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 78
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J. H. Means
Jeremiah Hollis
James Newton
A. S. Ledion.
G. W. Johnson
1854 to 1856
John C. Avants.
J. H. Means.
J. Hollis
W. A. Thomas.
A. Shoemaker
John Frazer.
1856 to 1858.
Michael Vager.
J. H. Means
A. J. Barker
James Newton
E. J. Riggs
John Frazer
1858 to 1860.
Alex. Toney
J. H. Means.
A. J. Barker
James Newton
Harvey Oliver
J. H. Marks ..
1860 to 1862.
R. B. Earnest ..
Alex. Mason.
J. M. Brown
E. J. Riggs ...
W. B. Stringfellow ..
1862 to 1864
W. S. Harris.
Alex. Mason
A. G. Barker
E. J. Riggs
1864 to 1866
W. S. Harris.
Alex. Mason.
A. G. Barker
E. J. Riggs ...
1866 to 1868
R. B. Earnest
J. H. Means
1868 to 1872
A. S. Johnson.
J. H. Means
John Gardner.
John H. Haslan, 1
1872 to 1874
3 J. H. Means.
A. H. Cone
John B. Cook ..
W. G. Smith
G. B. Talbot.
C. D. Tobin.
1874 to 1876
W. J. Pickett ..
W. J. Bunn
A. H. Cone ..
J. B. Cook .....
N. W. Thompson
J. H. Marks
T. C. Bass.
1876 to 1878
John J. Harris
W. J. Bunn.
A. H. Cone ..
John B. Cook.
J. S. Mitchell ..
W. Robertson.
T. C. Bass.
1878 to 1880
John J. Harris
W. J. Bunn.
A. H. Cone ..
John B. Cook.
C. W. Davidson ..
H. C. Black ...
T. C. Bass.
1880 to 1882.
J. J. Harris
W. J. Bunn
W. S. Evins.
John B. Cook.
H. P. Shoffner
F. E. Tobin
Wm. McDonald.
1882 to 1884
O. H. P. Richardson W. J. Bunn
W. S. Evins.
C. V. Murray.
W. W. Jones.
H. C. Black.
T. C. Bass.
1884 to 1886
O. H. P. Richardson H. A. Pickett
W. S. Evins
C. V. Murray ..
W. W. Jones.
H. C. Black.
Wm. McDonald.
1886 to 1888
W. J. Bunn
H. A. Pickett.
W. A. Tomlinson
James B. Wood.
Geo. B. Adams
..
H. C. Black.
W. S. Cottrell.
1888 to 1890
R. F. Deadman
H. A. Pickett ..
W. A. Tomlinson
J. B. Wood.
T. N. Means
-
1-Henry F. Durham, County Treasurer, from October, 1871, vice Haslan resigned. 3-Office abolished by Act 1873. See page 153, Sec. 1 of Acts 1873. 4- L. Joy from 1870.
R. Hampton, President of the Senate. Daniel H. Tobin, James Ricks and Francis P. Davidson were the Commissioners by whom it was located. Nathaniel M. Hunt donated to the county ten acres on which to build the town. It has a frame court-house and brick jail. There is one church in the place, a Methodist church, Rev. Charles L. Adams, pastor. A hotel is kept by Elisha Unsell.
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
J. H. Marks.
W. G. Hollingsworth J. H. Marks ..
W. G. Hollingsworth |J. H. Marks, Jr.
T. A. Black.
A. G. Barker
W. B. Stringfellow S. Allshul
J. H. Marks ..
H. F. Durham
J. R. Webb, 4.
H. C. Black.
W. S. Cottrell.
SEBASTIAN COUNTY.
Sebastian County, the fifty-fifth county created, was formed January 6th, 1851, out of territory taken from the counties of Crawford, Scott and Polk, and was named after Senator Wil- liam K. Sebastian. The temporary seat of justice was directed to be at the house of Eaton Tatum. The county seat was located at Greenwood, where it now is. In the establish- ment of the Constitution of 1874, and by Acts of the Legisla- ture of January 2Ist, 1861, and of 1875, two districts were created, with separate courts at Greenwood and Fort Smith.
Sebastian is a western county, bounded north by the Ar- kansas river and west by the boundary line of the Indian Territory. Its area embraces 364,800 acres.
