USA > Arkansas > A pictorial history of Arkansas, from earliest times to the year 1890. A full and complete account, embracing the Indian tribes occupying the country; the early French and Spanish explorers and governors; the colonial period; the Louisiana purchase; the periods of the territory, the state, the civil war, and the subsequent period. Also, an extended history of each county in the order of formation, and of the principal cities and towns; together with biographical notices of distinguished and prominent citizens > Part 55
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George A. Worthen settled in Little Rock in 1844. He was born at Winchester, Kentucky, June 28th, 1816, and died January 30th, 1864. ] His widow is still a resident of the city. The other members of his family now living are: R. W. Worthen, ex-Sheriff of Pulaski county, and W. B. Worthen, a leading banker.
William S. Davis came to Little Rock, November 17th, 1845, and has lived here ever since. He was born in Hun- tington, Huntington county, Pennsylvania, April 19th, 1828. In 1845 he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, but after being there a short time came to Arkansas. He is now at the head of the largest system of Livery and Transfer business in the Southwest. Of his family are a son, Otto Davis, and two daughters.
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W. Jasper Blackburn came to Little Rock in 1845. He was born on the Fouche de Mau, in Randolph county, July 24th, 1820. In 1839 he went to Batesville, where he worked as a printer until 1844, at which date he moved to Conway county. Here he lived a year, and came to Little Rock in 1845, where he lived two years, or until 1847. At this date he moved to Fort Smith, where he lived about a year. In the fall of that year he moved to Minden, Louisiana. After- wards to Homer, in the same parish, but which was not founded when he went to Minden, and is now in a different parish. Here he edited a paper called "Homer's Iliad," and was elected a Member of Congress. In December, 1879, shortly before Christmas, he returned to Little Rock, and in January, 1880, began the publication of a paper, the "Little Rock Republican," which he still edits. For a time the name of it was changed to the "Free South," but the name "Republican" was resumed again.
Robert W. Worthen was born in Little Rock, November Ioth, 1847, eldest son of George A. Worthen. From 1874 to 1880, and from 1882 to 1884 he was County Clerk, and from 1884 to 1888 was Sheriff of the county. He mar- ried Miss Nellie Stoddard, daughter of John Stoddard, a banker, of Little Rock.
Rev. Joshua F. Green came to Little Rock, November 13th, 1847. He was for many years Pastor of the Presbyte- rian Church, and died August 11th, 1854. His widow, Mrs. Green, is still a resident of the city. His family consists at this date of a son,. William F. Green, a resident of Dallas, Texas; and two daughters, Mrs. C. B. Moore, and Miss Green. John Green, his son, a lawyer of promise, who was born near Paris, Kentucky, February 5th, 1847, died at Little Rock, May 9th, 1875.
Fay Hempstead, the writer of this history, was born in Little Rock, November 24th, 1847, the fourth son of Samuel H. and Elizabeth R. Hempstead. He was under private
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tutors to 1859, at which date he became a student at St. John's College, and remained until that institution was closed by the war. From 1866 to 1868 he was a student at the University of Virginia, a part of the time in the Department of Law. He began the practice in 1868, and from 1869 to 1872 was a member of a partnership with George A. Gallagher and Robert C. Newton. In 1874 he was appointed Register of Bankruptcy, by Chief Justice Waite, on the nomination of Judge H. C. Caldwell. In 1881 he became Grand Secretary of the Masonic Fraternity of the State. In 1878 he published, from the press of J. B. Lippincott & Co., a volume of poems. On the 13th of September, 1871, at Charlottesville, Virginia, he married Miss Gertrude Blair O'Neale, daughter of Dr. John L. and Carolina B. O'Neale. By this marriage there are seven children, four sons and three daughters.
Major John D. Adams became a resident of Little Rock in 1847. He was born in Johnson county, Arkansas, in 1829, son of Hon. Samuel Adams, who was President of the Senate, and became Governor upon the resignation of Gor- ernor Yell, in 1844. On the breaking out of the Mexican War, in 1846, Major Adams, although then not 18 years old, enlisted as a private soldier in Captain George W. Patrick's Company "C," of Yell's Regiment of Cavalry, and was made Orderly-Sergeant of the Company. He took part in the battle of Buena Vista, and in the engagement was struck on the arm by a spent ball, but sufficient to make a severe wound. From 1847 to 1850 he was Private Secretary to Governor Thomas H. Drew. In 1852 he began turning his attention to matters of steamboating and river navigation, in which he is still interested, but not as extensively as formerly ; his concerns being more in extensive planting. On the 2d day of May, 1848, in Christ Church, Little Rock, he was married to Miss Catharine Yeiser, daughter of Dr. Daniel Yeiser, of Danville, Kentucky. By this marriage there are two sons, Samuel Adams and Dean Adams, who are grown men, citizens of Little Rock.
