A collection of wisdom gathered from the courtroom of renowned Southern
judge, Camille Kelley. She was implicated in the infamous "Baby for
Sale" Scandal in Memphis during the 1940's with Georgia Tann, the
director of The Tennessee Children's Home of Memphis, Tennessee. Judge
Kelley, without due process of law, would place children with The
Tennessee Children's Home, and Georgia Tann, its director, would deliver
them to Los Angeles for placement with Movie Stars and wealthy Los
Angeles families far away from Memphis. In 1948, Anti-Crump Governor,
Gordon Browning appointed a young prominent lawyer, Bob Taylor, a
descendant of two Tennessee Governors, to investigate rampant rumors of
baby selling. Mr. Taylor staked out the Tennessee Children's Home, and
then followed a nurse with several infants to the Memphis Airport where
they both boarded a plane to Los Angeles. Mr. Taylor followed the nurse
to a hotel where he witnessed the baby transfer in the lobby of a hotel.
Shortly thereafter, Judge Kelley, no longer protected by political
boss, E.H. Crump, was allowed to retire, and Georgia Tann died before
she could be prosecuted. The foreword to this book was written by Mary
Pickford. Several books, television documentaries and exposes were done
on this scandal which ruined many innocent lives in the process.
Check out this website to see the book listed on Amazon.
Camille Kelley, Judge of the Shelby County Juvenile Court, 1940
One of the more fascinating, as well as disturbing, stories in
Tennessee history is that of Camille Kelley who became Judge of the
Memphis Juvenile Court. A widow, Camille Kelley was a star in the crown
of the Crump machine and when she assumed the bench, she was one of only
two female judges in the South and the first woman to be a judge of the
juvenile court. A plump, matronly woman with a pleasant smile and given
to wearing nice clothes and a flower pinned to her ample bosom, she was
also almost certainly corrupt.
Camille Kelley, one of the most prominent members of the Crump
machine, would go from national recognition to a suspect in one of the
most despicable and lurid scandals in Tennessee history.
Born the daughter of a physician and like many at the time, coy about
her actual age, Camille McGee attended medical school for a couple of
years before she chose to marry a successful attorney, Thomas Fitzgerald
Kelley. Her husband had died by the time she ascended the bench in
1920. Camille Kelley was not a lawyer, but she seemed like a good choice
to serve as Judge of the Juvenile Court, at least to Edward Hull Crump,
master of the Memphis political machine. Crump and his political ally,
Senator Kenneth D. McKellar, were strongly in favor of rights for women,
which meant the entire machine favored increased rights for women.
Crump and especially McKellar worked hard to give women the right to
vote in Tennessee.
It was just after Tennessee ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the
Constitution that Camille Kelley became Judge of the Shelby County
Family Court. It allowed the Crump machine to appear progressive and
compared to most political organizations, especially in the South, it
was. The Memphis Boss had cobbled together virtually every aspect of
Memphis’s social life to comprise his political machine. Business,
labor, public employees all played important roles in the machine, which
extended to the PTA and beyond. Several high ranking members of the
Crump machine were Jewish, notably Will Gerber and Abe Waldauer; Crump
even encouraged African-Americans to vote, a fact which frequently
outraged the machine’s opponents. As judge of the Family Court, Camille
Kelley was not only a demonstration the machine was progressive, but
believed in the ability of women to serve in office. Judge Kelley
herself commented that women really belonged in the home rather than
elective office, but she remained on the bench for thirty years and only
resigned when details of a sordid public scandal began to emerge.
As one of the few women in America to serve as a judge, Camille
Kelley attracted national attention. Kelley delighted in sharing her
opinions about child rearing and just about everything else, which were
usually in the form of homilies. Never wearing a robe into her
courtroom, Judge Kelley explained, “Robes would scare the children to
death.” Kelley went on to explain the corsage pinned to her breast:
“They’re not so timid when they see that I am wearing a flower.”
Eventually, Judge Kelley would publish three books chock full of her
opinions, witticisms, and advice. The first, “A Friend In Court,” was
published in 1942. Five years later, the judge penned “Delinquent
Angels,” followed by Kelleygrams in 1949.
