The first part of this story ran last in the June issue.
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 head 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.”
We now move to the point of view of Samuel Frazier and Virginia Nelson, descendants of SJA Frazier from Knoxville.
“In 1882, SJA purchased land in what is now known as North Chattanooga and moved there. At that time, the section north of the Tennessee River was undeveloped. He [and several Rhea County friends] laid out the town and called it Hill City. In developing Hill City, he named several of the streets, including Frazier Avenue and Tampa Street.
“The river was then crossed by a skiff, not a very satisfactory means of transportation. In 1884, SJA and three others purchased a small steamer and established a steam ferry to cross the river. SJA donated $10,000 toward the erection of the Walnut Street Bridge, persuading other Chattanoogans to join him in its financing. The bridge was erected in 1890 with great celebration and a parade led by the “city fathers.”
“He built a large frame Victorian house, “The Cedars,” on Frazier Avenue (where the Mr. Zip gas station is now). It was the scene of many notable social events. The house burned in the late 1920s. As well, SJA maintained summer homes at Rhea Springs and Waldens Ridge and had a winter lodge at Frazier’s Beach near Tampa.”
Eventually SJA married Anne Keith from Athens, Tenn. The Chattanooga Times in 1898 described her as “a woman of rare charm of manner, noted for her beauty and sweetness of character, a brilliant conversationalist and gifted writer.” Their son, Alexander Frazier, was an attorney and served in the Tennessee House of Representatives during the same term his cousin, James B. (Jim) Frazier, served as governor. Their daughter, Sarah Ruth Frazier, was the first woman to serve in the Tennessee House of Representatives. She was a prolific writer and helped organize the Nancy Ward DAR Chapter. She never married.
At SJA and Anne Frazier’s wedding, his much younger cousin, Jim, met Anne’s younger sister, Louise Douglas Keith. They eventually married and built a house in Hill City where they lived until moving to Oak Street and later to 211 Glenwood Drive. Jim graduated from University of Tennessee in 1878 and was awarded the oratorical medal. He was elected governor of Tennessee in 1903 and again in 1905. The Tennessee State Legislature then elected him to the United States Senate, where he served one term.
Jim commenced the practice of law in Chattanooga in 1881, frequently practicing law with his cousin, SJA. He was paid a few times with lots in Hill City.
Jim and Louise Frazier had four children: Anne Keith Frazier (Mrs. Robert Somerville of Mississippi), James B. Frazier Jr., Thomas Alexander Frazier and Louise Frazier (Mrs. John Fort of Lookout Mountain).
Their son Jim graduated from Baylor School in 1908, attended the University of Virginia and received his law degree from Chattanooga College of Law. He served in the Army in WWI, attaining the rank of captain with the 81st Division. He returned to Chattanooga to practice law with this father in their firm, Frazier and Frazier. He served as attorney general for the eastern division of Tennessee until he was elected to Congress in 1948. He served in Congress for seven terms.
Thomas Hooke McCallie was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church during the Civil War. His house stood on Lindsey on the site of the Centenary Methodist Church property. Capt. SJA was shot while fighting in the Battle of Chickamauga and was found lying on Ninth Street (now called Martin Luther King Boulevard) with many other wounded soldiers. He asked that Dr. McCallie be notified of his condition. Dr. McCallie took him to his home and nursed him back to health.
Dr. McCallie married Ellen Douglas Jarnagin. Their son was Spencer Jarnagin McCallie. He, along with his brothers, founded McCallie School on the site of McCallie Farm. McCallie Avenue was originally the road to the old McCallie Farm.
Spencer Jarnagin McCallie married Alice Fletcher. Their son, T. Hooke McCallie, married Eleanor Wyatt of Cedartown, Ga. Their son Thomas H. McCallie III married Elizabeth Hope Frazier, daughter of James. B. Frazier Jr. and Elizabeth Hope of Chattanooga.
Tom and Elizabeth were married at her house at 211 Glenwood Drive. Their daughters are Keith McCallie and Eleanor McCallie Nating. Their grandsons are Hooke Johnson and McCallie Nading and Frazier Nading.
Dr. Thomas McCallie, who nursed Capt. SJA Frazier back to health, was Tom’s great grandfather, and Capt. SJA was Elizabeth’s great uncle.
Anne and SJA Frazier are buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Chattanooga.”
There has been a close connection between the Frazier and McCallie families for all these years since the Civil War. This resulted in the ultimate combination of the two families: the marriage of Thomas McCallie III to Elizabeth Hope Frazier generations later.
I wish to thank Elizabeth, my friend from Bright School days and now a neighbor in Heritage Landing. She and Tom were extremely generous in showing archives of both families that include actual letters and personal memories, both oral and written. These are such treasures! This story will continue in a future issue of the Mountain Mirror.
by Judy Rowland
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 head 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.”
