Foster A. Sondley


Foster A. Sondley
Foster A. Sondley, portrait [Courtesy, Old Buncombe County Genealogy]
Detail - Foster A. Sondley, top right. Click to enlarge.
"Asheville Bar Association," c. 1898. Photo re-printed in Asheville Gazette, Oct. 7, 1901 and Asheville Citizen-Times July 17, 1960. Click to enlarge
Asheville Bar Association [Information provided by Old Buncombe County Genealogical Society, Charles Holler and used with permission.] Description: 7x13 inch B/W photo [above], probably by Ignatius [Nace] Brock, circa 1898. Recent, plain black frame 13-1/2 x 17-1/4 inches by Blue Ridge Frame, 545 Merrimon Ave. Attached legend reads: Back Row, Standing: Left 1. W. Tilson 2. J. G. Merrimon 3. D.M.Luther 4. S. Adams 5. Hay wood Parker 6. S. Sondley 7. Zebulon Weaver 8. S. McCall 9. Fred Moore 10. P. A. Cummings 11. J.C.Martin 12. Eugene Gudger Next Row: 13. H. B. Carter 14. H. B. Stevens 15. Frank Carter 16. F. W. Thomas 17. W. W. Jones 18. S. H. Reed 19. C. A Moore 20. E. D. Carter 21.R.M. Wells Center 22. J. D. Murphy 23. W. E. Breese Bottom Row 24. J. McWhitson 25. Mark Erwin 26. H. C. Chedester 27. G. W. Justice 28. A. S. Barnard 29. J. N. Tucker 30. C. A. Webb To Right read George W. Tilson, 1859-1911, buried Riverside read James G. Merrimon, 1866-1948, buried Riverside read Dillon M. Luther, 1857-1905, b. Luther Cem., Enka read Joseph Shepherd Adams, 1850-1911, buried Riverside read Haywood Parker, 1864-1945, buried Riverside read Foster A. Sondley, 1857-1931, b. Alexanders Chapel, read Zebulon Weaver, 1872-1948, buried Riverside read Robert Sevier McCall, 1857-1923, buried Riverside read Frederick Moore, d. 1908?, buried Webster Co.? read P. A. Cummings, 1846-1929, CSA, buried Riverside read Julius C. Martin, 1861-probably James Eugene Gudger, 1876-1967 Next Row read H. Bascom Carter, 1856-1930, buried Riverside read Henry Buist Stevens, 1869-1924, b. Oak Forest Pres. read Frank Carter, 1863-1945, buried Riverside, Judge read Frederick W. Thomas, 1871-1947, b. Calvary Epis. read William W. Jones, 1841-1916, buried Raleigh, NC read Samuel H. Read, 1851-1905, buried Riverside read Charles A. Moore, 1851-1923, buried Riverside read Eugene Douglas Carter, d. 1898, buried Marion, NC read Robert Malachi Wells, 1870-1941, buried Green Hills Center read James Dixon Murphy, 1857-1931, buried Riverside read Wm. E. Breese, Jr. Bottom Row read John McD(owell) Whitson, 1866-1903, b. Riverside read Marcus Erwin, 1873-1939, b. Riverside, Dist. Attny. read Hugh C. Chedester, 1876-1935, buried Riverside probably George W. Justice, Jr. read Alfred Smith Barnard, 1873-1939, buried Riverside read James H. Tucker, 1857-1912, buried Riverside read Charles Aurelius Webb, 1866-1949, buried Riverside Editor's Note: The legend contains obvious errors, as for instance, no. 6, S. Sondley is actually F(oster). A. Sondley. Haywood Parker, who was about 6'0", is to the left of Sondley and thus Sondley was about 6'3". Picture was published in the Asheville Gazette, Oct. 7, 1901, and republished in the Asheville Citizen-Times on July 17, 1960.
