Biographical and historical memoirs of northeast Arkansas : comprising a condensed history of the state biographies of distinguished citizens a brief descriptive history of the counties, and numerous biographical sketches of the prominent citizens of such counties. V. 2, Part 49

Author:
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, Nashville, St. Louis : The Goodspeed Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1044

USA > Arkansas > Biographical and historical memoirs of northeast Arkansas : comprising a condensed history of the state biographies of distinguished citizens a brief descriptive history of the counties, and numerous biographical sketches of the prominent citizens of such counties. V. 2 > Part 49

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

father, and in 1868 he was examined and admitted to practice in all the courts of the State of Mis- souri, by the circuit court of Ripley County, at Doniphan. In 1869 he came to Evening Shade, and at the first term of the circuit court of Sharp County, held by Judge (afterward Governor) Bax- ter, he was admitted to practice in the inferior courts of Arkansas. A few years afterward, on examination, he was licensed to practice in the supreme court of Arkansas, and his practice has extended through Fulton, Izard, Sharp and Inde- pendence Counties, and in the supreme court at the capital of the State. In 1870 he served as county attorney for Sharp County; in 1872 the Governor appointed him county superintendent of public schools. In 1872-73 he was editor and part owner of the Sharp County Herald, a Demo- cratic newspaper. He has frequently been called by his brethren of the bar to preside as special judge of the circuit court in Fulton, Izard and ad- joining counties. In 1874 he was defeated for delegate to the constitutional convention, but in 1876, after a sharp contest, he was elected to the lower branch of the General Assembly, and after his term expired he was re-elected without opposi- tion, and at the organization, in 1879, received a very flattering vote for speaker of the house. He never sought office afterward, but in 1888, with- out any solicitation on his part, he was nominated by the Democratic party of the Second senatorial district as their candidate, and, after a hotly-con- tested campaign, defeated the Union Labor and political Wheel nominee for State senator, carrying every county in the district, his majority reaching nearly 2,000; and, while he did not seek the place in any sense, he lacked but three votes, on several ballots, of election as president pro tem of the sen- ate (lieutenant-governor) at the close of the legis- lative session of 1889. Mr. Davidson is a hold- over senator, and will be a member of the session of 1891. He has been a Mason for about eighteen years, holding membership in the Lodge, Chapter and Council, and has been Master of his Lodge and District Deputy Grand Master, and for more than ten years has served his Chapter as High Priest. He is also a member of the Knights of Honor, and

has held the offices of Past Dictator, Reporter and Grand Representative. In the State conventions of his party he has served several times on the com- mittee to formulate a platform, and, in 1884, he was secretary of the convention held in Little Rock which nominated candidates for State offices, and selected delegates to the National Democratic Con- vention, at Chicago, that nominated Cleveland. Mr. Davidson was married in 1870, to Virginia, daughter of William and Frances French, and has five children. He has a pleasant and comfortable home at Evening Shade, a number of town lots there and in other villages, and about 1,000 acres of land in various portions of the county. He is devoted to his family and his friends, and an earn- est worker for the promotion of the material pros- perity of Arkansas.

Dr. John O. Durham, a prominent physician and druggist at Ash Flat, was born in Shelby County, Tenn., in the year 1851. He is a son of the Rev. Dennis and Sarah (Harper) Durham, the former a noted and eloquent divine who was born in Georgia, in the year 1824, and the latter in North Carolina in 1832. The parents were married in Shelby County, where the mother is still living. The Rev. Durham during his life had been a Missionary Baptist minister for twenty years, and his fame as an eloquent and gifted speaker was widespread. He also served sixteen days in the Confederate army with General Forrest, and in the short time of his stay in the army he made many warm friends among the boys in gray. Mr. Durham died in 1873, after a long and useful life. His father was Grisham Durham, of Irish descent, who was born in South Carolina, and in after years moved to Lawrence County, Ark., where he was appointed county surveyor for a number of years, and died in 1856. The mother of Dr. John O. Durham was a daughter of James Harper, of North Carolina, a brick mason by trade, who was one of the first settlers of Mem- phis, Tenn., and helped to build the first brick building in that city. The Doctor is the oldest of four sons and three daughters, and spent the greater portion of his younger days on a farm. When eighteen years of age he began the study of medi-

