Winston Fearn Garth
The Piedmont Stock Farm on Whitesburg Drive was the home of Winston. F. Garth. Built in the late 1800's, the house was designed by Huntsville architect Edgar L. Love. (Vanished Houses) |
Active in Business and Politics
Notes:
• Son of William Willis and Maria Fearn Garth. - Ancestry.com
• His father bought the land now known as Jones Valley in 1881 from John Drake. - Nilsson
• Born in the Fearn-Garth Home on Franklin Street. - Nilsson
• University of the South at Sewanee and University of Virginia (Law). - Nilsson
• Married a distant cousin, Lena Garth, daughter of Horace E. Garth president of the Mechanics Bank of New York City on April 18, 1883 at Lena's father's home in NYC, NY. - Nilsson
• Father of:
1.) William Willis Garth, born in Huntsville Feb 24, 1884, lived in Huntsville, AL.
2.) Alice Dashiell Garth, born in Huntsville, Feb. 10, 1887 and died in 1985. She married George Castleman Estill they lived in Miami FL.
3.) Maria Fearn Garth Inge, born in Huntsville, July 5, 1890, AL, married Francis Marion Inge, MD. They lived in Mobile, AL.
4.) Horace Everett Garth, born Nov. 29, 1905 and died March 2, 1920. - Ancestry.com
• June 3, 897: "'The Monte Sano Light Guards' was the name of the military company mustered into service and organized last week. Col. W. F. Garth, a member of Gov. Johnston's staff, mustered the boys in and administered the oaths. Dr. R. M. Fletcher was elected Captain." - Eden
• State senator and one of the most prominent figures in the area. - Find A Grave
• Active in politics (chairman of the Madison County Democratic Committee and was on the Governor's staff). - Nilsson
• Breeder of harness horses (trotting horses). "His horses won many races, though, ironically, William never bet on any races himself." - Reeves
• In the early part of the 1900s this couple owned the Monte Sano Hotel. - Huntsville Times
• Served on the building committee for the Elks Theater. - Elks
• "W. F. Garth remodeled the Elks Theatre, replacing scenery that had been used for 20 years." - Eden
• On the Jury Commission 1911 -1919. - Record I
• County commissioner, 1907. - Record I
• Alabama Senate, 1923-1927 - Record I
• Governor's Delegate, Goods Road Conference, 1910; County Council of Defense, 1917; State Board of Agriculture, 1923. - Record I
• "The Madison County Farm Bureau was organized in 1921, as was the Alabama State Tax League, headed by Huntsville's W. F. Garth, President." - Record II
• Commissioner to Tennessee Centennial, 1896; Aide De Camp to Governor of Alabama. - Record II
• Home called the Piedmont (on Whitesburg Drive) burned in 1930. - Nilsson
• "Piedmont, the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Garth, was gay with lights the night of February 24, 1897. Carriages wound up the long driveway to the block at the front steps, deposited their occupants and drove around the circle to the rock on the side. Mr. and Mrs. Garth received the guests in the library. Punch, highly spiked, was served in the hall. Tables were set in the parlor and dining room. The guests wandered from room to room commenting on the beauty and charm of the hostess and the graciousness of the host. They were a couple to admire.
Mrs. Garth was a stately blonde, a Vassar graduate, a hostess whose every thought was for the comfort of her guests. No one in Huntsville had a better command of English or a keener sense of humor. Many persons, however, looked only at her dignified mien and noting the high standard which she held for all work, and behavior, considered her haughty. She required rigid observance of etiquette from her children and from those who served her. She required perfection in cleanliness in all who worked in the house, in the yard or in her garden. Sometimes she had great difficulty in training her servants to her standards.
On one occasion, for instance, she was entertaining guests at dinner when her maid, Rosetta, had been out of the cotton field only a few days. Everything went smoothly until the salad was served. Mrs. Garth then said, 'Rosetta, you have forgotten the salad oil. Go and get it.' Rosetta was gone about fifteen minutes when the door to the butler's pantry flew open and there she stood with an old rusty coal oil can on her silver waiter. Before Mrs. Garth recovered from her astonishment, Rosetta said, 'Miss Lena, you'll hav' ter 'scuse me fer bein' so long, but I had to search all ober de cellar fer dis here thing.' Mrs. Garth met such situations with resignation. She taught all who worked for her in the most patient spirit. She said she learned from them. She had an affectionate nature. Her adherence to duty was a noble trait and she devoted her life to her invalid father, her children, her husband, and her mother.