Kelley’s grandmotherly appearance, despite her love of fine clothes,
furs and flowers, made her seem anything but threatening. Despite her
lack of formal education, Judge Kelley was clever in her understanding
of public relations. Following her original appointment to the bench,
Camille Kelley was routinely elected by the people of Shelby County on
the Crump ticket. Unlike some of her ticket-mates, Kelley was so
popular, she rarely ever had opposition.
Jennifer Ann Trost has written an interesting book, “Gateway to
Justice: The Juvenile Court and Progressive Child Welfare In A Southern
City,” which contains much information about Camille Kelley.
Ms. Trost points out the Shelby County Family Court “cannot be
understood without examining the life and ideas of its chief judge,
Camille Kelley. So much of what the juvenile court was and subsequently
became was defined by her philosophy and personality.”
As Ms. Trost points out, Camille Kelley was quite contradictory about
her own role, as well as that of other women in public life. Kelley
opined, “No woman should enter public life if it makes her less a woman,
for there is no height to which she may climb equal to real home making
or wifehood or motherhood.” Yet Judge Kelley acknowledged the need of
many families for two incomes and she staunchly defended the right of
women to work outside the home, but Kelley also excoriated many working
mothers for neglecting their responsibilities at home.
“A mother in the home is of greater value to a child than money in the bank,” was Judge Kelley’s lofty opinion.
Apparently Camille Kelley had fixed opinions about most everything
and never doubted her own wisdom. Kelley believed girls were more
difficult than boys and one Memphis newspaper told its readers, “Nor
does a boy have to be a ‘sissy boy’ to be a good boy – – – in fact Judge
Kelley doesn’t care for ‘sissy boys’. She likes boys who are manly,
boys who are ‘reg’ler fellers’.”
Although some black youngsters complained of harsh treatment while in
the custody of the Shelby County Family Court, Ms. Trost notes Judge
Kelley did not attempt to mete out different or harsher punishments to
African-American children than she did to white youngsters. In fact,
Camille Kelley apparently sought to better conditions for
African-American children. Ms. Trost writes, “For her, the condition of
childhood necessitated protecting black children as well as white
children.”
Judge Kelley believed “love is the modern way to educate children”
and frowned upon parents spanking children, declaring it to be not “the
scientific, advanced method” of discipline in the home. To say the
least, that was quite a progressive view at the time.
Being one of the very few female judges in the country, Camille
Kelley drew considerable attention not only in Memphis, but nationally.
Judge Kelley was the recipient of several national awards and was
regularly invited to appear on radio and television programs. By the
time she resigned in 1950, Camille Kelley’s service on the bench was
fodder for a Hollywood production company which intended to produce both
a movie and a television series about her work.
Although certainly a member of the Crump machine, the Memphis Boss
was content to let Kelley rule her own domain. Kelley herself boasted
her court was untouched by politics. Judge Kelley
condescendingly stated
she did not participate in the sordid political arena, opining that
women should not “supplant the men in public jobs they have held for
hundreds of years. Women are capable, of course,” she added, “but we
can’t spare them. We need them to concentrate on child welfare and
education, work we are inherently better fitted to do than men.”
When she was finally forced out of office, Judge Kelley told the
mayor, “No political interference has ever touched the inside of my
courtroom, so help me God.” That was not entirely true.
As Jennifer Trost describes in her book, one of Judge Kelley’s
trusted aides was fired at the insistence of one of Memphis’s City
Commissioners. The public perception of Judge Camille Kelley was such
that local newspapers roared their collective fury at the offending City
Commissioner with blaring headlines demanding “Hands Off Judge Kelley’s
Court” and “Free the Juvenile Court of Interference.”
The official fired from the court was Beulah Wood Fite who was the
chief probation officer for the Shelby County Family Court. The working
relationship between Judge Kelley and Ms. Fite was apparently quite
close, as after Kelley was widowed, Ms. Fite moved into the judge’s
home. Another employee from the juvenile court, one Altye Barbour, who
presided over the mental exams given the children, also moved into Judge
Kelley’s home.