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In 1848 Peter Hanger located in Little Rock, and is still a resident of the place. He came to Arkansas in 1834, and lived in Chicot county until 1838. He was Representative of the county in the Legislature of 1837. In 1838 he moved to Van Buren, where he lived until 1848, at which date he moved to Little Rock. In early times he was largely en- gaged in carrying the mails by stage lines through the State. He was born March 29th, 1807. On the 29th of March, 1888, he celebrated his 8Ist birthday, by a large gathering of his descendants, children and grandchildren. His children are Fredrick Hanger and Mrs. William C. Ratcliffe.
James A. Henry came to Little Rock April 12th, 1849, and engaged in merchandising. For many years he was a clerk in the Anthony House and the Capital Hotel, and was widely known throughout the State. He was born in Chester, Massachusetts, July 9th, 1817, and has lived here ever since he came to Arkansas.
Robert Brodie came from Edinburgh, Scotland, to New York, in 1846, and remained there three years, and in 1849 located at Little Rock. He opened an iron foundry, and later kept a hardware store. His sons, James and John Brodie, came at the same time. His daughter was Mrs. F. W. Hezekiah.
Marmaduke Osborn settled in Little Rock in 1849, and clerked first for Mr. Parker and then for Major John D. Adams. He soon went into business with Joseph Newton, brother of the first Thomas W. Newton, and afterwards was in busi- ness for himself at the corner of Markham and Commerce streets, where Charles F. Penzel's store now is. In 1864 he went to Louisville, Kentucky, but returned to Little Rock in 1871, and died there October 19th, 1882, aged 67 years. He was born in South Carolina, February 10th, 1815. When he came to Little Rock he was a widower. On the 31st of March, 1856, he married Mrs. Anna Perdue, of Kentucky, who survives him.
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Richard Bragg came to Little Rock, February 9th, 1849, from Philadelphia, being fifteen days of continuous traveling in making the journey. He was on his way to California, but making the acquaintance of Albert Pike, William Cummins and others, was induced to settle here, and has since remained, becoming an extensive property owner. He was born in New York City, December 29th, 1825, and is the father of a family consisting of four sons and two daugh- ters.
Dr. William A. Cantrell settled at Little Rock in 1852, where he has since resided, and is engaged in the practice of his profession. He was born at Nashville, Tennessee, Jan- uary 22d, 1827. In 1846, 1847 and 1848 he attended the University of Louisville, Kentucky, and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine from that institution in 1848. In the fall of that year he went to New Orleans, Louisiana, to practice medicine. In the fall of 1849 he went to his father's plantation in Jefferson county, and remained there until 1852, when he came to Little Rock. On the 13th of February, 1852, he married, at Little Rock, Miss Ellen M. Harrell. By this marriage there are seven children, five daughters and two sons. The daughters are : Mrs. J. L. Bay, Mrs. Deca- tur Axtell, Mrs. P. H. Goodwin, Mrs. Lucius J. Polk, and Miss Bessie Cantrell. The sons are: Deaderick H. and William A. Cantrell.
George A. Gallagher came to Little Rock to live in 1853. He was born in Alabama in 1826, and was educated at Spring Hill College, near Mobile. He became very proficient in the French language, and after his graduation, in 1846, was employed as Translator of French in the Custom House in Mobile. He served here some months, and from there was transferred to New Orleans, where he served in the same position. In 1847 he was a student of law at Harvard Col- lege, having for his preceptors Story and Greenleaf. In 1848 he settled at Camden, and in 1849 formed a law partner-
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ship with E. A. Warren there. In 1853 he came to Little Rock, and formed a law partnership with James M. Curran, which continued until the death of Mr. Curran, in 1854. In 1855 he formed a law partnership with Judge George C. Watkins, which continued until terminated by the war. He went into the Confederate Army at the commencement of hostilities, and was afterwards Major on the staff of General Theophilas H. Holmes. At the battle of Helena he received a wound in the face which shattered his jaw. Although badly hurt, he would not leave, but continued riding around the field in the discharge of his duties. After the war he formed a law partnership with Robert C. Newton, which continued until his death, which occurred September 25th, 1878. In 1849 he married Miss Margaret Thorn, at Camden, Arkan- sas. She died about 1859. There were born of this mar- riage a son, James, who was accidentally killed by the run- ning away of a horse he was riding, about the year 1876; and a daughter, Octavia, who died in Washington City, April 6th, 1888, while on a visit to friends. She was buried in Mount Holly Cemetery by the side of her father.