Mr. Garth was a man who loved his friends and hated his enemies. No doubt ever remained as to which category one fell into with him but both friends and enemies considered him the soul of honor. Men frequently said of him, 'His word is his bond.' He kept it even to his own hurt. He would have died for his friends or for a principle. One day a friend said, 'Mr. Garth, I believe you would help a friend even if you knew he was wrong.' 'Yes, I would,' he said. 'I would help him and then tell him what I thought of him. '
He had one of the largest trotting-horse farms in the South. His entries frequently won large purses but he neither bet on them nor on any other horse. Mr. Paul McNichol of East Liverpool, Ohio, once told this writer that he met Mr. Garth at Louisville for the first time. There he was pointed out as being a horseman who never bet. The race was sufficient in itself to him.
He was very emphatic in his speech. He told a story on himself which showed he was a good sport. When Horace, his younger son was a 'two year older',' as he put it, he heard him using profane language. Calling Rosetta to him (she had become a nurse then) he said, 'Rosetta, I want you to warn the men in the kitchen about using profane language around Horace. He is using it.' 'He don' hear it inder kitchen, Mr. Wins,' Rosetta replied, looking straight at him.
He was a graduate of Sewanee and a son of Colonel W. W. Garth and Maria Fearn Garth. Loyalty was his by both education and birth. He formed and maintained his stables as a gentleman. As a little boy he lost one eye with a pop gun; the other was gray framed in dark lashes. He wore a mustache and chewed tobacco, and smoked a pipe and cigars. He was always against prohibition in any form. He opposed the dispensary but acknowledged that Huntsville was better under it. He said that the United States never fought a just war until 1918. He opposed Woman's Suffrage and automobiles (for himself). He was an excellent conversationalist and public speaker. He had always been an active Democrat and had been honored by the Party as a delegate to conventions, county organizer, State speaker, State Senator and committeeman on the National Committee. He was a genial host, a loyal friend and an implacable enemy.
George Cooper tells a story about an experience he had with him one night. Alice, Mr. Garth's older daughter, had a visitor, Mary Farrish, whom George liked. There was to be a dance at the Twickenham Hotel so George and a friend of his from out of town asked Alice and Mary to go to the dance with them. They accepted. George and Mr. Talliche, the friend, went out for the girls in separate carriages. Everything went well until Mr. Garth accompanied the young people to the steps. When he saw the two vehicles he said, 'Do you intend to go in separate carriages?' 'Of course,' said Mr. Talliache. 'Good,' said Mr. Garth. 'You gentlemen get in the back carriage and the girls in the front one.' George meekly obeyed. When they were out of the front gate Mr. Talliche said, 'Now we can change.' 'Change if you want to,' said George, 'but little George sits just where he was put. Mr. Garth doesn't stand any foolishness.'" - Chapman
Related Links:
The Following Pages Link to this Page:
• Chapman
• Col. William Willis Garth (1826)
• Eden
• Maria Eliza Fearn Garth
• Nilsson
• Record I
• Record II
• Vanished Houses
• Lena Garth
| Born: | September 26, 1856, Huntsville, Alabama |
| Died: | December 31, 1932, Huntsville, Alabama |
| Buried: | Maple Hill Cemetery, Huntsville, Alabama |
| Son of: | Col. William Willis Garth (1826) |
| Son of: | Maria Eliza Fearn Garth |
| Husband of: | Lena Garth |
Notes:
• Son of William Willis and Maria Fearn Garth. - Ancestry.com
• His father bought the land now known as Jones Valley in 1881 from John Drake. - Nilsson
• Born in the Fearn-Garth Home on Franklin Street. - Nilsson
• University of the South at Sewanee and University of Virginia (Law). - Nilsson
• Married a distant cousin, Lena Garth, daughter of Horace E. Garth president of the Mechanics Bank of New York City on April 18, 1883 at Lena's father's home in NYC, NY. - Nilsson
• Father of:
1.) William Willis Garth, born in Huntsville Feb 24, 1884, lived in Huntsville, AL.