Fite was evidently well liked by many of the children whom she
encountered in the course of her professional life and was generally
referred to as “Mamma”. Unfortunately for Ms. Fite, she was less well
liked by some of the adults she worked with. Ms. Fite was not above
chastising anyone she believed to have made a mistake, which extended to
other officials. Described as having a “brusque” personality and
regularly scolding parents whom she felt had done less than a stellar
job with their children, Ms. Fite’s forceful personality caused her to
run afoul of the City Commissioner who demanded she be fired. A serious
flood in 1937 caused the Memphis Red Cross to request children in the
custody of the juvenile court to be moved to a location it considered
safer. Ms. Fite arbitrarily rejected the request, which caused the City
Commissioner to demand the Juvenile Court Advisory Board to dismiss her
immediately.
Jennifer Trost writes that “Kelley was strangely silent about losing
one of the best-qualified members of her court.” Yet there is an
explanation for Judge Kelley’s silence. It is difficult to imagine any
member of the City Commission to have demanded Ms. Fite’s resignation
without the express consent of Mr. Crump. Memphis and Shelby County was
E. H. Crump’s domain and it is not hard to believe the Memphis Boss
would have been less than amused by a minor official haughtily rejecting
a request by the Red Cross. Had Crump sanctioned Ms. Fite’s dismissal,
Judge Kelley would have had nothing to say about it, realizing to cross
the Memphis Boss would imperil her own continued tenure at the court.
Camille Kelley was too experienced and too shrewd to think she could
countermand an order from Boss Crump.
Bolton is the only high school in Tennessee with a private endowment. Wade H. Bolton, who died in 1869, left an endowment for Bolton College and Bolton High School. Shelby County Schools administers and staffs the school, but they lease the land from the Bolton College Board of Trustees.
Bolton High School enjoys a rich and unique history in Shelby County, Tennessee. The current campus exists on the former Hoboken Plantation that was owned by Wade H. Bolton. Upon his death in 1869, the prominent land owner set aside 1,200 acres for the founding of an agricultural college. Bolton operated as an agricultural college and teachers' preparatory school from 1887 to 1911, whereupon it became part of the Shelby County School system. By 1925, Bolton had been designated as a secondary school and has remained a part of Shelby County Schools ever since.
Wade Bolton is buried in Elmwood cemetery. The statue atop his grave shows him as he was in life, carrying a heavy cane, with wrinkled clothing, his vest buttoned crookedly, and his shoes untied.
The administration of Wade Bolton's will involves Bolton High School in the oldest active court case in Shelby County. As a result of this bequest, Bolton High School exists as the only land grant secondary school in the state of Tennessee. In its more than 100 years of service to Shelby County, Bolton High School has proven to be an integral part of the history and education of the citizens of Northeast Shelby County.
Since its reestablishment as a Shelby County Schools' high school, the Bolton High School campus and the school population have experienced dramatic change. The surrounding area continues to develop as a suburban community, even though at the present time the student body is drawn from Bartlett, Lakeland, and unincorporated areas of Northeast Shelby County.
Wade BoltonAndBolton College
On this site in 1887 upon the Hoboken Plantation was erected the first building of Bolton College, established under the provisions of the will of Wade H. Bolton, prominent landowner, killed in 1869 by a former business partner in Court Square, Memphis, during the notorious Bolton-Dickens feud which lasted from 1857 to 1871. Bolton's bequest included $10,000 to build the school and an outright gift of 300 acres for the school grounds and supporting farm. Subsequently, the farm was increased to 1200 acres after the death of Bolton's widow, thus consolidating the remaining plantation property. --- Bolton School -- Bolton College operated as an agricultural school and teachers' preparatory school from 1887 until 1911 when it became associated with the Shelby County public school system. In 1925 it was converted into a regular high school and completely rebuilt in 1978 with several expansions since then. The Bolton College Board of Trustees continues to assist the Shelby County Board of Education in providing special additional educational facilities on the site, thus making Bolton High School the only privately subsidized public school in Tennessee.
WadeHamptonBolton
Birth:
Dec. 8, 1812
North Carolina, USA
Death:
Jul. 23, 1869
Memphis
Shelby County
Tennessee, USA
Son ofJohn BoltonandMary Lancaster Bolton.
