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 93

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 93

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LEE COUNTY.

of the day. He and his wife were blessed in the birth of eleven children, nine of whom lived to be grown. De Witt Anderson is the ninth in order of birth, and is one of the three who are now living. Six of the seven sons served in the Confederate army, also two nephews and eight first cousins, and only one of the entire lot was killed, Capt. Dick Anderson, who lost his life at the battle of Murfreesboro. None of the rest were even wound- ed. De Witt Anderson commanded a company the first three years of the war, being first lieutenant of Company K, Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, and participated in the battles of Shiloh, the first and second battles of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Perryville; was in the Georgia campaign, and was taken prisoner near Rome, Ga., being kept in captivity at Johnson's Island for nine months. After the surrender he was released and came home, again taking up his farming implements. He is now one of the prosperous farmers of Arkansas, and, as above stated, his home farm consists of 400 acres, although he owns 6,000 acres in the State, a considerable portion of which is rich bottom land. This property has all been acquired since coming to this State, as he then had no capital whatever, but his native energy and pluck. He was married in 1868 to Miss Chloe Davis, daughter of James Davis, a leading resident of Wilson County, Tenn., but he was called upon to mourn her death in 1870, her infant daughter dying soon after, at the age of six weeks. She was a consistent Christian, being a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a faithful, loving and helpful wife-so much so, that Mr. Anderson has since remained faithful to her memory, and is a widower.

Robert J. Bickerstaff is a native of Georgia, in which State he remained until thirteen years of age, going thence to Chambers County, Ala. After a twenty-three years' residence there he came to Arkansas, and settled in this county (then a part of Monroe), arriving February 26, 1859. Here he first engaged in farming, but later carried on the mercantile business in Moro, from 1871 to 1874, since which time he has resumed tilling the soil. Mr. Bickerstaff was born in Jasper County November 28, 1823, and was a son of Robert and

Nancy (Roberson) Bickerstaff. Robert Bickerstaff was born in the State of Pennsylvania in 1774, but removed to Georgia about 1790, where he was mar- ried in 1797 or 1798. He was a son of a colonel in the Revolutionary War, and he himself was a soldier in the Indian War under Gen. Jackson, and was killed by the Indians at Fort Henderson in May, 1836. Mrs. Bickerstaff was born in Ireland in 1778, came to this country at the age of four- teen, and died in Georgia in 1834. They were the parents of fifteen children, six sons and nine daughters; two of the sons only are living, the subject of this sketch, and Pollard B., a farmer of Montgomery County, Ala. Robert J. Bicker- staff was married in Alabama, on January 31, 1848, to Miss Mary Dazier, of the same county as himself, she having been born June 28, 1828, as a daughter of Woody and Eliza (Compton) Dazier. They became the parents of eight children, seven sons and one daughter, four of whom are still living: Herschel, Robert, Mary L. (wife of John H. Sims) and Andrew, all farmers of this county, though the latter is also employed in Government work. Mr. Bickerstaff enlisted in 1862 in Company C, of the Twenty-third Arkansas Infantry, and after the reorganization was in the Trans-Missis- sippi Department, serving until the close of the war, having been thrice captured but each time made his escape. Mr. Bickerstaff owns a 240-acre farm, covered with valuable timber, with the excep- tion of ninety acres under cultivation, and he also owns land in Van Zandt County, Tex. Although not taking an active part in politics, Mr. Bickerstaff has held the office of justice of the peace for the past two years. He has been a member of the Masonic order for forty years, and has also be- longed to the Missionary Baptist Church the same length of time. Mrs. Bickerstaff is connected with the same church.

Virgil C. Bigham owes his nativity to Tennes- see, though he commenced farming at the age of nineteen years in Monroe County, Ark., and has been engaged in this occupation to the present. He has also carried on the mercantile business since November, 1888. Mr. Bigham now owns 380 acres of land, with eighty acres under cultiva-

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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

tion. He was boru December 17, 1835, a son of Martin Bigham and Sallie (Breeding) Bigham, natives of the State of Tennessee. They were the parents of seven children, Virgil C. being the only one living. The father died in 1854, ten years after the death of his wife. Virgil C. Bigham was married in December, 1857, in Monroe County, to Miss Rachel Breeding, who died in 1858, leav- ing two children, both deceased. He married his second wife, formerly Miss Elizabeth Caplinn, of this State; in 1863. She became the mother of one daughter, also deceased. Mr. Bigham en- listed in the Confederate army, in 1862, in Com- pany B, of the First Arkansas Battalion (Infantry), and took part in several hard fought battles, but was mostly on scout duty. He has been post- master of Moro since October, 1889. He is well- known throughout the township as an honest and upright man.

