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 66
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Yet, while some lives were sacrificed, the people of
Scott County did not suffer during those years as did the people of some other parts of the State.
The war is with the past, and so, too, have
passed away the unsetted conditions succeeding it. Men of southern birth and proclivities dwell here, side by side, in mutual friendship and mutual helpfulness, with men of northern birth and pro- clivities. There is no question now of section against section. There is nothing political for
neighbors to seriously disagree about, and if there were the people of Scott County are too intent upon their home interests and upon the work of general development, to give it a moment's un- friendly consideration. Much space has been given to consideration of this county's mineral and railway possibilities and promise. That they are flattering, can not be doubted. But if never a pound of coal should be mined-if never a rod of rail should be laid-this would yet be a land of promise and a land of plenty. If there is any part of God's footstool and man's workshop where soils, seasons, grains, grasses, fruits, vegetables, plants, -everything-are under tribute to the prov- ident and thrifty and enterprising farmer, it is in
Scott County, between its green mountain ranges.
Genial skies are overhead, generous soils are under foot; clear swift sunny waters flow down the val- leys, sparkling fountains feed the brooklets; prai- rie and woodland, interval and valley are decked with the richest herbage; wild fruits grow in pro-
fusion in the woods and by the way-side; a soft blue haze-the dreamy influence of the semi-trop- ics-hallows this golden and glorious land from January to December, and it is "God's country."
for His beneficent smile is on everything from the water-lines to the crown of the highest hills.
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
Class prejudices and sectional feeling have long been eliminated. A brave, cordial, genial, hospita- ble and generous mixed people are here to give genuine western welcome to all worthy new-com- ers. They never ask after your antecedents here, but measure you, if you are a new comer, by what you are and what you can do. The hospitality of this people, is as strong as brave, and magnani- mous men and gentle women can cultivate; as warm and genial as the climate, and as broad as the boundless southwest. They are lovers of law and order, and lovers of fair play, have profound reverence for woman and home, and take care of their personal credit as if it were their only stock in trade.
Carr Allen, a native of Montgomery County, Ark., and now a resident of Park Township, Scott County, this State, is one of the most successful and enterprising farmers of the same. His oppor- tunities for an education were poor, and when seventeen years of age he entered the army, serv- ing nine months. At the cessation of hostilities he returned home and rented land for one year. He then homesteaded a tract, and made many im- provements on the same, but later sold out and bought where he now resides. This was in 1873. He is now the owner of 390 acres of excellent bot- tom land, and has 100 acres under cultivation. His house, barns, outbuildings, etc., indicate that an experienced hand is at the head of everything, and that he has been successful is self-evident. He raises annually good crops of corn and cotton, and is prosperous and happy. He was born on October 5, 1849, and was married in March, 1863, to Miss Mary Berry, a native of this county. The fruits of this union were seven children-two daughters and five sons. The eldest son and also the eldest daughter are married, and reside near the parents. Mr. Allen is a member of the Farm- ers' Alliance, and he and wife are worthy members of the Free- Will Baptist Church, of which he is deacon.
William Arrington, farmer, Cedar Creek, Ark.
William Arrington is the son of Charles and Nar- eissa Ann Arrington, and was born in Cherokee County, Ala., on March 12, 1835. The father was a farmer, and owned considerable land in Cherokee County. The mother died in 1840, and the father received his final summons when our subject was fifteen years of age. The latter's opportunities for an education were limited, and after his father's death he hired out to work on a farm, which occu- pation he continued until the opening of the war. In 1857 he went to Montgomery County, Ark., and there in September, 1861, he was married to Miss Jane Salliers, who died but little over a year afterward, childless. Mr. Arrington enlisted in Company A, Tappan's regiment of Arkansas In- fantry, and was in service four years. During the most of this time he was wagon-master, and had charge of the transportation train. In 1866 he was married to Mrs. Jane Lawrence, widow of Joseph P. Lawrence, who was killed in the battle of Franklin, Tenn. Mrs. Arrington's maiden name was Miss Jane Morgan, daughter of Thomas P. and Fanny Morgan, of South Carolina. Soon after mar- riage Mr. Arrington moved from Montgomery Coun- ty, where he had lived since the war, to this coun- ty, and in 1871 he homesteaded the place where he now lives, buying out the claims of others until he had 240 acres. When he first came here he had, in money and stock, about $500. He began im- proving the place by erecting a good hewn-log house, cleared and fenced the land, and from that time to this he and family have never been off the place but one year, and then for the purpose of giving the children better opportunities for an edu- cation. Mr. Arrington, now has 100 acres under cultivation, a good, comfortable house, 34x46 feet, substantial stables, and all his land fenced. His principal crops are oats, corn, cotton and potatoes. His crops are good, oats yielding about fifty bush- els to the acre, and cotton is yielding three-fourths of a bale to the acre this year (1890), although he has cotton that yields more than a bale to the acre. He is the owner of some fine timber, consisting of oak, pine, elm, ash and walnut. His land lies along Cedar Creek, and is very fertile. Mr. Ar- rington is quite extensively engaged in the raising
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SCOTT COUNTY.
