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GENEALGGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01711 6044
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3- 20- 63
HISTORICAL REVIEW OF ARKANSAS
ITS COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND MODERN AFFAIRS
BY
FAY HEMPSTEAD
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. III
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO 191I
History of Arkansas
URIAH M. ROSE. When it is stated that Judge Rose is a former president of the American Bar Association it will readily be understood that he is one of the most distinguished, even as he is one of the most venerable, members of the bar of Arkansas. He has been a resident of Arkansas for nearly three score years. He is one of the venerated and influential citizens of the state and no member of the legal profession within its confines has a wider or more profound knowledge of the science of jurisprudence than this honored pioneer, who has dignified his profession and the fine commonwealth of Arkansas through worthy life and labors. His course has been directed on a lofty plane of thought and action and offers both lesson and inspiration to all who have appreciation of the true ethical valnes in the scheme of human existence. Strong in his individuality and a man of comprehensive mental ken, he has never lacked the courage of his convictions, but has shown nanght of intellectual bigotry or intolerance, but has rather manifested kindliness, lively human sympathy and an abiding charity -- qualities that ever soften and glorify a life.
Judge Rose was born at Lebanon, Kentucky, on the 5th of March, 1834, and is a son of Dr. Joseph and Anna (Simpson) Rose, both of whom were natives of Virginia. Dr. Rose was for many years one of the leading physicians and surgeons of the city of Pittsburg, Pennsyl- vania, when he finally removed to Kentucky, where he continued in the successful work of his profession and where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1849. His cherished and devoted wife was summoned to the life eternal in 1848, and of their union two daughters are also now living. 1351106
Uriah M. Rose was reared to adult age in his native state and after availing himself of the advantages of the common schools of the period he entered Transylvania University at Lexington, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the elass of 1853, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar in the same year, and in 1853 he came to Arkansas and located at Batesville, where he began the practice of his chosen profession, and where he continued to reside until 1862, when he removed to Little Rock, which city has ever since represented his home and been the seene of his earnest and prolific endeavors. In 1860 he was appointed chancellor of the court of chan- cery in Pulaski county, and in this important office he served until 1865-a period during which Arkansas was the stage of active and strennous military operations incidental to the war between the states. Judge Rose favored the cause of the south during this confliet and after its close played a prominent part in the readjustment of social and governmental affairs in the state, which had seceded from the Union at the inception of the war and which was not restored to its original federal status until 1868.
Judge Rose long since achieved the highest rank in his profession, and as a legal writer and authority he has gained wide prestige. A fitting recognition of his splendid talents and personal integrity was
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that accorded in 1901 when he was elected president of the American Bar Association, the highest office in the gift of the legal fraternity of the nation. In the preceding year he had served as president of the Arkansas Bar Association, and no member of the profession in the state is better known to its representatives or is held in higher esteem than this venerable legist and jurist. Judge Rose is author of Rose's Digest of Arkansas Reports, and this publication is recognized as a standard work. Another distinguished honor that came unsought to Judge Rose was his appointment by President Roosevelt as one of the commis- sioners to represent the United States in the International Peace Con- gress held at The Hague, Holland, in 1907. This appointment was a recognition of merit and diplomatie strength, and had no political significanee, as Judge Rose is a staneh supporter of the cause of the Democratie party and received this commission from a Republican president. He attended the peace conference and took an active and influential part in its deliberations. As a lawyer, scholar and citizen Judge Rose is one of those truly great and strong characters who have shed luster on the history of Arkansas. He has long been one of the leaders in the council of the Democratie party in this state and for several years was a member of the National Democratie Committee.
HON. CHARLES C. REID. The people of Arkansas, more especially those of the Fifth congressional district, that keep in touch with the living issues and affairs of the day, are more or less familiar with the name of Hon. Charles C. Reid, who served with distinction as congressman for ten years, but since the expiration of his term in that capacity he has been engaged in the practice of law at Little Rock, being a member of the firm of Mehaffy, Reid & Mehaffy. A native of Johnson county, Arkansas, he was born June 15, 1868, at Clarksville, a son of the late Charles C. Reid, Sr.
