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 44

Author: Southern Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : Southern Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1020

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 44

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).

James Wells, farmer, Holly Bend, Ark. Since his residence in this county Mr. Wells has been very prominently identified with the material af- fairs of this community, indeed far more so than the average man. Particularly in the direction of agricultural affairs is this true. He was born in Lincoln County, N. C., in February, 1822, and is the son of Samuel and Agnes (Jenkins) Wells, na- tives also of North Carolina. They passed their entire lives in that State, and died there about 1845. The paternal grandparents came from Vir- ginia at an early day, and the maternal grand- parents were from Ireland. James Wells left his native State in 1841, and emigrated to Arkansas, locating in Pope County, where he has since made his home. He is now residing in Holly Bend, where he is the owner of 500 acres of land with 400 acres under cultivation. He was married in 1845 to Miss Mary Logan, daughter of Robert E. Logan, of Pope County. Six children have been born to this union: Sarah, James B., Franklin, Richard

٠ ٤٧٫٥٩ ١٩٣

267

POPE COUNTY.

and the other two died in infancy. Mrs. Wells died in 1869 leaving him with four children. He then married Miss Margaret L. Faulkner, daugh- ter of Thomas Faulkner, and they have four chil- dren: Hugh, Mary, Elmer and Bruce. All the children to both marriages are single with the ex- ception of two, James B. and Richard. The for- mer married Miss Martha Anthony and Richard married Miss Elizabeth Oates. In 1863 Mr. Wells enlisted in the Confederate Army under Col. Stir- man, and was in State service until the close of the war. After this he returned home, and has been engaged in cultivating the soil ever since.

John B. West is the junior member of the firm of T. M. Neal & Co., general merchants of Dover, Ark. These gentlemen have ably represented the mercantile interests of this portion of this county, and the stock of goods which they carry can not fail to satisfy the wants of their patrons. He was born near the town in which he is now residing, on May 11, 1857, to Major D. and Lucinda (Latimer) West, and with his parents made his home until 1883, his opportunities for acquiring a knowledge of the world of books being extremely limited, for in any year he did not receive over three months' schooling, and often not that amount. However, he always had a natural inclination to- ward books, and even in his early boyhood he used his spare time to advantage and was often found poring over his books when others of his age were spending their time in play. By this means he received such education as has elevated him to the position he now occupies and has been the means of the success of his life work. After the death of his father, in 1880, he remained on the old homestead and continued to care for the remainder of the family until the summer of 1883, when he rented out the homestead, and with his mother, moved to town, where he entered the em- ploy of T. M. Neal & Co., as book-keeper, in which capacity he served faithfully and well for six years. At the end of this time Mr. Neal, the gen- eral manager, opened an establishment in Morrill- ton, Ark., and Mr. West took his place in the store in Dover and became general manager for the firm. In January, 1890, he bought an interest in the

business, and still retains his position as general manager, and to the admirable manner in which he has conducted affairs, the success of the estab- lishment is largely due. The stock of the firm con- sists of an excellent general line of goods, to- gether with a complete assortment of farming implements, the annual sales of which are about $26,000. They also deal quite extensively in cot- ton, which is a leading industry in their vicinity, and although they started with a very small capi- tal, industry, energy and square dealing have built them up their present trade, and they have abun- dantly prospered. They are now doing business on a capital of about $39,000 and are the heaviest dealers in the town of Dover. Mr. West was mar- ried on March 28, 1878, to Miss Maggie Phillips of Dover, by whom he has six children: Caroline, Mary Ruth, Jonnie B., David, Alexander H. and Sallie. Mr. West and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in which he is recording steward, and he also belongs to Lodge No. 17, of the A. F. & A. M., at Dover. In this order he holds the position of treasurer. He is a Democrat, but has never been what might be termed a politician. In May, 1884, he was ap- pointed notary public and is now filling his second term. He still owns an interest in the old home- stead, which he still looks after and controls, but aside from this his capital is invested in his busi- ness. He is a thoroughly-liberal, publie spirited and substantial citizen.