S. A. Bishop, the subject of this sketch, was born in New Berne, N. C., April 11, 1835, his par- ents being Samuel and Phoebe (Hilbert) Bishop, both of New Berne, N. C., the latter dying in New Berne, N. C., at the advanced age of eighty-three years. S. A. Bishop received a high school edu- cation, and at the age of nineteen accepted a posi- tion as chief salesman in his brother's furniture store at New Berne, where he remained until De- cember, 1857, after which he removed to Haywood County, Tenn. There on April 13, 1858, he was married to Miss Sarah W. Jones, of New Berne, N. C., she being the daughter of Dr. Will- iam M. and Rouncy Jones, nee Miss Rouncy Cooper, the two last named of Haywood County, Tenn. The result of this union was one daughter who, in 1878, married Mr. T. E. Bond, of Browns- ville, Tenn., where they now reside. Mrs. Sarah W. Bishop died December 24, 1872. On October 15, 1873, Mr. Bishop was married to Miss Ida Peebles, at Brownsville, Tenn., she being the daughter of Mr. Robert and Mrs. Ann Peebles. The result of this union was four children, viz. : Samuel A. (born July 21, 1874), Lucy C. (born March 7, 1877), Robert P. (born July 14, 1879), and Ann Hilbert (born October 20, 1881), Mrs. Ida Bishop died at Marianna, Ark., October 6, 1888,

and was buried at Brownsville, Tenn. Robert P. Bishop died August 3, 1885; the other children are living, Samuel being a student of the Christian Brothers' College, St. Louis, Mo., and Lucy C. and Ann H. are with their aunt, Mrs. Lelia A. Black- well, of Dallas, Tex. Mr. Bishop was engaged in the mercantile business first in 1865, at Dancyville, Tenn., remaining there until the spring of 1872, when he removed to Brownsville, Tenn., and con- tinued merchandising. In the spring of 1883 he removed to Marianna, Ark., where he did a profit- able and prosperous business until 1889, when he retired from business and is now engaged in col- lecting up his claims and winding up his business affairs. He is an example of a successful business man, of high social qualities, and is an honorable and affable gentleman.

George W. Bonner, who is one of the most suc- cessful farmers in Spring Creek Township, has been a resident of this county since 1869. He is a native of Tennessee, and the son of Williamson and Maria (Reddith) Bonner, originally from Vir- ginia and North Carolina, respectively. Mr. Bon- ner was a man of considerable education, and for a number of years followed the occupation of school-teaching, during his latter days being rec- ognized as a public man of considerable importance. For many years he was an elder in the Presbyterian

Church. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. John Bonner, his father, a Virginian by birth, and a farmer and mechanic by occupation, lived to the age of eighty years. He participated in the Rev- olutionary War. Mrs. Bonner was the daughter of Aquilla Reddith, a native of North Carolina, who lived in that State until his death, at the age of ninety years. The subject of this sketch was born in Wilson County, Tenn., in 1828, but his early boyhood was spent in Shelby County, where his father had moved in 1832. He learned the carpenter's trade in youth, and followed that oc- cupation for thirty years, but since that time has been engaged in farming. During the Mexican War he served seven months in Taylor's division. In 1869, moving to Arkansas, Mr. Bonner settled in what was then a part of Phillips (now Lee) County, and three years later located on the farm

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LEE COUNTY.

which he has since occupied. He was married, in 1854, to Miss Oliva A. F. Mason, who died nine years after their marriage, leaving four children, one of whom, Williamson E., only is living. Mr. Bonner was later married to Miss Mary E. New- som, in 1865, a daughter of David Newsom, of Virginia. She was the mother of seven children at the time of her death, in 1881, six of whom are living: David T., George W., Charles Henry J., Carra A., Claudius H. and Fredonia L. He mar- ried his third and present wife, Mrs. Elizabeth J. Robertson (nee Tiller), daughter of Benjamin and Ann Tiller, natives of Alabama, in 1882. Mr. Bonner owns a farm of eighty acres, and has about fifty acres under cultivation, giving his attention to stock raising to a large extent. Himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which he has belonged for over forty years, and of which he has been a local minister for fifteen years. He has also been a member of the Masonic fraternity for thirty-nine years. A Democrat in politics, he takes an active interest in enterprises for the good of the community, to all of which he contributes largely, and is considered one of the leading farmers of Lee County.