Charles C. Reid, Sr., was born, bred and educated in Pemberton, New Jersey. Migrating when young to the southwestern part of the country, he served as a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, and at its close took up his residence in Clarksville, Arkansas. Moving in 1870 to old Lewisburg (which is now Morrillton, the old town, the original county-seat of Conway county having been discontinued late in the sev- enties in favor of the city of Morrillton, the present county-seat of that county), he opened a law office, and was there prosperously engaged in the practice of his profession until his death, in 1879. He was a Republican in polities, but in local and state affairs acted in sympathy and co-opera- tion with his fellow-townsmen, Democrats. to such an extent that in 1874 he was elected chief clerk of the Constitutional Convention that framed the present State Constitution. He took a prominent part in that body to rehabilitate the state following the unrest, disturbance and evils of the Reconstruction period.
The maiden name of the wife of Charles C. Reid, Sr., was Sarah Robinson, who is still living. Born in Kentucky, she came with her parents to Arkansas when a young girl, and here married. She was a woman of talent, and during the Constitutional Convention referred to above was a journal clerk, being the first woman to hold a position of that character in Arkansas, and for about a dozen years thereafter she occupied similar clerical positions in the various sessions of the State Legislature. She has much literary ability, and has compiled and edited several volumes of poems, chief among which is one entitled "Immortelles," the contents of which were suggested to her by her father.
Receiving his preliminary education at Morrillton, Charles C. Reid
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afterwards attended the University of Arkansas, in Fayetteville, for three years, and in 1887 was graduated from the law department of Vander- bilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee. Although then very young for a lawyer, Mr. Reid began the practice of his profession at once, locating at Morrillton, where he met with unusual success. In 1896 he was elected prosecuting attorney of his district, and served acceptably for four years, when, in 1900, he had the houor of being elected to Congress from the Fifth congressional district, and ou March 4, 1901, took his seat in that august body. He was re-elected in 1902, 1904, 1906 and again in 1908, serving until March 4, 1911, a continuous period of ten years, having voluntarily retired.
Mr. Reid proved himself one of the most distinguished and useful congressmen that the state of Arkansas ever sent to that body. He was engaged in various useful activities while there, serving on the Committee on Claims, the Committee on Territories, the Committee on Indian Af- fairs, and on the Judiciary Committee. Upon the expiration of his term of service, Mr. Reid established his home at Little Rock, and as a member of the law firm of Mehaffy, Reid & Mehaffy is carrying on a substantial business.
Mr. Reid married Geraldine Crozier, a native of Mississippi, and they are the parents of four children, namely: Charles C., Jr., Lillian, Will and Ed.
M. EDWIN DUNAWAY. The name of Dunaway is one enjoying honor and fair repute iu Little Rock, where it is well known from pioneer times, and among its finest representatives is M. Edwin Dunaway, the youngest member of a large family, by profession a lawyer and occupying the posi- tion of lecturer on medical jurisprudence in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Little Rock. Mr. Dunaway is a native son of the state, his birth having occurred in Faulkner county, Arkansas, on the 29th of January, 1882. His parents were John and Emma (Blackwood) Duna- way, both of whom survive and make their residence at Conway, Faulkner county. The father was born in this state, and not ouly he lived his life here, but also his father, Isaiah Dunaway, who was one of the pioneer settlers, the year of his migration from his native state, South Carolina, having been 1820. Both of these gentlemen did a valuable part in the development of their particular section and John Dunaway was a soldier in the Civil war, risking his life in the cause which by all the arguments of locality and tradition he believed to be just. He was mustered into service in Lonoke county as a member of Company I, Tenth Arkansas Infantry, of the Confederate army. He saw some of the hardest service of the war and was present at several decisive battles, while at the battles of Chickamaugua and Perryville, Kentucky, he felt the enemy's steel. After the war he borrowed money and bought a farm, and by the exercise of those virtues leading to prosperity he succeeded, eventually becoming a man of substance. He reared a family of eight sons and daughters and gave all of them the supreme advantage of an excellent education. M. Edwin, as previously mentioned, is the youngest member of the family.
