posted February 13, 2008
The early Schoolfields were Quakers, but some of the Chattanooga Schoolfields were fiery attorneys. One of the most colorful of all was Raulston Schoolfield.
The Schoolfields had estates near the River Roch near Manchester, England. Ellis Schoolfield was a farmer in Lancashire County, who married Alice Rawsthorn in 1666. Their son, John (1667), made his way to Pennsylvania. He had a son, John, who was born around 1700. In 1724, this John Schoolfield married Ann Lenoir, whose parents, Isaac and Ann Lenoir, were French Hugenots who had been banished from Arcadia. The marriage was in Bucks County, Pa. John and Ann Schoolfield had nine children.
One of these was David Schoolfield, who was born in 1736 - the same year the Schoolfield home burned. They were living at the time at Lakasha Village.
David Schoolfield married Rachel Greave, who was from New Castle, Del. When they were married in 1763 they were introduced to their fellow Quakers at the Kennett Meeting House in Chester County, Pa.
The David Schoolfields had eight children. They lived a short time at New Castle, then moved on to Cockeysville, Md., in 1769 and to Westminster, Md., in 1772.
Their son, Aaron Schoolfield, was born July 29, 1775, while the family was still in Maryland.
Aaron Schoolfield moved with his mother from Maryland to Fairfax, Va., when he was 14. He moved to Warren County, Va., when he was 18. In 1803, he moved to Campbell County, Va. That year he married Malinda Doyl Lawler, daughter of James and Ruth Matthews Lawler.
Aaron and Malinda Schoolfield moved in the 1820s to the Sequatchie Valley of Bledsoe County. Aaron was a physician. He died near Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 8, 1843. Malinda died in 1863 in Pikeville.
Their children were James Lawler, David Rittenhouse, Charles, Letitia (Lucy), Jane Elvira, Virginia Ann, Pocahontas (Pun), William Alexander and Oliver Perry.
William Alexander Schoolfield was born Aug. 31, 1819, in Bledsoe County and lived his whole life at Pikeville. He married Mary S. Brown, daughter of William Lilly and Nancy Humphrey Brown, on April 27, 1847. William A. Schoolfield was a farmer. When he died in 1899, he was one of Bledsoe County's most highly esteemed citizens.
Their children were Pocahontas (Pun), Robert Brown, Lucy M., Martha Virginia, Edith, Henry Floyd and William A.
Robert Brown Schoolfield was a widely-known attorney and judge at Pikeville. He was still on the bench until a short time before he died in 1942 when he was 93. He was "a colorful character both off and on the bench. He often passed sentence on minor culprits without waiting to hear evidence, but few defendants ever questioned the accuracy of his decisions as to their guilt or innocence." He attended Sequatchie College from 1866 to 1869 and became a lawyer in 1875. Robert Brown Schoolfield was circuit court clerk of Bledsoe County from 1873 to 1878, and he was clerk and master from 1882 to 1913. He resigned when President Woodrow Wilson appointed him postmaster. When a general sessions court was established in Bledsoe County in 1941, he was chosen as judge, though he was 91. A Methodist, Mason, Shriner and Knight Templar, he was a close friend of Gov. Bob Taylor and Congressman John A. Moon. He married Lizzie Stanfield of Kingston in 1886.
William A. Schoolfield, younger brother of Robert Brown Schoolfield, also became a lawyer. But first he went west for several years and was a cowboy. He rode the range in Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and Old Mexico. He returned to Tennessee and attended Sequatchie College. He obtained his law degree at Cumberland University School of Law. He set up his law practice in the spring of 1887.
William A. Schoolfield, on July 4, 1887, married Keturah "Kittie" Henson - the "most beautiful girl in the valley." They lived for a short time in Wichita Falls, Tex., then they moved to Chattanooga. There he set up a law practice with his brother, Robert Brown Schoolfield. R.B. Schoolfield soon moved back to Pikeville. William A. Schoolfield opened his office in the White Block that had just been erected. He stayed at the same location throughout his long career as a Chattanooga lawyer.
William A. Schoolfield was so dedicated to helping his clients that he was known as "Fighting Billy Schoolfield." He represented "rich and poor, white and colored." Like many of the Schoolfields, he "had an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes." W.A. Schoolfield is said to have had perhaps the largest number of individual clients of any lawyer who ever practiced in Chattanooga. In the courtroom, he "gave no quarter, nor did he ask it." He was the first Republican to be elected county attorney. He was a candidate for the state Senate and for Congress.
William A. Schoolfield was successful in his law practice and built a handsome brick home on an eminence of Forrest Avenue in North Chattanooga.
He had practiced 45 years in Chattanooga when he died in 1931 at the age of 69. He fell dead of a stroke while walking up the County Courthouse steps to handle a case for a black client.
The children of William A. and Kittie Henson Schoolfield were Johnnie, Henson Worthington, Marie Perdita, William Brown, Kittie B., James Aaron, Scott Raulston and Floyd Love (female).
Henson Schoolfield likewise was an attorney. He earned his law degree at the Chattanooga College of Law, and he practiced several years with his father. Later his law partner was Benny Cash. Henson Schoolfield had a reputation as a fighter in the courtroom. It was said he "would fight a bitter battle to the end as long as he thought his client was in the right." Henson Schoolfield had a reputation for "unblemished honesty and integrity." He was chairman of the Chattanooga Bar Association grievance committee and he waged a campaign against some attorneys he felt were unscrupulous. It was said he "may have been lacking in the friendship of some attorneys, but not in their respect." Later, he was chairman of the Tennessee Bar Association grievance committee. Henson Schoolfield was also an outdoorsman.
