Biographical and historical memoirs of eastern Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties named herein, and numerous biographical sketches of the prominent citizens of such counties., Part 84

Author: Goodspeed Publishing Company
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; St. Louis [etc.] : The Goodspeed Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 836

USA > Arkansas > Biographical and historical memoirs of eastern Arkansas, comprising a condensed history of the state, a number of biographies of distinguished citizens of the same, a brief descriptive history of each of the counties named herein, and numerous biographical sketches of the prominent citizens of such counties. > Part 84

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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

Jackson), Katie (wife of H. H. Myers), Anna (wife of Charles Labell), Maggie, Nellie, Garland, Sarah and Willie. Mrs. Black still resides in Brinkley, and is a most estimable lady.

A. T. Blaine is another successful merchant of Indian Bay, and since 1882 has been established at his present place of business, the average value of his stock of goods amounting to $2,000. He was born in Worcester County, Md., in 1849, his parents, Thomas J. and Sarah G. (Burnett) Blaine, having been born in Somerset and Worcester Counties, in 1829 and 1833, respectively. They spent their lives in their native State, and the father at the time of his death, in 1884, was en- gaged in the boot and shoe business. He was a church member, as was his wife, and was a son of James Blaine, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States after becoming grown, and made his home in Maryland. Rixam Burnett, the ma- ternal grandfather, was also born in Ireland, and after coming to the United States, settled in the west of Maryland. He had one son who was a ship carpenter and sailor for many years, on the vessel Ohio, and served in the United States navy during the war, the most of his time being spent on the Mississippi River. A. T. Blaine is the eldest of nine brothers, four of whom are living, and is the only one residing in Monroe County. He was educated in Pocomoke City, Md., attend- ing both the private and public schools, but in 1871 he came to Indian Bay, Ark., and was en- gaged in clerking until 1882, when he again began business for himself, and as above stated, has done well. He is a Democrat, casting his first vote for Greeley, in 1872, and belongs to Indian Bay Lodge No. 249, A. F. & A. M., in which order he held the positions of Junior Warden and Secretary, and he is also a member of Advance Lodge No. 2491, K. of H., and is now filling the position of Past Dictator. In 1876 he was married to Jennie Rainbolt, who died in 1885, having borne one son and two daughters, and in 1887 he wedded Mrs. Emma (Erwin) Clark, a native of Tennessee, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. He owns 1,000 acres of land, with 500 under cultivation, and since 1885 has been postmaster of Indian Bay.

William H. Boyce is a planter and cotton gin- ner of Montgomery Township, and has been a prominent and enterprising resident of Monroe County, Ark., since 1866. He was born in Jack- son, Tenn, July 19, 1847, and is a son of Isham and Elizabeth (Tharpe) Boyce, natives respectively of South Carolina and North Carolina. Both re- moved to Tennessee with their parents when young and were married in Paris of that State, but after- ward became residents of Jackson. Mr. Boyce died at Brownsville, Tenn., in 1866, at the age of fifty-four years, and his wife in 1853, aged thirty- four years. After the death of his wife Mr. Boyce married again. William H. is the youngest of seven children born to his first union and re- ceived his early education in the common schools of his native State. When the war opened he joined Company L, Sixth Tennessee Infantry, and for some time was with Gen. Bragg in Kentucky and Tennessee, participating with that general in the battles of Perryville, Shiloh and Corinth. Just before the battle of Murfreesboro he was trans- ferred to Company G, Ninth Tennessee Cavalry, and was at the battle of Chickamauga and in many skirmishes. He was captured at Panther Springs, Tenn., January 24, 1864, and was kept a prisoner at Ball's Island until just before the close of the war when he was released and rejoined his com- mand and surrendered with it at Gainesville, Ala. Mr. Boyce has been very successful in his farming ventures and has an excellent lot of land, compris- ing 1,400 acres, lying seven miles northeast of Indian Bay. His land was almost wholly covered with timber, but with the energy and push which have ever characterized his efforts, he began ener- getically to clear his property and now has about 500 acres under cultivation. He keeps his cotton- gin running almost the year round and finds this a lucrative business. In 1869 he was married to Laura, a daughter of Capt. William M. Mayo, whose sketch will be found in this work, and by her became the father of ten children, three daugh- ters only now living. Mr. Boyce is a Democrat, and his wife is a member in good standing of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He has one sister living, Georgia, the wife of John W. Gates,

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of Jackson, Tenn. William A. Tharpe, the mater- nal grandfather, was born in North Carolina, and died near Paris, Tenn.

