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John S. Toof House: Parent of Graceland

Jay Brothers

246 Adams Ave. Memphis, TN

Circa 1875. 3-story rectangular brick home  


Photo by Jerrye & Roy Klotz, M.D.
Photo by Jerrye & Roy Klotz, M.D.

John S. Toof (1836-1916) and Agnes McCann Toof (1841-1897) arrived from Ohio in 1853. He started the Memphis Whig newspaper. In 1855, he became editor of the Memphis Morning Bulletin, and four years later was the chief organizer of what became the Memphis Chamber of Commerce.


In 1862, Toof switched gears and became - what else in Memphis - a cotton factor, commercial merchant and later a wholesale grocer. He established and incorporated the Memphis Water Company in 1870. Three years later, in 1873, he organized the Memphis Cotton Exchange and became Secretary/ Superintendent of it. He was the first person to collate and print trade and commerce information for the cotton industry.


He and his brother Samuel C. Toof [lived on Lauderdale St.] owned the farm called Graceland. S. C. owned S. C. Toof Co., longtime Memphis printers. Subsequently, S.C.'s granddaughter Ruth F. Brown built a mansion there on her inherited portion and called it Graceland.





In 1982, Mr. & Mrs. Jack B. Sellers owned the home. Their residence was on Perkins Rd. NR 1982 See Graceland,


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