His wife, Mary Emma, was orginally from Bristol, Tn. They lived at 535 Forrest Ave. It was just up from the Schoolfield mansion that had been sold after the death of William A. Schoolfield along with several family farms.
Henson Schoolfield was just 55 when he suffered heart attacks on successive days in 1946. He had a daughter, Mrs. Walter Grace of Fort Myers, Fla. Mrs. Henson Schoolfield was living with her daughter in Florida when she died in July 1982.
William Brown Schoolfield also lived in North Chattanooga at 804 Albany St. At one time he worked for the federal government in the naval gun factory in Washington, D.C. He was a lifetime member of Forrest Avenue Methodist Church. He married Dorothy Faye Cureton. They had a daughter, Mrs. Jane C. Smalley of Chattanooga.
James Schoolfield was lame.
Of the girls, Johnnie married Ossie W. Russ and Marie married T. Frederick Dunham, who was the postmaster at Cleveland, Tn. Kittie married Cliff Keho, and they were both educators in Iowa. Floyd Love married Matt Bates, and they lived in Dalton and later Marietta.
Raulston Schoolfield attended Baylor School, then went to Cumberland Law School. As a criminal lawyer, he became well-known for his skills in defending clients and in cross-examination of witnesses. It was said he had one of the best legal minds in Tennessee. Another acquaintance said he "had a way of getting to the common man. . . to the everyday walk of life." It was said that Raulston Schoolfield "was so adept as a lawyer that seemingly he could take either side of a lawsuit and win." He was a great admirer of Thomas Jefferson and his principles of government.
Raulston Schoolfield ran for criminal court judge as a Democrat in 1948, though his father had been a staunch Republican. During the campaign his exposure of suspected corruption led to the dismissal of several election officials. He won the judgeship, defeating Tom Myers.
In 1954, he waged an unsuccessful campaign for governor on a segregationist platform. This complex character later took great pride in the fact that he impaneled the first black juror to serve in Hamilton County since Reconstruction days.
In 1958, he was accused of judicial misconduct and was impeached by the state Legislature and lost his law license. But he remained a great favorite of the people, and he was elected to a seat on the County Council. He was county building commissioner for a short time. When he was 68, he won a race for General Sessions Court judge. At that time, it was not necessary to have a law license to serve in that post. He was one of the most colorful judges at the courthouse and was a master storyteller with an intimate knowledge of the Civil War and Chattanooga history. He declined to wear a robe when he presided, and he smoked while on the bench. He allowed others in the courtroom to smoke also, saying it made them more relaxed. Once his bench literally caught on fire - whether from one of his cigarettes or faulty wiring. The fire department was summoned to put it out.
Raulston Schoolfield had gone to Coin, Iowa, as a young man to visit his sister, Kittie, and there he met Bess Hensleigh. They were married, but she died during the birth of a son, William Hensleigh Schoolfield. Hensleigh Schoolfield was raised by his grandparents in Iowa. He became a farmer and cattle buyer. Hensleigh Schoolfield would regularly visit his father and step-brothers in Chattanooga.
Raulston Schoolfield later married Julia McReynolds of Pikeville. They had two sons, Scott McReynolds and Carter Henson.
It was said that Raulston Schoolfield was a friend of presidents, governors and senators, but he lived among the common citizens and he never sought great wealth or its trappings." He said, "My father was a lawyer and well-to-do. I went to Baylor and could travel in the circles with the big shots, but I never chose to run with them. And they never had any influence over me when I was judge." He lived for many years in St. Elmo at 4430 Seneca Ave. When he first lived there, the phone number was just first digits - 3417. Later, the family moved to 922 Belvoir Ave. Judge Schoolfield died at that home at the age of 76 on Oct. 5, 1982. Just hours before he had been "the life of the party" at the "Love of Chattanooga" awards dinner at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. He also had just been elected to another eight-year term as judge.
His son, Scott Schoolfield, graduated from Chattanooga High School and the University of Tampa. His graduate work was at the University of Chattanooga. He had a career as an Air Force pilot, then he became human services director for Hamilton County - overseeing the county parks. His children are Karen, a nurse who married Timothy Brown; Jennifer Lynn, Kevin Raulston who has a heating and air conditioning firm, and Julia Katrina, who married Frank Daniel. Kevin Raulston Schoolfield has a son, Spencer, who is a student at McCallie School.
Carter Schoolfield graduated from Chattanooga High School and the University of Chattanooga. He studied law at Cumberland Law School and was an attorney, then he began operating Nichols Marine. His sons are William Scott, general manager of Nichols Marine, and Carter Jr., who has a plumbing business. Children of William Scott Schoolfield are Allison, who married Andrew Burke; and Eric William. Carter Schoolfield Jr. has three sons, Aaron Thomas, Robert Henson and James Carter.
The beautiful Schoolfield mansion at 502 Forrest Ave. was converted to apartments. Then it was restored in 2000 as a single-family home by Sid and Colette Huntley.
A book giving the history of the Schoolfield family is at the Chattanooga Library in the local history and genealogy department.
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