W. F. Branch, merchant, Holly Grove, Ark. There are in every community some persons who, on account of their industry and practical manage- ment of the affairs which fall to their lot, deserve special credit; and such is Mr. Branch. He was originally from Wilson County, Tenn., where his birth occurred in 1849, and is the son of James Branch, who is also a native Tennesseean, born 1817. The elder Mr. Branch was a farmer by oc- cupation, and was married to Miss Eleanor Neele, by whom he had seven children, two of whom only are living: W. F. and Sallie (wife of J. W. Walker, of Clarendon). The father moved from Tennessee to Arkansas in 1859, located in Monroe County, and there his death occurred in 1867. The mother died in 1885. W. F. Branch was married to Miss Ella Walls in 1874, and four children blessed this union, two of whom are living: Bes- sie and Addie. Mrs. Branch died in 1886. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1888 Mr. Branch took for his second wife Miss Ada Peete, a native of Tennessee, a very estimable lady, and the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Peete, of Memphis. Mr. Branch is a prosperous mer- chant, and the firm title is Branch & Wall. He opened business in Holly Grove, in 1887, and is doing well. He also owns 600 acres of land. He is a member of the K. of H., and he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.

Rev. Thomas J. Brickell. No calling in which a man can engage is so truly noble and unselfish as that of the man who devotes his life to the saving of souls, and although Mr. Brickell is a local min- ister, he has been instrumental in bringing many erring ones to the feet of the Master. He has been established in business in Brinkley since 1885, and deals in furniture and undertaker's goods, his stock being valued at from $1,500 to $2,000. He is a Georgian by birth, born in Palmetto, Coweta County, in 1849, and is a son of Nicholas and Mar- tha J. (Sanders) Brickell, natives of North Carolina, their nuptials being celebrated at Palmetto, Ga. Since 1870 they have resided in Phillips County,

Ark., and are there still living, both having been members of the Methodist Church, South, many years. The father, the oldest of a family of four sons and one daughter, was born May 11, 1824. About 1844 he went to Rockford, Surry County, N. C., living with an uncle, J. F. Harrison, and in 1846 moved to Palmetto, Ga. His wife's mother was formerly Fannie Harris. Mr. Brickell upon leaving Palmetto, was located at Franklin several years, and in 1870 moved to Trenton, Phillips Coun- ty, Ark. He now lives at Poplar Grove in the same county. He served the Confederate cause for three years during the Civil War, as a mechanic in the saltpetre works, being in Georgia most of the time. He belongs to the A. F. & A. M., and is a grand- son of John B. Brickell, a Frenchman who came to the United States with Gen. La Fayette dur- ing the Revolutionary War. After that conflict he settled in the lower part of North Carolina, subse- quently going to Union District, where he died. His wife, Frances Gregory, a Virginian by birth, went to Surry County, N. C., and reared a large family. At that place our subject's grandparents were married. Rev. Thomas J. Brickell is the eldest of nine children, and in addition to attending the common schools in his youth, he worked in his fa- ther's cabinet shop. He began for himself as a clerk in 1869, in Atlanta, Ga., but a short time afterward he came to Arkansas, and taught school and farmed for a few years. In 1873 he joined the White River Annual Conference, and for five years was an itinerant preacher of the Methodist Church. On account of his wife's health he then located at Poplar Grove, and was there a partner with his fa- ther in business until his removal to Brinkley, where he has established a good home and a profit- able business. He owns eighty-five acres of tim- ber land, four miles from Brinkley, together with six town lots, all his property being acquired by his own exertions. He was for some time a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, joining when sixteen years of age, and at the age of twenty, upon removing to Arkansas, united with the Congregational Methodist Church, and was licensed to preach. Some three years after he returned to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and now preaches

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the doctrine of that denomination as a local min- ister. His wife, whom he married in 1872, and who was born in Alabama, April 16, 1853, was a Miss Martha J. Morriss, a daughter of William D. and Harriet A. (Curry) Morris. She was reared principally in Phillips County, Ark. Her father was born in Lawrence County, Ala., November 23, 1820, subsequently moving to Phillips County, Ark. His wife was born in Maury County, Tenn., September 17, 1823. Mr. Morris died May 21, 1888, but his widow still survives him. Our sub- ject and his wife have one son, now sixteen years of age.