Robert B. Whitesides (deceased) was another of the many representative citizens of Polk County, Ark., whose native soil was the Palmetto State, his birth occurring in York County in 1828, and was the son of Maj. Whitesides, a native of Ireland. The father was reared in his native country and re- mained there until about fifty years of age, when he emigrated to America. He settled in South Carolina, and there his death occurred many years ago. Robert B. Whitesides came to Pope County, Ark., in 1856, and there married the widow of William W. Williamson. She was the mother of two children by her first husband, William D. and Sallie N., and five children by Mr. Whitesides: Robert Lee, Edward B., Martha E., Lucy Ann

268

HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

and Walter D., all of whom are now living with their mother with the exception of Robert, who is in Texas. Mr. Whitesides was a farmer by occu- pation and followed this until his death which oc- curred on the farm where his widow resides, in 1886. He was for many years intimately associated with the county's interests, and in his death the county keenly felt the loss of one of its best citizens, a man who had taken part in its development and witnessed its growth for many years. He was the owner of 700 acres of land, 250 acres under cultivation, lying on the north side of Arkansas River, seven miles below Dardanelle. In 1863 Mr. Whitesides enlisted in the Confederate Army, and served until cessation of hostilities. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Whitesides rents her land mostly, but lives at home and cultivates a portion of it herself. She and one daughter are members of the Old School Presbyterian Church. She was the daughter of Darling Love of Pope County, but who was a native of North Carolina. The latter came to Pope County fifty-two years ago, bought land here and reared a family of eight children, three of whom were killed in the Con- federate Army. Two brothers of Mrs. Whitesides, Ransom D. and Calvin M. Love, live near Russell- ville, where the former is engaged in the hard- ware business, and the latter is a farmer and preacher. A sister, Madrid, married Squire R. O. Morton, and is now living near Potts' Station. The remainder of the children are deceased.

Judge Robert B. Wilson has become distin- guished in the history of Pope County, Ark., where he is known as a talented attorney. His mind is clear, concise, analytical and well poised, and be- ing of quick perception, what might cause others hours of study and research, he reaches at a bound, and the reasons for his convictions are always clear and well defined. He was born in Shelby County, Tenn., May 26, 1850, being the eldest living child of Benjamin F. Wilson and Mary W. Wilson (whose maiden name was Mary W. Will- iams), the former of whom is a native of Gooch- land County, Va., the latter of Rutherford County, :

Tenn. The father was a worthy tiller of the soil, and in 1854 moved from Tennessee to Arkansas,

and settled in Conway County, where he lived for two years. He then purchased a small farm in the southeast corner of Pope County on the Ar- kansas River, where by dint of industry and econ- omy he had laid the foundation of a small fortune by cultivating his land and raising stock, when the late Civil War overshadowed our country. He opposed secession from the Union, but when his State seceded, like a true Southern patriot, he es- poused the cause of his home and supported the Southern cause with his means and his person, surrendering with his regiment at the close of the war, and returned home to find his hard earned accumulations all swept away, except his little farm, and it lying waste, from the ravages of the war. He began life again on the farm, which he reimproved and successfully cultivated until 1874, when he removed with his family to Springdale Washington County, Ark., where he now resides. The family are strong believers in the doctrines of the Baptist Church, and are at all times liberal patrons of religion and education, Mr. Wilson and W. Bernard being the organizers and promoters of the first good school in their community in 1859 and 1860, the building having been for the most part erected at their expense at Galla Creek, in what is now Lee Township, where a neighborhood school was maintained until closed by the war, and where after the war a good country school was kept in successful operation for several years. The immediate subject of this sketch inherits Scotch and Irish blood of his ancestors, his pater- nal great-grandfather having come from Scotland to this country and settled in Virginia, and his paternal grandmother as well as his maternal an- cestors being of Irish extraction. Judge Wilson was reared on a farm, and principally in Pope County, in the common schools of which, and by devoting to study his leisure hours at home, he acquired the rudiments of a common English edu- cation. After becoming twenty-one years of age the earnings of his first years were devoted to pay- ing his expenses in acquiring further education. He was attending St. John's College in Little Rock when the Brooks-Baxter gubernatorial con- test began, and was the only student occupying a

POPE COUNTY.

