The couple on the left at this 1975 ceremony are Jean Marie Jordan and Carlisle Jordan, a sister and brother who are descendants of Meredith Legg, one of the first citizens of Chattanooga. The couple on the left is unidentified.(First of two parts)
Coming next weekThe story of Jane Cozby Henderson.
On Dec. 20, Chattanooga will observe the 175th anniversary of its founding. On that date in 1839, legislation was passed establishing Chattanooga and its boundaries.
Two years earlier, a survey of the Ocoee District recorded 53 land owners. These 53 "first citizens" elected commissioners to oversee the transition of the trading post known as Ross's Landing to the incorporated community named Chattanooga.
In 1975, the Bicentennial Commission placed a plaque at Ross's Landing Park to honor these citizens. Carlisle Jordan and his sister, Jean Marie, were among those who gathered at the ceremony. The brother and sister were descendants of two first citizens: businessman Meredith Webb Legg, and the resourceful widow and businesswoman, Jane Cozby Henderson. The Jordans were avid collectors of family history.
Fred Lupton, executor of their estate, donated their large collection of deeds, photos, and papers to the Chattanooga Public Library. The collection reflects the legacy of a family and a city. This article discusses Meredith.
Meredith Legg (1810-1893) managed James C. White's store at Oat's Landing on the Tennessee River in Marion County before moving to manage the White store at Ross's Landing.
In 1837, Legg bought the Ross's Landing store, gaining his own operation at a location just east of Market Street near the Tennessee River. A Col. King in Abington Va., who shipped a large quantity of salt down the Holston River, appointed Legg as his local agent and asked him to open a ferry across the Tennessee River.
The enterprising merchant operated the ferry and later transferred it to Abe Beason. At Chattanooga's incorporation, Legg's status as early settler granted him first chance at newly created city lots.
In 1846, Legg sold some of his property to Lewis Shepard for $1,000.
Legg moved to Cleveland, Tenn., and became an organizer of the Cleveland National Bank. He amassed property and fortune and then returned to Chattanooga in 1881 to spend his last years with his daughter, Abigail Jane "Jennie" Legg Henderson, and her husband, Daniel.
In 1879, he purchased a lot on Cherry Street from E.R. Betterton for $2,400. In 1893, Meredith Legg conveyed land on Market Street to Jennie out of "natural love and affection." Eventually, the M.W. Legg Building, jointly owned by his two daughters, Abigail and Mary Catherine Anderson, came into being at 724-726 Market St.
The Jordan papers contain several photos of Meredith Legg in his later years and an oil portrait by a traveling artist. His motto was "Live honest toward your fellow man each day, and you will never be ashamed to look anyone in the eye."
A family story in the Legg file illustrates his adherence to his motto. While in Cleveland, Legg was asked by Lafayette Hardwick, a local merchant, to take over the latter's possessions. Hardwick had given neither an oath of allegiance to the United States nor support for the Confederacy. Fearing seizure of his property by Union soldiers as well as conscription into the Confederate army, Hardwick transferred all his property to Legg, who was a staunch Union supporter in a Union-controlled area. Hardwick spent the duration of the war in Cincinnati and returned to Cleveland to find his possessions intact. Unlike others in the destitute South, the Hardwick family had resources due to Meredith Legg's honest character and was able to rebuild during Reconstruction. Hardwick's daughter, Norma Ramsey, told this story to Jennie Henderson when she visited her in 1930.
Meredith Legg spent his last years comfortably in his daughter's house. His Sept. 28, 1893, obituary noted that Legg had just told his daughter of his father dying in his chair without an ache or pain and of his hope of dying in the same manner. He then finished a hearty meal, went to sleep in his rocking chair and died in the way he hoped.
Meredith Legg's daughter, Abigail, married Daniel Pleasant Henderson, thus joining the Legg and Henderson families. Daniel Henderson was the son of Richard and Isabel Henderson. Isabel was the daughter of Jane Cozby Henderson. The Daniel Henderson daughters were Isabelle Maude Jordan and Geraldine Mae Cozby Henderson Wilkey. Isabelle's children were Carlisle and Jean Marie Jordan, who attended the 1975 ceremony at Ross's Landing Park.
Suzette Raney is archivist/librarian in the local history and genealogy department of the Chattanooga Public Library. For more, visit Chattahistoricalassoc.org. or call LaVonne Jolley 423-886-2090.