Elijah C. Brown has passed his entire life in an industrious manner and his efforts have not been without substantial evidences of success, as will be seen from a glance at his present possessions. He was born in Fayette County, Tenn., in 1851, and is the third of four children born to Thomas J. and Frances (Branch) Brown, natives respectively of South Carolina and Tennessee. They were married in Fayette County, of the latter State, where Mrs. Brown was reared from infancy, and there their home continued to be until 1859, when they settled in Monroe County, Ark. They opened a farm in what is now Pine Ridge Township, and here Mr. Brown's life expired on January 6, 1866, his wife following him to his long home August 22, 1874. The maternal grandfather, Benjamin Branch, was born in Tennessee and spent his en- tire life in Fayette County, having served in the capacity of sheriff and clerk. His wife was a na- tive of the Blue Grass State, and died in Tennessee also. Elijah C. Brown has one brother and two sisters: Sarah (wife of Dr. William Parks), Thomas M. and Eva Lillian (wife of E. T. Dyer). Elijah C. started out in life for himself with a limited education, but after the war he determined to rem- edy this defect and accordingly entered Hickory Withe Academy of Fayette County, Tenn., and upon leaving this institution was much better pre- pared to fight the battle of life. He followed the slow but sure way of making money by farming until 1874, then spent two years in Clarendon. en- gaged in clerking, after which he returned to his farm and he and a brother opened a store and put

up a steam cotton-gin, successfully operating both until 1883, when our subject sold out to his brother, and in 1884 came to Brinkley. Here he has since made his home and in addition to managing his farm he trades in stock and real estate. He has 582 acres of fine land with about 300 under the plow, and he also owns considerable real estate in Brinkley. He is a Democrat, a member of the K. of H. and his wife, whom he married December 16, 1874, and whose maiden name was Jennie David- son, is a member of the Methodist Church. They have had eight children, but three sons and four daughters are now living. Mrs. Brown is a daughter of James B. and Harriet Davidson, na- tive Tennesseeans, born, reared and married in that State. Before the opening of the Civil War they came to Arkansas and Mr. Davidson was sheriff of Poinsett County for nine years. He was a large mail contractor and died in Cross County in March, 1862, while serving as captain of a company be- longing to the Confederate States army. His wife died in Craighead County in 1873.

W. D. Burge has been a successful merchant of Indian Bay since 1876, F. J. Robinson also con- stituting a member of the firm until 1887, when he retired. Mr. Burge's stock of goods is valued at about $2,500, and his annual sales net him a hand- some profit. His native birthplace is Rutherford County, N. C., where he was born in 1848, and he is a son of Woody and Dulcinea (McIntire) Burge, who removed to the State of Mississippi, when their son, W. D., was about two years old. Here the father died in 1877, having been a farmer throughout life, his wife's death occurring in 1865. W. D. Burge was the eighth of eleven children, and received his education in the common schools, and at the age of seventeen years he began for him- self, his occupation being that of clerking. His life occupation has been merchandising and farm- ing, and he has been successful in both occupations, and besides his store he is the owner of 400 acres of land in different tracts. He has been a resident of Indian Bay since 1871, and since 1877 has been a married man, his wife being Lila, daughter of Hon. F. M. and E. A. Robinson, a sketch of whom appears in this work. Mrs. Burge was born in the

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State of Tennessee, and has borne Mr. Burge a son and a daughter. Mr. Burge is a Democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Horace Greeley in 1872. He belongs to Advance Lodge No. 2491, K. of H., and has held the office of Past Dictator in that order. His wife is a member of the Cum- berland Presbyterian Church.

Capt. Hilliard A. Carter is a planter and a re- tired merchant of Brinkley and was born in Wil- cox County, Ala., in 1833, being one of seven sur- viving members of a family of fourteen children born to Aaron B. and Elizabeth (Lee) Carter, both of whom were born, reared and married in Fairfield District, S. C., removing in 1825 to Alabama and in 1835 to La Fayette County, Miss. In 1865 they removed to Hopkins County, Tex., and the follow- ing year Mr. Carter died. His wife's death oc- curred in Lamar County, Tex., in 1877, at the age of seventy-five years, both having been members of the Presbyterian Church for many years. The father was a successful planter and socially was a member of the A. F. & A. M. The paternal grandfather, John Carter, was a planter and a blacksmith and spent all his life in South Carolina. He served in the Revolutionary War. His parents were born in Ireland and were among the first set- tlers of South Carolina. The maternal grand- father, John Lee, being also one of the early set- tlers of that State and a Revolutionary soldier. Capt. Hilliard A. Carter is the only one of his family residing in Monroe County, Ark., and although he received little early schooling he be- came versed with the world's ways at an early day and was intelligent and well posted on all current topics. In 1856 he came to Monroe County, and until the opening of the war acted in the capacity of an overseer, but gave up this work and in 1862 joined Company E, A. W. Johnson's Regiment of Infantry and held the positions of sergeant and lieutenant until 1863, when he was made captain of his company. About a year later he and four- teen other men were detailed to look up absentees, and after securing sufficient men he and his fol- lowers were called Company C. He afterward raised another company, which he commanded until the close of the war and surrendered at

