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 57

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 57

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and Sherman fought their last great battle. He was in the fight between Wheeler and Kilpatrick, Feb- ruary 11, 1865, at Aikin, S. C., and with Johnston in Wheeler's cavalry corps during the campaigns of the Carolinas in the last mentioned year. He was captured at Somerset, Ky., under Brig .- Gen. John Pegram, March 31, 1863, and exchanged at City Point, Va., on the 22d of April; was captured again at Lancaster, Ky., on the 31st of August, 1863, while under Col. John S. Scott, of Lou- isiana, and was a prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio, for seven months, and the eight months following at Fort Delaware. He was exchanged at Savannah, Ga., on the 12th day of November, 1864. He was sergeant major of his regiment, but surrendered and was paroled at Charlotte, N. C., under the cartel between Johnston and Sherman, May 11, 1865, as adjutant, in which position he was then acting. Mr. Coffin was a grocery merchant at Memphis, Tenn., from March, 1867, to July, 1869, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits at Clover Bend, in this county, from July, 1869, to March, 1871. In 1873 he edited the Observer, at Pocahontas, Ark., until August, 1874, and also taught school in that time. In September, 1874, he was licensed to practice law and located at Wal- nut Ridge, where he has since resided. In 1876 he was co-editor of the Little Rock Gazette, but one year later he resumed the practice of his pro- fession, at Walnut Ridge. Mr. Coffin is a Dem- ocrat, of Whig antecedents, having been reared by Whig parents. He became a Democrat after the war, and in 1873 was elected from Randolph County, as a Democrat, to the extraordinary ses- sion of the legislature, and served eighteen days during the Brooks-Baxter war, at the call of Gov- ernor Baxter. In 1878 he was elected prosecut- ing attorney, and re-elected in 1880 for the Third judicial district. In the summer of 1SSS he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination to Con- gress for the First Arkansas district, against Hon. W. H. Cate, of Jonesboro, and gave the latter a close and exciting race. He was afterwards given an unsolicited and unanimous nomination as rep- resentative to the State legislature (being not even a candidate) by the Democratic convention of his

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LAWRENCE COUNTY.

county, and won the fight by a good majority. He made the canvass as a "straight Democrat," against the combined Republican, Union Labor and Wheeler opposition, and wears the laurels of a hard earned victory. In the legislative session following (1888-89) he was a strong advocate and leader of the effort to organize the Democratic members of the legislature for Democratic pur- poses. His heart was in the work and he labored indefatigably and gallantly for the sake of all the principles he holds most dear. He was chairman of the house committee on penitentiary, also a member of the house committee on railroads, ways and means and education. Mr. Coffin intro- duced several important bills, among them the fol- lowing: To regulate the practice of pharmacy; to inspect cattle for butchering purposes in cities of first and second class; to repeal features of the labor contract law (Mansfield's Digest, Section 4441), which makes valid contracts for labor made beyond the limits of State. He also had the honor of framing the State Democratic platform of 1888, in which the State canvass and victory were won from the Union Labor and Republican parties com- bined. Mr. Coffin owns a farm of eighty acres near Walnut Ridge, and is a strong advocate of grass farming, being one of the first to introduce clover into this section of the State. He was bap- tized in infancy, but is not a member of the Church, though a Presbyterian in his views, and assists in maintaining ministers and church enter- prises. Mr. Coffin is a member of that large class of mankind who have never seen fit, from various causes, to enter the "conjugal state of felicity," although a previous biographer has dryly remarked that "he is young enough to reform." He has been known to say, in reference to his loneliness and absence of a life companion, that "a Coffin is the last thing on earth a woman wants." Mr. Coffin has for his motto: "Never do anything to be ashamed of." His style of oratory is earnest, fluent and pointed, speaks impromptu and gets at the "meat" of the question. He is an honor- able, upright citizen in all that the terms imply.