of stock, having some fine cattle and hogs, as well as horses and mules. He has five living children- four sons and one daughter: Narcissa Ann, James A., William R., Charles and Thomas P. James is married and lives in the western part of the coun- ty. His wife, Margaret, is the daughter of John and Nancy Jane Robertson, of Cauthron, this county, and his union was blessed by two children, a girl, named Zella Ann, and a son, John William. Mr. Arrington and family are devout church mem- bers, and take an active part in the promotion of church and school interests. Mr. Arrington is a self-made man in every sense of the word, and has never had any help from outside sources. He is a Democrat in politics.
Philip J. Bird is a farmer, blacksmith and woodworkman, of Hickman Township, and was born in Blount County, of East Tennessee, in 1842, being a son of John and Elizabeth (Shields) Bird, who were born in East Tennessee in 1818 and 1826, respectively, their marriage ceremony having been celebrated in that State also. About 1846 they moved to Northern Georgia, but Mrs. Bird died soon after, and Mr. Bird was married again, and spent the rest of his life in that State, his death occurring in 1882, at which time he was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and a well-to-do farmer by occupation. His father, Jacob Bird, was of Irish descent, and a farmer of Northern Georgia. Robert Shields, the maternal grand- father of the subject of this sketch, devoted his attention to blacksmithing throughout life, was a soldier in the War of 1812, being with Jackson at New Orleans, was also of Irish lineage, and spent his declining years in the State of Georgia. Philip J. Bird is one of four children born to his parents, and as he was compelled to labor hard in his youth he received only about three months' schooling in all. In June, 1861, he joined Company C, Fourth Georgia Battalion, afterward the Sixtieth Georgia Infantry, Army of Virginia, and was with Stone- wall Jackson in nearly all the leading engage- ments in which that army participated, besides many others. At the expiration of his first enlist- ment he joined the navy, with which he served until the close of the war, or nearly one year. A
few days before Lee surrendered, he was captured at Drury's Bluff, was paroled at Washington City and returned home. He was married in 1865 to Martha Ann. the daughter of John and Jane (El- lington) Smith, they being born in Virginia, and moving first to North Carolina, and later to Georgia, where Mr. Smith died, his widow crossing the river of Death in Scott County Ark. Mrs. Bird was born in the Old North State, and has borne her husband four children. In 1870 Mr. Bird came to Scott County, and for nineteen years has been a prosperous farmer of this region. He first settled in the woods, but now has 70 of his 120-acre farm cleared. Although the greater part of his life has been given to farming, he has also been engaged in blacksmithing for the past six years. He belongs to Waldron Lodge No. 132, of the A. F. & A. M., and he and his entire family are Methodists.
Samuel C. Brown is a merchant and postmaster at Blansett, Scott County, Ark., but was born in Blount County, Tenn., October 4, 1837, a son of Benjamin and Martha (Cusick) Brown, the former a native of Virginia, and the latter of Tennessee. The father was taken to Tennessee by his parents when a boy, and in that State he attained manhood and was married, making his home there until he moved to Walker County, Ga., in 1860. After a residence of nine years in that State he came to Scott County, Ark., and here he passed to his long home in August, 1889, when in the seventy-ninth year of his age. He was an honest tiller of the soil and was a man who had the confidence of all who knew him. His first wife, the mother of Samuel C., died in Tennessee in 1854, after which he married Elizabeth Holcomb, who died in this State and county. He was a member and officer of the Mis- sionary Baptist Church for many years and at all times was an earnest Christian. In his political views he was a stanch Democrat. Samuel C. Brown was the third of ten children, five now liv- ing, and his youth was spent and his schooling re- ceived in Sevier County, Tenn. He worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-one years ' of age, then began teaching school and farmed until the war broke out. In October, 1862, he
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
joined Company K, Fifth Tennessee Cavalry, with which he served eighteen months, being then transferred to the First Tennessee Cav- alry, his company acting as escort to Gen.