2.) Alice Dashiell Garth, born in Huntsville, Feb. 10, 1887 and died in 1985. She married George Castleman Estill they lived in Miami FL.
3.) Maria Fearn Garth Inge, born in Huntsville, July 5, 1890, AL, married Francis Marion Inge, MD. They lived in Mobile, AL.
4.) Horace Everett Garth, born Nov. 29, 1905 and died March 2, 1920. - Ancestry.com
• June 3, 897: "'The Monte Sano Light Guards' was the name of the military company mustered into service and organized last week. Col. W. F. Garth, a member of Gov. Johnston's staff, mustered the boys in and administered the oaths. Dr. R. M. Fletcher was elected Captain." - Eden
• State senator and one of the most prominent figures in the area. - Find A Grave
• Active in politics (chairman of the Madison County Democratic Committee and was on the Governor's staff). - Nilsson
• Breeder of harness horses (trotting horses). "His horses won many races, though, ironically, William never bet on any races himself." - Reeves
• In the early part of the 1900s this couple owned the Monte Sano Hotel. - Huntsville Times
• Served on the building committee for the Elks Theater. - Elks
• "W. F. Garth remodeled the Elks Theatre, replacing scenery that had been used for 20 years." - Eden
• On the Jury Commission 1911 -1919. - Record I
• County commissioner, 1907. - Record I
• Alabama Senate, 1923-1927 - Record I
• Governor's Delegate, Goods Road Conference, 1910; County Council of Defense, 1917; State Board of Agriculture, 1923. - Record I
• "The Madison County Farm Bureau was organized in 1921, as was the Alabama State Tax League, headed by Huntsville's W. F. Garth, President." - Record II
• Commissioner to Tennessee Centennial, 1896; Aide De Camp to Governor of Alabama. - Record II
• Home called the Piedmont (on Whitesburg Drive) burned in 1930. - Nilsson
• "Piedmont, the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Garth, was gay with lights the night of February 24, 1897. Carriages wound up the long driveway to the block at the front steps, deposited their occupants and drove around the circle to the rock on the side. Mr. and Mrs. Garth received the guests in the library. Punch, highly spiked, was served in the hall. Tables were set in the parlor and dining room. The guests wandered from room to room commenting on the beauty and charm of the hostess and the graciousness of the host. They were a couple to admire.
Mrs. Garth was a stately blonde, a Vassar graduate, a hostess whose every thought was for the comfort of her guests. No one in Huntsville had a better command of English or a keener sense of humor. Many persons, however, looked only at her dignified mien and noting the high standard which she held for all work, and behavior, considered her haughty. She required rigid observance of etiquette from her children and from those who served her. She required perfection in cleanliness in all who worked in the house, in the yard or in her garden. Sometimes she had great difficulty in training her servants to her standards.
On one occasion, for instance, she was entertaining guests at dinner when her maid, Rosetta, had been out of the cotton field only a few days. Everything went smoothly until the salad was served. Mrs. Garth then said, 'Rosetta, you have forgotten the salad oil. Go and get it.' Rosetta was gone about fifteen minutes when the door to the butler's pantry flew open and there she stood with an old rusty coal oil can on her silver waiter. Before Mrs. Garth recovered from her astonishment, Rosetta said, 'Miss Lena, you'll hav' ter 'scuse me fer bein' so long, but I had to search all ober de cellar fer dis here thing.' Mrs. Garth met such situations with resignation. She taught all who worked for her in the most patient spirit. She said she learned from them. She had an affectionate nature. Her adherence to duty was a noble trait and she devoted her life to her invalid father, her children, her husband, and her mother.
