Lasley Brothers Occupied 2 Of Cameron Hill's Oldest Mansions

Two Lasley brothers for many years occupied two of Cameron Hill's oldest mansions.

Theodore Hamilton Lasley was a pioneer in Coca Cola bottling, and he remained on the East Terrace until his death when he was 91 in 1954. William Hamilton Lasley Jr. remained on Cameron Hill until he built a new home on McCallie Avenue about 1909.

The Lasleys, like the Montagues who also had mansions on Cameron Hill, were from Pomeroy, Ohio. Their father was Judge William Hamilton Lasley and their mother was Frances Maria Montague. She was a sister of the early Chattanooga banker Theodore Giles Montague and Langdon Evans Montague.

T.H. Lasley was born in the Civil War year of 1862. He came to Chattanooga in 1883 a few months after completing the University of Michigan. The Lasley brothers became involved in the Montagues' First National Bank as well as the family's pipe works. After working several years at the bank, the brothers went into clay manufacturing and paving for themselves. They headed the Southern Clay Manufacturing Company and the Southern Paving and Construction Company.

The Lasley brothers lived at 414 (714) Oak, then in 1895 they moved into an historic home at 229 East Terrace. This had been the former home of David B. Woodworth, a New York native who went to work in a tannery as a boy. He came south in 1870 and established a tannery in western Virginia before moving on to Chattanooga in 1876.

He built two tanneries here that were the first large ones in the South. He was the manager for the J.B. Hoyt Tannery that was just below Cameron Hill. Later, he managed the Chattanooga Coffin & Casket Company. He was a member of the city's first Board of the Sinking Fund. He was an officer of the First Methodist Church. Woodworth married Mary North, of New York, and their son was Clement N. Woodworth.

David Woodworth lived at 229 East Terrace until about 1890 when he moved nearby to 230 Prospect (Boynton Terrace) St. He afterward built a large two-story brick house at 908 E. 9th St.

It was said of David Woodworth that he was "a benefit to the community through his kindly acts, his good life and his services in promoting the material welfare of the city.

William R. Wilson, who took over the management of the tannery (later owned by Fayerweather and Ladew), lived at 229 East Terrace for several years. The Lasley brothers were living there in 1895 and 1896. The next year T.H. Lasley took a room at the Read House, then by 1898 he was ensconced in another of the East Terrace palatial homes at 213 East Terrace, while William H. kept 229 East Terrace.

This was the home that General John T. Wilder had occupied with his large family for the years he was overseeing the Roane Iron Company and serving as the city's mayor and postmaster. In July 1886, as he moved away to Johnson City, he had sold the 113 home for $15,000 to Harvey Smith Ladew, a wealthy New Yorker who was a leader in the tanning business. The Ladews were seldom in Chattanooga and the home mainly sat empty.

It featured a ballroom on the third floor, a wine cellar, walk-in safe, mahogany paneling, marble bathroom fixtures and solid brick walls a foot thick.

T.H. Lasley was able to afford the mansion through his paving profits, but also from a wise involvement in the earliest days of Coca Cola bottling. He was a close friend of Ben F. Thomas, one of the three original founders. T.H. Lasley was a director of Coca Cola Thomas for over half a century and for over 40 years was a director of Coca Cola Bottling of Memphis. He was associated with William O. Washburn in the early days of the bottling of Coca Cola in Cincinnati.

T.H. Lasley married Florence Foster of Elyria, Ohio. Their daughters were Gwendolyn who married Edward Easton, Eleanor who married Robert A. Shackleford, and Theodora who married George Ridgely.

T.H. Lasley was still living at the big old house on Cameron Hill in 1954 when he was 91.

It later was occupied by T.L. Kelley, who was awarded $37,000 for it by a jury of view. It included 2.2 acres, drives and flower gardens, and the servant and carriage houses. The Kelleys had wanted at least $50,000.

A few years later, the elaborate home was knocked down by forces of Urban Renewal. The 12-inch-thick brick walls did not save it.