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SHARP COUNTY.

cine with Dr. Ed. Irby, and Dr. B. A. Mathews, of Cuba, Tenn., and under these able instructors he acquired a thorough knowledge of the intricate study of medicine. In 1873 the Doctor com- menced to practice, and since that time he has steadily raised himself to the top of his profession. He was married, in 1870, to Miss Elizabeth J. Smith, a daughter of James and Lucy Smith, of Lawrence County, Ark., her father being at one time one of the most illustrious of Lawrence County's citizens. Mr. Smith served in the Con- federate army through the war, and was taken a prisoner to Little Rock, where he died, his wife following him to the grave in 1869. The Doctor and his wife have had nine children, of whom one son and two daughters are still living. In 1876 he moved to Calamine, Ark., where he practiced for about one year, and then came to Ash Flat, where he has been residing ever since. His skill as a physician has given him a large practice, and as an individual he has won a host of friends. He is a self-made man in the true sense of that term, and is in every way worthy of the success which has fallen to his lot. In politics the Doctor is a Democrat, and has also been a member of the A. F. & A. M., of Ash Flat, since 1880, holding the offices of Secretary, Junior Warden, and at the present time Senior Deacon. He also belongs to Royal Arch Chapter No. 50, Evening Shade, and was at one time Master of Third Vail. He is now a Royal Arch Captain, and a member of Eastern Star, Adah Chapter No. 32, of Ash Flat. He is also a member of the Knights and Ladies of Honor, and has been Protector and Treasurer. The Doctor and his wife are both members of the Missionary Baptist Church, he for a period of twenty-two years, and Mrs. Durham for fifteen years.

Wiley Marshal Edwards, a leading farmer, was born in Wilson County, Tenn., January 8, 1836, where he was reared and received his lim- started West to seek his fortune, locating in Sharp County, Ark., where he has since resided. His parents were Michael and Sarah (Bennett) Ed- wards, who were born in Tennessee in 1812 and

1815, respectively, his father having died in 1886 in Tennessee, where he had always resided, with the exception of 1871 and 1872, when he was in Arkansas; the mother of Wiley died in Tennessee in 1876. His grandfather, William Edwards, was a native of South Carolina, but came to Tennessee in an early day. In this family there were seven children, four of whom are living: Sarah (residing in Tennessee), Rebecca (residing in Tennessee), Robert H. (residing in Jackson County, Ark. ), and the subject of this sketch, who was the second child. In June, 1861, Mr. Edwards enlisted in the Confederate Army, Company E, Twenty-first Arkansas Regiment, under Capt. Nunn, and served for four years, participating in the battle of Cor- inth, Miss. At the close of the war he returned to Sharp County, and married Mrs. Maria (Simson) Barnett, a widow, in 1874; she was born on the farm where our subject now resides, in 1849, and died in 1879. By this marriage there were three children, John B., Marshall W., William O. In 1880 he married Anna Lock, a native of Tennessee, she having been born in 1858. They have six chil- dren: James C., George, Etta, Orra and two not named. Mr. Edwards has 800 acres of land. about 200 cultivated, located on Strawberry River. This is a fine stock farm. Mr. Edwards is a mem- ber of Maxville Masonic Lodge, and is a Democrat, having cast his first vote for Gen. Scott.

Charles W. English, a farmer, of Union Town- ship, four miles west of Ravenden postoffice, was born in Sharp County, Ark., June 19, 1850, the son of Edward N. and Sarah (Hudspeth) English. Edward N., a farmer, of English descent, was born in Tennessee; he was in the service of the Confed- erate army, was taken prisoner, and died at Alton, Ill., in 1864. He came from Tennessee, with his parents, to Sharp County, in an early day, his father being one of the first settlers. Our subject's grandfathers were Samuel Hudspeth and Stephen English. His mother was born in 1826, and reared and the mother of six children, of whom Charles W. was the eldest. He was educated in the com- mon schools of Sharp County; in 1867 married Miss Sarah Williford, who was born in 1850, and

ited education. In 1859, while yet unmarried, he ' in what is now Sharp County; she is yet living.