Francis M. Bowdon is a native of Tennessee, and a son of Thomas and Parmelia (Jenkins) Bow- don, natives of South Carolina. The father was engaged in farming in Western Tennessee for a number of years, and moved from there to Lauder- dale County, Ala., when our subject was a small boy, there acting as deputy sheriff. In 1841 he went to De Soto County, Miss., and remained eight years, then coming to Arkansas and locating in Lee County, where he bought timbered land and cleared up a good farm. He was a prominent poli- tician of his community, holding the office of justice of the peace in Mississippi and also in this county. He died in Evanston, Ind., while on a trip to Lex- ington, Ky. He and wife were members of the Baptist Church, and were the parents of eleven children, three of whom are still living: Benjamin F. (a farmer of Randolph County, Ark.), Columbia (wife of John J. Felton, a farmer of this county) and Francis M. The latter, the principal of this sketch, and the eldest of those now living, was born

in Bedford County, Tenn., on May 23, 1827. He was married in 1855 to Miss Caroline Elders, a na- tive of Mississippi, who died in 1862, leaving four children, one son, H. J., being the only one living, and who now has charge of his father's farm. Mariah Gilbert became his next wife, but died three years after without issue. Mr. Bowdon was married again to Miss Mollie Arnold, in 1867, who was the mother of three children: Ethel B., Fran- cis M. and James L. He married Melvina Bert- ran, a native of this county, in 1869. Mr. Bow- don owns 580 acres in the county, 300 acres in the farm on which he lives, 150 acres in a good state of cultivation and well improved. All this he has made himself, by hard work and close economy.

David W. Boykin, son of Edwin and Elizabeth J. Boykin, was born in Smithfield, N. C., in Au- gust, 1839. He was educated at Trinity College, of that State, and enlisted in the Confederate army in 1862, receiving his discharge in 1865, at Appo- mattox Court-House, Va. In September, 1866, he removed to Arkansas and settled in Marianna, Lee County, then Phillips County, where he was for several years employed as book-keeper and sales- man in a general dry-goods and grocery business. Mr. Boykin has now been living upon a fine and productive farm in Lee County, owned by his brother, Edwin A. Boykin, and himself, and is en- gaged in general farming and stock-raising. He has been twice married; first, to Miss Agnes Snead, of Smithfield, N. C .; next, to Mrs. Joanna M. Saunders, of Brownsville, Tenn. Mr. Boykin is of Irish descent.

William S. Bradford, M. D., prominently iden- tified with the professional affairs of this section, owes his nativity to Tennessee, being a son of John W. and Emily (Nuckols) Bradford, also originally from that State. The Bradfords are an old family, and can trace their ancestors back to the time of their arrival in the Mayflower. William S. Brad- ford, the only son in a family of three children, was born in Hardeman County, Tenn., February 11, 1859. He spent his early life on the farm, and at the age of sixteen commenced clerking in a store in that county, becoming, when eighteen, proprie- tor of a grocery, in which business he was engaged

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for two years. During that time he studied medi- cine, and the next year attended a course of lect- ures at Vanderbilt College. He subsequently turned his attention to traveling, and was employed by a publishing company for eighteen months in selling their publications through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Ten- nessee. In the spring of 1882 he went to Parker County, Tex., where he was engaged in the prac- tice of medicine for a short time. Returning to Tennessee, he followed his profession in Hardeman County one year, and in the winter of 1883-84 at- tended a course of lectures at Vanderbilt College, from which he graduated in March, 1884. He then came to Arkansas and located in Lee County, where he has since been successfully occupied in the duties of his adopted calling. Dr. Bradford was married on December 2, 1885, to Miss Ida F. Halton, of Nevada County, Ark. They have one son, Wiley E. Dr. Bradford has a large and lucrative practice, and is highly thought of by the citizens of Lee County. He is a member of the Knights of Honor, and also of the Lee County Medical Association, and of the State Medical So- ciety, having represented his county in the spring of 1888 at Fort Smith.

