Today In Johnson City History: Jan. 23

Jan. 23, 1898: One hundred and twenty-five years ago today, The Chattanooga Sunday Times reported stories of especial interest to those in Elizabethton, Jonesboro and Johnson City.Beginning with a dateline from Elizabethton and a date of Jan. 22, readers learned that "James Toncray and Miss Annie Carter were marred on Oct. 16 last. The announcement was not made public until one day last week.""The engine and boiler for the chair factory have arrived. Work will commence Feb. 1.""Dr. D.J. Smith, Jr., will have a new pharmacy here. The Robertson building is being overhauled and the room now presents a tasteful appearance.""The People's bank directors met one day last week and elected the following officers for 1888: W.P. Dunga, president; L.F. Hyder, vice-president; W.E. Hunter, cashier; L.H. Rhudy, assistant cashier. The bank done a good business the past year.""Cards have been issued as follows: 'Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Hunter requests your presence at the marriage of their friend, Miss Lizzie Cruse, to Rev. Barney Thompson, Thursday afternoon, Jan. 27 at 8:30 o'clock, Methodist Episcopal church, south, Elizabethton, Tenn., 1888.""John Kelly and Miss Gertrude Bishop were married at the residence of George Colbaugh, in Turkeytown, Thursday night. Squire John Chamers officiated."With a dateline from Jonesboro and a date from Jan. 22, readers learned that "The unexpected news of the sudden death of Capt. D.G. Charles brings sorrow to the hearts of the many friends who knew him, or, at least, knew of him, through The Chattanooga Times, and who have so often had the pleasure of reading his very valuable and always interesting contributions to that paper.""Col. T.H. Reeves, of Morristown, spent a portion of the day here last Monday mingling with friends.""Miss Neno Pritchard expects to leave next Monday for Washington City, where she will be the guest for a time of Miss Pritchard, daughter of Senator J.C. Pritchard.""Rev. Lewis, pastor of the First Presbyterian church, who has been making his home at Leesburg for some time, has become a citizen of Jonesboro again.""Pres. Jas. T. Carter, of Washington college, filled the pulpit of the Second Presbyterian church last Sabbath.""The funeral services of Miss Anna Keebler, a very estimable young lady of this place, who died at the residence of John Keebler, near Limestone, Saturday night, were held in the Second Presbyterian church last Sunday afternoon, Rev. James T. Carter officiating.""Rev. A.I. Myhr is conducting a very interesting series of gospel meetings at the Christian church this week.""The State W.C.T.U. will meet here about the latter part of September or first of October next. Some sixty delegates will probably be in attendance.""Some preliminary correspondence is now being carried on between certain parties which it is hoped will eventually result in the establishment of a roller process flouring mill here in Jonesboro.""Rev. John S. Eskin returned from Clover Bottom last Thursday, where he and Rev. D.N. Good have been conducting a very interesting series of meetings for some days."News items with a dateline from Johnson City and a date from January 22 included the following: "LaFayette Haire and Miss Mary E. Pry were quietly married at the residence of the bride in East Carnegie on Wednesday evening of last week, Rev. D.L. Lauder officiating.""Invitations have been sent out announcing the marriage of Miss Nannie Martin to John F. Fountain Wednesday morning, Jan. 26, at the M.E. church, south. The nuptials will be very brilliant and elaborate.""Dr. and Mrs. J.A. Denton gave a pleasant dining to a few of their friends last Friday. Those present were: Dr. and Mrs. L.R. Caldwell and son, Will; Mrs. Collins and sister, Mrs. Mitchell; Mrs. Wagoner and daughter, Miss Leoue; Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Wells and Miss Dora Cargille.""Tuesday night in the office of T.A. Cox the young men of the town organized a literary society. Those admitted as members were: William Caldwell, Charles Cargille, Charles Taylor, Adam Crouch, Henry Erwin, Taylor Dyer, Haskiel Dyer, A.H. Hughes, Thomas Jones, Fred Haas, Earl Jackson, George Hayes, Will Haas, Yulee Dyer and Eddie Wade.""G.C. Harris and J.M. Huck have purchased six lots from the Johnson City Real Estate company, near the old furniture factory, and are erecting buildings on the same preparatory to placing a saw mill and other machinery for the purpose of manufacturing all kinds of dimension stock, such as hoe handles, fork handles, etc. They expect to have the factory in operation in about thirty days.""F B. St. John will begin the manufacture of cob pipes in a week or two.""Miss Cora Naff, of Greeneville, is the guest of Mrs. Dr. S.A. Bowman.""Hugh J. Waggoner, of Mountain City, was the guest of his cousin, Mayor Faw, last week."Major and Mrs. Wallace Hahn were in the news again this week. "Maj. Wallace Hahn and Mrs. Hahn, of Cranberry, are at Mrs. C.K. Lyde's. Mr. Hahn is seriously ill with heart trouble and is here to be treated.""Miss Campbell, who has been the guest of Miss Lucille Hall for the past month, returned to her home in Greeneville Monday."Haynes Miller also continued to be in the news again this week. "Haynes Miller, the eldest son of Dr. W.J. Miller, has been quite ill for several days, but is improving."Jonesboro was spelled that way in 1898.Turkeytown is a community in Carter County.Washington City is now known as Washington, D.C.Leesburg is a community in rural Washington County.In 1898, Washington College was both an educational institution as well as a community in rural Washington County.East Carnegie was a neighborhood in Johnson City."Mrs. Dr. S.A. Bowman" meant that Mrs. Bowman's husband was a physician.Mountain City is located in Johnson County and is about 44 miles from Johnson City.Cranberry, North Carolina, is located about 26 miles from Johnson City.The Chattanooga Sunday Times was published as the Chattanooga Daily Times the other days of the week. It is now published online as the Chattanooga Times Free Press. We do not have access to any daily newspapers that may have been published in Johnson City in 1898; however, The Comet was published on a weekly basis.Would you like to be in contact with Rebecca Henderson? Do you have a comment or a suggestion about today's column? Reach out to her at rhenderson@johnsoncitypress.com.