Helena with a portion of his men. After his return from the war he resumed his farming opera- tions, but in 1868 gave this up to engage in mer- cantile pursuits at Clarendon, which he continued until 1870, then came to Brinkley where he was in business until September, 1887, at which time his property was destroyed by fire and has never re- built, but has given his attention to his real estate, being the owner of about 1,000 acres. He has over 400 acres under cultivation, besides valuable property in Brinkley, all of which is the result of his own hard work and good management, as he started in life for himself a poor boy. In his politi- cal views he has been a Democrat all his life and is also a Mason, having been a member of Brinkley Lodge No. 295 for the past twelve or fourteen years. In 1884 he was married to Elizabeth, a daughter of William and Elizabeth Hawkins, who were Mississippians and removed to Monroe County, Ark., prior to the war, the mother dying in 1864, and the father in 1876. Mrs. Carter was born in Jefferson County, Ala., her parents being also natives of that State.

James Allen Cocke, planter, Arkansas. That a life-time spent in pursuing one occupation will, in the end, result in substantial success, where en- ergy and perseverance are applied, can not for a moment be doubted, and such is found to be the case with Mr. Cocke. He was born in Monroe County, Miss., on February 10, 1837, and is the son of Jester and Eliza C. (Atkins) Cocke, whose marriage occurred in 1828. The father was a na- tive of Virginia, of English ancestors, who came to America prior to the Revolutionary War. To Mr. and Mrs. Cocke were born four children: Mary E., John B., James Allen and Sarah E. The father died in Monroe County, Miss., in 1841. After his death the mother married John M. Smith, and in 1845 came to Arkansas. James Allen Cocke was reared to agricultural pursuits, and received a lim- ited education in the subscription schools of Mon- roe County. On November 6, 1866, he was wedded to Miss Nancy A. Youngblood, a native of Alabama, and a daughter of Ephraim A. and Mary A. (Bag- by) Youngblood. The fruits of this union were three children: Jester Andrew (born June 28, 1868),

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John Benjamin (born April 26, 1870) and Lucy Adaline (born October 26, 1871). Mrs. Cocke died on November 10, 1871, and on May 8, 1872, Mr. Cocke married Miss Elizabeth Virginia Hess, a native of Alabama, and the daughter of David and Louisiana (Kerr) Hess, the father a native of Holland, and the mother of Scotch-Irish descent. To this marriage six children were born: Sarah F. (born March 10, 1873), Thomas (born January 7, 1875), Ada Beulah (born December 5, 1878), Helen Bertha (born December 9, 1880), Anna Laura (born March 5, 1882) and David Hess (born October 12, 1885). During the late war Mr. Cocke enlisted in Company A, Fifteenth Regiment Arkan- sas Volunteer Infantry (the first company organ- ized in Monroe County), and participated in the battles of Shiloh, Richmond, Perryville, Murfrees- boro and Chickamauga. He was captured at the last-named place, on September 19, 1863; was a prisoner for about two months before finally reach- ing Camp Douglas, Ill., where he remained for eighteen months. On May 28, 1865, he was lib- erated at the landing below Vicksburg, and left on the first boat for home, where he arrived June 4, 1865, just a month from the time he left Camp Douglas. After this he rented land, and also car- ried on the carpenter's business until 1871. He then bought 160 acres of land, and now has forty- five acres under cultivation. He and wife, and his children, Benjamin and Sarah, hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Cocke is a member of Kerr Lodge No. 195, Holly Grove, A. F. & A. M .; Chapter No. 16, R. A. M .; Blakely Council No. 19, Clarendon, Monroe County, Ark. He was made a Mason in 1866, and united with the Chapter in 1869, the Council the same year, and has served his lodge as W. M., the Chapter as Capt. of H., and has also served in all the offices in the Council.

