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 41
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R. F. Roys is the junior member of the well- known and highly honored hardware firm of Love & Roys Hardware Company, of Russellville, Ark. He was born in Kinmundy, Marion County, Iil., January 29, 1867, and when a small lad came with his parents to this State. His father, N. B. Roys, was a hardware merchant and reared his son to a thorough knowledge of this business, although he gave him very meager educational advantages. At the age of twelve years he was obliged to leave school and take charge of the business left by his father, who had died, and he, at that early age, not only assumed charge of the business but also the care of the family fell upon his boyish shoulders, and manfully did he endeavor to heartily discharge every duty that fell upon him. He continued to conduct the business in his mother's name until about four years since, when the business was closed out, the following year being devoted to bringing affairs to a satisfactory termination, and in closing out the milling and lumber business which he had taken up in connection with hardware some three years before. During the following year he was travel- ing salesman for Bridge & Beach Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Mo., but during that time was intent on finding a location where he might once more resume the hardware business, this time for himself, and finally settled at Russellville, pur- chasing out the firm to whom he had sold his for- mer stock, and at the same time formed a partner- ship with Mr. Love. In the spring of 1890 .they formed a joint stock company, and are now doing business under the firm name mentioned above.
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Their annual sales amount to some $40,000, and they are accounted among the most successful firms of the city. Mr. Roys is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and also belongs to the K. of P. of this place. He is liberal in his support of churches, schools and all worthy public enterprises, and he and his wife, whom he married in October, 1889, are noted for their hospitality and liberality. She was a Miss Slocum, of Wis- consin, who was one of the teachers in the schools of this place. Mr. Roy's mother and his younger sister live with him, and his home, which is a pleas- ant and comfortable one, is in the west part of the city. His most worthy wife was born in the State of New York, January 11, 1870, a daughter of B. F. Slocum.
Dr. D. P. Ruff, Jr., is a prominent member of the medical firm of Kirkscey & Ruff, of Dover, Ark., and was born in Searcy County of this State, in 1852, being a son of D. P. Ruff, Sr., a physi- cian and farmer. On the farm belonging to the latter, the subject of this sketch resided until he was seventeen years of age, and although his op- portunities for early education were rather limited, he, by close application and industry, obtained sufficient education for teaching in the public schools of his native county, and used the salary thus obtained to gain a better education, being an attendant of the Academy at Bellefonte, Boone County, Ark. After leaving there he taught an- other term of school, after which he entered the store of Ellenburg & McDowell, dealers in general merchandise at Marshall, Ark., in which business he was engaged for about two years. During this time his leisure moments were devoted to the study of medicine under the instruction of Dr. Wilson, and after leaving the store he devoted his entire time to this science for one year. He then went to Richland, Ark., where he formed a co-partner- ship with Dr. B. F. Stephens, and at that place his practice was begun. After this partnership had lasted about eight months Dr. Ruff entered Vanderbilt University of Nashville, Tenn., and after attending a course of lectures in the medical de- partment he returned to Richland and again began practicing. Eight months later he became a stu-
dent in the University of Tennessee, at Nashville, and from this institution he was graduated in 1878. The following five years were spent at Richland, but since that time he has been one of the able and talented physicians of Dover, having already formed a partnership with Dr. Kirkscey as mentioned above. He is in the full sense of the word a self-made man, for he has never had help given him that he has not fully repaid. He has a good reputation as a physician and surgeon, and has made his medical practice a success. By his endeavors he has accumulated quite a fine property, and besides his fine residence has thirty-two acres adjoining in the eastern part of the town, other town property, and a small tract of land lying about four miles from Dover in Liberty Township. He devotes some attention to the raising of horses and cattle. He was married on November 7, 1878, to Miss Minnie Truett, of Richland, Ark., she being a daughter of H. M. and Elizabeth Truett, and by her he has two sons: Samuel Wirt (born May 9, 1881), and David Henry (born March 18, 1886). The Doctor has always been a Dem- ocrat, and is a member of the Masonic order of Dover. He takes an interest in school work, hold- ing the position of director in the town schools, and is liberal in his support of churches as well as all other enterprises of a public nature. He is a member of the State Medical Association. From 1858 to 1861, when he was from six to ten years of age, he was afflicted with a diseased condition of the ear to such an extent that he was not able to at- tend school, and the war then coming on kept him from school for the following four years, which ac- counts for his educational disadvantages in early life. On entering school in 1865 he was unable to read, but this state of things did not last long, for he was ambitious and was possessed with a strong desire to become an intelligent man, and made the most of his opportunities. He is one of five sons and two daughters born to Dr. D. P. and Keziah (Smith) Ruff.