Mr. Dunaway of this review received his preliminary education at Conway and later matriculated in Hendrix College, of that city, from which he was graduated in 1903. In the following year he entered Yale, and in the summer received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from that famous institution. In the meantime the attraction exerted by the legal profession upon so many young men of native ability had led him to the conclusion to adopt the law as his own and accordingly he pursued his
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studies in the law department of the State University at Little Rock, being graduated therefrom in 1906, with the degree of LL. B. In that same year he was admitted to the bar and began his practice in Little Rock. In the summer of 190; he augmented his legal education by a course in the law department of the University of Michigan. In the few years since the opening of his career, Mr. Dunaway has met with unusual success in his praetice, in addition to which he holds the office of deputy prosecuting attorney for the Circuit Court of Pulaski county ; as mentioned in a preceding paragraph, he is lecturer on medical jurisprudence in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Little Rock, and served in the Lower House of the Arkansas General Assembly, session of 1909. While attending law school in Little Rock in 1904-06, he was teacher of English in the Little Rock high school, and his literary attainments manifested were of such character as to have insured him a gratifying and useful career in that field had he desired to enter it permanently.
On the 26th day of June, 190%, Mr. Dunaway established a happy household by marriage, his chosen lady being Miss Bessie Eagle, daughter of William H. and Ada H. (Munroe) Eagle, whose biography is entered on other pages of this work devoted to the lives and achievements of repre- sentative Arkansas citizens. They have a little daughter, Elizabeth Dun- away. These admirable young people hold an enviable position socially and are interested in the causes contributing to the advancement and high standing of the community.
FORREST N. CROXSON, assistant to the general agent for Arkansas of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, is one of the most successful of the young men in the life insurance field in the state. This unusual and gratifying suecess has resulted from his ability, his energy, his sincere conviction of the beneficence and necessity of life insurance from the fact that he took it up as a profession to be pursued permanently and not for immediate financial results.
By the circumstance of birth Mr. Croxson is a Hoosier, his birth having occurred at Koleen. Greene county. Indiana, on the 10th day of December, 1876. He is the son of W. H. and Evelyn Croxson, the father, who died in Little Rock in 1908, having been for several years connected with the Little Rock Cooperage Company. The mother survives and makes her home at Des Moines. Iowa. The subject was a child of about four years when his parents removed to Little Rock. the year of their southern migration having been 1882. He received his education in the public schools of Little Rock, and from the time he first entered business pursuits in his early youth he has been successful. Early in 1908 he was induced by his friend, Mr. W. E. Bilheimer, the general agent for Ar- kansas of the Equitable Life Insurance Company, to take up life insurance work permanently. Starting in as a solicitor, he earned in 1909 from the Equitable company, the medal of the "Cirele of Jubilee Hustlers." a distinction conferred upon those solicitors who in one month of that year wrote and paid for twenty or more cases of life insurance, a dis- tinction earned by comparatively fow solicitors in the United States. This was but the beginning of his triumphs. for in 1910 he was awarded a "Star of the First Magnitude," the same being conferred personally by President Paul Morton of the Equitable. In 1911 Mr. Croxson was made assistant general agent of Arkansas, under Mr. Bilheimer. the general agent, with headquarters in the general office in Little Rock. In evidence of the favor he enjoys in the community is the fact that in July, 1910. he was made a member of the Board of Election Commissioners for Pulaski county. His fraternal relations with the Benevolent and Pro-
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tective Order of Elks have been fruitful of much good fellowship and in 1911 he was elected exalted ruler of the Little Rock Lodge, No. 29.