Joseph W. Coffman, a prominent farmer of Duty Township, was born in McLean County,

Ky., in 1833. His parents, Benjamin and Eliza- beth (Gossett) Coffman, are natives of Virginia, and of German descent. Some of the family were extensive farmers in Virginia, while others had various occupations. The father was born in the year 1802, and came to Kentucky with his parents in 1804, where he grew to maturity, and was mar- ried. He died in 1856, from a very painful accident, having his head mashed while moving a hogshead of tobacco. He was a firm adherent of the Universalist Church, and a member of the A. F. & A. M., while his death was a source of sin- cere regret among a large circle of friends. The mother, who was some ten years younger than her husband, died in 1844. Benjamin Coffman and Elizabeth (Gossett) Coffman were the parents of eight children: William A., Nancy, Ephraim A., Benjamin F., Daniel M., Elisha, Elizabeth. and Joseph W., of whom William A. and Elisha are deceased. Joseph W. Coffman was the third child, and remained on the farm in Kentucky with his parents until his twenty-first year, when he accepted a lucrative position with a large tobacco firm, and commenced his own career. On October 19, 1856, he was married, and moved to the State of Arkansas, where he settled in Hempstead County, on a farm which he rented the first year, but at the expiration of that time was able to purchase a farm of his own. A few years later, that announcement of war, which broke up so many happy homes, also filled him with the desire to aid the Confederacy, and he enlisted in W. H. Prescott's company, and served for three years, He took part in a great number of engagements. and carried himself through that bloody epoch in history in a manner that won the admiration and respects of his comrades. After the war had ended, he returned to Lawrence County, in 1866. and settled at a point within one mile and a half of where he now resides, and, in 1878, moved to the present place, where he has been employed in agricultural pursuits ever since. Mr. Coffman was married to Miss Rebecca Bowen, a daughter of John W. and Ann (Kenerly) Bowen, natives of South Carolina and Virginia, respectively. who were prominent farmers and large slave-owners

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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

before the war. The father was born in 1805, of English descent, and died in the year 1869, while the mother, who was of Dutch origin, was born in 1804, and died in 1864. They were the parents of five sons and three daughters, three of them yet living, and Mrs. Coffman is the sixth child of that number. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Coffman, of whom seven are still living. Their names are: F. Warren, Mary C., wife of B. A. Welbon, living in the State of Washington; John B., Elizabeth, who died in her thirteenth year; Benjamin A., at home; William M., who died at thirteen years of age; Jennie, also dead; Flora, Lena and Josie at home. Mr. and Mrs. Coffman are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in which they are active workers, while Mr. Coffman is a trustee, steward, and also superintendent of the Sunday-school, and has represented the church in several conferences. He is a prominent man, and a leader in all enterprises concerning the welfare of his county, and one whose advice and judgment are sought for on many occasions. He is a member of Lodge No. 450, and has belonged to that organization for over thirty years. Mr. Coffman's father contracted a second marriage after the death of his first wife, and by this wife had nine children: John T., Jacob B., Samuel R., Solomon E., George P. (who met his death at the hands of an assassin), Frank P., Susan F., James Lewis, Ezekiel. Ezekiel, George, Frank, James and Samuel are deceased.

James W. Coffman, M. D., a gentleman well known throughout Northeastern Arkansas as one of its leading physicians, and a fruit grower of well-deserved reputation, was born in 1847 on a farm in what is now known as McLean County, Ky. He is the son of Jacob N. and Nancy (Gish) Coffman, both natives of Pennsylvania, who re- moved to the State of Kentucky in 1808, when they were children. In 1857 Mr. Coffman and his family removed to Arkansas, and settled in Law- rence County, where he entered into the cultivation of cotton on an extensive scale. His death occurred in 1879, at the age of sixty-seven years, fourteen years after the demise of his wife. Ten children were born to them, of whom two only are living,

