from Memoirs of Georgia
J. W. ANDERSON, physician, Ringgold, was born in Catoosa county, March 12, 1863. His father is John R. Anderson, a native of Virginia, born Dec. 13, 1823, who settled at Crawfordville, Ga., in his youth with his parents and became a citizen of Catoosa county in 1848. In 1857 he married Hattie Samas, of Calhoun, formerly of Monroe county, a lady highly connected. Her grand-uncle was Hon. William H. Crawford. Her uncle was Hon. N. C. Barnett, for many years secretary of state, and one of the leading citizens of Georgia. By their marriage they had two children, J. W. and Carmetia, the wife of Dr. Thomas Hackett, of Catoosa county. Dr. Anderson was reared in Catoosa county and was educated at the Masonic Literary institute in Ringgold. For several years he was in the service of the Western Atlantic Railway company as conductor. He resolved to prepare himself for the medical profession, and began the study of medicine at Ringgold with Dr. T. Hackett. Later he entered the college of physicians and surgeons at Baltimore, Md., and prosecuted his studies at this institution during 1883-84, completing his course at the Southern Medical college in Atlanta, where he was graduated in March, 1885. In 1889 he commenced the practice of his profession at Ringgold, where he has attained excellent success and enjoys a large general practice in Catoosa county and in the state of Tennessee. In his professional calling he has acquired the confidence of his patients and the public generally by reason of his skill as a physician, and his standing as a gentleman and a citizen. His standard of professional ethics is high, and he is popular among his professional brethren. On December 23, 1890, he was married to Miss Annie L. Jones, daughter of Capt. R. J. Jones, of Catoosa county, and at present clerk of the superior court. The mother of Dr. Anderson died in Catoosa County in 1886. His father is still living in this county. Dr. Anderson is a member of the masonic fraternity, Quitman lodge No. 106, at Ringgold.
WILLIAM JEROME BAZEMORE, M. D. Dr. Bazemore is an esteemed citizen of Ringgold and one of the leading physicians of Catoosa county. He is a native of Crawford county, Ga., where he was born June 30, 1844. His father was Washington Bazemore, a native of Alabama, who served in the Florida Indian War in 1836- 37. Washington married Eliza Wright, born in Crawford county, Ga., daughter of Robert Wright, a native of Ireland and an early settler in Crawford county. By this marriage they have six children: Dr. G. M. Bazemore, now an eminent physician of Cleveland, Tenn., and surgeon for the Southern Railway company at that place; R. M., of Dalton, who served in the Sixth Georgia regiment during the late war, and lost a leg at Gettysburg; Missouri E., who married Dr. R. A. Wilson, of Aphison, Tenn.; William J.; Susan, deceased, and Nannie J. Turrentine, of Richland, Fla. The father of Dr. Bazemore died in 1855 and his mother in 1853. He was at an early age deprived of the care and council of his parents, and practically thrown upon his own resources. But he soon developed courage and energy in the battle of life. He attended the schools of Crawford county until the commencement of the war, and in July, 1861, at the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the Twenty-second Georgia state troops, commanded by Col. Barklew, his Brigadier-commander being William H. Harrison. For one year he saw service at Savannah and on the eastern coast, where he was engaged in erecting and perfecting coast defenses. His term of service having expired, he went to Virginia, where he visited Richmond during the seven days' guide, his object being to re-enlist in the Sixth Georgia. However he changed his mind and return to Georgia, bringing with him to Macon Col. T. J. Simmons, who is now one of the judges of the supreme court of the state, and who had been severely wounded in the campaign around Richmond. On his return to Georgia he joined the Ocmulgee rangers, under Col. Charles T. Goode, and was ordered to Chattanooga, where he participated in the Tennessee campaign under Gen. Peghrum. He fought at Chickamauga and at Missionary Ridge in 1863, and in the campaign of 1864 he saw active service and constant fighting under Johnston from Dalton to Atlanta, being engaged at Resaca, New Hope church, Kennesaw mountain, Peachtree creek and in the siege of Atlanta. He was special escort for W. H. T. Walker when killed at Decatur. He fought at Jonesboro and at Fairburn. He accompanied Wheeler's cavalry through east Tennessee to the Salt Works in Virginia and was engaged in the battle of Aiken, S. C., and Bentonville, N. C. He was mustered out of service with the surrender of Johnston's army at Smithville, after undergoing for years of hard and perilous service in defense of the Confederacy. He proved himself a gallant soldier, was only absent thirty days from his command, and suffered the most painful hardships without a murmur. He