On the 19th day of September, 1906, Mr. Croxson established by marriage an independent household, his chosen lady being Kathryn Car- penter, daughter of F. J. Carpenter, of Arkadelphia. They have one daughter, Jane Croxson. Mr. and Mrs. Croxson are popular in the best social circles of the city.
WILLIAM M. CRAVENS. Not only has it been given to Colonel Cravens to attain to distinction as one of the leading members of the Arkansas bar and as one of the representative and influential citizens of Fort Smith, but he was also one of the loyal sons of the South who gave valiant service to the Confederacy as a soldier in the Civil war, in which he became an officer, though his title of colonel is one of courtesy and friendly appre- ciation.
A scion of an honored pioneer family of Missouri and of one whose name has been identified with the annals of American history since the Colonial epoch, Colonel Cravens was born at Fredericktown, the judicial center of Madison county, Missouri, and is a son of Jeremiah and Kitura (Murphy) Cravens, the former of whom was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, and the latter in Rutherford county, Tennessee. The father devoted the major portion of his active career to farming and politics, and both he and his wife continued to reside in Missouri until their death.
Colonel Cravens was afforded excellent educational advantages in his youth, as after a preliminary course in Spring River Academy, in Law- rence county, Missouri, he entered the old Arkansas College, at Fayette- ville, Arkansas, in which he completed the prescribed course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1857. He had in the meanwhile formulated definite plans for his future career, and judgment and nat- ural predilection led him to prepare himself for the legal profession. With this end in view he entered the law department of Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tennessee, in which excellent institution he com- pleted the prescribed technical course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1859, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He initiated the practice of his profession at Neosho, Newton county, Missouri, and had gained definite success ere he felt it the part of loyalty and duty to sub- ordinate his personal interests and go forth in defense of the cause of the Confederacy. At the beginning of the great struggle between the North and South he enlisted as a private in the command of the gallant General Sterling Price, and later he was promoted to the office of adjutant in the Twenty-first Arkansas Infantry. His service was principally in the Trans- Mississippi Department and he participated in a number of important battles, besides many skirmishes and other minor engagements. He con- tinued in active service until the close of the war and was mustered out at Marshall, Texas.
After the war Colonel Cravens followed the work of his profession in Missouri, settling up the tangled business affairs of his family, until 1868, when he established his residence in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he has maintained his home during the long intervening years, which have been marked by large and definite accomplishment in his chosen profes- sion, which he has honored by his character and services. He has long been recognized as one of the ablest members of the bar of the state, has been identified with many important litigations, including a number of celebrated causes presented in the Federal courts of the state and in the State Supreme Court, and as an advocate of power and resourcefulness he has won many notable forensic victories. For twenty years he was
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associated in practice with the late Colonel Ben T. DuVal, and later he maintained for several years a professional alliance with his son, Hon. Ben Cravens, the present representative of the Fourth district of Ar- kansas in Congress. He has been a close and appreciative student of the principles of the Democratic party and has never deviated in his allegiance to its cause. He is affiliated with the United ('onfederate Veterans' Association and also is identified with various other civic organizations of representative character. Mr. Cravens and wife are members of the Christian church.
On the 8th of April, 1862, was solemnized the marriage of Colonel Cravens to Miss Mary Eloise Rutherford, daughter of the late Colonel Samuel Morton Rutherford, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this work. Colonel and Mrs. ('ravens became the parents of eight children, of whom five sons and one daughter are now living. Concerning Hon. Ben Cravens, one of the sons, individual mention is made on other pages of this work, and in regard to the other living children the following brief data are entered: Jerry M. is engaged in coal mining at Hachett City, Arkansas; Richard K. is captain of coast artillery, U. S. A., now sta- tioned at Fort Williams, Portland, Maine; and Daisy, Rutherford Rector and Du Val Garland are triplets. The former of these three is at home, the second is in the real estate business at Fort Smith and is a lawyer, and the latter is engaged in educational work at Murphysboro, Tennessee.