William S. Rushing, a son of Burrell Rushing, is one of the most successful farmers of Martin Township, Pope County, Ark., and was here born March 2, 1858. He attended the common schools in
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his youth, and at the age of twenty-one years began doing for himself, his time being devoted to tilling the soil on rented Jand in the neighborhood. At that time he had a small pair of mules, given him by his father, and 5 cents in money, this being his only capital with which to begin the journey of life. The following fall he bought a piece of land consisting of 200 acres, and on this paid what he could from his summer's work, giving his notes for the balance of purchase money. He has pros- pered well, and is now the owner of the place, free from all incumbrance. He has seventy acres un- der cultivation, which are improved by good build- ings and an excellent apple and peach orchard. He has interested himself in the raising of cattle and hogs, and takes great interest in keeping up with the times in his mode of farming and the im- provement of his place. He was married Novem- ber 29, 1879, to Miss Isabel Latimer, daughter of Isom P. Latimer, of Howard County, Ark., by whom he has three children: William Odus, Jo- seph Claud and Nettie Maden. The family are members in good standing of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in which he holds the office of elder, and politically he is a Democrat. He has always been a great reader, and aims to keep fully posted on the affairs of church and state, and is liberal in his support of churches, schools and oth- er public enterprises. His father, Burrell Rush- ing, was born October 25, 1815 in Middle Tennes- see, and in the spring of 1835 came to Pope Coun- ty, Ark., where he bought and improved a large tract of land. He was married in January, 1843, to Miss Mary Hays, a daughter of John Hays of this county, but she died in 1848, leaving two sons and one daughter. Mr. Rushing was remar- ried in 1850 to Amanda Maloy, by whom he has had six children, two being now deceased. Mr. Rushing served in the Indian War in Florida, in 1836, for six months. He is one of the thrifty farmers of the county, and is the owner of 200 acres of land, thirty acres of which he cultivates himself and devotes to corn and cotton. He has for many years been a deacon in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and politically he is a Dem- ocrat.
Hon. Lawrence Russell, representative to the General Assembly, from Pope County, Ark., and one of the leading attorneys of Russellville, was born in that town in August, 1855, and was the youngest of eleven children born to Dr. Thomas and Mary Ann (Graham) Russell, the father a native of England and the mother of Pennsylvania. Dr. Thomas Russell, the founder of Russellville, was born in the parish of Gateshead, in the county of Durham, England, on June 13, 1801, and was the son of John and Hannah Russell. After en- joying the advantages of some of the literary in- stitutions of England, in which he acquired con- siderable classical knowledge, he served an ap- prenticeship of five years under Dr. Thomas Mitchell, who was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London. In 1825 he entered Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospitals, London, and from those institutions he received numerous certificates for attendance upon lectures and for proficiency in the various departments. He succeeded in car- rying off the first two prizes, namely: The demon- strator's prize and the prize in midwifery. In 1826 he graduated in the Royal College of Sur- geons, London, and thereby became a member of that body. After traveling extensively in the con- tinental countries of Europe, he came to America, in 1829, settled near Carlyle, Ill., where his three brothers, James, Edward and John Russell, had preceded him, and was there married in 1832 to Miss Mary A. Graham. In search of a new home and a milder climate he came to Arkansas, and lo- cated in the Arkansas River Valley in 1835, one year prior to the admission of the State into the Union. He was eminently successful, both as a physician and surgeon, performing surgical opera- tions that baffled the skill of others. In 1861, when the Civil War began, he had acquired con- siderable property, but the greater part of this was swept away during that memorable period. He continued an active practitioner until the spring of 1866, when he was stricken with pneumonia, which caused his death on the 13th of April of that year. He was a man of strong will, remarkable memory and vigorous intellect. There now survive him four sons, all of whom reside in Russellville, ex-