returned to Crawford county without means or property, but with courage undaunted, and the experience of four years' trial in that kind of service, which is well adapted to test the patience and endurance of man. His education was still unfinished and his means inadequate to effect his advancement. For two years he superintended a cotton plantation for W. H. Ross, and in 1868 he moved to Fort Valley, Ga., and then completed his literary education. He was anxious to enter one of the learned professions, and in 1869 entered the Jefferson medical college at Philadelphia, where he engaged in the study of medicine and surgery during 1869-70, and in 1871-72 he continued his studies in the medical department of the university of Louisville, Ky., where he graduated in the latter year with high honor and received a diploma for one of the best essays delivered. He settled in Catoosa county and entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he continued for five years. He moved to Chattanooga in search of a larger field for his professional labors, and forming an alliance with his brother, Dr. G. M. Bazemore, he acquired a very large and lucrative practice. Owing to ill health in his family he was compelled to return from Chattanooga to Ringgold, where he has resided since 1891, still engaged in the duties of his profession. He is recognized as an able, talented and experienced physician and surgeon. In 1873 Dr. Bazemore married Miss Amelia Gray, of Grayville, Ga., daughter of R. T. Gray, and a niece of Hon. John T. Gray. They had six children, 5 of whom survive: Malcomb G., Fannie E., Charles Washington, Jerome and Ruth E. Royden J. is the deceased child.
WILLIAM E. MANN. This well-known member of the Catoosa county bar is a resident of Ringgold. He was born in Gordon county in 1862. His father is Dr. Joel J. Mann, a prominent physician of Floyd county, and his paternal grandfather is Edmund S. Mann, a native of Georgia, now living at an advanced age in Gordon county. Dr. Mann married Miss Sally Hunter and had eight children: Anna, wife of Preston B. Smith; William E.; Rev. A. J. Mann, a minister of the Presbyterian church, now living at Everett Springs, in Floyd county; Joel J., Jr.; Lula, deceased wife of Monroe Parrot; Robert Lee, at present engaged in teaching in Whitfield county; Alice and Della. The mother of Mr. Mann is still living. His father, Dr. Mann, entered the Confederate service and served through the war. William E. was reared in Gordon and Floyd counties, his parents settling in the latter county in 1870. He attended the common schools and the high school at Subligna. In 1880 he entered the North Georgia agricultural college at Dahlonega, where he pursued a classical course of study during two years, and graduated in 1882 with the degree of bachelor of arts. He had already formed a strong inclination for the legal profession and began the study of law in the office of Dabney & Fouche at Rome, Ga. In 1883, at the fall term of the superior court of Floyd county, he was admitted to the bar by Hon. Joel Brannon, presiding judge. Immediately thereafter he settled in Ringgold and entered upon the active duties of his profession. He soon found himself riding on the wave of success and popularity. He received retainers in important railroad litigation pending in his county and rapidly acquired a reputation for success in the management of corporate cases and a knowledge of the principles of this important branch of jurisprudence. Commensurate with his growing reputation as an advocate and counselor, his practice increased in the Cherokee circuit, and he now ranks among the leading lawyers of that circuit, so long distinguished for its legal talent. His practice, which has been of a general character, together with his studious habits, has familiarized his mind with the various branches of jurisprudence and he is alike at his ease as an advocate before a jury, or in discussing the technical niceties and distinctions of the rules of equity jurisprudence in a court of chancery. Mr. Mann has never taken an active interest in political affairs,, but during his life he has ever clung to the teachings of Jefferson, and the cardinal doctrines of the democratic party. He served two terms as mayor of Ringgold to the satisfaction of its inhabitants and has always taken an active interest in the progress of his town. He is in every sense a man of affairs, active and energetic, in whom the public have implicit confidence, and for whom the future has much in store. On Sept. 27, 1892, he married Miss Irene Gordon, of Ringgold, daughter of Judge Thomas M. Gordon. Mr. Mann is an active member of the Presbyterian church. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity at Ringgold - Quitman lodge No. 106. On June 24, 1895, a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Mann, whose name is William Gordon Mann.
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Biographies at Georgia USGW Archives