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From: Archives <>
Subject: Tn-Montgomery Co. Bios (Titus)
Date: 25 Oct 2005 04:57:18 -0000


Montgomery County TN Archives Biographies.....Titus, William P. 1852 -
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Joy Fisher October 25, 2005, 4:57 am

Author: Will T. Hale

WILLIAM P. TITUS. One of the sterling and honored citizens given to Tennessee
by the fine old Empire State of the Union is this well known and progressive
business man of Clarksville, the judicial center of Montgomery county. Mr. Titus
has here maintained his home for nearly forty years and he has been closely
identified with the civic and material development of the thriving and
attractive little city, of whose municipal council he is a valued and popular
member. He was for many years editor and publisher of a newspaper in
Clarksville, where he was the founder of the Daily Chronicle, Clarksville's
first daily paper. He finally retired from the newspaper field to devote his
attention to general job printing and book publishing, and in these lines he
controls a large and substantial business, with a plant that is essentially
modern and metropolitan in equipment and facilities, an establishment that is a
credit to Clarksville and a monument to his enterprise and progressive policies.
Mr. Titus is well known in this section of the state, and his circle of friends
is coextensive with that of his acquaintances.

In the city of Buffalo, New York, William P. Titus was born on the 16th of
May, 1852, and he is a son of Orin B. and Susan Maria (Pierce) Titus, both of
whom passed their entire lives in the old Empire State, within whose gracious
borders the respective families were founded in an early day. Orin B. Titus
became one of the leading dry-goods merchants of Buffalo, where he continued to
reside until his death, which occurred in 1865. His wife was summoned to eternal
rest in 1886, and of their three children William P., of this review, is the
youngest. The father was a staunch Democrat in his political adherency, and both
he and his wife were zealous communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church. He
was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was a man of sterling
character and marked business acumen, and held secure place in the confidence
and esteem of his fellow-men.

In the public schools of his native city William P. Titus gained his early
educational discipline, and at an early age he assumed the dignified position of
"printer's devil" in a newspaper office in Buffalo. There he served a most
thorough apprenticeship in the "art preservative of all arts," and he continued
to follow his trade in Buffalo until 1876, when, at the age of twenty-four
years, he came to Clarksville, Tennessee, where he has maintained his home
during the long intervening years and where he has attained to substantial
success and prestige through his own energy and ability. He secured a position
in the office of the Clarksville Chronicle, and in the following year ,he
purchased an half interest in the business. In 1885 he became sole proprietor
and forthwith gave evidence of his confidence and enterprise by beginning the
publication of a daily edition, under the title of the Daily Chronicle. He made
the venture a success and the paper became a most valuable exponent of local
interests as well as a power in the furtherance of the cause of the Democratic
party. Mr. Titus was an effective editorial writer, and was ever ready to give,
in a personal way and through the columns of his paper, an impetus and support
to measures and enterprises tending to advance the best interests of the local
community and the state at large. In 1889 he published a most creditable and
attractive brochure, entitled "Picturesque Clarksville," and the same gave a
brief history of the city, and effectively exploited its advantages and manifold
attractions, both through the context of the publication and the many fine
illustrations with which it was filled.

In 1890 Mr. Titus disposed of his newspaper business and turned his attention
exclusively to job printing and the publishing and binding of books. For this
purpose he has kept his plant up to the best modern standard in all departments,
and the same is one of the best and most extensive in this section of the state.
As already implied, Mr. Titus is a staunch supporter of the principles and
policies of the Democratic party, and he has served as a member of the city
council, from the Second ward, since 1906. He is affiliated with the local lodge
of the Knights of Pythias, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South,
and Mrs. Titus is a member of the Christian church.

On the 14th of October, 1878, Mr. Titus wedded Miss Addie Griffey, who was
born and reared in Montgomery county, Tennessee, and who died in 1888, at the
age of forty years, and she is survived by three sons, Thomas H., who is engaged
in the bakery and confectionery business at Guthrie, Kentucky; and Harry S. and
James C., who are associated with the work and management of their father's
printing establishment. In 1889 Mr. Titus contracted a second marriage, by his
union with Miss Mary E. Newhouse, of Clarksville. She was born and reared at
Clarksville, Tennessee, and is a daughter of Henry Newhouse. The two children of
this union are William P., Jr., and Spencer N., both of whom remain at the
parental home.


Additional Comments:
From:

A history of Tennessee and Tennesseans : the leaders and representative men in
commerce, industry and modern activities
by Will T. Hale
Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1913



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