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cept Albert Russell, who is at Alamo, Lower Cali- fornia; James W. and Thomas J. Russell are en- gaged in merchandising, and our subject, who is one of the rising young lawyers of the State. The mother's people were from Pennsylvania, and em- igrated to Texas at an early date. Hon. Lawrence Russell received his literary education in his native town and at the State University at Fayetteville, where he graduated in 1880 with the degree of A. B. In the sophmore year he took a silver medal for the second best prize for declamation, and in the junior year a gold medal, the only prize offered for oratory, for best original oration. Mr. Russell began the study of law in the fall of 1880, read in the law office of Carter & Wilson, and was licensed to practice in the fall of 1883. Since that time he has been engaged principally in the practice of his profession. He went to Texas in the winter of 1884- 85, but returned to his native town in the spring of 1885. He has been quite active in politics, assisted in the canvass of this county for the national and county ticket, in 1888, and in the summer of 1890 was nominated by the Democratic party for the office of representative, being elected September 1, of that year. He is a member of the Cumber- land Presbyterian Church, is superintendent of the Sabbath-school, and has been a Sunday-school worker for a number of years. He was elected president of the North-west Arkansas Sunday- school Association in 1887, and served for two years, being re-elected in 1888. He is also a worker for the cause of education, and was elected a member of the school board in the spring of 1889. Mr. Russell owns a farm and town prop- erty and the old homestead. He is a member of the K. of P., Russellville Lodge No. 47, and holds the office of vice chancellor. The Arkan- sas Democrat, a paper published at the capitol of the State, has this to say of Mr. Russell: " Mr. Lawrence Russell, the Democratic nominee for the Legislature from this (meaning Pope) County, was born and raised in Pope. His father, Dr. Russell, was one of the prominent men of that re- gion during the war. The family has always been true to Arkansas, and among the first in every enterprise for its development.
sell is a graduate of the Arkansas Industrial Uni- versity, a rising lawyer, a Christian gentleman and an orator of no mean repute."
John J. Rye is a well-known planter and cot- ton-ginner of Pope County, Ark., and his present substantial position in life has been attained en- tirely through his own efforts. He first saw the light of day in this county in 1839, being born to Christian and P. C. Rye, who were Tennesseeans. The father was a planter by occupation, and he and his wife were married in their native State, their union resulting in the birth of ten children, seven of whom are living at the present time: W. T., Mary C. (wife of J. W. Russell), Levina, (wife of J. C. Bonds), John J., Harriet (wife of Alex Bringle), Samuel H., Robert G., and the follow- ing children deceased: Eliza A., Stephen and Mag- gie G. Mr. Rye emigrated from Tennessee to Ar- kansas, in 1845, and until a short time before his death, which occurred in California, of mountain fever, in 1853, he resided on the farm of 160 acres which he at first purchased. He was deputy sheriff and sheriff of Pope County for some time. His wife, who was an earnest member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, died in 1882. John J. Rye was brought up to the life of a farmer, and has made this his chief calling through life. By the unstinted use of his faculties he has become the owner of 490 acres of land, with 350 under cul- tivation, on which he erected a fine steam cotton- gin in 1889, in which he put new and improved machinery in 1890. He was married in 1863, to Miss Sarah A. Bonds, by whom he became the father of the following children: Charles, Peggy, Eliza, Joshua, Tristram, William E. and Cleveland. The mother of these children died in 1887, and the following year Mr. Rye was married to his present wife, her name being Mrs. Sue H. Porter, whose birth occurred in this county, in 1863. Mr. Rye was a soldier in the Rebellion, enlisting in 1861, in Company A, First Arkansas Cavalry, and took part in the battles of Pea Ridge, Shiloh, Iuka, Farmington, Corinth, Grand Gulf, Baker's Creek, Black River, Vicksburg, Mark's Mill, Saline, and a number of skirmishes. He was wounded by a can-
Lawrence Rus- ¡ non ball at Baker's Creek, and in the right side by
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a piece of shell at Vicksburg. After the war was over he returned home, and engaged in farming, to which calling he has since given his attention. He is a member of Russellville Lodge of the A. F. & A. M., and Russellville Lodge No. 47 of the K. of P. He and his wife are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and are well known for their hospitality, liberality and kindness of heart, throughout this region.
