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 97

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 97

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William L. Harper, physician and surgeon, Clifton, Ark. Dr. Harper is recognized through- out the county as a friend and laborer in the cause and advancement of the medical fraternity. He is a native of Georgia, his birth occurring in Gilmer County in 1864, and received his primary educa- tion in that State. At the age of nineteen years he entered the Medical College at Atlanta, gradu- ating from that institution in his twenty-first year. He first commenced his practice in his native county, removing from there to Arkansas in 1886, and settled where he now lives. He enjoys a large and lucrative practice, which is gradually in- creasing, and a bright future is opening before him. He is a genial and generous gentleman, lib- eral in his ideas, a protector of the rights of, a strong promoter of the welfare of, and in deep sympathy with, humanity. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias at Marianna, Ark. The Doc- tor is the third of ten children, the result of the union of Lindsey and Margaret (Osborn) Harper, natives of Georgia. Lindsey Harper was a promi- nent farmer of his county and was a soldier in the late war. Returning home after his service he

found himself financially ruined, but since then, by close attention to business, and by economy, he has succeeded in accumulating a comfortable com- petency. He and wife still reside in Georgia, and both are members of the Baptist Church. Of the ten children born to their union, eight are yet liv- ing and all reside in Georgia with the exception of Dr. William L. The maternal grandparents are both yet living, the grandfather at the age of eighty-four years and the grandmother at the age of eighty years. The former has been a minister in the Baptist Church for a number of years and has followed agricultural pursuits all his life. The paternal grandparents died during the war. The grandfather was taken from his house and shot by bushrangers, as were several other old and vener- able men in the neighborhood, for the simple rea- son that they did not wish to part with all their property.

V. M. Harrington enjoys enviable prominence as the faithful sheriff of Lee County. A native of Delaware, he lived there until eighteen years of age, attending the common schools of the county of his birth, but having from his childhood im- bibed a love of the South and Southern people, at an early age he moved to Mississippi, locating at Jackson, where he was employed as a clerk in a store until the breaking out of the war. Then he was given a position in the Confederate service at Brookhaven, Miss., and afterward was made quar- termaster-sergeant in a Confederate camp. Though devoted to the South, he was at heart a Union man, and was unwilling to fight voluntarily against his country, so, after a long tramp and when nearly exhausted by hunger and fatigue, he reached the Federal lines. The Union officers tried to induce him to give them information in regard to their enemy's forces, location, etc., but having been employed by the Southern people and having lived among them, he refused to act the part of a spy. After the war he was again engaged as clerk. A Mr. Miller becoming intimately acquainted with him and interested in his welfare, furnished him with the necessary capital to enter into the mer- cantile business for himself. A wholesale house also offered to supply him with goods for carrying

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on a business of many thousand dollars, both of which offers he accepted, devoting his attention to commercial pursuits in Tennessee until 1871, at which time he sold out and removed Arkansas, lo- cating at Palestine, St. Francis County. There he resumed the mercantile business, but soon moved to Marianna, where he went into the same occupa- tion, carrying it on until 1886, the time of his election as sheriff of the county. He was re- elected in 1888. Mr. Harrington's wife was for- merly Miss Georgia A. Wood, and she is now the mother of three children: Samuel, V. M. and James W. Mr. Harrington was born in Kent County, Del., in 1842, and was a son of Samuel and Sallie A. (Moore) Harrington. The collections of the county revenues made by Mr. Harrington as sheriff and collector of the county of the cur- rent year will aggregate 99 per cent. The lowest he has ever reached is 972 per cent.

John W. Hayes, M. D., was born in Pittsboro, N. C., June 4, 1848, at which place he received his early education. He was afterward a student of the Hillsboro Military Academy, and then attended Davidson College, North Carolina, being in the Classical Department. In the third year of the Civil War he enlisted in the Confederate army, where he remained until the close, serving in the cavalry department, Company F, Thirteenth North Caro- lina Battalion. After peace had been declared Mr. Hayes went to Jackson, Tenn., and studied medi- cine under his uncle, Dr. J. G. Womack, one year, following which he attended a course of lectures at the University of Louisville, Ky., and the follow- ing year at the Washington University, graduating the next spring. Subsequently he commenced practicing medicine at Denmark, Tenn., was lo- cated there seven years, and in 1877 came to Ar- kansas, settling at Marianna, where he has been since engaged in attending to the calls of his adopted profession. Dr. Hayes is a son of Dr. W. A. Hayes and Jennette Womack Hayes. He was married to Miss Lou Moore, of Brownsville, Tenn., October 9, 1872. Dr. Hayes was one of the or- ganizers of the Lee County Medical Association, which is one of the best in the State. He was elected State Medical Examiner of the K. of H., in Octo-