We now move to the point of view of Samuel Frazier and Virginia Nelson, descendants of SJA Frazier from Knoxville.
“In 1882, SJA purchased land in what is now known as North Chattanooga and moved there. At that time, the section north of the Tennessee River was undeveloped. He [and several Rhea County friends] laid out the town and called it Hill City. In developing Hill City, he named several of the streets, including Frazier Avenue and Tampa Street.
“The river was then crossed by a skiff, not a very satisfactory means of transportation. In 1884, SJA and three others purchased a small steamer and established a steam ferry to cross the river. SJA donated $10,000 toward the erection of the Walnut Street Bridge, persuading other Chattanoogans to join him in its financing. The bridge was erected in 1890 with great celebration and a parade led by the “city fathers.”
“He built a large frame Victorian house, “The Cedars,” on Frazier Avenue (where the Mr. Zip gas station is now). It was the scene of many notable social events. The house burned in the late 1920s. As well, SJA maintained summer homes at Rhea Springs and Waldens Ridge and had a winter lodge at Frazier’s Beach near Tampa.”
Eventually SJA married Anne Keith from Athens, Tenn. The Chattanooga Times in 1898 described her as “a woman of rare charm of manner, noted for her beauty and sweetness of character, a brilliant conversationalist and gifted writer.” Their son, Alexander Frazier, was an attorney and served in the Tennessee House of Representatives during the same term his cousin, James B. (Jim) Frazier, served as governor. Their daughter, Sarah Ruth Frazier, was the first woman to serve in the Tennessee House of Representatives. She was a prolific writer and helped organize the Nancy Ward DAR Chapter. She never married.
At SJA and Anne Frazier’s wedding, his much younger cousin, Jim, met Anne’s younger sister, Louise Douglas Keith. They eventually married and built a house in Hill City where they lived until moving to Oak Street and later to 211 Glenwood Drive. Jim graduated from University of Tennessee in 1878 and was awarded the oratorical medal. He was elected governor of Tennessee in 1903 and again in 1905. The Tennessee State Legislature then elected him to the United States Senate, where he served one term.
Jim commenced the practice of law in Chattanooga in 1881, frequently practicing law with his cousin, SJA. He was paid a few times with lots in Hill City.
Jim and Louise Frazier had four children: Anne Keith Frazier (Mrs. Robert Somerville of Mississippi), James B. Frazier Jr., Thomas Alexander Frazier and Louise Frazier (Mrs. John Fort of Lookout Mountain).
Their son Jim graduated from Baylor School in 1908, attended the University of Virginia and received his law degree from Chattanooga College of Law. He served in the Army in WWI, attaining the rank of captain with the 81st Division. He returned to Chattanooga to practice law with this father in their firm, Frazier and Frazier. He served as attorney general for the eastern division of Tennessee until he was elected to Congress in 1948. He served in Congress for seven terms.
Thomas Hooke McCallie was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church during the Civil War. His house stood on Lindsey on the site of the Centenary Methodist Church property. Capt. SJA was shot while fighting in the Battle of Chickamauga and was found lying on Ninth Street (now called Martin Luther King Boulevard) with many other wounded soldiers. He asked that Dr. McCallie be notified of his condition. Dr. McCallie took him to his home and nursed him back to health.
Dr. McCallie married Ellen Douglas Jarnagin. Their son was Spencer Jarnagin McCallie. He, along with his brothers, founded McCallie School on the site of McCallie Farm. McCallie Avenue was originally the road to the old McCallie Farm.
Spencer Jarnagin McCallie married Alice Fletcher. Their son, T. Hooke McCallie, married Eleanor Wyatt of Cedartown, Ga. Their son Thomas H. McCallie III married Elizabeth Hope Frazier, daughter of James. B. Frazier Jr. and Elizabeth Hope of Chattanooga.
Tom and Elizabeth were married at her house at 211 Glenwood Drive. Their daughters are Keith McCallie and Eleanor McCallie Nating. Their grandsons are Hooke Johnson and McCallie Nading and Frazier Nading.
Dr. Thomas McCallie, who nursed Capt. SJA Frazier back to health, was Tom’s great grandfather, and Capt. SJA was Elizabeth’s great uncle.
Anne and SJA Frazier are buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Chattanooga.”
There has been a close connection between the Frazier and McCallie families for all these years since the Civil War. This resulted in the ultimate combination of the two families: the marriage of Thomas McCallie III to Elizabeth Hope Frazier generations later.
I wish to thank Elizabeth, my friend from Bright School days and now a neighbor in Heritage Landing. She and Tom were extremely generous in showing archives of both families that include actual letters and personal memories, both oral and written. These are such treasures! This story will continue in a future issue of the Mountain Mirror.
by Judy Rowland
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