In surface, about one-half the county is rolling, a small por- tion mountainous, with other portions of level and of prairie land. The country is high and elevated, and not as subject to malarial conditions as other portions of the State. The lands of the county are fertile and productive, and yield well all products common to the latitude, with abundance of fruit and grapes. .
The county is well supplied with transportation facilities by the Arkansas and Poteau rivers, and by two railroads, the Little Rock & Fort Smith, and the St. Louis & San Francisco, which touches at Van Buren, in the adjacent county of Craw- ford, but which is only five miles away, and on which travel reaches Fort Smith over a fine railroad bridge at Van Buren.
There are seventy-one school districts, with forty-nine free common schools, in the county, which are kept open five months in the year, and in the city of Fort Smith nine months.
There are churches at all the principal points in the county, in which all denominations are represented.
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1098
THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN THE COUNTY OFFICERS.
DATE.
JUDGE.
CLERK.
SHERIFF.
TREASURER.
CORONER.
SURVEYOR.
ASSESSOR.
1851 to 1852
James Clark
John Carnall
S. B. Stevens.
S. Norton.
Wm. McAllister.
F. E. Williams
1852 to 1854.
Samuel Wilson ..
John Carnall
J. J. Baker ..
S. Norton
H. E. Holliman
B. F. Davidson
1854 to 1856
S. M. Rutherford.
John Carnall
C. Norris
J. R. Canady.
A. J. Singleton.
J. R. Smoott
1856 to 1858
Charles Milor
C. C. Burton
C. Norris
J. M. Morrow ..
A. J Singleton ..
J. R. Smoott.
1858 to 1860
Charles Milor ..
C. C. Burton
C. D. Pryor.
William Kersey.
T. H. Smith ..
J. O. Brewer.
1860 to 1862
Wm. McAllister
C. C. Burton
W. A. Porter.
N. D. Osborn.
W. H. Butler ..
J. O. Brewer.
1862 to 1864
Wm. McAllister
J. A. Brown ..
W. A. Porter
N. D. Osborn ...
M. J. Watts.
J. R. Smoott ..
D. E. Sutliffe.
1864 to 1866
John Howard.
S. H. Payne ..
V. V. Milor
George Wooten ..
1866 to 1868
John Howard
W. Patterson.
G. F. Bethel.
Thomas Dunn.
J. B. Holliman.
C. H. Drake ..
W. A. Riley.
T. H. Scott.
B. F. Hackett ...
Wm. Blaylock
J. R. Smoott.
J. A. Davey.
1868 to 1872
C. P. Swift, 2.
Wm. Patterson ... G. N. Stradling, 3.
J. H. McClure, '4.
M. M. Huekill, 5
Eli Leflar
J. R. Smoott ..
J. A. Davey.
1874 to 1876
C. Perkins
J. H. McClure
Henry Falconer
R. B. Morrow ..
Jesse Little.
B. H. Person ..
T. F. Crossland.
1876 to 1878
C. Perkins.
J. H. McClure ..
H. I. Falconer.
R. B. Morrow ..
F. Luce.
R. W. Gordon.
J. P. Durden.
1878 to 1880
R. B. Rutherford
W. J. Fleming.
H. I. Falconer
R. B. Morrow ..
G. W. Dobson
R. W. Gordon.
J. P. Durden.
1880 to 1882
R. B. Rutherford.
J. B. Forrester, 6 .. ...
H. I. Falconer
R. B. Morrow.
William Green.
S. F. Lawrence ..
J. P. Durden.
1882 to 1884
B. J. H. Gaines .. ..
J. H. McClure,
H. I. Falconer.
R. B. Morrow.
A. J. Coleman
G. H. Warren.
R. W. Gordon.
1884 to 1886.
B. J. H.
Gaines.
J. H. McClure 7 ..
John F. Williams
Jesse A. Bell
J. T. Booth
R. H. Eliason ..
R. W. Gordon.
1886 to 1888
B. J. H. Gaines.
John H. McClure.
John F. Williams .
J. P. Durden
W. P. Graham.
T. H. R. Johnson ..
W. L. Euper.
1888 to 1890.
W. I. Blythe.
A. A. McDonald
John F. Williams.
J. P. Durden
James M. Killiam ..