Dr. T. J. Brasher. An undeniable truth is that the life of any man, temperately lived, is of great benefit to the community in which he resides, when all his efforts are directed to advancing its interests, and whose career is according to the higher prin- ciples of what he conceives to be right, helping others and caring for those who are unable to do for themselves. Such a man is Dr. Brasher. Born in Christian County, Ky., on November 1, 1835, he is a son of Alexander and Margaret (Brown) Brasher, natives of Kentucky and North Carolina, respectively. The father's birth occurred in the year 1811, and during life he was engaged in that most important occupation to Kentuckians, the breeding and rearing of fine blooded horses. Be- ing a wide-awake and prominent man, he took an active part in politics, and for many years filled the offices of probate judge and justice of the peace. He belonged to the Christian Church, and was a Mason of high degree. To him and wife were born

a family of seven children, as follows: Alonzo W. (a prominent practicing physician of Hopkins County, Ky.), Rachel (the widow of Dr. T. A. Yarrell, of Kentucky), the immediate subject of this sketch, Melissa (wife of Dr. James M. Long, of Crofton, Ky.), William A., M. D. (killed at the battle of Franklin, Tenn.), Elbridge Gerry (a colonel in the Confederate army, who was killed at the battle of Shelbyville, Ky.) and Altazera (wife of David Wooldridge, a wealthy ranchman of Oregon). T. J. Brasher grew to manhood in Hopkins County, of the Blue Grass State, and after receiving a thorough practical education in the subordinate schools, took a classical course at Georgetown Col- lege, and later a medical course in the Eclectic Med- ical Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, which graduated him with honors at the age of twenty-one years. After practicing his profession in the neighborhood of his nativity for about five years, he removed to Arkansas, in 1860, and located in Lee County, a portion of which at that time belonged to Monroe County. He was not long permitted to follow his peaceful pursuits, but in 1861 enrolled his services for the Confederate cause, and was made a first lieutenant in Company D, of Hindman's Legion. He participated in the engagements of Shiloh, Per- ryville, Franklin, Clarksville, Uniontown, and many other hotly contested battles, and in the first and two last mentioned actions received severe wounds. Because of these injuries he was rendered unfit for further active military duty, but on account of his recognized ability and worth, was appointed under Jefferson Davis, to a position in the secret service of the treasury department of the Confederate States. This important position he filled with credit to himself and honor to the cause, display- ing great adaptability to the important duties de- volved upon him. The year following the end of the great conflict, Dr. Brasher wedded Miss Nan- nie L. Edwards, a native of Tennessee, and a daughter of Charles A. Edwards. One daughter, Kate A. (the wife of James M. Maclin, of the firm of P. E. Northern & Co., of Marianna), is the re- sult of this union. Since being a resident of Ark- ansas, the Doctor has practiced his profession, farmed and merchandised, and in a financial way,

DR. T. J. BRASHER, LEE COUNTY, ARKANSAS.

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LEE COUNTY.

as well as otherwise, has made his life a success. His portrait appropriately graces this volume. In addition to his other interests he has found time to enter quite actively into literary pursuits, contrib- uting frequently to all local newspapers. He has also attained to considerable reputation as a writer upon romance, the woodpecker, squirrel, dog, high- land terrapin, opossum, etc., these articles being widely copied throughout the Southern States.

Jesse Briley came to Arkansas in the fall of 1851, first locating in St. Francis County, and later in Lee County, being employed as a farm hand for seven or eight years. In 1859 he bought a quarter section of land, on which he lived until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in the Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry, but was soon after transferred to the Second Arkansas Cavalry, serving in Price's raid through Missouri. After the war he returned to his farm, which he found badly dilapidated, and was obliged to start from the bottom of the ladder, but has been very suc- cessful, now owning 700 acres of land, with 400 acres under cultivation. Besides this he owns a house and lot at Haynes, and is a stockholder in the Haynes Mercantile Company. Mr. Briley was born in North Carolina, in 1834, and was married in 1859, to Miss Emma Daniel. They are the parents of four children: Sallie, Laniar, Katie and Ida. He is a member of the Masonic order, and also of the Knights of Honor. He is a Democrat in politics, and is well known and highly respected as a citizen.

John A. Brittain is a progressive agriculturist and stockman of Union Township, Lee County, Ark., but was born in Franklin County, Tenn., in 1828, being the eldest of four children born to James and Frances (Stoveall) Brittain, who were also Tennesseeans. The family first came to St. Francis County, Ark., in 1845, and here Mr. Brit- tain purchased a farm on which a few improve- ments had been made, it being situated about one- half mile from Forrest City, which was then called Mt. Vernon. He lived in this settlement until his death April 9, 1849. He had been married twice, his first wife being the mother of our subject, but she died in 1836, and of her four children three are