ber, 1884, and re-elected to fill the same consecu- tively for several years. He took a full course at the New York Polyclinic, in 1886; is a member of the Arkansas State Society and the American Medical Association. He has a brother also a physician, W. G. Hayes, M. D., of Bowie, Texas. Dr. Hayes and wife are the parents of two children living: Jean- nette (a student at Batesville, Ark., College), and John W., Jr.

Ennes M. Henley first saw the light of day in Massac County, Ill., on January 28, 1832, and is the son of William and Malinda (Smith) Henley, natives of Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively. They were married in Illinois in 1828, and were the parents of twelve children, seven now living: Ennes M., Matilda (widow of Kennard Steward, of Lee County), John (a farmer of Illinois), Elijah (a lawyer, of Marianna and also postmaster of that city), Rebecca (the widow of Nicholas Phelps), Isaac (a farmer residing in Missouri), Mary (widow of Henry Lynn), Louisa (the wife of Simon Pierce). Mr. Henley died in Illinois, in the seventy-fifth year of his life, his wife having died one year pre- vious. Ennes M. was reared in Illinois and re- ceived such advantages for an education as the primitive schools of the period would admit, ac- cepting, when twenty years of age, the position of watchman on the steamer St. Francis, running on the St. Francis River. Later he worked on the Mississippi River on various boats. He settled in Monroe County, Ark., in 1859, and engaged in farming, and this has been his occupation ever since. He now owns an excellent farm .in the western portion of Lee County, consisting of 240 acres, 100 of it being in a high state of cultivation. The principal products are corn and cotton, and clo- ver and the grasses to some extent, and he is quite successful also in raising all kinds of stock. He owns a steam cotton-gin and grist-mill, valued at $1,000, a comfortable residence with modern im- provements and conveniences being among his late additions. Mr. Henley was married in Monroe County December 23, 1858, to Miss Louisa F. Settles, of Giles County, Tenn. She was born in 1831, being the daughter of S. P. and Mary J. (Cunningham) Settles. Mr. Settles, a native of

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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

Virginia, and of Irish descent, died in Arkansas in 1854. Mrs. Settles closed her eyes to the scenes of this world in 1872. To Mr. and Mrs. Henley's marriage eight children have been born: William F., James L., Andy S., Charley W. (residing in Brinkley), Mary M., Josephus B., Jason L. and Ennes W. William F. died in 1880. Mr. Henley served in the Civil War, enlisting in 1862 in Com- pany C, Capt. John Foreman's Second Arkansas Infantry Volunteers, which was afterward Gen. Govan's command. He participated in the battles of Perryville, Missionary Ridge, Franklin, Nash- ville and many others of minor importance. He was mustered out of service at the surrender in 1865.

Hon. John Marshall Hewitt (deceased), of Mari- anna, Ark., was born in Frankfort, Ky., July 22, 1841, and was a son of John Marshall Hewitt, of that city, an eminent lawyer and for many years judge of the circuit court at Frankfort. Our sub- ject received a classical education in the schools of his native city in his youth, but before he had at- tained his majority the Civil War broke out, and the following lines in regard to it are given in his own words: "The war was a bitter experience for me, for my father had two sons in the Union army and two sons in the Confederate, also one son-in-law on each side. All my old schoolmates and asso- ciates, as well as relatives in Kentucky, were about equally divided in sympathy, and one of my brothers was killed at Fort Donelson, on the Con- federate side." Mr. Hewitt was a member of the Kentucky State militia when the war broke out, and in 1861 he joined the Federal army as adjutant of the Second Kentucky Cavalry, and was attached to the staff of Gen. Rousseau as assistant acting adjutant-general. He participated in the battle of Shiloh, and was captured by Gen. John Morgan, while the latter was on his first raid in Kentucky, but in the night he succeeded in effect- ing his escape, and returned to his command. After the war he returned to his home in Kentucky, and was admitted to the bar by the court of appeals, in 1865, and the following year he immigrated to St. Francis County, Ark., and engaged in cotton- planting. In 1873, when Lee County was formed, he moved to Marianna and resumed the practice of

