State of Tennessee Department of State Tennessee State Library and Archives McKenzie & Son Collection, 1889-1955 COLLECTION SUMMARY Creator: McKenzie, Alexander Ross, Sr., 1856-1927 McKenzie, Alexander Ross, Jr., 1882-1969 Inclusive Dates: 1889-1955 Scope & Content: Consists of volumes and abstracts, court cases, charters, company files, individual files, indexed deed entries, survey books and notes, reports, maps, business records, and personal records all relating to the McKenzie and Son surveying business based in Chattanooga (Tenn.) from approximately 1903 to 1919. Many of the maps were too damaged and fragile to retain and are only available on microfilm. A complete listing of physical maps and microfilm only maps is also attached. Physical Description/Extent: 74 cubic feet and 5 map drawers Accession/Record Group Number: 82-107, mf. 1477 Language: English Permanent Location: XV-J-M; XV-J-1-4; XV-K-M; M-9-14 through M-9-20 1 Repository: Tennessee State Library and Archives, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee, 37243-0312 Administrative/Biographical History McKenzie and Sons was a surveying and title firm formed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1903. Alexander Ross McKenzie Sr. was born on March 25, 1856, in Switzerland County, Indiana, to John and Jane McKenzie. He moved to Ohio where he met and married Sarah Ann “Annie” Snyder in 1879. While still in Ohio, the couple had two sons, John Herbert and Alexander Ross Jr., born in 1880 and 1882, respectively. Employed as both an engineer and title attorney, A. R. moved to Chattanooga by 1889 to pursue employment in the burgeoning southern industrial center. John passed the bar in 1903 and A. R. formed McKenzie and Son as a civil engineering, surveying, and title firm and their office was in the James Building in Chattanooga. Large mining and timber companies primarily employed McKenzie and Son to survey and ascertain land titles in Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau. The plateau consisted mostly of Mountain District lands, Tennessee’s 3rd Surveying district that was rife with overlapping grants and fraud. A. R. Jr. passed the bar in 1905 and took over from his brother as partner in McKenzie and Son. The company operated under that designation until 1919 when the elder A. R. retired. A. R. Jr. continued his own law practice well into the 20th century. John Herbert McKenzie died of an abscessed kidney on June 8, 1924, in Manchester, Tennessee, and is buried in Highland Cemetery in Sparta, Tennessee. Alexander Ross McKenzie Sr. died on January 29, 1927 and is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in Chattanooga. Alexander Ross McKenzie Jr. died in 1969 and is also buried in Forest Hills Cemetery. Organization/Arrangement of Materials Items are arranged by series, then alphabetically within each series. Conditions of Access and Use Restrictions on Access: No restrictions 2 Restrictions on Use and Reproduction: While the Tennessee State Library and Archives houses an item, it does not necessarily hold the copyright on the item, nor may it be able to determine if the item is still protected under current copyright law. Users are solely responsible for determining the existence of such instances and obtaining any other permissions and paying associated fees that may be for the intended use. Index Terms Personal/Family Names: McKenzie, Alexander Ross, Sr., 1856-1927 McKenzie, Alexander Ross, Jr., 1882-1969 McKenzie, John H., 1880-1924 Subjects: Business enterprises -- Tennessee -- Chattanooga Lawyers -- Tennessee Surveying -- Tennessee Surveyors -- Tennessee Geographic Names: Chattanooga (Tenn.) -- History -- 19th century Chattanooga (Tenn.) -- History -- 20th century Coffee County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Cumberland Mountains -- Surveys Cumberland County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Fentress County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Franklin County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Grundy County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Hamilton County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Lincoln County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Marion County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Morgan County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Roane County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Scott County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Sequatchie County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Van Buren (Tenn.) -- Surveys Warren County (Tenn.) -- Surveys Document Types: Abstracts (summaries) 3 Actions (judicial events) Business records Charters Deed registers Maps (documents) Organization files Personal papers Reports Surveys (documents) Acquisition and Appraisal Provenance and Acquisition: The collection was donated by Mr. Charles O. Hon Jr. of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1965. Processing and Administrative Information Preferred Citation: McKenzie & Son Collection, 1889-1955, Tennessee State Library and Archives Processing Information: This collection was minimally processed by Zach Keith and Sara Baxter in Summer 2019. 