s growth from the village stage into one of the most important and progressive communities in the South. Their properties played a prominent role in growth and development of the community of North Chattanooga.
In SJA Frazier’s obituary, the Chattanooga Times called him a “good and useful citizen, one of the best known citizens of this entire section, a gallant Confederate veteran.” Funeral services were held at the family home, “The Cedars.” Honorary pallbearers were members of the Nathan Bedford Forest Camp of the United Confederate Veterans. These elderly men were requested to wear their uniforms, and many of them did.
Samuel Josiah Abner Frazier was born (and raised) in Rhea County, in Washington, Tenn., on January 29, 1840, to Ruth and Samuel Frazier. The family built the first brick house in Rhea County. Following his father’s footsteps, SJA graduated University of Tennessee in 1860, later becoming a lawyer. When the unrest of war permeated the South in 1861, young Samuel answered the call to enlist in the Confederate Army and served as second lieutenant in Company D of the Nineteenth Tennessee.
At Shiloh, after his cousin Capt. Joseph Frazier was killed, he succeeded him in command of the company. During the Battle of Chickamauga, SJA was shot through the windpipe, a truly life-threatening injury. Three of his men attempted to carry him to the place where the wounded were gathered, and the young captain was dropped on the battlefield. Federal soldiers took over. One took the sword Capt. Frazier had captured at Shiloh. He could not talk, but did have a pencil and paper. The Yankees did not want to waste time with a (presumed) dead Rebel. He was ultimately taken by ambulance (actually a wagon loaded with other critically injured men) to Chattanooga.
At this point, we switch to the perspective of a personal recollection of Dr. T. Hooke McCallie, a Presbyterian minister.
“On Saturday morning, September 19, the sound of cannons booming south of us could be heard in our city. On Sunday, September 20, we went down to church, and we had a good congregation. The day was beautiful. Just before the service, looking up Market Street to Ninth Street, I saw evidence of excitement and a movement of a long line of ambulances. I gave my Bible to my wife and told her to go home and that I would be there shortly.
“I had scarcely reached Ninth Street when a soldier stepped up to me with a note in his hand that read thus: ‘Please come here, [signed] SJA Frazier.’”
I asked the soldier where the man was who gave him the note. He pointed out an ambulance. I went up to it. It was standing still, filled with wounded men. Federal and Confederate [wounded men] were filling and congesting the streets from College Hill on the west, out on Ninth Street back on Market Street for a great distance.
In the ambulance sat my old friend and schoolmate Capt. SJA Frazier, shot through the throat and unable to speak above a whisper. I at once said to him, ‘I will stay right by you and if possible, take you to my house.’
“I followed the ambulance to College Hill, went at once to the medical director’s office, and not finding him in, but finding his little son, a lad of about 12, taking his father’s place, I made known my business when the young fellow at once said I could take the Confederate soldier home and wrote out an order to that effect, signing his father’s name to it. This order served as good a purpose as if it had been issued by the doctor himself.
“I at once had the ambulance to drive the captain across town to my home, stopping by the way to summon Drs. Milo Smith and P.D. Sims. These physicians came, took charge of the case and did all they could for his relief. They both said that if the captain had gone to the hospital and been neglected amidst the thousands of other wounded ones, he would have died that night.”
I hate to leave you hanging, but this story of history, sacrifice and serendipity will continue next month!
by Judy Rowland
Today, Frazier Avenue is a main thoroughfare in Chattanooga’s Northshore community. It runs parallel to the Tennessee River from North Market Street to the Veterans Bridge at Barton Avenue. It is the hub of shopping, dining and community activity. Most Chattanoogans don’t know that it is steeped in history … named by a Civil War hero who made his home there and whose offspring became one of the most prominent families in Tennessee.
These families lived through the period of Chattanooga’s growth from the village stage into one of the most important and progressive communities in the South. Their properties played a prominent role in growth and development of the community of North Chattanooga.
In SJA Frazier’s obituary, the Chattanooga Times called him a “good and useful citizen, one of the best known citizens of this entire section, a gallant Confederate veteran.” Funeral services were held at the family home, “The Cedars.” Honorary pallbearers were members of the Nathan Bedford Forest Camp of the United Confederate Veterans. These elderly men were requested to wear their uniforms, and many of them did.
Samuel Josiah Abner Frazier was born (and raised) in Rhea County, in Washington, Tenn., on January 29, 1840, to Ruth and Samuel Frazier. The family built the first brick house in Rhea County. Following his father’s footsteps, SJA graduated University of Tennessee in 1860, later becoming a lawyer. When the unrest of war permeated the South in 1861, young Samuel answered the call to enlist in the Confederate Army and served as second lieutenant in Company D of the Nineteenth Tennessee.
At Shiloh, after his cousin Capt. Joseph Frazier was killed, he succeeded him in command of the company. During the Battle of Chickamauga, SJA was shot through the windpipe, a truly life-threatening injury. Three of his men attempted to carry him to the place where the wounded were gathered, and the young captain was dropped on the battlefield. Federal soldiers took over. One took the sword Capt. Frazier had captured at Shiloh. He could not talk, but did have a pencil and paper. The Yankees did not want to waste time with a (presumed) dead Rebel. He was ultimately taken by ambulance (actually a wagon loaded with other critically injured men) to Chattanooga.
At this point, we switch to the perspective of a personal recollection of Dr. T. Hooke McCallie, a Presbyterian minister.
“On Saturday morning, September 19, the sound of cannons booming south of us could be heard in our city. On Sunday, September 20, we went down to church, and we had a good congregation. The day was beautiful. Just before the service, looking up Market Street to Ninth Street, I saw evidence of excitement and a movement of a long line of ambulances. I gave my Bible to my wife and told her to go home and that I would be there shortly.
“I had scarcely reached Ninth Street when a soldier stepped up to me with a note in his hand that read thus: ‘Please come here, [signed] SJA Frazier.’”
I asked the soldier where the man was who gave him the note. He pointed out an ambulance. I went up to it. It was standing still, filled with wounded men. Federal and Confederate [wounded men] were filling and congesting the streets from College Hill on the west, out on Ninth Street back on Market Street for a great distance.
In the ambulance sat my old friend and schoolmate Capt. SJA Frazier, shot through the throat and unable to speak above a whisper. I at once said to him, ‘I will stay right by you and if possible, take you to my house.’
“I followed the ambulance to College Hill, went at once to the medical director’s office, and not finding him in, but finding his little son, a lad of about 12, taking his father’s place, I made known my business when the young fellow at once said I could take the Confederate soldier home and wrote out an order to that effect, signing his father’s name to it. This order served as good a purpose as if it had been issued by the doctor himself.
“I at once had the ambulance to drive the captain across town to my home, stopping by the way to summon Drs. Milo Smith and P.D. Sims. These physicians came, took charge of the case and did all they could for his relief. They both said that if the captain had gone to the hospital and been neglected amidst the thousands of other wounded ones, he would have died that night.”
I hate to leave you hanging, but this story of history, sacrifice and serendipity will continue next month!
by Judy Rowland
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