Three generations of the Frierson family in succession have contributed a member to the legal profession, and each has distinguished himself in that field of endeavor. Ervin J. Frierson, the grandfather of the subject, was at one time attorney general for the Shelbyville district, and otherwise gained prominence in the law, while his son, Robert P., and the father of William Little Frierson, practiced law in Shelbyville and vicinity until his death in 1893, while the latter has been engaged in that profession in Chattanooga since 1890.

Born in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on September 3, 1868, William Little Frierson is the representative of an old family of Scotch-Irish origin that settled in South Carolina at an early date, and in 1805 identified itself with the fortunes of the state of Tennessee, settling in Maury county. Later Ervin J. Frierson removed to Shelbyville and took up the practice of law, and he lived and died an honored and esteemed resident of that section of the state. As has been mentioned in a previous paragraph, he served the Shelbyville district as attorney-general, and his activities in that office were of a high order, in every way worthy of him, and entirely consistent with the character of the man. His son, Robert F. Frierson, was born in Shelbyville, educated in his native state and at Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, and prepared for the legal profession, in which he gained honor and distinction in his native community. He was a soldier in the Confederate army, and twice served in the state legislature of Tennessee. He married Molly Little, thf daughter of William Little, of Shelbyville, and she still survives her husband, and makes her home in the place of her birth and her lifelong residence.

William Little Frierson was educated in the private schools of Shelbyville and in the Southwestern Presbyterian University at Clarksville, Tennessee, from the latter of which he was graduated in June, 1887, with the degree of A. B. Thereafter he read law in the offices of his father, and was admitted to practice on September 3, 1889. In September of the following year he removed to Chattanooga, and here he has since been actively engaged in the practice of his profession. From January 1, 1891, to January, 1894, he was associated in practice with D. S. Anderson, and the termination of that partnership in 1894 was followed soon after by a professional union with Lewis Shepherd, which

A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans By Will Thomas Hale, Dixon Lanier Merritt a