4 DETAILED COLLECTION DESCRIPTION SERIES I. – Volumes and Abstracts Series Scope and Content: Bound volumes listing various grants and land titles. Series Arrangement: Volumes are generally arranged numerically. CONTAINER LIST Contents/Item Title Date Box Volume General Index to Vol. 1 - 3. Compilations of the undated 1 1 Barrell-Monroe Land Title. Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Land Title -- undated 1 2 Leases -- Little Sequatchie Section Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 3 undated 1 3 Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 3A undated 1 4 Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 3B undated 2 5 Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 3C undated 2 6 Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 3D undated 2 7 Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 3E undated 2 8 Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 3F undated 3 9 Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 3G undated 3 10 Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 4A undated 3 11 Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 4B undated 3 12 Compilation of the Barrell-Monroe Title -- Vol. 4C undated 4 13 Barrell-Monroe Title. General Memoranda undated 4 14 Barrell Land Grants -- Marion, Grundy, Coffee, undated 4 15 Franklin, and Warren counties Tennessee Mountain Coal & Land Companies Title undated 5 16 -- Vol. 1 -- Barrell-Monroe Grants Tennessee Mountain Coal & Land Companies Title undated 5 17 -- Vol. 1A -- Barrell-Monroe Grants Tennessee Mountain Coal & Land Companies Title undated 5 18 -- Vol. 2A -- Barrell-Monroe Grants Tennessee Mountain Coal & Land Companies Title undated 6 19 -- Vol. 2B -- Barrell-Monroe Grants Grandview Coal and Timber Company in undated 6 20 Hamilton, Marion, and Sequatchie counties -- Entries and Grants 5 Gillette Abstract -- Van Buren County undated 6 21 Brush Creek Coal Company Abstract undated 6 22 Abstract -- Sequatchie and South Pittsburg Coal & undated 7 23 Iron Company -- Marion and Franklin counties Sequatchie and South Pittsburg Coal & Iron undated 7 24 Company vs. Beersheba Springs Improvement Company, et al. and Cumberland Corporation vs. Frederick Schwoon C. E. Allan lands -- Walden Ridge undated 8 25 New York and New Orleans Coal & Iron Company undated 8 26 -- Grundy County Thomas Coal and Iron Company, Grundy Mining undated 9 27 Company, Frederick Schwoon -- Barrell and Monroe Lands Lock and Dam lands at Hale’s Bar -- Marion 1905 9 28 County Abstract -- Marion County and Ocoee District 1905 9 29 Abstract -- Brown and Massengale land lying on 1904 10 30 the Tennessee River between “Skillet and Pan” -- Marion County The Colony Land -- E. E. Richardson, et al. -- Vol. undated 10 31 I -- Marion County The Colony Land -- E. E. Richardson, et al. -- Vol. undated 10 32 II -- Marion County (Maps included) Sequatchie and South Pittsburg Coal & Iron undated 10 33 Company in Marion, Grundy, Van Buren, White, Cannon, Coffee, Franklin, and Lincoln counties (Maps included) Abstract -- Hampton-Roberts-Werner -- Marion 1904 11 34 County Abstract -- Chattanooga Co. Limited undated 12 35 Abstract -- Schoolfield and Scarlett land -- Marion 1905 12 36 County Abstract -- Harry Parker land -- Haight grants -- 1909 12 37 Warren County Abstract -- Bledsoe and Rhea counties -- Grants undated 12 38 3128 and 3131 Abstract -- Franklin County General File -- Crow undated 13 39 Creek section (Map included) Abstract -- Marion County land -- E. E. Richardson undated 13 40 -- New York and New Orleans Coal & Iron 6 Co., et al. Miscellaneous -- Grundy, Marion, Sequatchie, and undated 14 41 Van Buren counties Marion County entries no. 1-1699 undated 14 42 Abstract -- Sequatchie County undated 14 43 Abstract -- Barrell and Munroe land -- Book A undated 15 44 Abstract -- Sequatchie and South Pittsburg Coal & 1903 16 45 Iron Company -- Marion County Abstract -- Warren County -- Barrell grants undated 17 46 McKenzie Report in Trial -- Barrell and Haight undated 18 47 grants CONTAINER LIST Index undated 18 48 Index undated 18 49 Index undated 18 50 SERIES II. – Abstracts Series Scope and Content: Bound abstracts listing various grants and land titles. Series Arrangement: Abstracts arranged in original order. ________________________________________________________________________ Contents/Item Title Date Box Folder Abstract -- Peter and Mark Anderson, Entry #1396; undated 19 1 to Patterson B. West, Grant #8603 and Entry #1704 by A. P. Anderson to Patterson West, Grant #9730 Abstract -- Claud Brown -- Stewart-Rogers Tract -- undated 19 2 Sequatchie County (Map included) Abstract -- Lewis Montgomery Tract -- Grant undated 19 3 #17512 -- Hamilton County (Map included) Abstract -- Bledsoe County undated 19 4 Abstract -- E. E. Richardson Tract -- Marion, 1911 19 5 Sequatchie, and Grundy counties Abstract -- Isareal Hill undated 19 6 Abstract