Samuel H. Rye is one of the most successful and prominent farmers of the township in which he lives if not in the county. He was born near his present place of abode March 10, 1849, to Tristram and Peggy (Drummond) Rye, the former going to California in 1853, in which State he died in the spring of that year. He was a farmer, and on going to California left his wife, with ten chil- dren, to conduct the farm, and after rearing this family to honorable manhood and womanhood she died in 1880. When nineteen years of age Sam- uel H. Rye began doing for himself by rent- ing land on the farm he now owns, and in con- nection with two brothers purchased a fine piece of land, containing 320 acres, upon which he settled. After improving fifteen acres he sold his place and purchased a portion of his present farm, being now the owner of 560 acres, of which 350 acres are under fence and the greater portion in a good state of cultivation. His crops consist mostly of cotton and corn, but he also raises considerable wheat, oats, millet and potatoes with very good success. He is interested in stock-raising, and is trying to work into a better grade of stock, espe- cially hogs. He has a good frame residence, be- sides all other necessary farm buildings, and has also six good tenement houses on his place, with necessary buildings surrounding. His marriage, which took place in 1870, was to Miss Mattie M. Brown, a daughter of John and Laura Brown of this county, and by her Mr. Rye is the father of six children: R. E., Albert, Nannie, Ella, Stella and Harvey. Mr. Rye was made a Mason at the age of twenty-one years, and is now a member of Silex Lodge in this township, and is also lecturer of the local Farmers' Alliance. Politically he is a Democrat. At one time, in 1872-73, he paid
$4,000 as security for an acquaintance who was in the mercantile business, and in the year 1880 he met with the loss of his house and all his house- hold goods by fire. He had no insurance, and everything to the value of $2,000 was a total loss. Notwithstanding these misfortunes he has been successful, for he is an able financier and is indus- trious and economical.
A. M. Sasbee is a merchant residing in Mill Creek Station, Ark., but he was born in the Lone Star State, June 18, 1838, to Elias and Tempey A. (Clark) Sasbee, who were born, reared and married in Georgia, becoming the parents of six children, three of whom are now living: A. M., W. J. and Lafayette. John W., J. M. and Sarah E. are de- ceased. The father of these children was a farmer, and in 1841 emigrated from his native State to Texas, and in this State was residing at the time of his death in 1852. His widow died in 1871, and both were members of the Missionary Baptist Church, A. M. Sasbee was married on November 30, 1867, to Miss Sarah E. Shinn, a native of this county, born January 20, 1849, a daughter of John E. and Malinda (Harkins) Shinn, and in time a family of ten children gathered about their board, their names being as follows: James M., Dora A., Mary L., John W., Charles W., Minnie M., Robert S., Jesse H., Sadie and Joseph A. Think- ing to better his condition Mr. Sasbee removed from Texas to Arkansas in 1867, and in 1886 took up his abode in Pope County, and has since been engaged in merchandising in Mill Creek Station, but prior to coming here was engaged in farming. He is the owner of 1,940 acres of land, sixty acres of which are under the plow, and in a good state of cultivation. He carries a stock of general mer- chandise amounting to $2,500, and owing to his many sterling business principles has built up a good trade. He is a member of Dover Lodge No. 17 of the A. F. & A. M., the K. of H., and Rus- sellville Lodge No. 47 of the K. of P. He and his wife are members of Missionary Baptist Church and he is a Democrat politically, and has been postmaster of Santos since 1886, being appointed under Cleveland. Although he has handed in his resignation twice it has never been accepted, for
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he is one of the leading men of this section, per- fectly capable, and always prompt and accurate in the discharge of his duties.