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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

reared in Sharp County, and died in 1871. She was the mother of three children, none of whom are living. He married Miss Mollie Fair in 1873; she was born in Sharp County in 1857, and died in 1883. By this marriage he has four children, three living: Green T. E., Saphronia and Rhoda B. In June, 1888, he married Miss Nancy S. Howard, who was born in Lawrence County, Ark., in 1860. Mr. English has resided where he now lives since 1878, having 270 acres of land, about sixty acres on Spring River bottom, all in cultiva- tion. He is a Democrat, having cast his first pres- idential vote for Greeley, and is a good citizen, highly respected and well-to do.

David R. Ford, a well-known farmer, ginner and miller, of Sullivan Township, was born in Smith County, Tenn., in 1827, and is a son of James G. and Martha (Rowland) Ford, of Smith County, born in 1803 and 1802, respectively. The parents lived in that county until the year 1844, and then moved to Arkansas, and settled on White River, in what is now Stone County, where they lived among the early settlers for the rest of their days. The father died in 1866, and the mother in 1868, both members of the Methodist faith. The elder Ford was a farmer by occupation. and a soldier in the Seminole War, in Florida. He was a son of Zachary Ford, of Virginia, one of the early settlers of Smith County, Tenn., where he farmed and held the office of justice of the peace for a great many years. The Ford family are of French descent. David Rowland, the father of Mrs. J. G. Ford, was born and reared in North Carolina, and was also one of the early settlers of Smith County, Tenn., where he died at an ad- vanced age. David R. Ford is the third child of three sons and five daughters, and moved to the State of Arkansas with his parents in 1844. In 1855 he was married to Martha P. Headstream, daughter of John and Harriet Headstream. The father was a native of Sweden, and a sailor for a number of years before coming to America. He was married in Tennessee, his wife's native State, and moved to Phillips County, Ark., afterward to Monroe County, where he died. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ford, of whom eight

sons and one daughter still survive. Soon after their marriage they settled at a point about eight miles above Batesville, where they resided until February, 1887, when Mr. Ford concluded to move to their present farm, some ten miles south of Evening Shade. He now has 350 acres of land under cultivation, owning altogether about 700 acres, besides operating a cotton-gin, corn-mill and thresher, and his present prosperity is due entirely to his own enterprise and energy. Before the war Mr. Ford was captain of a company of militia, and when the outbreak occurred he enlisted in New- ton's regiment of cavalry, Arkansas' troops, and served about one year and a half. After the war he was elected justice of the peace, and held the office two years, and in 1874 was elected assessor of Independence County, a position he filled with distinction for the same length of time. He is a Democrat in politics, and a valuable man to his party, being a strong supporter of his principles.

John C. Garner, one of the early settlers of Sharp County, and postmaster of Martin's Creek postoffice since its establishment in 1876, in his residence, was born in Williamson County, Tenn., December 4, 1808, son of John and Sally (Coch- ran) Garner. John was born in Tennessee, and was drowned in Spring River, Arkansas, about 1820. He was one of the first settlers of Sharp County, having come from Illinois about 1818. The mother of our subject was born in Tennessee, about 1778. of Welsh descent, and died in Sharp County, near 1860. She was the mother of six children, three of whom are now living, our subject being the first. He was of Scotch and Irish descent, raised in Sharp County, and never saw a schoolhouse till twenty years of age, and never went to school. John C. has been a resident of Sharp County since about 1818; he helped to clear the farm on which he resides, and endured many hardships incident to pioneer life. He was a noted hunter, and shot many deer where Monmouth Spring Village now stands. In 1828 he married Miss Arrena Gray, born in Boone County, Mo., in May, 1811, and who died in 1834; she was the mother of ten chil- dren (five of whom are living): Milton (deceased), Redman (deceased), Sally (deceased), Hiram, Bet-

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743

SHARP COUNTY.