one of them being a daughter, Mrs. Mary S. Benne- field, and James W. Coffman. Mr. Coffman re. sided in Lawrence County until the age of sixteen years, when he enlisted in the Confederate army under Gen. Price during the declining years of the : late war, participating in some of the daring raids through Missouri and Kansas. At the close of that conflict he returned home, and engaged in the more peaceful avocation of cotton planting. In 1868 he commenced the study of medicine, with his brother (now deceased), who was a graduate of the University of Louisville, Ky., as his preceptor. He entered the same university in the fall of 1869, from which he graduated in 1871, and later on en- tered the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadel- phia, graduating in 1883. He commenced the practice of medicine at Powhatan in 1871, and re- moved to Black Rock in 1883, where his personal popularity and large practice attest to his efficiency as a skillful physician. His wife, a pleasant and attractive lady, was formerly Miss Mollie F. Warner. The Doctor embarked in general merchandising in 1883-84 at Black Rock, and has been deservedly fortunate, being the owner of considerable prop- erty in that town and the outlying district. He has one of the finest fruit orchards in the north- eastern portion of this State, comprising twenty- five acres of young trees just producing fruit, which he planted in the fall of 1885 as an ex- periment, and which have proven a success be- yond his most sanguine expectations. They will yield on an average one and one-half bushels to the tree this year. Besides this, he has planted out small fruits in proportion, and has been equally successful with them. He is a strong Democrat: one of the most industrious and energetic citizens of Black Rock, and takes a active part in all public and private enterprises that tend toward the ad- vancement of his county.

J. Bowen Coffman, deputy clerk of Lawrence County, for the Eastern District, was born in Hemp- stead County, Ark., November 17, 1861. He is a son of Joseph W. Coffman, of McLean County. Ky., who came to Arkansas in 1856. and located in Hempstead County, where he resided until the war was ended, and then settled in Lawrence

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County, his present residence. The elder Coffman was married to Miss Rebecca Bowen, of Alabama, and this union gave them ten children. Seven of them are now living, six of them in this county. J. Bowen Coffman was five years old when he came to Lawrence County. He received a good district school education, and also attended school at Pow- hatan. He then taught school in Lawrence Coun- ty for three terms, and in Fulton County for the same length of time. He was appointed deputy clerk under Clay Sloan, February 14, 1887, and when the district was divided he came over to Wal- nut Ridge, in April, 1887, to take charge of the Eastern District. He fills the position in a highly creditable manner, and enjoys the confidence of his fellow citizens. He is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and also of the Walnut Ridge Silver Cornet Band. Mr. Coffman has hosts of friends, and well merits the respect and esteem accorded him.

Rufus M. Dail, farmer and stock raiser, is a son of William and Nancy (Overton) Dail, natives of North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. William Dail moved to the State of Tennessee, and was there married when a young man. He settled on a farm in Anderson County, where Rufus was born, July 11, 1828, and remained there until his death, in 1877, at the age of eighty-four years. He served in the War of 1812, and drew a pension for his heroic performances during that event. Rufus M. Dail grew to manhood on the farm, and remained with his father until that time. He was married in June, 1833, to Miss Christina Skaggs, of Knox County, Tenn., and settled on a farm with his wife, up to the year 1879, when he moved. to Arkansas, and located in Randolph County. He remained at that place for six years, and had brought his farm up to the highest grade of per- fection, when he sold out and came to Lawrence County, arriving here in 1886. He has resided here ever since, and cultivates the soil, farming, on an average, seventy acres annually. Mr. Dail was elected and served as justice of the peace in Anderson County, Tenn., for eight consecutive years, and was also elected deputy sheriff, in which capacity he served four years. He was an old-

time Whig originally, and since the war has be- come identified with the Democratic party. His family is composed of six children: Nancy J., wife of James Hill, of Lindseyville; Sarah Ann, single; Martha I., wife of Charles Basket; Naomi, wife of Thomas Howard, and Eden S. He has lost three other children: Leroy, who died at the age of twenty-five years; William R., who died in his twenty-fourth year, and James M., at the age of fourteen. Mr. and Mrs. Dail are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Mr. Dail was formerly a member of the Masonic fraternity. He is highly respected, and his valut- able advice and aid in all enterprises regarding the advancement of his community are very much appreciated.