269

room in the college building (a large three-story brick). When Gov. Baxter was so unexpectedly ousted by Brooks and his allies, not knowing who were his friends, he went immediately to the col- lege, which was a military institution, and placed himself under the protection of the students, and occupied the room of the subject of this sketch, being guarded by the students until his friends could rally and come to his assistance. Young Wilson laid aside his books and took up arms in the cause of Baxter, joining a company that had come from Pope County. During the latter part of the session he attended the college he acted as janitor in order to obtain money to defray his ex- penses. He began the study of law in Russell- ville, Ark., in the month of April, 1875, and was admitted to the bar at Dover (the then county seat) in May, 1876, after which he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession. Having begun life as a school teacher, and his thorough knowl- edge of the details of the work being known, he in the fall of 1875 was by the district school trustees elected county superintendent of public instruc- tion, a position he filled for one term. At the time of his election nearly every school district in his county was greatly in debt, and the whole school interest of the county badly demoralized, caused by the mismanagement and extravagance during the reconstruction period, while the State was under carpet-bag rule. At the expiration of his term nearly every district was out of debt and the foundation laid for good permanent schools throughout the county. In March, 1878, he was appointed as county and probate judge to fill out an unexpired term, and in September following was elected for the ensuing term. During his in- cumbency as judge he reduced the indebtedness of the county from about $33,000 to $14,000, and in numerous other ways made an enviable record. He was appointed register of the United States land office at Dardanelle, Ark., in the spring of 1888, by President Cleveland (the term of his predecessor, who was a Republican, having ex- pired), of which he took charge May 1, and which position he held until August, 1889, when he was removed by President Harrison without any canse

being assigned for such removal. And as he filled the office in an efficient manner, and no charges were ever made against him, nor complaint of his official or personal conduct, the conclusion is inev- itable that he was removed for political reasons alone, although he had not served half his term. Upon his removal he returned to his home in Rus- sellville and to the practice of his profession, in which he has again built up a lucrative business, having the confidence of his clients and the respect of all. He was married November 21, 1877, to Miss A. Mary Howell, a daughter of Jesse C. Howell, an old pioneer of Arkansas, and to them three children have been born: H. Howell (Janu- ary 6, 1879), Mary (March 4, 1881), and Frank C. (May 31, 1886), all of whom are living. Judge Wilson owns a river-bottom farm of 400 acres, 200 acres of which are in cultivation; one of 160 acres, 30 of which are in cultivation, also 50 acres of good creek bottom three miles from Russellville, 20 of which are in cultivation. The two last named tracts are underlaid with a valuable vein of coal. He also owns several small upland farms and tracts of land, one of which, whose area is forty acres lying five miles northeast of Russell- ville contains five flowing springs, some of which are strongly impregnated with iron and sulphur. He owns the residence in Russellville in which he resides, also several which he rents. He owns his law office and the lot on which it stands, which is an excellent location, also other business property and a large and well selected law library, in fact the largest in the county. He is a member of the order of the K. of P., and while he is agreeable and has a host of friends, he is not to say a society. man, being rather of a reserved and retiring dispo- sition. He possesses excellent powers of elucida- tion, the most abstruse and complicated subjects being handled with ease and grace and made per- ceptible and plain to the most ordinary understand- ing. His success at the bar has been attained by a combination of native talent, culture, tact and hard study. His success in business is due to the close application, energy and habits of strict economy that characterize both him and his excellent lady. He is not a politician in the popular sense of the

270

HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

term, nor a partisan, but has strong convictions of the correctness of the principles of his party, and at the same time is liberal and generous toward those holding different opinions. While he has occupied official positions, he has not been an of- fice-seeker, the positions he has held having rather sought than been sought by him. Being public spirited in disposition he takes a pride in every move tending to the improvement and advance ment of his town and country, and is prominently connected with many of her public and benevolent enterprises.