sey (wife of William Ratcliff ), Lewis (deceased), -Calvin (deceased), Nancy (wife of Elijah Ratcliff), Helena (wife of James A. Graves) and Harden. In 1857 John C. married Mrs. Mary (Farris) Rice, who was born and raised in Tennessee. She was born in 1805, and died in 1887. Our subject has resided on the place he now owns, for some forty years, and has sixty acres of land. He resides with his son, Hiram, who farms the place. It contains 120 acres, forty under cultivation. Hiram was married, in 1859, to Miss Martha Rice, who was born in Tennessee, in 1837, and who died in 1881. She was the mother of six children, two of whom are living. Mary (deceased), Sarah (de- ceased), Rosetta (deceased), Permetta, Indiana (deceased) and Arazana. Hiram was married the second time in October, 1882, to Melinda (Mc- Canny) Brown, a widow. The subject of this sketch is a member of the Christian Church, as are Hiram and his wife. Hiram served in the Federal army about one year, and has held the office of constable two years. John C. is a Republican, and cast his first presidential vote for Martin Van Buren. Hiram cast his first presidential vote for Bell, of Tennessee.

John L. Gawf is a well-to-do farmer of Wash- ington Township, and grandson of Edmond Gawf, of North Carolina, who died in Tennessee. John's father, George W. Gawf, was born in Tennessee, in 1818, and went when a boy with his parents to Tennessee, where he married. He was a farmer, and in 1852 he went to Carroll County, Ark., and to Sharp County in 1864, where he is still living. He is of Dutch descent. His wife was Mary A. Doss, born in 1819, by whom he had eight children, six of whom are living: William, James P .. Margaret Stoddard, Mary Ann Montgomery, Jerusha Shaw, and John L., the subject of this sketch, the eld- est, who was born in Henderson County, Tenn., December 25, 1840; he was raised until eleven years of age in Tennessee, where he received part of his schooling, and the remainder in Sharp Coun- ty. In 1867 he married Miss Margaret C. John- son, who was born in Tennessee, Knox County, in :

1847, and whose father was Jahue Johnson, a Baptist minister, and old citizen of Sharp County,

where he now resides, and whose mother was Re- becca Johnson. Margaret is the mother of nine children, eight of whom are living: William W., Mary A. R., Jehu L., John H., Catherine E., James M., Samuel N. and Dora B. Mr. Gawf has a farm of 280 acres, on which he has resided since 1870, 150 acres of which are cultivated. He served in the Confederate Army, in Company G. Fourteenth Arkansas Regiment, in the battles of Pea Ridge (Ark.), Corinth and Iuka (Miss.), Delhi (La.), and various other skirmishes, and was dis- charged in 1865. He is a Democrat in politics, and is an influential citizen and well-to-do. His two eldest children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Dr. William A. Gibson, one of Mill Creek's lead- ing citizens and physicians, was born in Franklin County, Ala., in 1840. He is a son of W. N. and Nancy (Crocker) Gibson, both born in the year 1815, the former in Tennessee, and the latter in North Carolina, and were united in marriage in the State of Alabama, where they have resided ever since, with the exception of several years' sojourn in Texas. In religious faith both parents have been Primitive Baptists for a great length of time, and the father for a number of years was tax col- lector and assessor of Walker County, Ala. He is at present justice of the peace of his county. and has held that office several years, having also been a member of the A. F. & A. M. for the past forty years. His father was Jacob Gibson, of Tennessee, who resided in Alabama some length of time, but died in the State of Arkansas. The father of Jacob Gibson was Jacob Gibson, a Revo- lutionary soldier of early days, who died in Walker County, Ala. On the mother's side, James Crock- er, Mrs. W. N. Gibson's father, was an Irish- man, who emigrated to the United States when a young man. His wife was also a native of Ire- land, but they were married in North Carolina, and, after a long residence in Alabama, both died in that State. Dr. William A. Gibson is - the second child of two sons and one daughter. He was educated at the common schools, and, by a close application to his studies himself, and, after having thoroughly mastered his books, he taught

