USA > Arkansas > Biographical and historical memoirs of western 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 mentioned, and numerous biographical sketches of the citizens of such counties > Part 22
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James A. Crow, a resident planter of Center- ville Township, whose birth place was in Morgan County, Ala., was born August 11, 1847, a son of James W. and Mary A. (Kyle) Crow, who were married in the State of Alabama, December 9, 1841. The mother was born in 1819, and the father July 24, 1823, both in Alabama. The for- mer was a farmer, carpenter and an active poli- tician, and while a soldier in the Confederate Army way taken prisoner, and carried to Rock Island, Ill., where he died in 1864, his widow joining him in 1875. They were consistent and worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject emigrated from Mississippi to Yell County in 1869, and purchased 140 acres of fertile land, breaking, clearing, and putting under thorough cultivation eighty acres, and in 1888 built the large two-story frame house in which he now lives, all of which he has accumulated by hard work and good manage- ment. His marriage to Miss Nancy McKinzie, formerly of North Carolina, took place in this county, and she is the mother of eight children, seven of whom are living: Mary R., James A., Melville L., David T., Laura O., Leslie H. and Lennia H. Mr. and Mrs. Crow are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mr. Crow's maternal grandmother, lived to be one hundred and ten years of age, and departed this life in Alabama. Our subject is highly esteemed by his friends for his many good qualities.
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YELL COUNTY.
John T. Crownover, one of the successful till- ers of the soil, and owner of a 120-acre farm situ- ated in Fergeson Township, came to this township in 1880 and bought his land, which at the time was mostly in its natural state, and which by hard work and perseverance he has cleared, cultivated and improved with a comfortable house, good barn and other outbuildings. He raises principally cot- ton, corn and small grains, which yield abundantly and give him good returns for his labor. He was born in South Carolina April 10, 1838, and came with his parents, Daniel D. (born in the Palmetto State March 2, 1818) and Polly (daughter of John George) Crownover, to this State in 1840. Here he received a very limited education, and at the breaking out of hostilities was among the first to respond to the call for men, and enlisted in Com- pany F, Third Arkansas Regiment of Cavalry, where he fought till his discharge in June, 1865. He then returned to his home, and on June 3 of the following year was united in marriage to Miss Jane Schwilling, who bore him tive children; War- ren Henry (born in 1867), Mary W. (born in 1871), Robert K. (born in 1877), Ralph H. (born in 1881), and Alice May (born in 1883). He is not identi- fied with any one church, but is a generous donator to all, and is a man well informed on the leading events of his day; is charitable, hospitable, and in bis dealings with his fellow-creatures is governed by the teachings of the Golden Rule.
S. L. Crownover, the senior member of the firm of S. L. Crownover & Co., was born in Rover in 1847, his parents, Henry T. and Jane (Briggs) Crownover, of South Carolina, came to Yell County with their parents prior to 1840, where they were married about 1845, and located on a farm near Danville, where the father was accidentally killed by a horse in 1859, the mother still living and re- siding in Texas. The principal of this biography was raised on a farm and educated in the common schools, and at the age of twenty began farming for himself, and in 1870 started merchandising at Bluffton, which he conducted for fourteen years; then was two years at Briggsville, where he was appointed postmaster, when he moved the business to Rover, and carries a stock of $6,000, which
brings in a trade of $12,000 annually, drawing customers from all along the valley of the Fourche. His personal property consists of a storehouse, 24x50, two dwellings in town, and 1,200 acres of tine river bottom land with 350 cultivated and im- proved, and it is all due to hard work and good management. He was married in 1872 to Miss Nannie T. Burt, daughter of W. T. Burt, of South Carolina, and who has borne him eight children: Mary Ida, Sydney B. (deceased), John Wyatt (deceased), Ada Bell, Penelope May, Pearl Lado- nia, Effie and William Leander. Mrs. Crownover is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and socially he belongs to the A. F. & A. M., hav- ing joined Rover Lodge No. 467, and politically is a stanch Democrat, doing all in his power for its success, and has represented his State in conven- tion twice.
