Miss Marie Rogers and J.A. Irvine Wedding Invitation

James A. Irvine was the son of Benjamin D. Irvine and Agnes Moran.  Agnes was one of John W. Moran's sisters so this invitation was for John W. and his wife, Sophia Gunn Moran to attend the wedding of his nephew James Irvine.

The Gunn Connection

Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn, a prominent Nashville Dentist, and Caroline M. Morehead were the parents of several children.  One of them was Sophia Riley Gunn who went on to marry John Williamson Moran.  Together they had five children and are responsible for building the lovely Victorian home in Dresden, TN for their family.  

When researching the family history I've noticed that a lot of people don't seem to know, or at least don't bother to mention, that he was staying at the home of his daughter Sophia at the time of his passing.  Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn's obituary can be found at The Nashville City Cemetery website.  The information was originally published in September 7, 1917 in Modern Methods, Article XI entitled "The City Cemetery" by Charles A. Marlin.


Dr. Lyman Taft Gunn - Born at Montague, Mass., April 1, 1810, died in Dresden, Tenn., December 1, 1890, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Sophia Gunn Moran.  He was a descendant of the Montague's of England, his mother being a Montague, and was also connected with the Taft family.  He spent the early years of his life with Mrs. Taft (grandmother of ex-President Taft) after the death of his mother.  Dr. Gunn was educated in Boston, Mass., and attended the Dental Department of the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated in dentistry.  He came to Nashville a few years before the war, and was one of the first dentists of Nashville, being associated with Dr. Morgan and practiced his profession over forty years, in this city.  His office was on what was then known as Spring street, and was one of the leading citizens of Nashville, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church.


For pictures and more detailed information about the Gunn Family and the Nashville City Cemetery check out my other blog post after we visited Nashville in July. 

Nathan M. Shumate, Uncovered

Nathan M. Shumate has been somewhat of a mystery to us and led to a lot of speculation about his family life and what he might look like.   As with all research projects speculation gives way to truth as more facts come to light.  Ancestry.com provided some Census information but that was about it.  Google searches provided hits to newspapers of the time which proved very useful and provided entertaining and enlightening tidbits of information to know about him. But I was not able to locate anything supporting his daughters handwritten note that gave his date of death as March 3, 1899, 8 a.m.  Till tonight.

And now we know because in the Semi-Weekly Interior Journal of Kentucky, dated March 7, 1899, his death is mentioned twice.  Nathan M. Shumate died of pneumonia, though we suspect it might've been tuberculosis, and he was buried near Brodhead, Kentucky.

Mr. J.C. McClary attended the burial of N.M. Shumate near Brodhead Sunday.  Pneumonia was the cause of his death.








Mrs. Belle Gentry, of Newburn, Tenn., who came to attend the burial of her brother, N.M. Shumate, of Rockcastle, is the guest of Mrs. Eliza Blain.