He was taken prisoner at Knoxville, Tenn., af- ter entering the Federal lines under a flag of truce, and was retained at that place until the close of the war. He was in the battles of Shiloh, Chicka- manga, Resacca and in the Georgia campaign around Atlanta. At the close of the war he turned his attention to farming in Blount County, Tenn., but in 1866 went to Walker County, Ga., where he made his home until 1869, then came to Scott County, Ark., and here in connection with farming followed the occupation of teaching until 1877. He then began selling dry goods in Waldron, Henry Coker being his business partner. In 1881 Mr. Brown came to Blansett and opened a general store, which he has since successfully conducted. In 1883 he was appointed postmaster of the town and is still holding the office. He commenced op- erating a saw-mill and cotton-gin in 1888; and in both has done well. He is a member of the Mis- sionary Baptist Church, and socially belongs to Blansett Lodge No. 469, of the A. F. & A. M., and politically is a Democrat.
Judge Roland Chiles. Owing to the fertility of the soil of Scott County, Ark., and by energy, industry and economy Mr. Chiles has become one of the well-to-do farmers of this section. He was born in Tennessee in 1827, the youngest in a family of nine children born to his parents, Paul and Lucinda (Kersey) Chiles, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of South Carolina. The paternal grandfather, Roland Chiles, was born in England and came to America during colonial times, making his home in Virginia and afterward participating in the Revolutionary War. He afterward became a pioneer of East Tennessee and in that State passed from life. The maternal : grandfather, Thomas Kersey, was born in Ire- land and also came to America prior to the Revo- lution, in which he was a soldier, but made his home in South Carolina, afterward moving to Ten- nessee, where he died. Paul Chiles was an agri- culturist and spent his life in Tennessee, dying in
the western part of the State in 1883 at the ad- vanced age of ninety-seven years, his wife having been called to her long home in 1867. On the old homestead in Tennessee Roland Chiles grew to manhood, learning the details of farm work of his father. He was married in West Tennessee in 1852 to Miss Margaret M. Blair, a native of South Carolina, but reared in Tennessee, and in time a family of five children gathered about their hearth- stone: James P., John H., Frances E. (wife of Frank H. Holland), Maud Della and Hayward L. In 1863 Mr. Chiles joined the Confederate Army, and after taking part in the battle of Ox- ford Miss., he left the army on account of physical disability and once more turned his attention to farming in Tennessee, in which State he re- mained until 1871, when he came to Arkansas, purchasing 240 acres of good farming land near Waldron and entering 120 acres more. He set energetically to work to improve his land, and now has 125 acres under cultivation, the most of which had to be cleared from timber. He ran a saw- mill for some years and besides his home farm has enough land to make him 500 acres. In 1886 he purchased nine acres in the town of Waldron, on which he has erected a residence and in which he has since resided. In 1884 he was elected county judge, and during his term in office reduced the county debt about $14,000. Although a Whig before the War he is now a Democrat in politics, and socially belongs to the A. F. & A. M. and I. O. O. F. In 1874 he moved to Fayetteville to give his eldest three children the advantages of the schools of that place, and there resided for two years.
James P. Chiles. No name is more properly placed in the history of Scott County than that of Mr. Chiles, who is not only one of the most enter- . prising farmers of this section, but is of such a social, genial nature that he has made many friends. He was born in Tennessee to Roland and Margaret N. (Blair) Chiles, for a history of whom see sketch of Roland Chiles. Until he attained his fifteenth year James P. was a resident of his native State, but since 1870 he has been a resident of Arkansas, and was given a good education in
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SCOTT COUNTY.
the University of the State, at Fayetteville. On July 3, 1887, he was married to Miss Emma Rol- and, a native of Scott County, and a daughter of Elijah Roland, who was one of the early settlers of this State. In 1884 he purchased his present farm of 315 acres, and by hard work bas put fifty acres under cultivation, the rest being covered with tim- ber of an excellent and valuable quality. In Oc- tober, 1886, he bought his present cotton-gin, grist and saw-mill, all of which he is operating with success, his saw-mill averaging about 5,000 feet of lumber per day. Besides this property he is the owner of a good dwelling-house and three tenement houses, and in addition to his other duties he is somewhat interested in stock-raising and speculat- ing, in fact, is wide-awake and enterprising in all matters pertaining to his calling. He and his family are members of the Christian Church; he purchased all the materials for erecting a church and school-house, deeding the property for the site. He has at all times tried to further the cause of education, and for years has faithfully discharged the duties of school director of his district. He is a warm Republican in politics, and is an active worker in that party.