Brother of Laodicia Bolton Darby,Isaac Bolton, John P E Bolton, Lucassia Bolton Bledsoe, andMarcus Bolton.
Husband ofLavinia Ann Person Bolton Cannon Peete.
Father ofAnn Bolton,Elizabeth Bolton, andIndiana Bolton.
Major player in the Bolton/Dickins feud lasting from 1857 to 1870 during which eight (or as many as twelve) people died. Partner in one of the largest cotton/slave trading firms in the South. A dispute arose when the firm bought and sold a 23 year old slave who was later proved to be an indentured and free. A shooting incident involving Isaac Bolton, brother to Wade, resulted in an expensive trial at which Ike was acquitted. An argument arose as to whether the expenses should be borne by the four partners (Wade, Isaac, Washington Bolton--a distant cousin and Thomas Dickins) or the brothers alone.
Numerous court battles followed, before and after the war, pitting Dickins and Sarah Bolton (wife of the deceased Wash Bolton) against Wade. There were family intricacies as Wash's sister, Cinderella, had married Isaac Bolton and Josephine Bolton, Isaac's daughter, married Samuel Dickins, Tom's son.
Wade Bolton was shot by Dickins in July of 1869 and died shortly thereafter.Thomas Dickins, was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds after being acquitted of Bolton's murder in 1870.Dr. Samuel Dickinsdied of an accidental gunshot wound shortly thereafter. Josephine Bolton Dickins Morganwas mentioned in a will which left $10,000 to Lavinia Bolton and the widow of Stonewall Jackson as the recipient of $5 "one sixth of what Judas Iscariot got" for her unlucky marriage.
Another bequest of land and an endowment founded Bolton College on the land belonging to Wade and Lavinia's Hoboken Plantation. Bolton High School (in the town of Bolton, north of Arlington in Shelby County) stands on that property today, one of only two public schools in Tennessee with its own endowment, begun with the bequest of Wade Bolton in 1869.
Inscription:
Front: W. H. Bolton Born December 8, 1812, Died July 23, 1869,Founder of Bolton College
North Side: SeeJohn BoltonMemorial Page Rear: In Memory of Marcus Bolton son of John and Mary Bolton Born and died in Shelby County Tennessee June 28, 1826 June 30 1849.
Note: Inscriptions updated in the early 20th century byMartha Cinderella Dickins Smithwick. a descendent of both Isaac Bolton and Thomas Dickins.
Burial: Elmwood Cemetery
Memphis
Shelby County
Tennessee, USA Plot: Bolton Family Plot, east Side, Chapel Hill at Grand Tour and Hanback Ave
Maintained by:Vincent Astor Originally Created by:Anonymous Record added: Mar 11, 2004
Find A Grave Memorial# 8493119
The current Bolton High School campus exists on the former Hoboken Plantation, owned by Wade H. Bolton. The prominent land owner set aside 1,200 acres (5 km2) for the founding of an agricultural college prior to his murder in 1869. Bolton operated as an agricultural college and teacher's preparatory school from 1887 to 1911, when it became part of theShelby County Schoolsystem. By 1925, Bolton had been designated as a secondary school and has remained a part of the Shelby County school system ever since. Today, BHS serves over 2,000 students from Bartlett, Arlington, Lakeland, Millington and other unincorporated parts of Memphis.[4]Bolton High School is one of the only two public schools in Tennessee with its own endowment.
Bolton High School blotted out a likeness of founder Wade Bolton after a teacher's complaint that a mural of the 19th Century planter and slave trader was "too Confederate."
Principal Snowden 'Butch' Carruthers said a faculty committee decided Friday to paint over the new mural to avoid offending anyone.
Wade Bolton left money to establish Bolton College in northeast Shelby County when he was shot dead in a feud in 1869.
The college became a county school in the early 1920's, and Bolton's trust fund still supports the school.
The Class of 2003 gave art teacher Christy Burns an $1,800 commission to paint a historical mural as a parting gift.
She completed the painting a couple of weeks ago on a wall outside the library.
A teacher took offense at a gray-clad Wade Boltonflanked by Tennessee and school flags.