John W. Cooper. For a period now approach- ing forty-five years, this honored resident of Monroe County, Ark., has been identified with the agricult- ural interests of this region, having settled here with his parents, Benson and Delphia (Lindsey) Cooper, in 1845. He, like his father, was born in Spartanburg District, S. C., his birth occurring in

1843, and there the latter's marriage occurred, his wife having been born in Lawrence County, N. C. Upon their arrival in Arkansas they spent the first year in Crittenden County, afterward locating on a woodland farm in Monroe County. The father died on his farm, three miles below Brinkley, in 1863, his wife having also died there three years earlier. They had been members of the Baptist Church for many years, and the father was of Irish descent and a son of Matthew Cooper, who probably spent all his life in South Carolina. John W. Cooper is the fourth of seven children, and spent his youth in the wilds of Monroe County, re- ceiving but few advantages for acquiring an edu- cation, as the schools of that day were few and far between. In 1861 he espoused the Southern cause and joined Company E, Twenty-fifth Arkansas In- fantry, and operated in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Virginia, and was a participant in eighteen different engage- ments, among which may be mentioned Shiloh, Richmond, New Hope, Peach Tree Creek, Mur- freesboro, Missionary Ridge and Chickamauga, and was all through the Atlanta campaign. He re- turned with Hood to Tennessee and was in the en- gagements at Franklin and Nashville, but was captured at the last-named place and taken to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he was retained until after Lee's surrender. On being released he went to Fort Riley, Kan., but soon after returned home, and, in August, 1866, was married to Rachel, a daughter of Samuel and Rachel A. Martin, natives, respectively, of North and South Carolina. After the war they came to Faulkner County, Ark., where the mother died in 1846. Mr. Martin mar- ried again and in 1860 settled in Monroe County, where his demise occurred seven years later. He was a member of the Methodist Church, a farmer by occupation, and held the office of justice of the peace for some years prior to his death. Mrs. Cooper was born in what is now Faulkner County, in 1844, and has borne Mr. Cooper a family of nine children, three sons and two daughters now living. Mr. Cooper has resided in different parts of Brinkley Township, and has improved four good farms and is now putting in a tillable condi-

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tion his fifth farm, which comprises 520 acres, 200 acres of which are under cultivation, but a consid- erable portion of his land is devoted to stock rais- ing. He has been a resident of Brinkley for six years, in order to give his children the advantages of the town schools, and is considered one of the wide-awake and public-spirited citizens of the place. He is a Democrat and a member of the K. of H. and the I. O. O. F. At the time of his marriage Mr. Cooper was $75 in debt, but by many years of hard labor he is now in affluent cir- cumstances. He and his elder brother, Dillard L., served together throughout the war, and during their entire service were never separated but eight days, and that was while our subject was in the hos- pital, after being wounded at the battle of Mur- freesboro.

Richard N. Counts is a general merchant and cotton buyer of Clarendon, and although he has only been established in business at this place since October, 1888, he has deservedly acquired the reputation of being a safe, thorough and re- liable man of business. He is a native of the State, having been born in Independence County, in 1851, and he is the youngest of eight children born to the marriage of Richard N. Counts and Mary A. Tucker, who were born, reared and mar- ried in the State of Missouri, afterward removing to Independence County, where the father fol- lowed the occupation of husbandry, and died in 1858. His wife died when our subject was about one year old, and after his father's death he was left to depend on his own resources, and from 1860 has made his home in Prairie and Monroe Counties, receiving a common-school education. For about six years he followed book-keeping and clerking for B. F. Johnson, and the following five years worked in the same capacity for J. M. Wheelock, by this means acquiring sufficient means to enable him to engage in his present business, which has proven a decided success. His property has been acquired by his own exertions, and in addition to his store he has a fine farm of 320 acres, of which 160 acres are in a good state of cultivation. He is a Democrat, casting his first vote for Tilden, in 1876, and in March, 1885, he

was elected to fill an unexpired term of county treasurer, and in 1886 was re-elected, serving in all nearly four years. He has been a member of the A. F. & A. M., Cache Lodge at Clarendon, also the K. of P. and the K. of H., and for several years has been financial reporter of the latter order. He also belongs to the A. O. U. W., and he and his wife, whom he married in 1885, and whose maiden name was Lucy Bonner, are members of the Methodist Church. They have one daughter. Mrs. Counts was born in North Carolina, and is a daughter of W. H. Bonner, a Tennesseean, who came to Monroe County, Ark., in 1859, and here died in 1888, having been an assessor and farmer, his wife's death occurring in 1881. Mr. Counts had previously married in 1873 Fannie E., a daugh- ter of James H. and Eleanor Branch. She was born in Tennessee, and died in 1879, at Clarendon, leaving two children, a son and a daughter. Mr. Counts is of Irish descent, and has a brother and two sisters living: William A. (a hardware mer- chant of Little Rock), L. J. (Mrs. Meeks, of Brink- ley) and Linnie (Mrs. Loving, of Pine Bluff).

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Author: Goodspeed Publishing Company Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; St. Louis [etc.] : The Goodspeed Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 836

Author: Goodspeed Publishing Company
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; St. Louis [etc.] : The Goodspeed Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 836