E.L. Hampton

E.L. Hampton. (March 1, 1861 - November 27, 1941). (1) E.L. Hampton was born March 1, 1861 on a plantation near Winchester, Tennessee. His father was a banker and farmer. When he reached high school age he moved to Decherd with family and friends. He attended school and worked at night., He began his career as a telegraph operator at Stevenson, Alabama. After he had served a number of years in Stevenson, he became a railroad agent for the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad at Tracy City. His experience with the railroad led him into the coal mining industry. When the John H. Inman Group, led by Alfred M. Shook, in intricate corporate maneuvers, caused Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company to be moved from Tracy City to Birmingham in 1904, E.L. Hampton picked up the pieces that were left and organized Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company of which he became president. He also became president of the Nunley Ridge Coal Company at Tracy City and the Whitwell Coal Corporation at Daus, Tennessee., In addition to his coal mining interests, Hampton served as a director of the First National Bank of Tracy City, Bank of Cowan at Cowan, Tennesse, American National Bank, and the Fourth and First National Bank, both of Nashville, Tennessee, Alabama By-Products Corporation and Cumberland Portland Cement Company. Hampton developed the first airfield in Nashville. He was further active in real estate subdivision ventures. He is credited with the development of the Fairfax, Stokes, Hillsboro and Overton Hills subdivisions in Nashville., Hampton was a breeder of and authority on both Tennessee Walking Horses and Angus Cattle. At the age of seventy-eight he won the twelve mile walking horse event at the annual show in Smyrna, Tennessee., E.L. Hampton and Lulu Estelle Robbins married on December 22, 1892 at Tracy City. She was the daughter of Milo and Margaret (Almond) Robbins. Five children were born of the Hamptons, Stanlee Hampton who married Charlotte Sibley, Melinda who married Eben A. Wortham, Loiette who married Foster Hume, Jr., Frances who married Brownlee O. Currey and Lulu Estelle who married Ralph Owen. E.L. Hampton had previously married Lulu Estelle Robbins' sister, Loiette (Etta) Robbins. They had one child, Margaret who married Grover Sykes. Loiette died when Margaret was a baby., The Hamptons maintained a home in Tracy City on the northeast corner of Railroad Avenue and Oak Street. It is a Queen Anne style structure that has been listed on the National Register of Important Places by the United States Secretary of the Interior. In the fall of 1906 the Hamptons moved to Nashville where they maintained a home on West End Boulevard as well as the one In Tracy City., E.L. Hampton died on November 27, 1941 at his home on Lynwood Boulevard in Nashville. Lulu Estelle Hampton followed him in death on February 7, 1947. Both are interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville., E. L. Hampton made an outstanding contribution to the wealth and welfare of Grundy County, Tennessee, and the South. He was a builder of industry, major employer and significant contributor in the development of one of the nation's most beautiful state capitals., (1) Hume, Loiette Hampton, Shoots, Grundy County Historical Society