Dr. Hiram Dacus. In giving a sketch of the lives of the representative men of the various trades, occupations and professions, the history of Yell County would be incomplete were that of Dr. Dacus, of Chickalah, omitted. He was the eldest son of fourteen children born to James A. and Martha J. (Burton) Dacus, born, respectively, about 1820 and 1825 in the State of Tennessee, this also being the birthplace of our subject, who first saw the light of this world in Tipton County in 1840, and when three years old his father moved his family to Arkansas and entered a large tract of land, and began at once the preparations of what in the future proved to be a very comfortable home. Farming and its many duties occupied his attention till 1877, when he departed this life, a worthy communicant of the Church of Christ, and a member of the Masonic order. His widow still lives and makes her home on the old homestead. The Doctor attended the schools of his county and received a thorough education in the common branches, and having chosen medicine as his life- work, attended lectures at a medical institute in Cincinnati, Ohio, and about 1861 opened an office in the old town of Lewisburg and Plummerville, Conway County. About this time the call for troops being sent over the land, he put aside his professional duties for service in defense of his
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country's honor and enlisted in Company F, Third Arkansas Regiment of Cavalry, remaining in the army till June 30, 1865, when he was discharged as lieutenant, having received this title as an award for his bravery and faithful services while a soldier. On his return home he resumed his practice, and in connection with his professional duties assisted in the reconstruction of the States as deputy clerk, and in 1868 was elected justice of the peace of Dardanelle Township. In 1879 he again at- tended lectures, and in 1885 was chosen by his fellow-citizens to represent the State in the Legis- lature. In 1859 he led to the altar as his chosen bride, Miss Sarah E. Patey, of Tennessee, and a consistent member of the Church of Christ, and who died in 1881, having borne him the following family: Rosa B. (wife of A. D. Malone), Ida M., James A., Martha (deceased), Mary M. (deceased), and Emma A. (deceased). He was again married, to Mary L. Durham, of Missouri, born in 1864, and daughter of Thomas J. and Josephine (Staf- ford) Durham, and who became the mother of two children by this marriage: William M. and Roy B. The Doctor and wife are united in fellowship with the Church of Christ, and socially he belongs to the Masonic fraternity, having been initiated in the Plummerville-Howard Lodge No. 253, and as a citizen and physician has the respect of his many friends and patrons.
Dr. Robert H. Dacus was born in Tipton County, Tenn., October 7, 1843. In March, 1851, his father having died in 1848, his mother came to Arkansas, settling in Yell County, where she died in 1852. He and his sister, Julia A. (now Mrs. Gillette), who was three years younger than him- self, went to live with their half-brother, James A. Dacus. Here he remained, working upon the farm and attending school when opportunity afforded until the breaking out of the war in 1861. He then entered the Confederate Army, enlisting in Company H, First Arkansas Mounted Rifles, with which he served until the close of the war. He was in the battles of Oak Hills, Mo., and Elk Horn, Ark. Soon after the latter battle he was transferred east of the Mississippi River. Here he served under Beauregard, Bragg, Johnston and
Hood, and was engaged in the battles of Farming- ton, Tenn., Richmond, Ky. (where 5,000 Confed- erates under Gen. Kirby Smith, on an open field, fought and captured 7,000 of the enemy), was at the battle of Murfreesboro, Tenn., the siege of Jackson, Miss., and the battle of Chickamauga, Ga., where he was severely wounded. Afterward he was with Johnston on his campaign in Northern Georgia during the spring and summer of 1864, known as Johnston's retreat through Georgia. It. would be too tedious to mention all the battles and skirmishes in which he participated during this three months' campaign. Suffice it to say that every time the roll was called he was there to answer to his name; and as evidence of the part Reynolds' brigade, to which he belonged, took part in the fighting done during this, one of the hardest as well as the most noted campaigns of the war, it is only necessary to state that when the campaign began at Dalton they reported 1,000 men for duty, and when they retreated from Atlanta, three months later, their official report showed 800 killed and wounded on the campaign. During the following winter Dr. Dacus went with Hood on his campaign into Tennessee, carrying the colors of his regiment. Here he was engaged in the battles of Franklin, Nashville and Sugar Creek. In the spring of 1865 the little remnant of the Army of Tennessee was transferred to North Carolina. Here he was in the battle of Bentonville, the last regular engagement of the war. The company to which he belonged consisted of 118 men. Of that num- ber, 85 were killed and wounded; and 25 died from other causes. When, at the final surrender and close of the war, the last roll was called, there were but seven to answer to their names, he being one of that number. On their way home the freight train upon which they were being trans- ported was wrecked, and ten of his comrades were killed and fifty others injured, he being one of the latter receiving injuries at that time, from which he will never fully recover. After coming home he spent about eight months in school. The bal- ance of the time he spent partly on the farm and partly as salesman in a general mercantile business until 1870, when he entered the medical depart-
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ment of the University of Louisiana (now Tulane University). In the fall of 1871 he went to the Cherokee Nation and began the practice of medi- cine. He remained here seven years, when, his health failing, he returned to his old home in Yell County, where he has, up to the present time, been following his profession, and has been favored with quite a lucrative practice. December 23, 1869, he married Miss Hettie A. McCarty at Evans- ville, Washington County, where she had moved in 1867 from Charleston, East Tenn., with ber mother and family, her father having died in prison during the war. From this marriage they have had born to them four children: Lena M. (deceased), Minnie L. (now in her sixteenth year), Walter P. (deceased) and Hugh (now in his fourth year). Dr. Dacus is a member of the Baptist Church, and serves as deacon and corresponding secretary. His wife and daughter are members of the Baptist Church also. Socially, he is a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity and K. of H. Both the Doctor's and Mrs. Dacus' parents were among the pioneer settlers of Tennessee. His grand- father, though but a boy at the time, was with his father in the army during the latter part of the war of the Revolution.