W. P. Wooten is the senior member of the firm of Wooten & Oates, dealers in general merchan- dise at Russellville, Ark. The mercantile interests of this section are ably represented by these gen- tlemen who are honest, upright and enterprising men of business. Mr. Wooten was born in Pa- nola County, Miss., July 26, 1844 and in that State he was made familiar with the duties of farm life, his early advantages for acquiring an educa- tion being very limited. Previous to attaining his thirtieth year, after leaving the farm, he had been engaged as a clerk in a dry goods store for J. G. Ferguson & Co., at this place, but at the above mentioned age he opened a grocery establishment and for nine years was in business alone, his ef- forts for obtaining a livelihood meeting with fair success. At the expiration of this time he formed a partnership with William M. Oates, and they immediately embarked in general merchandising and have continued amicably together up to the present time. Their connection has been smiled upon by Dame Fortune, and they now do an annual business of about $65,000, which fact speaks in an eloquent manner as to their popularity and busi- ness ability. Mr. Wooten is interested in all en- terprises pertaining to the welfare of this section, and is a stockholder in the Peoples' Bank and the canning factory of Russellville. He was married in 1871, the maiden name of his wife being Sally Price, who died about one year after their mar- riage leaving an infant, which died soon after. He was married a second time in 1873, Miss Lucy Brooks becoming his wife, but at the end of about two years, he unfortunately lost this wife also,

she having borne him one child that survives her. The ceremony of his third marriage took place in 1875, Mrs. Ferguson of Russellville becoming his wife. Their union has been blessed in the birth of two children: Lula Jessie and Junior. Mr. Wooten is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, is a Democrat, and socially belongs to the A. F. & A. M., in which lodge he is treasurer.

Dr. J. M. Yancey, Russellville, Ark. Among the people of Pope County the name of Dr. Yan- cey is a familiar one, for he has practiced his pro- fession here for many years, and is one of the county's most successful practitioners. He was born in Tennessee in 1832, was reared and edu- cated in that State, and at the age of nineteen years he began the study of medicine under a preceptor. In 1853 and 1854 he attended the Southern Botanic Medical College at Macon, now at Atlanta, and known as the Eclectic Medical Col- lege of Georgia, and graduated from the same in the winter of 1854. He at once began practicing in Tennessee. In 1857 he was married to Miss N. M. Woodward, a native of Tennessee, and in 1858 came to Arkansas, settling in Pope County, near Dover, where he bought a farm. He followed agricultural pursuits until 1862, when he entered the Confederate Army, Company I, of King's regi- ment, and was detailed to assist the surgeons. He served in that capacity and also had charge of sup- plies for the sick during the marches. He was in the Trans-Mississippi Department, mostly in Ar- kansas, and participated in the battle at Jackson Ferry, being in active service until cessation of hostilities. The regiment was discharged at Mar- shall, Tex., after which the Doctor returned to Pope County. He sold his farm, moved into Dover and commenced a practice which has since been uninterrupted. In 1871 he moved to a farm near Russellville, and in 1886 moved to that town. The Doctor owns 300 acres of land in various tracts, has 175 acres under cultivation, and has taken a great deal of interest in grading his cattle and hogs. He owns two acres in Russellville, has a good residence, and keeps several blooded cows, Jersey and Durham. Dr. Yancey lost his first wife during the war, while he was absent, who left

271

POPE COUNTY.

two children, one of whom have since died, and one, Margaret L., is the wife of Joseph Bradley, now living in Stonewall County, Tex. The Doc- tor's second marriage was to Mrs. Annie M. Hays, daughter of Mr. Lydick, and to this marriage were born four children-three sons and one daugh- ter. Emma Estella survives, and is now teaching the Arkansas class in Liberty College, Glas- gow, Ky. She graduated at Hamilton Female College of Lexington, Ky., in June, 1889, and soon after took a course at the National Nor- mal School at Lebanon, Ohio. Her school life

occupied a period of six years prior to her normal course, a year and a half of that time at Madison Female Institute, Richmond, Ky. The family are members of the Christian Church, in which Dr. Yancey is elder. He was the second of nine chil- dren born to David and Rachel Davis (Madaris) Yancey, the father a native of North Carolina and the mother of Tennessee. David Yancey was a farmer by occupation and went to Texas in 1863, where his death occurred about 1886. The mother is still living, and is a member of the Christian Church, of which her husband was also a member.

272

HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.

CHAPTER XVII.

