Submitted by Vicki Shaffer. Page created by Jane N Powell
John G. Keathley was born in North Carolina in 1827 and is a son of Mark and Elizabeth (Pipkin) Keathley who were born in North Carolina also. Mark Keathley was a farmer and was county surveyor for a number of years, and was justice of the peace of his district for many years until he was very advanced in years and declined further re-election. He took a great interest in all enterprises for the county's welfare and was a prominent man of his day. He was moderately prosperous through life and was the father of thirteen children. He died in his native State in 1874. The mother was a member of the Free Will Baptist Church, and after her husban's death made a visit to Tennessee. After her return to North Carolina she died in 1884. Their son, John G., came to Tennessee at the age of twenty-two and began "tilling the soil." He is also a first-class mechanic and did considerable work at gun and blacksmithing. In 1851 he married Hepsy A. Branch, daughter of Bryant M. and Sallie Branch. She was born in Tennessee in 1834 and died in 1859, having borne four children; one son died in infancy. In 1861 Mr. Keathley married Elizabeth Peel, of North Carolina. She was born in 1843, a daughter of Robert and Eliza J. (Pipkin) Peel, and became the mother of ten children, four of whom are deceased. In 1882 our subject located on his present farm of 225 acres. He has a neat farm residence well located, and his land is under good cultivation. He was magistrate in this and Obion County before the war, and since 1851 has been a member of the Masonic Order,Chapter degree at Yorkville, and Council degree at Rutherford. He is a Democrat and his first presidential vote was cast for Lewis Cass.
E. T. King is a son of Alvin and Martha (Thomas) King and was born in 1843. The parents were born in North Carolina, and came to Tennessee after their marriage. The father was quite a prosperous farmer and died in Gibson county shortly before our subject's birth. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his wife was a Missionary Baptist, and died in 1870. At the age of twenty our subject enlisted in the Confederate Service, Forty-seventh Tennessee Regiment, and served until wounded at Atlanta, Ga., in 1864. After being in the hospital three months he returned home not to serve any more. He located in Rutherford and engaged in the grocery and liquor business, and then for about five years sold dry goods. In 1867 he married Sallie A. Hopper, a daughter of A.C. and Ollie B. Hopper. She is a native of Tennessee, born in 1849, and became the mother of three children, two of whom are dead. Mrs. King died in 1878, and in 1880 Mr. King married Maggie Calhoun, who was born in 1854. Her parents are Thomas and Sallie (Wilson ) Calhoun. Since giving up the dry goods business Mr. King has followed farming, and owns 210 acres of well improved land, on which he located in 1870. He inherited some money from his father's estate, but the most of his property has been gained by his own exertion. He is a Mason and a Democrat.
James E. Kyzer, the leading merchant of Rutherford, Tenn., was born in
the Palmetto State in
1831, and came to Tennessee in 1859. He has since followed merchandising with the exception
of during the war. His parents were John and Elizabeth Kyzer, and he was left
fatherless when
an infant. He remained with his mother until his removal to Tennessee. She died in 1862.
James E. was united in marriage to Helen Branham, who bore him five
children, two of whom
are dead. Mrs. Kyzer died in February 1871, and he took for his second wife Sarah L.
Adamson, who departed this life in 1882. October 6, 1884, he married his third wife,
Mrs.
Annie L. (Beasley) Cowan, of Christian County, Ky. One child was born to her first
marriage.
Mr. Kyzer inherited some property from his father's estate, but the greater part of his possessions
were gained by himself. He owns 1,500 acres of improved land in Gibson County, 420 acres in
Missouri, and 160 acres in Mississippi. From the close of the war until about 1880 he was
postmaster of Rutherford. He is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, a Mason,
and belongs to the Democratic party.
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