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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

school for a number of years, in the meantime reading physic all the while. After the war was Over he attended the Mobile Medical College, and immediately set out to carve his name in the temple of fame. He practiced in Alabama until the year 1874, and then moved to Sharp County, Ark., where he still resides. The Doctor owns 160 acres of land on Mill Creek, of which forty-five acres are under cultivation. When he first arrived in Sharp County he had very little, if anything at all, in the way of wealth, but, by his shrewdness in trading, his energy and his natural abilities, besides being a skillful physician, he soon placed himself in an independent position. In 1867 the Doctor was married to Mrs. Eliza M. Wilkins, a daughter of Thomas and Sidney Price, of North Carolina, and by this marriage has one son, Ellis Lee. In poli- tics he is Democratic, and gave his vote to Cleve- land in 1888. He has been a member of the A. F. & A. M. since his twenty-first year, and at pres- ent belongs to Smithville Lodge No. 29. Mrs. Gibson has been a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South, for twenty-four years.

J. W. Graddy & Bro., farmers and proprietors of a saw-mill, are sons of Lewis and Matilda (Ford) Graddy. The father, a farmer of Scotch and Irish descent, was born in Tennessee, and died in 1862. His widow was born in North Carolina, and is now living. They were married in Alabama, and came to Mississippi, where they resided till 1858, when they removed to Arkansas. Matilda is the mother of seven children (five now living): Edward F., G. W., Mary J. (deceased), Sarah F. (deceased), Nancy C., J. B. and J. W. J. B. Graddy, the oldest child and junior partner of this firm, was born in Octo- ber, 1846, in Alabama. He lived in Mississippi till the age of twelve years, when he came to Sharp County, Ark. He attended school in both States. In October, 1865, he married Miss Mahala E. Bell, who was born in Kentucky in 1845; they have had seven children: Lewis W., Charles S., Clara E., Margaret C., John H., George W. and Lucy E. Mr. Graddy served all through the war, a part of the time in the Confederate army, in Capt. Nunn's company, and the remainder in the Union army. He has eighty acres of land, twenty acres being.

under cultivation. J. W. Graddy, the second child, and senior partner of this firm, was born in Ala- bama, August 8, 1848, and received his education in Mississippi and Sharp County, Ark. In 1869 he married Miss Alice Hamilton, who was born in Arkansas in 1849. Their family consists of six children: William A. (deceased), Benjamin F., James P., Winnie A., Martin L. and Artie M. He has eighty acres of land, about thirty-five being under cultivation. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. In 1887 this firm erected a saw-mill and cot- ton-gin at a cost of $2,000, the capacity of the mill being 8,000 feet per day. Both are good business men, and have secured a good trade. They are Democrats in politics, and J. W. served one term as justice of the peace.

William P. Hamilton, of the firm of Hamilton & Tindel, proprietors'and owners of the Hamilton flour and sawmills and rail factory, one mile east of Evening Shade, was born in Independence County in 1850, and is a son of James A. and Catherine E. (Metcalf) Hamilton, natives of North Carolina, and born in 1822 and 1830, respectively. The parents were married in that State, and in 1849 moved to Independence County, Ark. The following year they came to what is now Sharp County, and located near Evening Shade, and in 1868 the family settled on the farm where William P. Hamilton now resides. The saw-mill was erected in 1865, and purchased by the elder Ham- ilton in 1868, who immediately established a flour- mill and rail factory, which business he continued with great success until his death, in 1884. The present firm, however, was established in 1872. The flour-mills have a capacity of 100 bushels of wheat and 200 bushels of corn per day; the saw- mill a capacity of 1,200 feet of lumber per day. The elder Hamilton was a member of the A. F. & A. M., Evening Shade lodge, and with his wife at- tended the Christian Church a great number of years. Mrs. Hamilton, who is still living, is a daughter of Andrew K. Metcalf, of North Carolina; he was born in that State in 1808, moving to Inde- pendence County in 1849, where he resided six years, and then came to what is now Sharp County. His wife is still living at the age of seventy-nine

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Biographical and historical memoirs of northeast Arkansas : comprising a condensed history of the state biographies of distinguished citizens a brief descriptive history of the counties, and numerous biographical sketches of the prominent citizens of such counties. V. 2, Part 49

Author: Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago, Nashville, St. Louis : The Goodspeed Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1044

Author:
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago, Nashville, St. Louis : The Goodspeed Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1044