T. H. R. Johnson ..
W. L. Euper.
*J. A. Bell
a
1-Record of this term is incomplete. 2-From December, 1870. 3-A. Williams, Circuit Clerk. 4-Henry Carnall from May, 1874. 5-Jacob Baer from November, 1873. 6-W. J. Fleming, Circuit Clerk. 7-J. C. Stallcup, Circuit Clerk; * Circuit Clerk.
Sebastian county has practically two county seats. The regular county seat is Greenwood, where the county records are kept and where county business is transacted, but separate Circuit and Probate Courts are also held at Fort Smith. The United States District Court for the Western District of Ar- kansas holds its sessions at Fort Smith.
The cities and towns in the county are :' Fort Smith, Greenwood, Witcherville, Hackett City, Hart- ford, Huntington, Lavacca, Mansfield.
.
*J. C. Stallcup
..
1872 to 1874
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
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SEBASTIAN COUNTY.
Greenwood, the county seat and seat of the Greenwood dis- trict is near the center of the county, not on any stream or railroad. It is located in the center of an extensive coal field, varying from 3 to 6 feet thick, at a depth of from 17 to 125 feet. The Missouri Pacific Railway Company are building a road from Fort Smith south through this place, and when this is completed, coal mining will be commenced on a large scale, making an output of from 50 to 100 cars of coal daily.
Mansfield is located at the present terminus of the Frisco extension, and has now 200 inhabitants. It has II stores, a livery stable, hotel, planing mill, grist mill and cotton gin. Although the railroad was not completed until late in the fall, upwards of 1,000 bales of cotton were shipped from this point during the season. It is located in a beautiful section of the county, as fertile as any in the State.
Huntington is on the Frisco extension, about 30 miles from Fort Smith. A year ago where it stands was a wilderness, but the Kansas & Texas Coal Company began mining coal there, and now the place has upwards of 2,000 inhabitants. It is in the midst of an extremely rich coal field, and gives promise of making rapid growth and improvement.
Hackett City is located 16 miles south of Forth Smith, in a valley between Back Bone and Sugar Loaf Mountains.
Three years ago it was a small country village. It has now about 1,500 inhabitants, with some 25 business houses, with good hotels. It has a saw mill, planing mill, grist mill, cotton gin, and a weekly newspaper. It has two good church- buildings and a large school-house.
Hon. J. A. Williams, editor of the Hackett City Horseshoe, was one of the prominent citizens of Sebastian county, resid- ing at Hackett City. He died in Little Rock, January 30th, 1889, aged 52 years, while in attendance on the Legislature, of which he was Representative from his county. He was born in Crawford county, Arkansas, in 1836, and was serving his second term as Representative. He had been editor of
STREET SCENE, FORT SMITH.
-.
IIOI
SEBASTIAN COUNTY.
the Horseshoe for several years. He left at his decease a wife and seven children.
Fort Smith, the county seat of the Fort Smith District, is on the south bank of the Arkansas river, and its western limit is the boundary line of the Indian Territory. A monumental stone stands at the northeast corner of the United States Reser- vation, which is the terminal point of the Government Survey between the United States and the Cherokee Nation. From this point the line runs northwest to the southwest corner of the State of Missouri.
The town was laid out in 1821 by John Rogers, who was in the Seventh Regiment of United States Infantry, stationed at Fort Smith. He was an uncle of "Uncle Jerry" Kannady, and was the proprietor of the lands on which the town was located.
There are three large public school-houses for the white children, capable of seating 1,200 children, and a large brick school-house for colored children. In addition to the public schools, the German Lutherans have a large school, and there is a large convent school. In 1884 Congress made a magnifi- cent donation to the public schools of the city, granting 200 acres, which were divided into 1,200 lots, of which about 400 lots sold for $125,000, and from the total number of which the sum of nearly $400,000 has accrued from sales.
Fort Smith is the second city in the State in size and popu- lation. It has gas and water works ; electric lights, both arc and incandescent ; street railway ; about twenty miles of stone sidewalks, ice factory, cotton seed oil mill, and machine shops. It has many handsome public buildings, the princi- pal among which are the court-house of Sebastian county, the Federal court-house and post-office, Belle Grove and other school-houses, the opera-house, Masonic temple, etc., and churches, some fifteen in number, representing all denomi- nations. It is a beautiful and rapidly growing city, with a bright future before it.