Thomas C. Climer, farmer, Cedar Creek, Ark. Mr. Climer is a successful young farmer of Scott County, Ark., and it is not to be wondered at, per- haps, that he should devote himself to agricultural pursuits, for, in looking back over the career of his ancestors, we find that the majority of them were honest tillers of the soil. He is a native of Mau- ry County, Tenn., born February 14, 1851, and his youth was spent in that State, where his early scholastic advantages were also enjoyed. He be- gan for himself as a farmer at the age of eighteen years, rented land for several years in Tennessee, and in 1880 moved to Arkansas, settling near Wal- dron in this county. There he remained for two. years on a farm of 120 acres, which he had bought and he then sold this, moving to his present residence in Cedar Creek Township. He now has 160 acres of good land, sixty-five acres under cul- tivation, has a good frame house, farm under fence and has a good orchard (apple and peach). His crops are oats, corn and cotton, of which he annu- |
ally has a good yield, and he also takes consider- able interest in stock-raising, being the owner of some fine cattle. He has gained what he has through his own exertions, and is counted a " hus- tler " by his acquaintances. He has raised cotton that would yield a bale to the acre. Mr. Climer was married in 1869 to Miss Josie Black, of Ten- nessee, and they have four children, all boys, who are named as follows: William M., Hannibal B., Joseph W. and Samuel. All are at home with their parents. Mr. Climer is a member of the Farmers' Alliance and is treasurer of the same. He is strictly Democratic in his political views.
John Crutchfield is a farmer of Scott County, Ark., and as a man and citizen is highly respected by all who know him. He was born in Orange County, N. C., about 1835, to Henry and Polly (O'Daniel) Crutchfield, they being also born in North Carolina, in which State the mother died, Mr. Crutchfield afterward marrying a Mrs. Walker, and with her removing to Tennessee, his death oc- curring in Franklin County since the Rebellion. He was a blacksmith and farmer, and was an ear- nest member of the Missionary Baptist Church. His father, William Crutchfield, died in North Carolina, the mother's father, John O'Daniel, also dying there, a farmer. The gentleman whose name heads this sketch, was the sixth of eight children, and was reared on a farm, receiving but little schooling. At the age of nineteen years he was married to Mary, daughter of Aaron and Eliza- beth T. Tripp, of North Carolina, where Mrs. Crutchfield was born in 1860. She and her hus- band removed to Lincoln County, Tenn., two years after to Franklin County, and in 1871 came to Scott County, Ark., settling on their present farm, which was then heavily covered with timber. His estate comprises 300 acres of land,of which 150 acres are cleared, which desirable state of affairs has been brought about by his own efforts. His land is the best in his neighborhood, which fact is in a great measure owing to the time and work he has expended on it. In 1867 he was called upon to mourn the death of his wife, and the following year he was united in marriage to Mrs. Jane Amick, whose native birthplace is the State of Tennessee, she
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HISTORY OF ARKANSAS.
being a daughter of Caleb and Sophronia Call, the former of whom was born in North Carolina, and the latter in Tennessee. Mr. Call went to Ten- nessee when a boy, where he lived many years, then came to Scott County, where he spent his de- clining years. His father, Daniel Call, was born in North Carolina, and died in Tennessee. Mrs. Crutchfield was born in Coffee County, Tenn., in 1842, and was married in that county to A. J. Amick, who died while serving in the Confederate Army during the Rebellion. Mr. Crutchfield had five children by his first wife, one son and two daughters living, his last wife also bearing him five children of whom two sons and one daughter survive.