Greene P. Dean, an enterprising and prosper- ous farmer of Dent Township, was born in Law- rence County, in the year 1848. He is the son of William and Hettie (Roney) Dean, natives of Ten- nessee and Arkansas, respectively. His father set- tled in the latter State at the age of eighteen years, having started in life for himself at an early age, and established a good blacksmith trade, which he followed until the time of his death, in 1861. He was an active politician and a noted temper- ance worker in his day, and was a member of the society known as Sons of Temperance. He was one of the main pillars of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and also filled the office of justice of the peace for a number of years. The mother died in 1854. She was a descendant of one of the oldest families in Arkansas, and a lady universally loved for her many excellent qualities. This couple had nine children, seven of them living to maturity. since which time two have died. Mr. Greene P. Dean was the fourth child, and has grown right up with the county he resides in. He started in to learn his father's trade at the age of fifteen, and after his death he worked with Madison Smith, of this county, for three and one-half years. He is a self-made man, and even during the busiest por- tion of his younger days found time to apply him- self to his books. He hired himself out on a farm after leaving the blacksmith trade, and attended school for several years, and, in the fall of 1867,

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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

turned tutor himself, and opened a private school. He met with splendid success, and continued his teaching until 1871. He also had charge of a school in Duty Township, this county, in 1877. Mr. Dean was married in December, 1870, to Miss Elizabeth T. Phillips, of Arkansas, whose parents came to that State from Tennessee, in 1849, and settled in Lawrence County. Mrs. Dean's grandparents were at one time the most ex- tensive iron dealers in Tennessee, controlling sev- eral of the largest foundries in that State. Ten children were born to this couple: William A., Thomas Oscar, Nettie Oberia, Eugene D., Asa Belle, Francis Marion, Mary Edna, John Foster, Homer Lee and Ernest D. Mr. and Mrs. Dean are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Mr. Dean of the Farmers' Alliance. He takes a deep interest in politics, and is a Democrat. The office of justice of the peace has been filled by him in Duty Township, and he has also occupied several local positions, besides being a director in the schools. Mr. Dean is one of Lawrence County's most influential and prosperous men. He has 300 acres under cultivation, and owns considerable other land in different sections.

Washington, D. C. Mr. Deeter did considerable guard duty in the army, and, after the battle of Chickamauga, was detailed for repair duty. He returned to Clay County, Ind., after the war had ended, and, purchased a small farm, on which he lived until the fall of 1878. He then came to Ar- kansas and settled on the place he is now occupy- ing, having cleared about 100 acres of the land with his own hands, and getting it under cultivation. Mr. Deeter's first marriage occurred in 1852 to Miss Mary E. Congleton, a young lady of Clay County, Ind., who died, a member of the Christian Church, on the 14th of March, 1863. By this mar- riage he was presented with three children, two of whom died in infancy. The one living is Martha I., now the wife of C. R. Moon, a resident of Wilton Springs, Mo. His second marriage took place in September, 1865, to Miss Catherine New- port, an Ohio lady, who is now the happy mother of nine children, namely: Elisabeth, wife of J. H. Still; Mathias, Henry, Clara, wife of Isaac Wells; Laura, Isaac, David J., Barton W., George W. Mr. Deeter and his wife are members of the Christ- ian Church, of which he is the organizer. He is also an elder of that church, and a director of the schools, being a strong advocate of the latter. He is a man well appreciated for his good qualities, and is beloved by his flocks to whom he preaches regularly.