Colonel Samuel W. Williams located in Little Rock in 1854, and engaged in the practice of law. He was born near Howell's Ferry, York District, South Carolina, on Broad river, August 23d, 1828. In 1842 his father moved to Wash- ington, Arkansas, and in 1843 came to Little Rock, in charge of the Presbyterian Church ; moved then to Prairie county in 1845, near Brownsville. Colonel Williams studied law, and practiced there until 1854, since which time he has lived in Little Rock. At Little Rock, January 18th, 1855, he mar- ried Miss Mary J. Marshall, daughter of Gilbert Marshall, of Scott county. She died 1886. His family, by this marriage, consists of a son, Hon. Ed. C. Williams, present State Sena- tor for the district in which the county is situated; and four daughters, Mrs. Stone, wife of Lieutenant W. A. Stone, of the United States Army, Mrs. Ed. LeSueur, and Misses
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Dora and Bessie Williams. In July, 1888, Colonel Williams married Miss Francis, daughter of Hon. W. M. Francis, of the town of Mumford, New York.
William R. Miller moved to Little Rock in 1854 upon being made Auditor, and lived here until 1868, when he re- turned to Batesville. Again he came back as Auditor in 1874, and returned again to Batesville. Then back to Little Rock in 1886, where he died November, 1887. A fuller account of him will be found at the mention of his adminis- tration, in Chapter XXIX.
Augustus H. Garland located in Little Rock in 1856, and lived here until 1884, when, upon becoming Attorney-General of the United States, he took up his residence in Washington City, but has a farm in Arkansas, called "Hominy Hill," which he visits from time to time and maintains. A fuller notice of him will be found in the account of his administra- tion, in Chapter XXIX.
John G. Fletcher came to Little Rock to live in 1856, com- ing from Saline county, where he was born on his father's farm, near Benton. He became Deputy-Sheriff under Col- onel Ben. F. Danley, which position he held until 1861, when he went into the war, enlisting in Company "A," Sixth Arkansas Regiment, of the Confederate Army. He was wounded at the battle of Murfreesboro. After the close of the war he began merchandising with Peter Hotze, which firm is still in existence in the cotton business. In 1877 he married Miss Adolphine Krause. He was Mayor of Little Rock six years, and Sheriff of Pulaski county two years-1882 to 1884. He was a prominent candidate for Governor in 1884, and was again a candidate in 1888, with Governor Hughes, E. W. Rector, J. P. Eagle and W. M. Fishback as opposing candidates.
Frederick Kramer became a citizen of Little Rock in 1857. He was born at Halle, Prussia, December 22d, 1829, and came to America in 1848, landing at Boston. He was first
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at Little Rock, in 1852, in the United States Army, but shortly afterwards went to the Indian Territory on duty. After his term of service was over, he took up his residence here, and began merchandising with F. A. Sarasin, as Sarasin & Kramer, and has remained here since. He was Mayor of the city from 1873 to 1875, and from 1881 to 1887, and has been a Member of the School Board, and, generally, President of the Board for twenty-two years, from 1868 to date. In 1857 he married Miss Adaline Reichardt, daughter of a planter, resid- ing about six miles from Little Rock. His children are : three sons, Charles J., Frederick and Henry, and two daugh- ters, Mrs. T. J. Darragh and Miss Emma Kramer.
Leo Pollock came to Little Rock from Philadelphia, March 3Ist, 1857, and became a merchant, and is now conducting a large furniture establishment. Abe Pollock, his brother, also came at the same time, and began merchandising, and is now a leading shoe merchant.
B. Murray came to Little Rock, February 19th, 1857, and has since resided here. He was born near Dublin, Ireland, in the year 1818, came to America in 1849, and landed at Boston. He worked as a painter and grainer at Lowell, Massachusetts, and New York City. From there he went to New Orleans, but could find no employment there. He went next to Louisville, Kentucky, and was doing well there, until the' Know-nothing riots of 1855 taking place deprived him of employment, and he came to Arkansas to join a brother of his, who was at work at the plantation of Colonel James B. Johnson, on the Arkansas river. On arriving at the place, Mr. Murray found it so inundated by the overflow of the river, that he was obliged to desist from attempting to land there, and came on to Little Rock instead. Here he soon found employment, his first work being at painting and . graining on the old Johnson place, Peter Hanger and others giving him employment, and from that time he has remained a citizen of the place.