HON. BEN CRAVENS, of Fort Smith, the present representative of the Fourth district of Arkansas in the United States Congress, is a lawyer of high attainments, a citizen of progressive ideas and sound judgment, and a man who is well upholding the prestige of his native state in Con- gress, which has had many distinguished representatives from Arkansas. He is in the very prime of life, is a recognized leader in the ranks of the Democratic party in Arkansas, and is insistently loyal to the state which has ever been his home and whose interests he has made his own in a significant way, as is shown by the high official preferment that has been given him through popular suffrage. Mr. Cravens was formerly associated with his honored father in the practice of his profession in Fort Smith, and as a brief review of the career of the father, Colonel William M. Cravens, appears elsewhere in this publication it is not neces- sary to repeat the data in the present article. On other pages of this work is also entered an appreciative memoir to Colonel Samuel Morton Ruther- ford, maternal grandfather of him whose name initiates this review.
Ben Cravens was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on the 17th of Janu- ary, 1872, and is a son of Colonel William M. and Mary Eloise ( Ruther- ford) Cravens. To the public schools of his native eity he is indebted for his earlier educational discipline, which was supplemented by courses of study in the Louisville Military Academy, in the metropolis of Kentucky, and the fine military academy at Staunton, Virginia. He began the study of law under the able preceptorship of his father and finally was matriculated in the law department of the University of Missouri, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893 and from which he received his well earned degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was simultan- eously admitted to the Missouri bar and upon his return to Fort Smith, soon after his graduation, he likewise gained admission to the bar of his native state. Since that time he has been associated with his father in the practice of his profession, but he did not depend upon paternal pres- tige for advancement in his chosen vocation, as his close application and individual ability soon gained him recognition as a strong trial lawyer and well fortified counselor, with the result that his services found increasing
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demand in connection with important litigations as well as in the coun- sel room. He served two terms as city attorney of Fort Smith, and in 1900 he was elected district attorney for the Twelfth judicial district of the state. In this office the best evidence of his effective service is that vouchsafed by his continuing in tenure of the same for three successive terms of two years each.
A stalwart in the Arkansas camp of the Democratic party and a sig- nally effective exponent of the principles and policies of the same, Mr. Cravens has been a leader in its councils in this state for a number of years. In 1906 he was elected a member of the Sixtieth Congress, as a representative of the Fourth congressional district, which comprises the counties of Crawford, Howard, Little River, Logan, Miller, Montgomery, Pike, Polk, Scott, Sebastian and Sevier. He has proved a valuable work- ing member both on the floor and in the committee room of the Lower House of our national legislature, has been unflagging in his efforts to forward the interests of his home district and state, and the popular estimate placed upon his services has been shown in his re-election to Congress in 1908 and again in 1910. During his first term he gave especially useful service as a member of the house committee on Indian affairs, and he is at the present time a member of the committee on military affairs, as well as other important committees, to the work of each of which he gives close and faithful attention. Mr. Cravens is a man of genial personality, and there is naught of equivocation or subtlety in his nature, so that he well merits the confidence and esteem so uniformly accorded him. Mr. Cravens and his wife are members of the Christian Church.
In the city of Fort Smith, on the 19th of December, 1894. Mr. Cravens was united in marriage to Miss Carolyn Dyal, a daughter of Thomas and Nancy Dyal, of Topeka, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Cravens have two children-William F. and Naney E.
SAMUEL M. RUTHERFORD. One of the honored pioneers and distin- guished men of Arkansas was Colonel Samuel Morton Rutherford, who left a deep and beneficent impress upon the history of this commonwealth. and here he lived from his boyhood days until his death, having resided in turn in Clark county, in Little Rock and in Fort Smith, which latter city was the place of his death. It is proper as a matter of historical consistency that a review of his career be incorporated in this publica- tion, and it is specially gratifying in this connection to be able to make use, with but slight paraphrase, of the appreciative and admirably written memoir prepared by his granddaughter, Miss Daisy Rutherford Cravens, of Fort Smith.
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