The image of Bolton was based on a photo of his funereal statue in Historic Elmwood Cemetery.
"Some people thought it looked too Confederate," Carruthers said. "I personally don't see anything controversial about it."
Carruthers said the critic, whom he declined to identify, thought Bolton's clothing resembled a Confederate soldier's uniform and Tennessee's three-star flag looked like a Rebel flag.
After registration Aug. 5, the mural was covered with cloth pending a discussion by faculty advisers about whether it should be altered or removed.
Students were told it was covered because it wasn't completed.
County school spokesman Mike Tebbe said the committee decided to paint over the mural.
"They want everyone here when they come through the doors of Bolton High to feel comfortable and not be concerned about what's on the wall," he said. "It's going to be a nice white wall shortly."
The decision came after county school officials viewed the mural over the past week.
"All I looked at was here's something honoring the benefactor and all that he did for that school," said county school board member Ron Lollar, whose district includes Bolton.
Carruthers said the discussion was distracting from more important matters, namely fitting nearly 2,400 students in buildings designed for about 2,200.
About 18 percent of Bolton's students are black.
Carruthers said he'll use school money to pay for another project for last spring's seniors to make up for the lost mural.
"I'm disappointed it's just being dismissed," Burns said. The 33-year-old second-year teacher has been a mural artist for about 15 years.
"I do feel this is a commissioned work of art that was paid for by a class, and the class has never seen it,"
Burns added. "The way it's being resolved is a negative. I don't think it's beneficial to either party."
Jennifer Muirhead, a Bolton senior and art student, was shocked by school officials' decision.
"Oh my gosh!" she said. "It's ridiculous to me. It infuriates me that this is happening.
"Pretty much nobody knew about it," she said. "The teachers were told to tell students it was an art project that wasn't finished yet."
"The thing I heard was people were offended that Wade Bolton was a slave owner. That's just factual history."
Shelby County Historian Ed Williams, a board member of the Bolton College trust, said, "Without Wade Bolton there wouldn't be a school."
The trust funnels revenues from Bolton's former plantation, called Hoboken, into the school and its students, Williams said.
It paid for half a new football stadium 15 years ago and for the past decade has provided scholarships for top Bolton students who don't qualify for other college scholarships - about $84,000 annually in recent years.
A partnership was formed in business in 1850. Parties connected with this firm were Wade H. Bolton, Isaac Bolton, Washington Bolton and Thomas Dickens. The firm continued till 1857. Washington Bolton died and Sarah W. Bolton filed a bill in the chancery court in 1868 for her share in the property of the firm. Thomas Dickens filed a cross bill for the same purpose. On August 10, 1868, Wade H. Bolton made the following extraordinary will. A part only of this is given. It contains eighteen different clauses as follows: "I, Wade H. Bolton, at my home and place in Shelby County, Tenn.. being in good health * * * First, it is my will and desire after all my just debts are paid that my ashes repose in Pleasant Ridge Church burying-ground * * * Second, I give and bequeath to my beloved wife, Lavinia Ann Bolton. * * * a life time dowry in my Hoboken plantation. Second, I give and bequeath to her * * * $10,000 in fee simple. Third, I give * * * to her $10,000, my life policy. Fourth, I give and bequeath to Seth W. Bolton $5,000, provided he lends an assisting hand and helps to defeat the gigantic swindle of old Tom Dickens and his tool, Sarah W. Bolton, has instituted against her father's estate and mine. In event Seth W. Bolton be married or does marry a white woman of his own choice, the $5,000 shall be invested in a piece of land for them. But if Seth W. Bolton remain in a state of celibacy which he is likely to do, my executor is instructed to loan the $5,000 and pay him the interest annually. Fifth, I. give and bequeath to Mary L. Bolton, wife of E. C. Patterson, $5,000 provided * * * Sixth, I give &c., to Lucassa Bolton $5,000, provided she help to defeat that gigantic swindle of old Tom Dicken and his tool, Sarah W. Bolton * * * Seventh, I give * * * to my niece, A. Wade Bolton, $5,000, provided * * * I also give her my gold watch. Eighth, I give and bequeath to my niece, Josephine Bolton, now wife of the notorious Dr. Samuel Dickens (the Judas of the family) $5, one sixth of what Judas Iscariot got for betraying the Lord. Poor Jo, her cup of iniquity will be full after while if she ever gets time to stop in her mad career, trying to help swindle her sister out of her money, and will let her mind reflect back upon her childhood days when she sat under the shade trees and roof of her father and saw the streaming tears and heard the bitter sobs of her father and her mother portraying in the ear of her father that some distant day that old Tom Dickens would swindle them out of all they had and bring them to want. The prophecy is fulfilled in 1868 and her daughter is lending a helping hand. Eleventh, I give and bequeath to the widow of Gen. T. J. Jackson, who fell at the battle of Chancellorsville, $10,000. Twelfth, I bequeath * * * to my loyal servants now called freedmen * * * Fourteenth, I give and bequeath my Hoboken farm for the public schools of Shelby County and $10,000 to build a college to be called Bolton College. Fifteenth, I give and bequeath the rest of my estate to the chairman of the county court to be a perpetuity for the education of the poor white children of the First District. Eighteenth, I appoint E. M. Apperson my executor without security, and Beecher & Belcher my attorneys."