yet living: John A., Susan (wife of Abram Noah, resides in Texas) and Frances (the widow of Rufus Williams, lives in Tennessee). Benjamin died in 1881, and his family still reside in Lee County. After the death of his first wife Mr. Brittain was married, in 1838, to Miss Annie Staples, of Tennes- see, and the three children which were born to them are now deceased: Martha A. was the wife of Aaron G. McDaniels, and died in 1867, and the other two died in infancy. Mrs. Brittain died in September, 1844: John A. Brittain remained in the county of his birth, acquiring there a fair edu- cation, until 1845, when he came to this State with his father, and, after assisting him on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, he followed clerking for a short while. Since that time he has followed the life of a farmer, and in 1851 pur- chased a portion of the farm on which he now resides, then consisting of forty acres. Very few improvements had at that time been made upon it, but he has since erected buildings, fences, etc., and now has his farm in a splendid condition for agricultural purposes. He has added 120 acres and has eighty acres under the plow. Cotton and corn are among his main products, but he also gives much of his attention to the propagation of stock. He was married in 1849 to Miss Mary Mc- Daniel, a native of Arkansas, born in 1835. She has lived in three counties in this State, without having moved. She was born in Phillips County, which afterward became St. Francis County, and is now Lee County. She is a daughter of Archi- bald G. and Mary (Davis) McDaniel, who were born in Kentucky and moved to Arkansas in 1828, being among the first settlers of Phillips County, Mr. McDaniel being also one of the first postmas- ters in this portion of the State, a position he held until 1857. He and wife became the parents of thirteen children, eleven of whom lived to be over fourteen years of age, only two of whom are now living: Mary (Mrs. Brittain) and Harriett (the widow of Robert Shell). Mrs. McDaniel died in 1869. An uncle of Mrs. Brittain's, John Calvert, was one of the first settlers of this region, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. Her mother came from Kentucky to Arkansas via Memphis, Tenn.,

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which at that time was only a camp, said to be one of the camps of the noted bandit Murrell. Mr. and Mrs. Brittain are the parents of ten children, G. B., Robert McD., Mary W., M. L., and Eliza A. being the only ones living. A. T. died at the age of twenty years, and J. B. when twenty-four years of age. In 1864 Mr. Brittain joined the Confederate army, becoming a member of Com- pany C, Dobbins' Regiment, and was with Gen. Price through Missouri, and was in the battles of Pilot Knob, Lexington, and in numerous skir- mishes. He was paroled in June, 1865, at Witts- burg, Ark. He and wife are worthy members of society and his wife is a member of the Methodist Church.

William J. Broadley is a son of Samuel W. Broadley, a native of Liverpool, England, whose father, Ferrell Broadley, also came originally from England, being proprietor of the " Fax Hall Spin- ning Company;" of the interests of that concern, still extensive and profitable, our subject is one of the heirs. Samuel Broadley came to America in 1849, a few years after his marriage, and was oc- cupied in the mercantile business in the State of New York the following year. He then took the "gold fever" and went to California, leaving his family in New York, and engaged in the mining of the precious metal until 1853, when he was killed by an accident in a mine in which he was working. He was married in Liverpool to Miss Phoebe Cov- ington, a native of that country and a daughter of Frederick Covington, a merchant, and, at the time of his death, at an advanced age, a man of consid- erable means. Mrs. Broadley is still living and a resident of New Orleans. She also has a brother in this country, a member of the firm of Covington & Co., of Salt Lake City. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Broadley, five are still living: Ida (wife of Frank S. Snell, a prominent real estate agent and broker of Denver, Colo.), Alice M. (wife of a Mr. Patton, a merchant of Memphis, Tenn.), Will- iam T. (an attorney of New Orleans), Henry J. (who is in the employ of the Government as a chem- ist) and William J. (the principal of this sketch). The latter was born in Steuben County, N. Y., in 1852. After his father's death his mother moved

from New York, going to several places, and fin- ally, in 1862, to Memphis, Tenn., where they lived one year; later she became located at New Orleans and still lives there. Mr. Broadley learned the trade of a machinist when a young man, at which he worked in different States, but finally settled in Lee County, where he was employed at his chosen occupation until 1887. Then he purchased his present farm, and has since turned his attention to farming. He was married, in 1879, to Miss Lorena O'Kelley, a daughter of Overton and Mary O'Kelley, natives of Alabama and Georgia, re- spectively. Mr. and Mrs. Broadley have four children: Frederick C., Charles O., Ida L. and William S. (now deceased). Mr. Broadley owns a fine farm of 440 acres, with nearly 300 acres under cultivation, and is engaged in raising stock. He and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. He is a Democrat in politics, and is a prominent man of Spring Creek Township. He belongs to no secret societies, but before entering the agricultural list of Lee County, belonged to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

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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