-
IIO2
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
One of the celebrated men of the State, long a resident of Fort Smith, was Major William Quesenbury, or, as he pre- ferred to call himself, "Bill Cush," editor, artist, humorist, musician, cartoonist and poet.
He was born near Fort Smith, then in Crawford county, August 2Ist, 1822, son of Henry and Susan Quesenbury. He was educated at St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, Ken- tucky. He lived at Fort Smith until 1847, when he located in Fayetteville, and while there became a newspaper editor of note, first conducting a paper of his own, but afterwards tak- ing editorial charge of the Arkansian, published at that place ; formerly conducted by E. C. Boudinot, but who had now accepted an editorial engagement with the True Demo- crat, in Little Rock, leaving Major Quesenbury in charge. While conducting this paper he employed his gifts of carica- turing, in a series of wood-cut sketches, in the Gubernatorial race between Henry M. Rector and Richard H. Johnson, in 1860, which were copied into numerous leading newspapers of the United States, exciting universal merriment. Wood- cut illustration in newspaper columns was then in its in- fancy. On the breaking out of the Mexican War he enlisted in Yell's Regiment, and became Quarter-master of the Regi- ment, and as such was present at the Battle of Buena Vista, actively engaged in doing the duty of Ordnance-sergeant in supplying ammunition to the troops. During the Civil War of 1861 he served as Quarter-master under General Albert Pike. After the war he moved to Navasota, Texas, where he edited a paper called, the Navasota Tablet, until 1881, when he moved to Neosho, Missouri, where he died August 21st, 1888, on his sixty-sixth birthday. His death was extremely sudden. He was engaged in painting a portrait, and had worked on it till late in the evening, it being almost finished. He set up late reading, as was his custom, and retired feeling well in health, but died before daybreak. His daughter Bessie who inherited her father's talent as an artist, afterwards
1103
SEBASTIAN COUNTY.
finished the portrait which he left incomplete. He married Miss Adeline Parks of Cane Hill, Washington county, Ar- kansas, who survived him. The children of this marriage now livingare Stanley Quesenbury at Mckinney, Texas, Mrs. Minnie Q. Rose, at Belton, Cass county, Missouri; George and Bessie Quesenbury, who reside with their mother in Neosho.
Major Quesenbury was possessed of remarkable gifts as a cartoonist and caricaturist. His crayon drawings, which were usually sketched with the utmost rapidity, were strangely gro- tesque, and were generally of Indian subjects with exaggerated features. Any pieces of paper which came in his way, the wrapping paper around store parcels, old newspapers or the backs of show bills, were made the ground for spreading upon them some grotesque sketch, often larger than life; and it was his custom to paste these pictures about the walls of his room and even on the ceiling, until both wall and ceiling would be hidden by the accumulation of sketches.
As a poet he was easy and versatile, and some of his pro- ductions were unique and meritorious. In 1878 he read a poem, entitled Arkansas, before the Editorial Convention in Hot Springs, which was published in pamphlet form, and at- tained considerable local celebrity.
He was a ready and fluent writer, and as a newspaper cor- respondent was unexcelled. One of his excellencies, which he preserved to the last, was a remarkably bold and picturesque handwriting. He was a thorough scholar and a man of much literary culture. A part of his life was that of a teacher, Prof. James Mitchell having been one of his pupils.
The following, from an obituary notice of him in the Neosho Times, of September 6th, 1888, is a just summary of his many distinguishing characteristics :
"Mr. Quesenbury possessed various elegant accomplishments. In the fine arts his taste was good and highly cultivated. His love of beautiful painting was notable, and he was himself a painter of decided talent and skill, leaving to his family and friends many pictures which show his excellence with the painter's
IIO4
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
brush. In his nature there was a charming poetic vein, and delightful verse flowed from his soul and pen. His reading was extensive, and to the genius of the poet and artist he added the knowledge of the scholar. A quick observer, he knew the men around him and all the affairs that drew his attention. In character genial and kindly, in manner easy and attractive, he was a noble old- fashioned gentleman who loved his fellow-man, and whose memory will never fade out of the hearts of people who were happy to know him and call him friend."