JOHNSON COUNTY-ITS BOUNDARIES, TOPOGRAPHY, LANDS AND MINERAL AND AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES- A REMARKABLE COAL REGION-LAND ENTRIES AND EARLY SETTLEMENT-EDUCATIONAL INTER- ESTS-ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY-COUNTY ORGANIZATION-LOCATION OF SEAT OF JUSTICE AND ERECTION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS-POLITICAL TOWNSHIPS-LIST OF COUNTY OFFICERS-SEN- ATORS AND MEMBERS OF THE LOWER BRANCH OF THE ARKANSAS LEGISLATURE REPRE-

. SENTING THIS COUNTY-THE FIFTHI JUDICIAL CIRCUIT AND THE JOHNSON COUNTY BAR-NOTARIES PUBLIC-CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATION-RAILWAY HIS- TORY AND PROSPECTS-TOWNS, VILLAGES AND POST-OFFICES-MILITARY HIS-

TORY-THE OLD MILITIA ORGANIZATION, THE MEXICAN WAR AND THE STRUGGLE OF THE STATES-THE COUNTY PRESS, ITS EDITORS AND PUBLISHERS-THE JOHNSON COUNTY POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

"I love everything that's old-old friends, Old times, old manners, old books, old wine."-Goldsmith.

OHNSON COUNTY is bounded on the north by the counties of Madison and Newton, on the west by Franklin, on the east by Pope, and on the south by the County of Logan. The coun- ty contains an area of 433,000 acres of rolling land, the general surface of the country being hilly. Something over one-fifth of the lands are improved. Some lands are still owned by the United States, and the Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad Company owns 131,800 acres. A considerable portion of the county is irrigated by four large creeks: Horsehead, Spadra, and Big and Little Piney, which rise back in the mount- ains and flow across the county to the river. The crops chiefly raised are corn, cotton, oats, wheat, .

Irish and sweet potatoes and turnips. Peaches, apples, pears and plums yield abundantly. Jolin- son County is exceedingly rich in minerals, the western half being thickly underlaid with coal, while iron ore, yielding seventy per cent of iron, has been discovered in not less than thirty points in the county. Mines of lead, kaolin, gypsum and other metals have been discovered at various quar- ters, and only require capital to develop. No coun- ty in the Arkansas River Valley contains a greater variety of timber than Johnson, the varieties em- braced being every species of oak, Hickory, pecan, cottonwood, ash, beach, elm, cherry, walnut and pine, of which there is an almost inexhaustible supply.

As may be judged from the above brief sum- mary of Johnson County's native resources, none other of the counties of the State classed under the head of areas, affording multiple advantages are superior to it; and indeed, there are only five others

273

JOHNSON COUNTY.

of the remaining seventy-four counties in the State which in all respects conform to the ideal of a com- bined agricultural and manufacturing region, as is suggested by the elements and advantages of the immediate territory under notice. The county is a coal region of the State, if a classification is made according to the report and maps of Prof. Winslow, formerly of the Arkansas Geological Survey. It is decidedly a timber region, if a great aggregate of hardwoods and pine count for anything. It is a fruit region by reason of the mountain surface included in its boundaries, and by reason of the fact that upon occasions of com- petitive trial its orchard product has secured for the State its highest honor. It affords throughout the territory overlying its coal measures an unlimited supply of shales and clays suited to the plastic arts. It is throughout its whole area (excepting 60,000 acres rugged mountain surface) adapted to profit- able mixed farm pursuit. And in consequence of its collective advantages (superior residence con- ditions, production of textile material, rearing of live-stock, coal, timber, plastic clays, fruit, grain and garden products) it is one of the counties that especially aid in the forecast of a manufacturing future for the State, as well as a future of adapt- able and therefore profitable agriculture.

This is a country the loveliness of which, before railroad days, had been for many years on the lips of those who ascended the Arkansas from Little Rock to Fort Smith; and since the construction of the Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad for a num- ber of miles along the road-from Spadra to Coal Hill-is afforded a continued view, the extent and beauty of which is sure to wake the traveler from his reverie-looked upon, never thereafter fading from memory. Including in its boundaries terri- tory belonging to the famous Boston range of the Ozarks, and at the same time having frontage on the Arkansas River, the region under notice presents to the eye the combined attractions of a mountain, river valley, and piedmont country. The mountains afford the widest and loveliest pros- pects it is possible to conceive of our southern country; and in turn when viewed from the val- leys and foot-hills there is no region of this State,

Missouri, or the Indian Territory, where the tower- ing ranges of the Ozarks loom up more majestically. The Boston and Mulberry mountains traverse the northern areas of the county to the Arkansas River.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Author: Southern Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.) Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago : Southern Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1020

Author: Southern Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.)
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : Southern Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1020