The greatest feud was connected with the suit resulting in the death of seven persons. In 1857 a man named McMillan was killed, and in 1868 one Wilson and a servant girl, Nancy, working for Wade H. Bolton; were also killed. Soon after, two men, Inman and Morgan, were tracked into a cave in North Alabama and killed. On July 14, 1869, Wade H. Bolton was shot by Tom Dickens at the gate of the court square and mortally wounded. On July 30, 1870, Dickens was waylaid and killed in the Hatchie bottom, a short distant from Memphis. For the killing of Bolton, Dickens was arrested and put under bond of $5,000. After a trial of twenty-seven days, in which the ablest attorneys were engaged, Dickens was declared "not guilty." The trial ended February 12, 1870. In all the litigation but one conviction was secured. The estate involved in the various suits amounted to over $226,000. These were tried before Chancellor McDowell and appealed to the supreme court. The style of the suits before the supreme court were Cannonvs. E. M. Apperson and Maddoxvs. E. M. Apperson. The executor of the will refused payment to some of the legatees on the ground that they had not fulfilled their part in the "infamous lawsuit." The supreme court confirmed most of the clauses of the will.The provision of the will providing for Bolton College in the First District are being carried out. The sale of lands and the other funds amount to about $65,000. Of this $10,000 is to be spent in erecting buildings on the Hoboken plantation about twenty-five miles northeast of Memphis.
The
specific and distinctive office of biography is not to give voice to a
man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to
leave a perpetual record, establishing his character by the consensus of
opinion on the part of his fellowmen. Throughout Memphis Charles
Clinton Hanson is spoken of in terms of admiration and respect. His life
has been so varied in its activities, so honorable in its purposes and
so far-reaching and beneficial in its effect that it has become an
integral part of the history of the city and has left an impress upon
the annals of the state. In no sense a man in public life he has,
nevertheless, exerted an immeasurable influence on Memphis: In business
life as one of the most prominent factors in connection with the cotton
industry; in social circles by reason of a charming personality and
unfeigned cordiality; in public affairs by reason of his devotion to the
general good as well as to his comprehensive understanding of questions
effecting the progress of the municipality and the commonwealth.
Mr.
Hanson was born near Opelika, Alabama, March 29, 1867, and his youthful
days were spent in the usual manner of the farm bred boy. His early
education was acquired in the public schools of his native county and
while the opportunities of a college course were not accorded him he has
remained throughout his life a student of men and affairs, has delved
deep into literature and science and in the school of experience he has
also learned many valuable lessons. He has ever embraced the
opportunities that have come to him, never fearing to venture where
favoring opportunity has pointed out the way. Fortunate in possessing
character and ability that have inspired confidence in others the simple
way of his character and ability has carried him into most important
relations. After leaving home he obtained a position as railroad
telegraph operator at Eufaula, Alabama, and in 1890 he became the agent
for the railroads at that place. Soon afterward, however, he accepted
the position of chief clerk to the traffic manager of the Ocean
Steamship Company and the Central of Georgia Railroad at Savannah,
Georgia, and his next promotion made him terminal agent jointly for the
railroads at Augusta, while still later he was made special agent for
the executive officers of the Central of Georgia Railroad and the Ocean
Steamship Company at Savannah. Each step in his career has been a
forward one, bringing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities and
with his developing powers he has extended his efforts into new fields,
which have eventually brought him to a commanding position as one of the
representatives of the cotton industry in the south. His initial step
in this direction was made in 1898, when he leased the compresses of the
railroad and steamship companies, which he represented and three years
later he was at the head of the Atlantic Compress Company in Atlanta.