Colonel Ben. T. Duval has been a resident of Fort Smith since 1829, and has been a lawyer there since 1849, at which date he began the practice of law there, and still continues being one of the leading lawyers of that section of the State. He was born at Wellsburg, Boone county, West Virginia, January 2Ist, 1827, son of Captain William Duval, who, in 1825, was engaged in trading with the Indians on our western border. Captain Duval settled with his family in Fort Smith in 1829, and died in 1851. Benjamin T. Duval was edu- cated at St. Joseph's College, in Bardstown, Kentucky, where he graduated in 1843. He first studied law at Van Buren under Judge Jesse Turner, and then at Little Rock under General Albert Pike, where he was admitted to the Bar in 1847, and began practicing in Fort Smith in 1849. In 1858 he was Member of the Legislature from Sebastian county, and again in 1860. In 1872 he was nominated for Attorney- General on the Coalition ticket, made between the Democrats and the Reform Republicans, and canvassed portions of the State, but the opposition ticket, headed by Elisha Baxter, pre- vailed. On the 22d of June, 1847, he married Miss Ellen J. Field, daughter of William Field, of Little Rock, Clerk of the United States Court. She died about 1885. Some time after her death Colonel Duval married a second time.
One of the early settlers of Fort Smith was Jeremiah R. Kannady, generally and familiarly called "Uncle Jerry." He was born in Beaver, Pennsylvania, February 11th, 1817. In the same year his father moved to Newark, Licking county, Ohio, and in 1828 to Hebron in the same county. In 1832 the father died, and the family came to Fort Smith
P
0
1105
SEBASTIAN COUNTY.
on the invitation of John Rogers, brother of Mrs. Kannady, who was military storekeeper there. The family reached the place March Ist, 1836. Captain Rogers then took his nephew, Jeremiah Kannady, in with him as clerk, and after- wards as partner in the business for four years. From 1845 to 1861 Colonel Kannady was Post-sutler at Fort Smith. In 1855 he commenced manufacturing carriages and wagons. During the war he was made Transportation-master, and built shops in Waco, Mount Pleasant and Dallas, at which place he was stationed. After the war he resumed milling and manufacturing, but as he grew old retired from business, having built a number of fine buildings in Fort Smith, the principal one being the Kannady Block. He died in Fort Smith, in 1887, in the 70th year of his age, beloved by all for his genial and kindly disposition. In 1847, May 19th, he married, in Crawford county, Arkansas, Miss Sophia Barling, daughter of Aaron Barling, one of the first settlers of the town.
A well-known and much beloved citizen of Fort Smith was Doctor Elias R. Duval. He was born at Fort Smith, August 13th, 1836, and graduated from the Medical Depart- ment of the Pennsylvania College, March, 1858, and began the practice of medicine in Fort Smith in IS59, which he con- tinued without intermission, and with distinction and success, until his death, October 7th, 1885. He was a polished and fluent writer, and was the author of many medical and other works. On the 8th of May, 1860, he married, in Van Buren, Miss Angela M. Dibrell, a daughter of Dr. James A. Dibrell, of that city. By this marriage there are four children : two daughters, Annie and Angela; and two sons, Benjamin T. and Dibrell Le Grand Duval.
Major Elias Rector, who for forty-one years was a resident of Fort Smith, was one of the best known men in the State. He was the original of General Albert Pike's humorous poem,
70
e
IIO6
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
"The Fine Arkansas Gentleman," a parody on "The Old English Gentleman." He was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, September 28th, 1802, the youngest son of Colonel Wharton Rector. He was educated at Bardstown and Lex- ington, Kentucky. When twenty-three years old, in 1825, he came to Little Rock, then a mere collection of cabins, and in 1837 settled in Fort Smith. He was appointed by General Jackson, United States Marshal of the Western 'District of Arkansas, which position he held for sixteen years, under four Presidents. After this he was appointed Southwestern Super- intendent of Indian Affairs, which position he held till 1861. During this time one of the duties discharged was the re- moval of Billy Bowlegs and the remnant of the Seminole tribe from Florida to the Indian Territory. He died at his old home near Fort Smith, November 22d, 1878, aged seventy- six years. On the 25th of November, 1835, he married, at Fort Smith, Miss Catharine J. Duval, daughter of Captain .William Duval. By this marriage there were eight children. The eldest was Harriet Amanda, who became Mrs. General W. L. Cabell, now of Dallas, Texas; she died in 1887 or 1888. There are two sons, James B. and Elias, and three daughters.
