Judge Robert B. Capshaw, the oldest lawyer of the Cookeville bar and one of the best known citizens of Putnam county, died Tuesday afternoon, at the Cookeville hospital following an illness of several weeks. His condition for several days had been very grave and, as a last resort, an operation was decided upon. He was taken to the hospital Monday evening and underwent an operation for a serious stomach trouble that night. His death occurred at 2:30 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. Throughout his illness he exhibited great fortitude and optimism. It was hoped, following the operation, that he might recover, but his weakness and age combined with the very grave malady from which he suffered was too great a tax upon his impaired strength, and, notwithstanding all that medical and surgical skill and the most devoted nursing could accomplish, he passed away Tuesday afternoon.
Judge Capshaw was seventy-two years old. He has been a resident of Cookeville
since his young manhood and had been a member of the Cookeville bar for about fifty
years. He lived an active and industrious life, and, as the result of his own efforts
and close attention to his business, he attained unusual success. He was well known
throughout this section of the state and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who
knew him. He had been a member of the Christian church since his young manhood, and
during his final illness he always expressed a desire to recover and to be spared to
his family, but the same time declared that should his illness prove to be fatal, he
would die in the full enjoyment of Christian hope and that he was not afraid to die.
He is survived by his widow, and by three sons: E. W. Capshaw, of Florida, and C. P. and H. J. Capshaw, of New York City, all three of whom are attorneys. All of his sons were with him in his final illness.
Funeral services, attended by the many relatives andfriends, were conducted Wednesday afternoon, followed by interment of the remains in the Cookeville cemetery.
Thus passes away another pioneer of Cookeville who has long lived and labored in our midst. He was the last surviving member of the group of Cookeville's early lawyers, generally referred to as the old Cookeville Bar. They are now all gone. Their races are finished. Our Community owes much to them. Peace to their memory.
The above document was typed from a photo-copy of the original newspaper item. The sons, E. W., C. P. and H. J. are Estle W., Coran P. and Hulon J. Their middle initials are just that. There were no middle names given to either son.
During a two and one-half hour conversation with Leigh Richmond Read Capshaw, son of Estle W., and grand-son of Robert Byrd, interesting side lights to Robert Byrd's life came up.
There is a school in Cookeville, built on land donated by Robert Byrd Capshaw, which is named after him.
The old homesite is on Broad Street. The library is now situated there.
A large subdivision containing upper-middle class to moderately wealthy style homes is located on some of the property formerly owned by Robert Byrd Capshaw.
In my possession, and unknown to Leigh Capshaw, I have a copy of a letter written by Robert Byrd to a cousin. (See last section of document) During my discussion with Leigh, he mentioned that he had a letter written to a cousin, which had the signature of Robert Byrd, except that the signature is Robert BIRD. In every court document I found during my short stay in Cookeville, the signature was R. B. Capshaw, with neither first or middle name being shown. Leigh attempted to determine the real spelling of the middle name, but could not. On the original papers I received from Eloise Talley, showing this man's heritage, the name was shown as Robert Bird. The school, and his tombstone show Robert Byrd Capshaw.
VOLUME I
Atlanta, GA.