his profession, continuing this in connection with planting until his death. Although a Federal sol . dier, he was all his life an active Democrat, and although he came to Arkansas at a time when he could have had any office, or could have grown rich by affiliating with the Republican party, he would not do so, but stuck to his principles and party, unscathed by the political cyclone that swept Arkansas. He labored zealously for the ad- vancement of the material interests of the State, and his fellow-citizens honored him for his efforts. He has been an active leader of his party, and was elected by the Democratic State Convention to the National Democratic Convention, which met at St. Louis, Mo., in 1876. In 1880 he was chosen to represent Lee County in the State legislature, and was elected speaker pro tem. In 1882 he was re- elected, and was chairman of the judiciary commit- tee. In 1884 he was again sent to the legislature, and during the session of 1885 he was chairman of the committee of circuit and justice courts. In 1886 he was elected to his fourth term in the legis- lature, and was elected speaker of the house, and the Democratic State Convention, which met at the State capital in 1886, elected him president of the same. In January, 1886, he became president of the State Bar Association, but just as he had surmounted all primary obstacles, and could have grasped the highest honors of the State, his career was cut short by the hand of death February 29, 1887, his demise resulting from cancer of the tongue. Being a prominent member of the Ma- sonic fraternity, his brother Masons kept his body in their hall for three days, that all might have an

opportunity of paying due honor to his remains. His remains were taken to Memphis, Tenn., by the Commandery of Marianna, and at that city were met by the Commandery of Little Rock, and he was buried with the highest honors of his order, in Elmwood Cemetery.

Determination was a marked trait of his character, and so was Christian fortitude and charity. Cut down in the meridian of manhood, at a time when it seemed possible for him to accomplish so much, his death was deeply lamented by all. Kentucky has given to Lee County many estimable citizens, but she has con-

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LEE COUNTY.

tributed none more highly respected or more wor- thy of respect, love and veneration than was Mr. Hewitt. He was married to Miss Sallie Howard, of Memphis, Tenn., and leaves her with one son to care for: John M., Jr. Mrs. Hewitt is a daugh- ter of Wardlaw and Mary (Polk) Howard, the father a Virginian, who immigrated to Tennessee, and was an opulent commission merchant prior to the war, and was the owner of vast property in Memphis. He was an arch secessionist, and had such unbounded faith in the Confederacy that he sold the whole of Howard row in Memphis for Con- federate money, which, of course, resulted in total loss. After the war he languished with broken spirits around the cotton exchange, but did not again enter active business life, and death claimed him in 1871. Mr. Hewitt's mother was born in Boli- var, Tenn., and was a daughter of William Polk, an uncle of President Polk. The Howards were an old English family, five brothers having come to America and participated in the Revolutionary War. All but one died or were killed, and he is the origin of the family in this country. One of these brothers donated the square on which Wash- ington Monument now stands in Baltimore, Md. The grandmother of Mr. Hewitt was a sister of Uncle Ned Blackburn, of Kentucky, the father of Dr. Luke Blackburn, and Hon. J. C. Blackburn.

J. A. Holbert is one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Lee County, Ark., and here his birth occurred in 1843, he being the second child born to James M. and Antoinette (McDaniel) Holbert, who were born in Kentucky and Arkan- sas, respectively, the former's birth occurring in 1809, and the latter's in 1825. The father re- moved to this State in 1815, and after making his home here until 1849, he went to Mississippi and died opposite to where Helena, Ark. is. Our subject and his brother, A. J., who lives in Arizona, and is the sheriff of Maricopa County, are the only chil- dren born to their parents, and the mother died on November 29, 1843. James M. Holbert was mar- ried a second time in 1845, his wife being Mary McDaniel, a daughter of Archibald McDaniel, and one child, Antoinette, blessed this union, she being now the wife of N. B. Purnell, and resides in Pike

County, Ark. After the death of Mr. Holbert his widow married a Mr. Hughes, and died during the war. J. A. Holbert received his education and rearing in St. Francis County, Ark., but at the age of seventeen years he dropped farm work and books to enter the Confederate army, enlisting in Company G, Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry, under Col. Tappin, and served east of the Missis- sippi River for four years, being a participant in the following engagements: Belmont, Shiloh, Cor- inth, Knoxville, Richmond (Ky.), Bardstown,