A tentative composite list of lawyers in the Asheville area circa 1900 is as follows:
Joseph Shepherd Adams, 1850-1911 Henning F. Adickes, Jr., 1876- John P. Arthur, 1853- Alfred Smith Barnard, 1873-1931 Lewis Milton Bourne, 1867-1934 Wm. E. Breese, Jr. Harrison B. Brown, 1858- (black) Marcus Wiley Brown, 1876-1929 * William Pierce Brown, 1869-1925 Eugene D. Carter, d. 1898 Frank Carter, 1863-1945 Hubert Bascom Carter, 1863-1903 Hugh C. Chedester, 1873-1935 Theodorus Henderson Cobb, 1854-1935 Elmer R. Craig, 1876- LockeCraig, 1860-1924 Alex H. Crenshaw, 1834- P. A. Cummings, 1846-1929 Zeb. F. Curtis Alien Turner Davidson, 1819-1905 Theodore Fulton Davidson, 1845-1931 William Myrick Davies, 1843- Marable Erwin, 1878- (N.A.) Marcus Erwin, 1873-1939 William G. Fortune, 1868-1941 Max Gilder, 1876- Donald Gillis, 1869-1927 James C. L. Gudger, 1837-1914 James Eugene Gudger, 1876-1967 * James Madison Gudger, 1855-1920 James M. Gudger, Sr., 1836-1916 Walter Ballard Gywn, 1853-1911 Henry Hayward, 1866- Sam Higginbotham, 1831 -1900 Joseph W. Horton, 1859- Joseph F. Jarvis, 1868- Charles Earl J. Jones, 1876-1951	Thomas A. Jones, 1860-1932 William W. Jones, 1841-1916 George W. Justice, Jr. Edward W. Keith, 1874-1947 (Tollie) Virgil S. Lusk, 1836-1929 Dillon M. Luther, 1857-1905 Julius C. Martin, 1861- Robert Sevier McCall, 1857-1923 Lawrence P. McCloud, 1868- Charles Lee McConnell, 1856-1917 William McCoy, 1873- Duff Merrick, 1861-1927 Emory H. Merrimon James Gibbon Merrimon, 1867-1948 * James Harvey Merrimon, 1842-1921 * Charles Augustus Moore, 1851-1923 Frederick Moore, d. 1908 * James Dixon Murphy, 1857-1931 * Haywood Parker, 1864-1945 * Samuel H. Reed, 1851-1905 Thomas Settle, 1865-1919 George A. Shuford, 1855-1920 William Ernest Shuford, 1870-1941 Foster A. Sondley, 1857-1931 * Jessie P. Starnes, 1858-1913 Henry Buist Stevens, 1869-1924 Joseph William Summers, 1860-1928 Frederick Wm. Thomas, 1871-1947 George W. Tilson, 1859-1911 James H. Tucker, 1857-1912 Zebulon Weaver, 1872-1948 Charles Aurelius Webb, 1866-1949 Robert Malachi Wells, 1870-1914 John McDowell Whitson, 1866-1903 William R. Whitson, 1853- Roland V. Wolf,
Editor's notes: Asterisk indicates burial in Riverside Cemetery, or thirty-seven of seventy-six total on list. Other cemeteries include William G. Fortune at Green Hills, Dillon M. Luther at Luther-Enka, Thomas Settle at Greensboro, NC, Foster A. Sondley at Alexanders Chapel, Henry B. Stevens at Oak Forest, Frederick W. Thomas at Calvary Episcopal and Robert M. Wells at Green Hills.
Selected References: Asheville Gazette October 7, 1901. Asheville Citizen-Times July 17,1960 Anonymous, 1900-01, Asheville City Directory: Atlanta, GA, Maloney Directory Co., 886 p. Aslund, Carolyn C., & Billie C. Ledbetter, 1989, Cemetery Inscriptions of Buncombe County, NC, Vol. 5 (Riverside): Asheville, NC, privately printed, 229 p. + index Bass, Lisa & Shirley Crowder, 2007,1900 Census, Greater Asheville Area: Asheville, NC, privately published, 494 p.