Southern Historical Association
1905
pages 295-299
R. B. Capshaw, ex-special judge of Cookeville, Tenn., was born in Warren County, that state, Oct. 13, 1852. His parents were James W. and Nancy (Parsley) Capshaw, both natives of Tennessee. The father was a farmer, and for many years a justice of the peace; was a worthy and useful citizen and highly respected by those who knew him; was well versed in law and acquainted with human nature as well; was often sought by his neighbors and friends who needed advice, his suggestions and judgment keeping many a man from useless and costly litigation and smoothing over difficulties in a manner entirely satisfactory to all. He believed in getting and giving value received; lived up to his contracts and avoided taking undue advantage of any man; was opposed to succession, believing it was wrong, but when the states seceded, he cheerfully cast his lot with them and gave his voice and influence to the war; was too old to go to the front, but sent a son. He was a member of the Christian church, and gave liberally of his means for its support. Judge Capshaw's grandparents were James and Peggy(1) (Tabor) Capshaw. The grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier, and in that service lost his health, never fully recovering from the effects of his trying experiences. He settled in Warren county, Tenn., before the beginning of the nineteenth century. He belonged to that branch of the Baptist church that believed strongly in predestination and foreordination, and he was firmly grounded in those doctrines, his family being of the same opinions. He died well advanced in years(2)). His wife reached the age of ninety years. They reared a family of six or seven children. Judge Capshaw's mother was the daughter of Anthony W. Parsley, an ardent Whig in the ante-bellum days and accustomed to attend gatherings such as sales, musters, etc., imbibing as was common in those times. He occasionally got to the point of "feeling good." He never liked a Tory, and once, while in this condition, narrowly escaped trouble by delivering himself of the following to one of the disliked tribe: "He that would take up a Tory and throw away a Whig is worse than a sow that would eat up her pigs." He and his wife reared twelve children, all of whom grew to maturity and married, but are now deceased. Two of the sons were James and Brice, the former of whom took up the side of the Union, and the latter of the Confederacy, and, by a strange coincidence, both were killed at the battle of Stone River. Judge Capshaw's mother died April 1, 1889. The Parsley family settled on Caney Fork river, in DeKalb county, Tenn. Later Anthony W. Parsley sold for $1,200 his large tract of land, which would now bring $100,000, went to Kentucky, and died in the hills of that state at an advanced age. His wife died at the age of seventy years. Judge Capshaw is one of five children(3). Mary Jane was appointed postmistress at Mountain Creek, Tenn., when eighteen years of age; held that office for thirty-five years, under various administrations, and died while holding the position. She was appointed to the office during the U. S. Grant administration, in 1869, and her age at death was about fifty-three. She received the appointment because she was highly educated, had a wonderful aptness for business, and was an excellent scribe and quick of discrimination. The office served patrons for a radius of ten miles, and, as many of them were poor writers or could nor write at all, she wrote for much of them. She was the friend and benefactor of all, and there was no desire on the part of the patrons of the office for a change. One of the children, Washington(4), enlisted in 1861, in the Confederate service, in Capt. John W. Yowles' company; was made an orderly sergeant; was in the service a short time, when he took measles, and died at the age of twenty-two years. His regiment was in General Hardee's command. James H.(5) was the third of the children. He was well educated, and was for some time a successful dentist at Mountain Creek, Tenn. David,(6) the fourth child, died young. The fifth, R. B. Capshaw, the subject of this sketch, was educated at Middleton seminary, in Warren county, and later at the Masonic institute, Hartsville, Tenn. He completed a commercial course and attained a reasonable proficiency in science and art; then read law under Judge B. M. Webb, at Cookeville, where he moved in 1873; was admitted to the bar in 1874, under Judge N. W. McConnell and W. G. Crowley; at once commenced to practice, but later removed to Woodbury, in 1877, where he became a member of the firm Burton, Jones & Capshaw, which continued for eighteen months. John W. Burton was chancellor of the third division, and Maj. James A. Jones was a state senator. Mr. Capshaw returned to Cookeville, in 1878, and has remained there ever since, engaged in the practice of law, first with Capt. H. H. Dillard, and later with Hon. H. Denton, and remained with the latter eight or ten years. He was connected with good lawyers for some time, but for the last fifteen years he has practiced alone. Judge Capshaw was made chancellor of the fifth division, by commission of Governor Turney, in 1893, and has held circuit court by appointment, acting as trial judge. He was married Dec. 2, 1883, in Cookeville, to Miss Alice G., daughter of J. M. and Sallie (Barnes) Whitson, of