Still expanding his interests in this direction he became president of
the Gulf Compress Company in 1902 and in 1908 he came to Memphis, from
which point he owns and controls the long chain of compresses throughout
Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama, which are operated under
the name of the Churchill Compresses. The mammoth enterprise that he has
developed has been most wisely guided through his administrative
direction and executive ability until he today occupies a point of
leadership in business circles, by reason of the extent and importance
of his interests and the keen sagacity which he displays in business
affairs.
In
June, 1889, Mr. Hanson was married to Miss Marie Adele Shorter, a
daughter of Colonel Henry R. Shorter, and they occupy a most attractive
home known as Hansonhurst, on Mr. Hanson's country place near Bolton
College. This excellent educational institution near which he lives owes
its existence in very large measure to the efforts of Mr. Hanson and
Judge Young, who rejuvenated the Bolton College farm, while Mr. Hanson
is now serving as chairman of the board of trustees of the school. For
seven years he occupied the position as a member of the state board of
education and he has been a trustee of the Shelby County Industrial and
Training School. There is no man in Memphis, who has manifested a deeper
or more sincere interest in educational affairs and he has one of the
most comprehensive libraries on education owned individually in the
entire country. Anything which tends to bring to man intellectual freedom
finds in him a stanch supporter. He is now the president of the Bureau
of Municipal Research and the president of the Memphis chapter of the
International Business Science Society. He succeeded the late Dr. R. B.
Maury as head of the Audubon Society for Shelby county and his labors
are a most effective force in the preservation of birds through actual
practice and through propaganda work as well. His farm in the vicinity
of Bolton College is a bird sanctuary. Politically Mr. Hanson is a
democrat but he has never sought nor held public office. No man,
however, more fully realizes the duties and obligations of citizenship
and he has given freely of his time and means in support of all
progressive public movements. He is identified with the Chamber of
Commerce and heartily endorses its thoroughly organized plans for the up
building of the city, the extension of its trade relations and the
advancement of its municipal standards. He is the secretary and
treasurer of the Mississippi Valley Compress Association. Fraternally he
is a Mason, who has taken the degree of both the York and Scottish
Rites and has become a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is also
identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Khorassan and
he has membership in the Kiwanis Club and the Memphis Country Club. He
infuses life and vigor into any organization with which he becomes
identified and he attacks everything with a contagious enthusiasm that
is far reaching in its results
Hansonhurst
Town in northeast Shelby County was a model community founded in the
1920’s by C. C. Hanson on the east side of Brunswick Road, across from
Bolton High School. Hanson claimed that Hansonhurst had greater wealth,
per capita, than any other town in the nation. He called attention to it
with a checkerboard marker at every curve along the crooked road to
Hansonhurst. The primary business was the Hansonhurst Creamery, which
could turn out 6,000 pounds of butter a day.Served
by a two floor ice plant with 25 tons of refrigeration, a 35,000 gallon
water tower stood on a 100 foot steel tower. There also was a gin, a
cotton warehouse, a machine shop, a large barn, two implement sheds, and
an electricity generator. A store in a brick building sold standard
merchandise at chain store prices. Hansonhurst failed in 1929, with the
hit of the Great Depression, and the Mississippi superintendent of banks
came to the Shelby County Courts for a foreclosure auction on the
courthouse steps in which the whole village, creamery and all, sold for
$30,000. Today you can drive past Hansonhurst without knowing you have
been there.
Camille Kelley, Judge of the Shelby County Juvenile Court, 1940