Dr. Thomas Jefferson Daniel is one of the well- known physicians of the Petit Jean Valley, lo- cated at Waveland, Yell County, this State. He is a native Arkansan, born near Quitman, Van Buren County, December 9, 1857, the son of Will- iam and Jane (Haney) Daniel, natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. The father followed farming in Van Buren County until 1858, when he moved to White County, and died there in the fall of 1865, at the age of sixty-six years, the mother dying in 1859, at the age of fifty-five years. After his father's deatb, Dr. Daniel re- mained with his brother, John W., in White County until he married. Remaining a student until he was seventeen years of age, he received a good common school education, and in 1875 moved to Mount Vernon, where he followed carpentering and farming, still studying when he found time. In 1879 he commenced the study of medicine under Dr. J. F. Powers, of Mount Vernon, remaining
with him one year, when he decided to change his course, and took up the study of the eclectic sys- tem instead of the regular course. He studied three years, passed the medical board in 1882, and then located in Faulkner County, practicing there nntil 1885, when he removed to Riley Township, this county, soon building up a large practice in this and adjoining townships. He was married on September 18, 1873, to Eliza C. Harrison, born December 29, 1856, daughter of Capt. Joe and Matilda Harrison, the father a native of Georgia, and the mother of Kentucky. To Dr. Daniel and his wife have been born three children: James Wash- ington, Alice Luellen and William Elmer Scudder. He is a Democrat in his political views, and socially is a member of the Magazine Lodge No. 69, I. O. O. F., and Magazine Lodge, A. F: & A. M., also the Farmers' Alliance. He was formerly a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, but in 1878 joined the Second Adventist, and was or- dained a minister of same in 1879. He has held five noted religious discussions, first, with Elder P. Hammit, in Van Buren County; second with Elder Blaylock, a Yell County Missionary Baptist divine, on " The state of the dead," lasting three days, and at the close of which he had forty additions; third, with Dr. Calico, of Scott County, a Christian preacher; fourth, with Elder J. T. Garland, also a Christian preacher of Yell County. In the last three years he has been instrumental in receiving and baptizing 300 in the church of his faith. He is at present pastor of the Waveland Church (100 mem- bers) valued at $500, is superintendent of same, and ·is a most respected citizen of this township.