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George A. Hughes came to Little Rock from Philadelphia in 1858, and engaged in drug business. He conducted that business for twenty years, up to 1886, at the corner of Main and Second streets, a part of the time as a member of the firm of Kinnear & Hughes; at another time of the firm of Hughes & Naulty, and at other times in business alone. He died April 22d, 1888. He was twice married. For ten years he was a School Director and Member of the School Board.
In February, 1859, Dr. John Kirkwood became a resident of the city, and remained such until his death, in 1885. He came to Arkansas from Pennsylvania about 1843, and settled at Columbia, in Chicot county. From there he moved first to Powhatan, Lawrence county, where he resided a while; then at Jacksonport, Jackson county, up to 1859, when he came to Little Rock. His name is represented by three sons : John B. Kirkwood and Thomas C. Kirkwood, residents of Little Rock, and George Freeman Kirkwood, of St. Louis.
Dr. E. D. Ayres became a resident of the place November 19th, 1859, and has since been engaged in the practice of medicine, as a homeopathic physician. He was State Treas- urer from April 18th, 1864, to October 15th, 1866.
Judge T. D. W. Yonley located in Little Rock in 1859, and began the practice of law. When the war broke out, he being a Union man, went North, but returned to Little Rock after its capture by the Federal forces on the 10th day of September, 1863, and he began the publication of a paper called the "Unconditional Union," but which lasted not a great while. In 1864 he was one of the Delegates from Pulaski county to the Constitutional Convention, and aided in framing that instrument. At the election held under this Constitution, he was made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but did not hold the office long, preferring the active practice of his profession. Upon the establishment of the Constitution of 1868, Judge Yonley was made Chancellor of the Pulaski Chancery Court, a State office, which he resigned
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in 1872, to make the race for Attorney-General on the ticket with Elisha Baxter, as the Republican nominee for Governor. He served as Attorney-General until the Constitution of 1874 was established, when he was succeeded by General Simon P. Hughes. Judge Yonley then resumed the practice of law, and in 1878 moved to Denver, Colorado, where he gained distinction as one of the brightest members of that Bar. His residence while in Little Rock was at the northwest corner of Scott and Eighth streets, a house built by Dr. H. N. Case, and occupied since Judge Yonley's time, and at present, by the family of the late B. C. Brown.
Shortly before coming to Little Rock, Judge Yonley married, in New York, Miss Margaret LeSuer, a gifted lady, who became a fine elocutionist, a thorough Shakesperean student, and a prominent leader in society. There were two sons born of this marriage: Harvey and Francis, of whom Harvey, the only one now living, is engaged in merchandis- ing in Denver. Mrs. Yonley died in Denver, November 23d, 1887, shortly after having paid a visit to Little Rock. Judge Yonley died at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, June Ist, 1888, whither he had gone to recuperate his health. His remains were conveyed to Denver, and buried beside those of his wife.
In December, 1859, Rev. Thomas R. Welch became a cit- izen of the place, in charge of the Presbyterian Church, and remained in charge thereof until 1882 or 1883. He was born in Jessamine county, Kentucky, September 15th, 1825. He came to Arkansas, and settled at Helena, May 10th, 1851. He was appointed United States Consul to Ontario by Pres- ident Cleveland, and died at Hamilton, Ontario, March 25th, 1886. His remains were brought to Little Rock, and interred in Mount Holly Cemetery.
J. L. Palmer was born at Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1817, and came west when a young man. He lived in Chi- cago for a time, and afterwards in Mississippi. Business in-
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terests led to his coming to Little Rock, and taking an inter- est in the Anthony House Hotel in 1859, and he has lived here since that date. His family consists of his wife, and a daugh- ter, who is Mrs. Walter O. Caldwell, now a resident of Fort Smith. Mr. Palmer is prominently connected with the temp- erance cause, and with the Humane Society. In 1888 he was nominated as a candidate for Vice-President of the United States by the Prohibition party at their National Con- vention.
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Judge U. M. Rose became a citizen of Little Rock in 1860. and has since resided there. He was born in Marion county, Kentucky, March 5th, 1834, and was left an orphan at an early age. He read law in the office of R. A. Roundtree, in Lebanon, Kentucky, and afterwards attended the Transylva- nia Law School, at Lexington, Kentucky, graduating in 1853. Shortly after this he married and moved to Arkansas, settling at Batesville, where he practiced law until 1860, when he was appointed by Governor E. N. Conway, Chancellor, to succeed Judge H. F. Fairchild, at which date he moved to Little Rock. After the war he formed a law partnership with Judge George C. Watkins, as Watkins & Rose, which con- tinued until the death of Judge Watkins, in December, 1872. After this he practiced alone, until his son, George B. Rose, being admitted to the Bar, was associated with him in the practice, as U. M. & G. B. Rose. Judge Rose has not sought political honors, but has adhered to the practice of his profession, in which he stands at the head in Arkansas.
