David Shelby Williams (Nashville, TN)

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David Shelby Williams (date unknown)

David Shelby Williams (May 19, 1856 – July 23, 1924)

Biography

  • Name: David Shelby Williams
  • Birth: May 19, 1856 New Orleans, LA
  • Death: July 23, 1924 Nashville, TN
  • Spouse1: May Lawson (McGhee) Williams (1860-1883) (Married 1881)
  • Spouse2: Mary Washington (Frazer) Williams (1855-1928) (m.1897, Divorced)

David Shelby Williams was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 19, 1856, to John Shelby Williams and Mattie Sevier Williams. David's father was from west Tennessee, and Shelby moved with his family to Nashville as a child. He was tutored at home, but also attended local schools, including the Hughes & Mims Male Academy in Nashville during 1872-1873. He moved to Little Rock, Arkansas to work for his uncle at the Little Rock Gas Company after school was complete in 1873. The Nashville city directory lists Shelby as a bookkeeper for the firm Ordley, Dudley & McGuire in the 1878 and 1879 editions.

On October 21, 1881, Shelby married May Lawson McGhee in New York City. Lawson's father, Charles McClung McGhee, was a large railroad industrialist from Knoxville and was extremely wealthy and influential. Charles organized the People's Bank of Knoxville in 1865, and was elected its' first President. The newlywed couple made their home in Knoxville. On March 28, 1883, Lawson died in Knoxville of pneumonia 3 weeks after giving birth to a daughter. That daughter, named May Lawson after her mother, died on July 12, 1883. Charles McGhee gave $50,000 to the city of Knoxville to found a library, and today the Lawson McGhee Library is still open and home to the county archives.

The 1888 Nashville city directory lists Shelby as Secretary/Treasurer of the Nashville lumber concern Pruett Spurr & Company, and he was still listed as Secretary there in 1898. On January 12, 1897, the First National Bank of Nashville, charter 150, named 3 new Directors, including Charles M. McGhee, who had recently purchased a controlling interest in the Nashville Street Railway company. It is probably no coincidence that Mr. McGhee's former son-in-law, Shelby Williams, was then elected Cashier of First National. This position was fairly short lived, because on September 30, 1897 he was promoted to First Vice-President of the bank.

On June 17, 1897, Shelby married Mary Washington Frazer. Mary was a widow that had been married to James Stokes Frazer, a prominent attorney and state legislator, who had died unexpectedly in 1892. Mary brought 6 children with her to the marriage, and in December 1898 the couple welcomed a daughter, Priscilla, into the family. Unfortunately, on June 8, 1899, Priscilla died and no more children would be born to Shelby.

Shelby had a farm named Glencliff Dairy and raised dairy cows and sold milk. In the 1902 city directory he is listed as 1st Vice-President of 1st National and also as a dairyman and farmer. By 1911, he had added the Presidency of the Nashville Warehouse and Elevator Company to his resume' and continued on as a dairyman. He was also the President of the Nashville Gas Company for a short time, and was a Director of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad Company. The 1915 city directory lists him as Vice-President of 4th & 1st National Bank, charter 1669. In 1918, he sold Glencliff Dairy. There is no record of him being associated with 4th & 1st National Bank after 1916.

On July 6, 1916, he was sued for divorce. His wife, Mary, claimed infidelity, and the divorce case lasted until 1922. There was a large amount of money that Mary had brought into the marriage, and her demands for alimony dragged on through various courts until the Tennessee Supreme Court granted her an alimony of $20,000 a year.

The 1922 city directory lists Shelby as President of the Nashville Warehouse & Elevator Company. Shelby died on July 23, 1924, following an abdominal surgery. His death certificate lists "paralytic ileus" as the cause of death. He is buried in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, in Nashville.

Bank Officer Summary

During his banking career, D. S. Williams was involved with the following bank(s):


Series 1882 Brown Back $10 bank note with pen signatures of F.O. Watts, Cashier and D.S. Williams, Vice President.


References

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