Mr. Garth was a man who loved his friends and hated his enemies. No doubt ever remained as to which category one fell into with him but both friends and enemies considered him the soul of honor. Men frequently said of him, 'His word is his bond.' He kept it even to his own hurt. He would have died for his friends or for a principle. One day a friend said, 'Mr. Garth, I believe you would help a friend even if you knew he was wrong.' 'Yes, I would,' he said. 'I would help him and then tell him what I thought of him. '
He had one of the largest trotting-horse farms in the South. His entries frequently won large purses but he neither bet on them nor on any other horse. Mr. Paul McNichol of East Liverpool, Ohio, once told this writer that he met Mr. Garth at Louisville for the first time. There he was pointed out as being a horseman who never bet. The race was sufficient in itself to him.
He was very emphatic in his speech. He told a story on himself which showed he was a good sport. When Horace, his younger son was a 'two year older',' as he put it, he heard him using profane language. Calling Rosetta to him (she had become a nurse then) he said, 'Rosetta, I want you to warn the men in the kitchen about using profane language around Horace. He is using it.' 'He don' hear it inder kitchen, Mr. Wins,' Rosetta replied, looking straight at him.
He was a graduate of Sewanee and a son of Colonel W. W. Garth and Maria Fearn Garth. Loyalty was his by both education and birth. He formed and maintained his stables as a gentleman. As a little boy he lost one eye with a pop gun; the other was gray framed in dark lashes. He wore a mustache and chewed tobacco, and smoked a pipe and cigars. He was always against prohibition in any form. He opposed the dispensary but acknowledged that Huntsville was better under it. He said that the United States never fought a just war until 1918. He opposed Woman's Suffrage and automobiles (for himself). He was an excellent conversationalist and public speaker. He had always been an active Democrat and had been honored by the Party as a delegate to conventions, county organizer, State speaker, State Senator and committeeman on the National Committee. He was a genial host, a loyal friend and an implacable enemy.
George Cooper tells a story about an experience he had with him one night. Alice, Mr. Garth's older daughter, had a visitor, Mary Farrish, whom George liked. There was to be a dance at the Twickenham Hotel so George and a friend of his from out of town asked Alice and Mary to go to the dance with them. They accepted. George and Mr. Talliche, the friend, went out for the girls in separate carriages. Everything went well until Mr. Garth accompanied the young people to the steps. When he saw the two vehicles he said, 'Do you intend to go in separate carriages?' 'Of course,' said Mr. Talliache. 'Good,' said Mr. Garth. 'You gentlemen get in the back carriage and the girls in the front one.' George meekly obeyed. When they were out of the front gate Mr. Talliche said, 'Now we can change.' 'Change if you want to,' said George, 'but little George sits just where he was put. Mr. Garth doesn't stand any foolishness.'" - Chapman
Related Links:
• Ancestry.com - Page owned by MargaretFrancis86 (Originally found at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/16690020/person/20475675794.)
• Chapman - Changing Huntsville 1890-1899, by Elizabeth Humes Chapman, 1989 (originally written in 1932), pages 59-61.
• Eden - Eden of the South: A Chronology of Huntsville, Alabama, 1805-2005, by Raneé G. Pruitt, Editor, 2005, pages 91, 129, 142.
• Elks - Great Elks in Madison County?? You Better Believe It!! A History of Madison County, Alabama, Elkdom, by James Record, 1972, page 9.
• Find A Grave - Page created by Tombstone Shadow.
• Huntsville Times - Article by Deborah Storey about the sale of items from the Monte Sano Hotel naming Winston and his wife Lena as owners.
• Nilsson - Why Is It Named That?, by Dex Nilsson, 2005, page 58.
• Record I - A Dream Come True: The Story of Madison County and Incidentally of Alabama and the United States, Volume I, by James Record, 1970, pages 201, 251, 262, 342.
• Record II - A Dream Come True: The Story of Madison County and Incidentally of Alabama and the United States, Volume II, by James Record, 1978, pages 180, 673.
• Reeves - Hidden History of North Alabama, by Jacquelyn Procter Reeves, 2010.
• Vanished Houses - Historic Huntsville Quarterly, Vol. XI, #4, Summer, 1985, Historic Huntsville Foundation, page 23.
The Following Pages Link to this Page:
• Chapman
• Col. William Willis Garth (1826)
• Eden
• Maria Eliza Fearn Garth
• Nilsson
• Record I
• Record II
• Vanished Houses
• Lena Garth