J. W. Clift

       
   J. W. Clift, bookkeeper and manager of the Soddy Coal Company store since 1874, and one of the principal stockholders of the same, was born in 1828. He is a son of William and Nancy A. (Brooks) Clift, and was born and reared in Hamilton County. He was educated principally at the common schools, and attended two terms at Harrison Academy. In 1849 he married Miss McKenzie, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth F. (Huston) McKenzie. Nine children were the fruits of this union, six of whom are living: Nancy E. (Mrs. Miles); William, bookkeeper for the Soddy Coal Company; Nina Wallace, Joseph W., Aldine, Wingenund (deceased), Bruce and James. Mr. Clift is of Scotch-Irish descent. In 1861 he enlisted in the war and served almost continuously until the final surrender. He was made captain of Company A, Thirty-sixth Tennessee Infantry, and upon the reorganization he came home for a short time. He enlisted shortly after in Capt. Starne's company, Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, and was promoted to a lieutenancy, and shortly thereafter detached and placed upon duty in the adjutant-general's department where he served until the close of the war. He was paroled at Meridian, Miss., May 13, 1865. Mr. Clift is actively engaged in several mining and manufacturing enterprises. He is one of the principal stockholders in the Soddy Coal Company, Walden's Ridge Coal Company, of Sale Creek, Tennessee, and in the Owita Coal Company, of Arkansas, and he is also connected with the rolling mill, at Chattanooga. The Soddy Coal Mines were first opened by a company of Welshmen from Ohio in 1867. Mr. Clift is a Democrat in politics, and he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
Goodspeed's "History of East Tennessee" 1887