He is an accomplished scholar, speaking fluently several languages ; of great literary attainments, an incessant reader both in his profession, and in general works. He possesses a large fund of information, obtained not only from reading and study, but by extensive travel in both Europe and America. In oratory he is gifted to an unusual degree. His public addresses are universally finished and eloquent utter-
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ances. Instances in which this has been particularly shown are addresses delivered by him at the Annual Celebration of the Eclectic Society, 1880; at the Decoration of Soldiers' graves, in 1882 ; at the Commencement Exercises of the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons, 1884, and at the Memorial Exercises, on the death of Jefferson Davis, held in the hall of the House of Representatives, December 11th, 1889, by many regarded as his greatest oration. His speeches before juries are models of forensic eloquence. One of the most noted of these was in defense of the Committee of Four- teen Citizens of Hot Springs, in the suit of Moses Harris against them for damages, in the United States Court, at Little Rock. One of his most lasting achievements was the preparation of a Digest of the first twenty-three volumes of Reports of the Supreme Court of Arkansas, called "Rose's Digest." He also served as Examiner in the preparation of "Mansfield's Digest," issued in 1885. Judge and Mrs. Rose have nine children, five sons and four daughters. Three sons are lawyers : John M. and George B. Rose, at Little Rock, and William G. Rose, at Galveston.
Judge Joseph W. Martin became a citizen of Little Rock in 1860, having come at that date from Des Arc, Prairie county, to enter into a law partnership with Colonel Sam. W. Williams. He was born in Clinton, Green county, Ala- bama, June 6th, 1836. In the year 1850 his father, Rev. James Martin, a Presbyterian Minister, moved to Arkansas and settled in Prairie county. In 1853 Joseph W. Martin went to Princeton College, New Jersey, where he graduated in 1855. He then returned to his father's place in Prairie county, and began the study of law, after which he went to Tennessee, where he taught school, and continued the reading of law until July Ist, 1857, when he was admitted to the Bar. Returning to Arkansas, he was licensed to practice, by Judge John J. Clendennin, at the September term of the Conway Circuit Court. He settled at Des Arc, and practiced there
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until 1860. At that date Colonel Sam. W. Williams having lost his brother and law partner, W. L. D. Williams, offered Judge Martin a partnership, which was accepted, and he thereupon became a citizen of Little Rock, and has resided there ever since. At the commencement of the war he en- listed in Colonel Lyons' Regiment, the Sixth Arkansas In- fantry, and became Captain of Company "K," having been in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro and Chick- amauga, in which latter battle he was wounded. Returning to Little Rock, July 4th, 1865, he found that Colonel Solomon F. Clark was engaged in the law practice with Colonel Wil- liams, his former law partner, but he was admitted a member of the firm, it being Clark, Williams & Martin. This firm continued till 1868. In 1872 he formed a partnership in law practice with Judge Freeman W. Compton, which continued until 1876. At that date he was elected Judge of the Sixth Circuit, to serve the unexpired term of Judge John J. Clen- dennin, and was re-elected in 1878 for a term of four years. He was succeeded in 1882 by Judge F. T. Vaughan, but in 1886 was again re-elected, for a term of four years, ending 1890, and which position he now fills. In 1874 he was Prosecuting Attorney, and served till 1876.
On the 8th of May, 1866, in Little Rock, he married Miss Emma C. Beebe, daughter of Roswell Beebe, First President of the Cairo & Fulton Railroad.
Ralph L. Goodrich became a citizen of Little Rock in 1860. He was born in Owego, New York, in the year 1840. Leaving New York he went first to Florida, then to South Carolina, and then came to Arkansas. In 1866 he was Deputy Clerk of the United States Court, under Charles P. Redmond, and afterwards under Frank E. Wright, and upon the death of Wright, in 1873, was appointed Clerk of both the Circuit and District Courts of the United States for the Eastern District of Arkansas, which position he still holds. Being a man of scholarly attainments, he has devoted a great
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deal of attention for some years to the study of the Sanskrit language, and has published a number of translations of the "Veda" in that language. Some of these came to the atten- tion of Professor C. R. Lauman, Professor of Sanskrit in Harvard University, who was so well satisfied with their thor- oughness and accuracy, that he nominated Mr. Goodrich to be a member of the American Philological Society; the Ori- ental Society of America; and the Pali-Text Society of England ; and, in 1881, Mr. Goodrich was elected a member of these societies.
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