William Park Metcalf House
By Dennis Wolf
The undated photo below is of the William P. Metcalf home at 1860 Central Avenue midway between South McLean Boulevard and South Barksdale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.[i] It was taken by well-known photographer John Calvin Coovert.[ii] The home was built in 1902 and is still there today.
William Park Metcalf was born in Memphis on March 17, 1872. He died in Memphis at age 68, on July 20, 1940, and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery.[iii] . Along with his father, Charles Wesley Metcalf, Sr., and his brother, Charles Wesley Metcalf, Jr., he was a partner in the law firm of Metcalf, Metcalf, and Apperson, which was founded by his father in 1865.[iv] The law firm is still in Memphis listed under the name Apperson Crump PLC, and it is the oldest continuously operating law firm in Memphis.[v]
A prominent attorney, William Metcalf was president of the Memphis and Shelby County Bar Association in 1926. He was also a former president of the Tennessee Club. As an attorney, he worked on many important cases, two of which were very notable.[vi]
The first case was the M. E. Norman disaster. On May 8, 1925, the steamer M. E. Norman was one of two ships taking members of the Memphis Engineers Club to view a levee revetment project about 20 miles south of Memphis. On the way back, the M. E. Norman overturned at Cow Island Bend. Tom Lee had just passed the Norman before it capsized. He turned his skiff, the Zev, around, and began rescuing survivors. Tom Lee rescued 32 survivors that day. In 1953, Astor Park was renamed Tom Lee Park in his honor.[vii]
The other case was the Magevney will case. Eugene Magevney was Memphis’ first school teacher and was instrumental in establishing Memphis’ first Catholic church (St. Peter’s Catholic Church) and parochial school. When he was teaching at a small private school, Magevney accepted land as payment in lieu of cash from hardscrabble families. Over time, he made a fortune in real estate development.[viii] The probate case of his will was complex and involved more than $2,000,000 of property ($48,554,616 in 2025 dollars), including property fronting Main Street.
An unusual robbery occurred at his home in April 1913. A jewelry case containing $2,000 worth of jewelry ($63,759 in 2025 dollars), a purse, and a toilet set were taken by a person or persons unknown. The jewelry case and the jewelry were found under a honeysuckle vine at the end of the porch. The toilet set was found in a vacant lot a half-block down the street. The only item not recovered was $25 ($797 in 2025 dollars) that was taken from the purse. The robbery was never solved.[ix]
[i] https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-20thcenturyphoto3/129
[ii] https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/speccoll-mss-20thcenturyphoto3/129/
[iii] Commercial Appeal, July 21, 1940, page 1
[iv] Who’s Who in Tennessee, A Biographical Reference Book of Notable Tennesseans Today, Paul & Douglass Company, Publishers, 1911, page 338.
[v] https://appersoncrump.com/
[vi] https://historic-memphis.com/photobooks/tennesseans/tennesseans.html#M
[vii] Tom Lee and M. E. Norman Collection, Memphis Public Library and Information Center, 2012
[viii] https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/eugene-magevney/
[ix] https://www.newspapers.com/image/767995769/?match=1&terms=”William Metcalf”