Capt. John R. Homer Scott, a highly esteemed and respected citizen of Pope County, was born in St. Genevieve, Mo., October 16, 1813, but was taken to Arkansas in 1819, when but six years of age. He comes of one of the most distinguished families of this country, and is spoken of as a " gentleman of the old school." Among his early friends, and some of them his schoolmates, were C. F. M. No- land, who killed William F. Pope (Capt. Scott's college mate, and nephew of Gov. John Pope) in a duel, Judge George C. Watkins (chief justice of the Supreme Court of Arkansas), James Scull, Rob- ert Cunningham, William E. Ashley, Thomas W. Newton (representative in Congress for Arkansas), Gordon N. Peay, C. C. Danley, B. F. Danley (sheriff of Pulaski County, Ark. ), and Robert W. Johnson (United States senator). His father, Hon. Andrew Scott, who was appointed United States judge, of the Territory of Arkansas, was reared in St. Genevieve, and as judge went from there to Arkansas, at the organization of the Territory in 1819. He was a brother of John Scott, who was brother-in-law of the Hon. George W. Jones, and father of G. S. C. Scott, and father also of Mrs. Ben H. Campbell and Mrs. J. Russell Jones, of Chicago, Ill. His birth occurred on August 6, 1789, in Hanover County, Va., and he went with his father, Andrew Scott, and his brother, John Scott, to St. Genevieve, Mo., in 1808. He was married in Potosi, Washington County, Mo., to Miss Eliza Jones, sister of Gen. George W. Jones, and daughter of John Rice Jones, who was one of the judges of the Superior Court of Missouri, and who was an eminent lawyer. Her father figured largely as such, and as a purchaser of the Spanish land grants, his name being frequently found in the reports of the United States General Land Office, at Washington City. Mrs. Scott died at Scotia farm, in Pope County, Ark., where she was buried on April 5, 1835. Judge Scott died at the home of Elijah Truitt, at Norristown, on March 13, 1851, and was buried in Dover Cemetery, in Pope County. He had five sons and two daugh-
ters, the eldest being our subject, Capt. John R. H., the next Augustus W. (now deceased, formerly of Dubuque, Iowa), George S. C. (of McGregor, Iowa), Walter (lived at Modesto, Cal., but now de- ceased), and Henry C. Scott (residing in Chicago). His daughters are Mrs. Eliza H. Campbell (deceased wife of Ben. H. Campbell, of Chicago, who was United States marshal under Gen. Grant for eight years, and father-in-law of Gen. O. E. Babcock), and Mrs. Elizabeth A. Jones (wife of Hon. J. Russell Jones, also of Chicago). Hon. J. Russell Jones was minister to Belgium under Gen. Grant, was United States marshal for the northern district of Illinois for eight years under President Lincoln, and was also collector of customs at Chicago when Gen. Grant's term expired. John R. H. Scott, Augustus W. Scott and Eliza Campbell were born in Missouri, the others in Arkansas, the youngest two, Elizabeth A. and Henry C., were born on Scotia farm, in Pope County, Ark. Judge Andrew Scott was well known to all the old settlers of Arkansas, having been one of the first public officers who came to the Territory of Arkansas, created by act of Congress March 2, 1819, to take effect July 4, 1819, after his appointment by President Monroe in 1819, to the office of judge of the Superior Court of the Territory. He moved with his family from St. Genevieve, Mo., to this part of Arkansas, and on July 28, 1819, assisted in putting into opera- tion the organic law, and the first government of the territorial capital, which was temporarily estab- lished at the village known as Arkansas Post. In 1821 Little Rock became the capital, and he re- paired to that place in that or the following year. April 11, 1827, he was made judge of the first district of the Circuit Court of the Territory, and in the spring of 1828 he removed again, coming up the Arkansas river to the Scotia farm, which he purchased of McKay, a Cherokee Indian. This was shortly after the time that these Indians ceded to the United States by treaty that portion of Ar- kansas Territory, made by Maj. Lovely, and then called Lovely's purchase, and just before their re- moval to Indian Territory farther west, and now oc- cupied by them. This farm was called Scotia farm, and at that place Judge Scott had a post-office, and
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named it Scotia. His son, Capt. John R. H. Scott (our subject), now owns this place, and upon a corner of it is the L. R. & F. S. flag station, Georgetown. Judge Scott was made an assessor soon after the treaty with the Indians, his duty being to assess the improvements made by the In- dians upon the land ceded to the Government, and known as Lovely's purchase, in Pope County, then embracing the counties of Pope, Yell, Franklin, Scott, Johnson, Logan, Sebastian, Crawford and Washington. His proceedings for a time created great excitement among the white settlers on those lands, many of whom had purchased their claims from the Indians, the impression among them hav- ing been that the Government intended to force them to pay to it the assessor's estimate of the value of such improvements. He discharged this very important duty without any real trouble with the settlers, who were soon convinced that the Gov- ernment intended no such injustice. Very soon after he was elected county and probate judge, afterward a member of the Legislature, and then a delegate from Pope County to the Constitutional Convention of 1836, when Arkansas was admitted into the Union as a State. He also took the United States census for Pope County, in 1850, and filled other positions of honor and profit, both State and Federal. In 1820 or 1821 Judge Scott fought a duel with Joseph Seldon, both being at that time on the territorial bench together as judges of the Superior Court, and Judge Seldon was killed at the first fire. Judge Scott was unhurt. The duel was fought on an island in the Mississippi River, near Helena, Ark. Hon. Nimrod Menifee (who was subsequently killed in a desperate rencounter with a man named Phillips, in Conway County, after giving his adversary a pistol wound from which he also died a year later), was the second and surgeon of Judge Scott.
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