Colonel Elias C. Boudinot, a well known resident of Fort Smith, and a man of national reputation, was born near Rome, Georgia, August Ist, 1835. He is of Indian descent of the Cherokee tribe. In 1839, in a feud between two di- visions of the tribe, his father, Elias Boudinot, was assassinated by the opposing portion, after which E. C. Boudinot was sent to Manchester, Vermont, by his Uncle, Stand Waitie, where he received an education. In 1854 he began reading law in the office of Hon. A. M. Wilson, at Fayetteville, and was ad- mitted to the Bar there in 1856, and practiced for a time at that place, during which time he also assisted in editing the Arkansian, a weekly newspaper. In 1860 he was made Chairman of the Democratic State Central Committee, and
1107
SEBASTIAN COUNTY.
in 1861 was Secretary of the State Convention. On the breaking out of the war, he became Major in an Indian Regi- ment under his Uncle, Stand Waitie, as Colonel, in service on the Confederate side. Since the war he has been much of the time in Washington city, where he married, but has now resumed his permanent residence in Fort Smith.
Colonel Boudinot is a vocalist and elocutionist of excellence, and on all social occasions affords much entertainment by his songs and recitations.
Hon. W. M. Fishback has been a resident of Sebastian county the most of the time since 1858. He was born in Jefferson, Culpepper county, Virginia, November 5th, 1831, and was educated at the University of Virginia. After leav- ing college he taught school and read law. In 1857 he went to Illinois, but remained there only a year, when he came to Arkansas, and located at Greenwood. He was elected to the Convention of 1861 as a Union man. When the war began he went north, returning to Little Rock in 1864, being shortly afterwards elected to the Legislature under the Mur- phy Government. In 1865 he was appointed Special Agent of the Treasury Department. After this he returned to Sebas- tian county and located at Fort Smith, where he now resides. In 1872, 1876, 1878 and 1884 he was a Member of the Leg- islature, and in 1874 a Member of the Constitutional Conven- tion, and a prominent candidate for Governor in 1888.
William H. H. Clayton became a citizen of Fort Smith in 1874. In that year he was appointed by President Grant, District Attorney of the United States for the Western Dis- trict of Arkansas, which has jurisdiction over the Indian country and a large part of Arkansas, and the court for which is held at Fort Smith. He was born in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, October 13th, 1840. He was educated at Village Green Seminary, in Delaware county, and after serv- ice as a Second Lieutenant in the One Hundred and Twenty- fourth Pennsylvania Infantry in the war, taught military tactics
1108
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
and other branches in that academy during 1863 and 1864. In the winter of 1864 he moved to Pine Bluff, where he en- gaged in planting until 1868, when he was appointed Circuit Superintendent of Public Instruction, and traveled through several counties in the interest of schools. In 1867 he began the study of law, and was admitted to the Bar in 1871, and was at once appointed Prosecuting Attorney of the First Cir- cuit, and subsequently Judge of that Circuit until 1874, when he was appointed District Attorney, and re-appointed by President Hayes in 1879. He is one of the prominent citi- zens of Fort Smith, and a successful lawyer. He is a brother of Ex-Governor Powell Clayton, and was a twin brother of John M. Clayton, of Pine Bluff. Judge Clayton married, in Pine Bluff, October 13th, 1869, Miss Florence A. Barnes, formerly of Arkansas Post, a daughter of William K. Barnes, and descended in the maternal line from the family of Hewes Scull, an early settler at the Post. Of this marriage there were five children.
Judge Isaac C. Parker was appointed by President Grant, U. S. District Judge of the Western District of Arkansas, in 1875, which position he now holds, and at that date became a citizen of Fort Smith. He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, October 15th, 1838. In 1859 he began the practice of law in St. Joseph, Missouri. In 1868 he was elected Circuit Judge, and in 1870, and again in 1872, was elected Member of Congress. On the 12th of December, 1861, he married Miss Mary O'Toole, at St. Joseph, Mo. By this marriage there are two children : Charles and James J. Parker.
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