The Douglass family has been prominent in Sumner County since 1785, when Edward Douglass, with all his children, settled on Station Camp Creek a few miles north of Gallatin. He was born in Farquier County, Virginia; married about 1740, Sarah George. He was commissioned officer in the War for Independence, and a man of education, and lawyer, though he had never practiced law. He, when called upon, gave legal advice to his friends and neighbors without fee or reward, always counseling them not to go into the courts. He was one of the first magistrates of Sumner County, and was active in all public affairs. His home was near Salem Camp Ground, on lands still in possession of his descendants.
From Jay Guy Cisco, Historic Sumner County, Folk-Keelin Printing Company (Nashville 1909).
Showing posts with label Gallatin TN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gallatin TN. Show all posts
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Dr. Redmond Dillon Barry summary of life and work
Surgeon, Lawyer, Horse Breeder and Farmer
Note: This article is from a photocopy of an unsourced article found among the papers of Benjamin Franklin Barry.
On the bluff, south of the Nashville Pike where it crosses upper Station Camp Creek, Dr. Redmond D. Barry once lived. This residence, a two story brick, was recently torn down and a brick cottage built on its site. Dr. Barry was a native of Ireland, a descendant of the nobility, and a schoolmate and friend of Gen. Packenham at Dublin University. Through the influence of Charles James Fox, he secured a position as a surgeon in the British Navy, but his sympathies being with the colonies, he resigned, settled in North Carolina, practiced medicine and made a fortune. He then studied law in the office of John Breckenridge (Attorney-General in Jefferson's cabinet) in Louisville, removed to Gallatin, married Jane Alexander, of the Mecklenburg (N.C.) Alexanders, and became a successful lawyer. But he was best known to local fame as the man who brought the first thoroughbred stallion, Gray Medley, and the first bluegrass seed into the country west of the Cumberland Mountains.
Dr. Barry's horse, "Polly Medley" and General Andrew Jackson's "Indian Queen" ran the first race of note in Gallatin, in which Polly Medley won. The grandstand was where the L&N depot now is and the track was between Blythe and Water Streets, running north from the depot.
His reputation as a farmer, race horse breeder and lawyer firmly established, Dr. Barry was not without opportunity to show his skill as a surgeon in this section. Going to Nashville in response t a message brought by a rider whose horse fell dead of exhaustion at his gate, Dr. Barry trepanned the skull of a prominent citizen -- the first time this operation had been performed in Tennessee. None of the Nashville lawyers would attempt it.*
Opie Reid pictured the Barry home in The Tennessee Judge.
*According to The Historic Blue Grass Line, published by the Nashville-Gallatin Interurban Railway, Nashville, Tenn., 1913.
Note: This article is from a photocopy of an unsourced article found among the papers of Benjamin Franklin Barry.
On the bluff, south of the Nashville Pike where it crosses upper Station Camp Creek, Dr. Redmond D. Barry once lived. This residence, a two story brick, was recently torn down and a brick cottage built on its site. Dr. Barry was a native of Ireland, a descendant of the nobility, and a schoolmate and friend of Gen. Packenham at Dublin University. Through the influence of Charles James Fox, he secured a position as a surgeon in the British Navy, but his sympathies being with the colonies, he resigned, settled in North Carolina, practiced medicine and made a fortune. He then studied law in the office of John Breckenridge (Attorney-General in Jefferson's cabinet) in Louisville, removed to Gallatin, married Jane Alexander, of the Mecklenburg (N.C.) Alexanders, and became a successful lawyer. But he was best known to local fame as the man who brought the first thoroughbred stallion, Gray Medley, and the first bluegrass seed into the country west of the Cumberland Mountains.
Dr. Barry's horse, "Polly Medley" and General Andrew Jackson's "Indian Queen" ran the first race of note in Gallatin, in which Polly Medley won. The grandstand was where the L&N depot now is and the track was between Blythe and Water Streets, running north from the depot.
His reputation as a farmer, race horse breeder and lawyer firmly established, Dr. Barry was not without opportunity to show his skill as a surgeon in this section. Going to Nashville in response t a message brought by a rider whose horse fell dead of exhaustion at his gate, Dr. Barry trepanned the skull of a prominent citizen -- the first time this operation had been performed in Tennessee. None of the Nashville lawyers would attempt it.*
Opie Reid pictured the Barry home in The Tennessee Judge.
*According to The Historic Blue Grass Line, published by the Nashville-Gallatin Interurban Railway, Nashville, Tenn., 1913.
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