Perryville, Atlanta and Jonesboro, where he was wounded and captured. He succeeded in effecting his escape after being retained only about twenty- four hours, and he afterward came west and joined Capt. Coats' company, under Gen. Marmaduke, and operated in Arkansas. After surrendering he was given his freedom, and returned home and be- gan farming on his grandfather's plantation. Prior to the war he had owned quite a large area of land, and a number of slaves, and his father owned nearly 100 slaves. The former carried the mail from Wittsburg to Helena, a distance of over seventy miles (there being only four postoffices on the route), through a heavy cane-brake all the way. Although the country was very wild and unsettled at that time, Mr. Holbert says he never carried a pistol or a gun, and was never mo- lested, either by the wild animals or Indians. He now has one of the finest farms in the county, com- prising 200 acres of land, and has about 100 acres under cultivation, on which is a splendid frame res- idence and outbuildings. He was married in 1869 to Miss C. L. Hannah, of this county, a daughter of John and Penelpia (Lynch) Hannah, natives of Ireland and Arkansas, respectively, and by her became the father of eight children, four of whom are living: Lee, J. J., Bell and Blanche. One child died at the age of five years and three in infancy.

Joseph K. Hopkins is a native of Lee County, whither his parents had come two years before his birth. He attended the common schools of this locality until the death of his father (when he was sixteen years of age), when he commenced farming for himself. Mr. Hopkins was born in 1851, be-

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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

ing the son of Archibald and Martha (O'Neal) Hop- kins, natives of North Carolina and Alabama, re- spectively. Archibald Hopkins removed from the State of his birth to Greene County, Ala., when twenty years of age, and in 1849 to Arkansas, lo- cating in this county, where he was engaged in farming until called from earth, in 1867, at the age of fifty-one. His wife died when the principal of this sketch was a child. Both were members of the Baptist Church. After her death Mr. Hopkins married Miss Lou Purcell, of Woodruff County, who is now deceased. He was a successful farmer during life, but lost heavily by the war. He was the father of three children by his first marriage, two of whom are still living: William A. (also a farmer of this county) and Joseph K. (our subject). The latter was married, in 1869, to Mrs. Emma (Burrows) Poole, a daughter of Peter Burrows and widow of William Poole. They have one son, Joseph B., who is at present helping his father in the store. Mr. Hopkins engaged in the mercantile business in 1876, and although starting with a small capital he has, by close economy and good business management, built up a satisfactory trade, and has the largest patronage of any store in this section of the township. He also owns one of the most extensive farms hereabouts, and in addition the control of a number of other fine farms. Al- though not an active politician, Mr. Hopkins is one of the leading Democrats in all campaign work. Mrs. Hopkins is a member of the Mission- ary Baptist Church.

J. P. Houston is a farmer and stock raiser of Richland Township, Lee County, Ark., and was born in what is now Lee County (then Phillips) in 1851, being the second child born to James M. and Mary J. (Simpson) Houston. The parents settled in Arkansas in 1846, and in Richland Town- ship the same year, and here he purchased land to the extent of 160 acres, all of which was heavily timbered. He was a public-spirited citizen, a Democrat in his political views, and at the time of his death, in 1857, he was in full communion with the Methodist Episcopal Church. "He was a son of Ross Houston, a Virginian, and was a second cousin of Gen. Sam Houston, of Texas. He and wife,

who was born in the "Blue Grass State," were married in Alabama in 1845, and became the par- ents of three children: Mary A. (now Mrs. Coffey, of St. Francis County, Ark.), J. P. and Thomas R. (who died in the State of Arkansas in 1884). Mrs. Houston is still living, and makes her home with her son, J. P. She is a member of the Metho- dist Church, and is a true Christian in every respect. J. P. Houston's early life was spent at farm labor and while thus engaged he learned lessons of in- dustry and economy, which have stood him in good stead in later years. A portion of his early edu- cation was acquired in the schools of Middle Ten- nessee, and after attaining his twentieth year he started out in life for himself, and has since given his attention to farming, and is now residing on the old homestead, which comprises 320 acres, of which 230 are under cultivation. In 1886 he was united in marriage to Miss Tennie Hickman, a daughter of Nelson and Alabama (Moore) Hickman, who were Kentuckians, both of whom died in Ala- bama, the former's death occurring in 1862, and the latter's in 1867. Mr. Houston has always been a Democrat in his political views, and is interested in all matters relating to the welfare of the county in which he has so long made his home. He is a liberal patron of schools and churches, and is'al- ways found ready to assist the poor and afflicted. He and his wife have two children: Thomas Ross (born in 1886), and Anna May (born in 1888).