William Deeter is a farmer of Lawrence County, and was born in Miami County, Ohio, in 1831. His parents, Jacob and Elisabeth (Williams) Deeter, came from Ohio in 1839, and settled in Clay County, Ind., where his father cultivated the Swan C. Dowell, dealer in drugs, books and stationery, Walnut Ridge, Ark. It is to the skill and science of the druggist that suffering hu- manity look for alleviation from pain. The phy- sician may successfully diagnose, but it is the chemist who prepares the remedy. Mr. Dowell has been engaged in the above business since 1880, and in that time a trade has been built up second to no other drug house in the city. His birth occurred in Breckinridge County, Ky., on October 26, 1856, and he is the son of Christopher M. Dowell, also a native of the Blue Grass State, who came ; to Arkansas in February, 1867, and who located :near Clover Bend, in Lawrence County, where he 1 remained for four or five years. He first rented land. but afterwards bought 160 acres, and subsequently land, and also followed his occupation as a stone- mason. They resided here until the father's death, in 1885, at the age of seventy-three years. Both parents were members of the Christian Church, in which faith the mother died in 1876 in her sixty-sixth year. Mr. Deeter is the second of seven children, and grew to manhood in the State of Indiana, with the exception of a short time served in apprenticeship at the carriage and wagon- making trade, in Ohio, when in his eighteenth year. On his return to Indiana he followed that trade until the war commenced, but for the greater part as a journeyman worker. He enlisted in the army July 15, 1862, and was a member of Company I, Eighty fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving until 1865, when he received his discharge at | (in 1876) went to Minturn to live near his two

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LAWRENCE COUNTY.

sons, J. T. and Swan, who were there in business, and there he passed the remainder of his days. He was a pioneer settler and a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity. He was married to Miss Eliza- beth Ann Brandenburg, a native of Brandenburg, Ky., and the daughter of Solomon Brandenburg, who was a native of Hampshire County, West Va. To them were born five children, two now living- John Thomas, proprietor of an hotel in Minturn, on the Iron Mountain Railroad, and Swan C. (the subject of this sketch). The latter became famil- iar with the duties on the farm in early life, and received his education in the common schools. When fifteen years of age, he went to Clover Bend and engaged as a clerk for his cousin, J. H. Dow- ell, by whom, subsequently, he was promoted to book-keeper. Five years later he went to Minturn, and with his brother formed a partnership in a general store under the firm name of J. T. Dowell & Bro. In 1880 they dissolved partnership, and Swan C. came to Walnut Ridge, where he engaged in the drug business. He has been fairly success- ful in his calling, and for the last three years has been engaged in the real estate business with J. P. Coffin, of Powhatan, under the firm name of Coffin & Dowell, and they control about 2,500 acres of land for sale. Mr. Dowell individually owns 5, 000 acres. He is a Democrat in politics, and at pres- ent is mayor of the city. His marriage was con- summated in 1878 to Miss Alice Wall, a native of St. Louis, Mo., and the daughter of William Wall (deceased). The fruits of this union were five children-Walter, Mamie, Agnes, Oliver and Aly- sius. Mrs. Dowell is a member of the Catholic Church.

Andrew C. Estes, deputy sheriff for the Eastern District of Lawrence County, was born in O'Brien County, Ala., October 10, 1859. He is a son of Thomas and Elisabeth (Belcher) Estes, of Ala- bama, who settled in Arkansas, when their son Andrew C. was very young. They located in Carroll County, where they resided until the war, when the elder Estes enlisted in the Confederate army, and was killed near Smithville. Ark., dur- ing the latter part of that period. Four children were born to the parents, two of them still living.

After the father's death, his wife removed to Lawrence County, and settled on a farm three miles west of Walnut Ridge, and lived there until the month of October, 1888, when she moved to Scott County, Mo., where she is at present resid- ing. Mr. Andrew C. Estes was reared on a farm and received only an ordinary education in his boyhood. His avocation was farming until the year 1882, when he was elected constable of Campbell Township. He served four years in this position, and was then appointed deputy sheriff for the Eastern District, in November, 1888, by C. A. Stewart, sheriff. That entire portion of Lawrence County, is now under his jurisdiction, and he fills the bill to perfection in every way. On November 20, 1861, Mr. Estes was united in mar- riage to Miss Amanda McGuinnis, of Illinois, and four children have been the result of this union: Elizabeth, Eliza Ann, Thomas Edward Jefferson and Maudie May. They are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Old Walnut Ridge, and in politics Mr. Estes is a Democrat.

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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 57

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