Mrs. Asie Dove. Among the business enter- prises of Dardanelle, is the popular millinery em- porium of Mrs. Dove, widow of the late John C. Dove, who was born in Mississippi, June 18, 1844, and whom she married in Smith County of the same State, December 17, 1863. He was a me- chanic by trade, and in 1872 emigrated to Ar- kansas, locating in this county. Being a victim of that insidious disease, consumption, and think- ing to improve or regain his failing health, in com- pany with his family started for Florida, but grow- ing worse while en route, was obliged to stop in
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Scott County, Miss., where, after a long and severe illness, departed this life June 14, 1878. He served in the late war, enlisting at the youthful age of sixteen, in Company H, Sixteenth Mississippi In- fantry, and participated in nineteen regular battles, and a number of skirmishes; was captured at Petersburg and taken to Point Lookout, and held a prisoner for nine months, and discharged in 1865. His parents were natives of the Old North State, and of Scotch descent. Mrs. Dove was born in Noxubee County, Miss., November 20, 1847, a daughter of Richard and Mary Colbert. Her father, born in Caroline County, Miss., June 6, 1811, and her mother in Montgomery County, Ala., May 5, 1821, were married in Noxubee County, January 10, 1839, and were the parents of nine children. Mr. Colbert was a farmer and an enthusiastic Democrat, politically, taking an active part in all political issues of the day, and acted as deputy clerk for Noxubee County. He and his faithful consort are still living in Missis- sippi, at a ripe old age, and he enjoys a mem- bership in the Primitive Baptist Church, while she enjoys the privileges of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Dove's maternal grandfather was an Englishman by the name of Johnston, possessed of great wealth and vast estates, and fought in the Revolutionary War. Her maternal grandmother was of French extraction. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Dove were born four children, whom their widowed mother has given every advantage for a thorough education and personal improve- ment: John C., Jr. (born May 14, 1870, and a student in the Fayetteville Industrial University), Sadie A. (born October 12, 1873, a graduate from, and teacher in, the Whitworth College, Brookham, Miss. She is a young lady of rare intellectual, and musical attainments, and possessing the attributes of an affectionate manner and an amiable disposi- tion, and an altogether lovely character, is an uni- versal favorite among her many friends), Howard B. (born May 4, 1876), and Robert E. (born July 13, 1878). After the death of her husband, Mrs. Dove returned to Dardanelle, and opened her. present establishment, consisting of a stock of the most fashionable millinery, and is doing a thriving and
lucrative trade. She is a woman full of energy and determination, with pleasing manners, and as a business woman well worthy the patronage received from her many customers, and as a mother and friend, deserves the high encomiums conferred upon her by her well-wishers. She with her de- ceased husband worshiped as members of the Christian Church, and her daughter, Sadie, is a professor in the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
Hope T. Driskell, one of the early settlers of Bluffton Township, and one of its most successful farmers, came to this county and settled on the farm where he now lives in 1866. He came from Alabama, in which State he was reared and edu- cated. He was reared on a farm, and at the age of twenty-one he began business for himself as an agriculturist, renting land, and succeeding as well as any in his vicinity. When he first came to this county he bought eighty acres of land, and to this he has added to from time to time, until he now has 269 acres, 100 acres of which are under cultiva- tion. He has erected a good house, 31x31 feet, has substantial barns and other outbuildings, and, take him all in all, he is one of the most progressive and enterprising farmers in the county. He was born May 22, 1836, in Gwinnett County, Ga., re- ceived a limited education, and was married Sep- tember 13, 1858, to Miss Sarah Hemphreys, who died in January, 1889. They had five children -- two sons and three daughters-who are named as follows: Noah C. (married Miss Margaret Brum- mett), Victoria (deceased), Josephine, Martha A. (married Silas Wilkinson), and S. H. (married Miss Emily Robinson). The sons and daughters are settled near our subject, and are prosperous and successful. Mr. Driskell is a member of the Bap- tist Church, and has been clerk of the same for many years. He is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity, Concordia Lodge No. 310, and of this he is treasurer. He is a Democrat, but has never taken an active part in political strife. Commenc- ing life as a poor boy, and a farmer's boy at that, with scarcely any advantages for an education, Mr. Driskell is now in possession of a comfortable competence.
Henry W. Duncan, a citizen and mill-owner, of
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Dutch Creek Valley, was born in Cherokee County, Ga., July 30, 1852, and is the son of Elijah and Amanda (Church) Duncan, also of Georgia, and who had a family of eleven children. Our subject was raised on a farm, and received but a slight education, and on becoming of age, started for the greatest State in the Union (at that day), Arkan- sas, and located in this county, and pre-empted 160 acres of land on Dutch Creek, in what is now known as Danville. This he improved until he had about fifty acres under a fine state of cultivation, and has a comfortable dwelling house and barn. He has increased his original 160 to 209 acres of as good land as will be found in the valley, and his unim- proved land contains some of the finest wagon and stave timber in the State, and in 1885 built a saw- mill and cotton-gin, which he operated in connec- tion with his farm, in 1869, erecting the saw-mill and cotton-gin situated about a mile and a half from his first mill site, and he now has a milling- plant estimated at something over $200, and is a good source of revenue, his gins turning out nearly 500 bales of cotton annually. He was married October 18, 1874, to Etta, daughter of Isaac Hutchinson, formerly of Alabama, but now a resi- dent of Scott County. To them have been born five children: William Elijah, Charles H., Emer- ine, Robert W. and Francis M., all born on the farm. Our subject votes with the Democratic party politically, and as a man and citizen pos- sesses a character above reproach, and is noted for the hospitable manner in which he entertains his guests.