Hon. William L. Howard is a native of Lee County, and has always made this locality his home. Consequently he is well known and the respect accorded him is as wide as his acquaint- ance. His father, desiring to give his children a thorough education, William was sent to neighbor- hood common schools until the war, after which a private tutor was employed, who prepared him for college. He then entered Burrett College in Van Buren County, Tenn., where he took a full course. In 1874, the year of his father's death, he took charge of the old homestead, near La Grange, on which he was born on December 23, 1849, as a son of Robert W. and Malinda (Harris) Howard, natives of Virginia and Kentucky, respectively. Robert W. Howard was born in 1814, being a son

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of Christopher Howard, also a Virginian by birth, who died in Kentucky. He was a small boy when his father moved to the Blue Grass State, in which he was reared on a farm, remaining there until 1840, when he came to Arkansas and located in what was then Phillips County, on the St. Francis River. After giving his attention to rafting tim- ber to New Orleans for the following two years, he purchased the plantation on which he spent the remainder of his life, dying on March 11, 1874. Mrs. Howard was born in 1824, and is still living on the old homestead. Both were members of the Baptist Church, and the parents of nine children, six of whom survive, all residents of Richland Township, this county: Virginia F. (at home with her mother), William L. (the principal of this sketch), L. G. (a merchant of La Grange, and a partner of William F. Gill, whose biography ap- pears in this work), Addie (wife of N. D. Ramey), E. J. (now justice of the peace of this township) and Robert W. (at home). William L. Howard was married on January 16, 1875, to Miss Emma L. Crook, who was born in White County, Tenn., in 1850, and died in February, 1884, leaving four children, three now living: Ida B., Robert E. and Sallie H. He married his second and present wife, Miss Maggie Broyles, a relative of his first wife, and a native of the same county, January 14, 1886. They have a family of two children, Ethel Lee and William C. Mr. Howard has always taken a lead- ing part in the politics of this county, and is one of its prominent Democrats. He was elected cor- oner in 1878, and served two years; was afterward elected justice of the peace, and filled that office the same length of time. He was then a candi- date before the Democratic Nominating Convention in 1886 for sheriff, but was defeated. In 1888 he was elected to represent Lee County in the State legislature, which office he still acceptably holds. Mr. Howard, while not in public life, has followed agricultural pursuits for a livelihood, and owns a farm of 320 acres of as fine land as can be found in Lee County, besides an interest in the old home- stead, consisting of 480 acres. He is a member of the Baptist Church, and Mrs. Howard belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, as did his first

wife, Mr. Howard is also a member of the Royal Arcanum.

Hon. H. N. Hutton, representative from Lee County, and who has been engaged in the practice of law in Arkansas for over twenty-nine years, is a graduate of the Lebanon Law School, and a very able attorney. Born in Franklin County, Tenn., in 1835, he is a son of John and Margaret (Davidson) Hutton, of Virginia and North Carolina origin, re- spectively. He received his literary education at Union University, Murfreesboro, Tenn., in which he took a full classical course, being a thorough scholar in Latin, Greek, and French, and from this institution was graduated on June 13, 1853. He then entered the Lebanon Law School, graduating in June, 1855, with the highest honors of his class. Mr. Hutton commenced practice at Shelby- ville, Tenn., and in 1860 came to Arkansas, lo- cating in this county, and practicing at Helena. In 1862 he enlisted in the Confederate army, serving one year as adjutant-general on Gen. D. C. Govan's staff. He then resigned his commission on account of poor health, and returned home. When the first court was organized at Helena, after the war, he was made prosecuting attorney, and at the expiration of his term of office, resumed regular law practice, in which he was engaged until 1874, when he was appointed to fill the vacancy of judge of the circuit court, caused by the death of the former incumbent, Judge Fox. The office not being in his own district, he declined to accept the position until having first communicated with the members of that circuit to see if his service would prove acceptable. Having received a favorable re- ply, he was installed in the office, and served until the expiration of the unexpired term. Judge Hut- ton removed to Arkansas before Lee County was formed, and when the question of the organization of a new county was sufficiently agitated, he was elected to draft the bill for the formation of the same to be presented to the legislature. He first drew up a bill for that purpose, calling the proposed county Coolidge, but it was defeated. He next drew up another, taking for a name Woodford, which was also defeated by the senate. He then revised the bill, substituting the name Lee, which

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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