Cookeville, natives of Tennessee. Three sons have been born to Judge and Mrs. Capshaw: Estle W., who has obtained his certificate as a state normal teacher of Tennessee. He taught his first school when seventeen years of age, and is a young man of much promise. His patrons say of him: "He taught an excellent school." He is now a highly respected student of the University of Tennessee, at Knoxville. Coran P., the second son, has also secured his state certificate. He was asked to take a school when but fifteen years old, and accepted, teaching without criticism from parents or pupils, with one exception, that of a Mormon family who were refused the use of the school building by him, on the advice of the school board, the Mormons desiring to use it as a preaching place, to which the patrons of the school objected. Coran is a genial, courteous, affable and bright boy, a born political "mixer", a great favorite, with perhaps not a single enemy. He is now finishing his course of study in the Cookeville Collegiate institute. Hulon J., is a bright promising boy, also a student in Cookeville Collegiate institute. Mr. and Mrs. Capshaw are members of the Christian church, in which he holds the office of deacon. He stands well among the business people; does business for the leading firms; is well acquainted with the commercial standing of the people engaged in affairs; and his advice or opinion along commercial lines is often sought, not only by those at home, but by parties from abroad. Judge Capshaw has been a close student of affairs. When a student he thought it proper to educate himself, and did not consider it beneath his dignity to work in payment for his board. At the same time, he kept good company and maintained a character above reproach, although he was looked down upon by some for cutting wood, mowing lawns, etc., while posing as a gentleman. But time brings changes, and today he could buy out the half-dozen who sneered at him and still have money left. As one of the directors and organizers of the Overton Telephone Company, organized at Lexington, Tenn., during the formulation of the constitution and by-laws, he opposed the incurring of any debt by the company until money was in sight to meet it, but was outvoted. A year later the company was greatly in debt, and his original position was recognized to have been the correct one. Then he was elected president unanimously, and held the position until the dissolution of the company. His plan of procedure and the confidence placed in him by the company enabled him to pay much of the debt, but the company was finally sold out by a trustee before the entire debt could be liquidated, giving emphasis to the truism that "dollars are much better than prospects in the matter of debt-paying." We omitted to say that, while Judge Capshaw was a student, working his way in the Masonic institute, at Hartsville, Tenn., the boys and girls attempted to guy him, by electing him president of a fashionable literary society, thinking he was illiterate and unable to fill the place. But, by his untiring energy, he filled the presidential chair to their great surprise and admiration. He was re-elected by a unanimous vote for two years, or until he finished his course of study at that school.
I received this letter in a packet of information from John Chandler Capshaw, Houston,TX. /s/Jerry E. Capshaw
8/12/1916
Miss Connie Capshaw Pulaski, Tenn.
My Dear Cousin
About the 8th of April I wrote you and received your letter of the 14th in regard to our relation. Since receiving your letter many times I have thought of answering it but business and other things have caused my delay. I assure you that I have not intentionally neglected you and hope that this explanation will explain my delay.
I knew your father quite well when he lived in DeKalb County, T-- and read in your letter with sorrowful feelings of his death, He was a big hustling young man and your mother was of good family connections and I am not surprised to find his family making their mark in the battle of life. I would love to speak a word of encouragement to you children. It seems that we have had a mark of distinction from the days that our common ancestor Essex L. Capshaw who came from Scotland to Baltimore in 1740 of --- ship.
I have just read a letter from Mrs. Jennie Borders, of Louisville, Ky. who is at present a stenographer for the Palmer agency of that city. Her maiden name was Jennie B. Capshaw, daughter of Joseph Capshaw, who was a brother of your grandfather. It would be a pleasure to me to see you and your brothers and sisters as well as your mother, I am sure we could talk about relationships with a degree of interest. It seems that our parents and their ancestors failed to keep a family record as should have been kept from Essex L. down to the present. I am proud of you and your situation and feel sure that you will make your mark in the world and teach others to prepetuate the name, and while I expect at no distant day you may ex-change your name for another yet I feel that the great caution which is the ---spring of our success will cause you to step higher should you make such an exchange.
Don't forget me when you are leisure write me as I will read your letters with great pleasure.
Remember me to your brothers, mother and sisters and tell them if they are ever here look me up.
I remain your cousin
R.(obert) B.(yrd) Capshaw