Dr. Andrew J. Dyer. In the compilation of the history of Yell County and its representative men, particularly among the medical profession. it has been found that the name of Dr. A. J. Dyer ranks as that of one of the best known physicians of Dardanelle, thoroughly conversant with, and well posted in, medicinal lore. Dr. Dyer was born in Smith County, Tenn., January 13, 1831, being the second child in a family of five born to James S. and Martha (Hallum) Dyer. The paternal grand- father, Joel Dyer, originally of Virginia, was brought with his parents to Tennessee when but a mere youth, and was what the world terms a self-
made man. Being very popular with his fellow- citizens, he was twice elected to the Senate, pre- siding over that august body as a special officer or chairman one term. He was ever active as a citi- zen and died at a ripe old age. The maternal an- cestors, the Hallums, were formerly of North Car- olina, it is believed, but for many years have been numbered among Smith County's (Tenn.), most prominent citizens. Dr. Dyer's sister Mattie, mar- ried John Hallum, the historian of Arkansas, and was of valuable assistance to him in the compila- tion of that work. Dr. James S. Dyer, our subject's father, was born in Smith County, Tenn., where he studied medicine, and practiced in that and Sumner County for fifty years. Being a recognized member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he was prominently identified with its working inter- ests as class leader and Sunday-school superintend- ent for many years, and often officiated as lay delegate to the annual conferences of the church. Both he and his wife are deceased, his wife dying November 6, 1856, and he April 20, 1875. The subject of this sketch was reared and educated in Tennessee, being an attendant at the Academy of Hartsville, and other schools of Sumner County and Wilson County. Being seized with the gold fever in 1850, he journeyed to California to seek his fortune in the gold mines of that State, remain- ing here but a year, at the expiration of which he returned to Tennessee matriculated and was one of the first in the medical department of the Nashville University. Graduating in 1853, he at once began the practice of medicine, locating at Hartsville, and in 1854 came to Arkansas, settling at Dardanelle, where on December 5, of this same year, he mar- ried Miss Margaret E. Toomer, daughter of Col. Joshua Toomer, known as one of the earliest and most extensive planters of this section. Not hav- ing any children of their own, this worthy couple have reared several, and now have three orphans under their supervision, to whom they are giving every advantage which will make them useful and creditable citizens in any community to which kind fortune will lead them. Dr. Dyer remained in'Ar- kansas till 1856, when he again went to Tennessee. sojourning there until the outbreak of the war, when
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he once more came to Dardanelle, and in response to his country's call took his place in Capt. Daniel's company, First Arkansas Rifles, under command of Col. Churchill. Soon after his enlistment, he was appointed assistant surgeon, serving in this capacity till 1864, when ill health compelled him to leave the army, and return home. Settling on a farm eight miles from Dardanelle, which consist- ed of some 600 acres, 200 under cultivation, he resumed his practice, which extended over the country about twenty miles. In 1875 he retired from active practice, and in 1881 he purchased the beautiful home in town, where he now resides. Buying property on the bench of Mount Nebo, he erected a house on it, in which he takes his sum- mer's recreation. The Doctor fellowships with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, being one of its most earnest workers, and for the past sixteen years has been chosen as a lay delegate to repre- sent its interests in the annual conference. At the last annual conference he was elected one of the al- ternates to the general conference. Politically he is a Democrat.
Zachariah G. Dyer. Many years ago Dr. James Dyer, a graduate in medicine from an institute in Nashville, Tenn., and under directorship of Prof. Bowlings, established himself in Sumner County, and opened an office for the practice of medicine, which he successfully conducted for forty-five years, winning the confidence of his patients and the esteem of his fellow-men, and here was born to himself and wife, Martha (Hallum) Dyer, their son, Zachariah, the subject of this sketch, his birth oc- curring January 17, 1835. He was placed in the schools of his native home and given a good com- mon-school education, and on arriving at maturity busied himself with merchandising and learning the tanner's trade, till the threatening cloud of war burst forth in all its fury, when he cast aside all business to become a soldier in the Confederate Army, enlisting in the Bennett Cavalry, Company F, of the Seventh Battalion, under command of Capt. Puryear, and participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth Nos. 1 and 2, Iuka, Okalona, and with Gen. Price on his raid through Missouri, and a number of skirmishes, and was taken prisoner in
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