R. P. Dickens is a gentleman of substantial worth, residing in Scott County, Ark., and all his farming operations have been carried on according to the most advanced and progressive ideas, and have resulted to his own good, and to the benefit of those with whom he has come in contact. He was born in Tennessee May 7, 1839, and, at the age of eight years came to Arkansas with his par- ents, Richard and Mary Jane. Dickens, and having been brought up to a farm life, he determined to make that his calling through life, and accordingly, at the age of twenty-one years, purchased some land in Faulkner County, of this State, and began immediately to put it in good farming condition. After remaining on this farm for twenty years, he sold it and came to Scott County, Ark., purchasing his present farm of 140 acres, 85 acres of which are in a good state of cultivation, and nicely im- proved with good farm buildings of all kinds. Al- though his orchard is small, his trees are well se- lected, and bear well. His land yields an average amount of cotton, corn and oats, and in 1889 he established the first and only tannery in the west- ern part of the State, which he has worked very successfully, finding a ready sale for all the leather he can produce. His intention is to enlarge the business at no distant day, and then will give the greater part of his attention to that work. He was married at the age of twenty-three years, but after a wedded life of seven years his wife died, leaving him with four children, the eldest three of
whom are married. He was again married, but his second wife lived only about fifteen months, and he next espoused Miss Mary Douglas, their union re- sulting in the birth of three children. The family attend the Christian Church, of which Mr. and Mrs. Dickens are members, and he is a Democrat, and belongs to the I. O. O. F. and the A. F. & A. M. fraternities. Mr. Dickens keeps fully apace with the progress of agriculture, and his place is one of the neat, comfortable homesteads for which this county is famous.
H. W. Dixon. Prominent among the many es- teemed and respected farmers and cotton-ginners of Scott County, Ark., stands the name of Mr. Dixon, who was born in Polk County of this State, in 1841, being a son of William H. and Middie (Short) Dixon, the former a native of North Caro- lina and the latter of Mississippi. They were mar- ried in the latter State about 1835, but removed from there to Polk County, Ark., in 1837, and here reared their children: Nancy E. (wife of Joseph B. Dixon), James G. (deceased), H. W., Priscilla (wife of G. W. Fry), Edward N. (de- ceased), Susan A. (wife of John Mclaughlin), Mary J. (wife of J. W. Harper, deceased), Sophie E. (wife of A. P. Walker), and George R. The mother of these children died in Polk County, in 1859, after which Mr. Dixon was united in mar- riage to Miss Julia A. Lackey. He then removed to Scott County, Ark., where he passed from life in December, 1887, a worthy Christian gentleman and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was deputy sheriff of Polk County for four years, and otherwise took an interest in the wel- fare of this section. H. W. Dixon, enlisted in the United States Army, September 1, 1862, becoming a member of Company I, First Arkansas Cavalry, and was in the fight at Springfield, Mo., and at Fayetteville, Ark. He served throughout the re- mainder of the war and was discharged at Fayette- ville, Ark., in 1865, after which he returned home and engaged in farming. He was married in 1870, to Miss Amanda Landon, a daughter of Allen and Nancy (Roberts) Landon. Seven children have blessed their union: Charles H., Cora B., Alberta, Atella, Nancy Lula, James B. and an infant that
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SCOTT COUNTY.
died unnamed. Mr. Dixon has been industrious and enterprising and as a result, has a fine farm of 540 acres, of which 250 are under cultivation, devoted principally to the culture of corn and cot- ton. His cotton-gin has a capacity of nine bales per day, and has been in running order for the past twenty years. Mr. Dixon is a member of the G. A. R., and at one time was captain of a com- pany of Home Guards. He has resided in Scott County for the past twenty-three years, and is one of the most highly esteemed residents of this sec- tion. He has been successful in his business vent- tures and gives liberally, at all times, to enter- prises which he considers worthy.
Thomas F. Dollens. Few farmers and stock- raisers of Hickman Township have been more uni- versally successful than the subject of this sketch, who was born in Audrian County, Mo., in 1837, being a son of William T. and Mary Ann Dollens, the former born in Albemarle County, Va., in 1808, and the latter near Crab Orchard, Ky., in 1813, their marriage being celebrated in the last named State, from which they removed to Mis- souri about 1832, in 1846 to Texas, and in 1848 to Scott County, Ark., locating on a farm about four and one-half miles southwest of Waldron, where both passed from life, the father dying in Decem- ber, 1856, and the mother in 1880. They were among the pioneers of this section and became well to do in worldly goods. At the time of Mr. Dollens' death he was filling the office of county surveyor, a position he had held four years. His father, Richard Dollens, was a Virginian who moved to Kentucky, then to Missouri, and passed to his long home in Audrian County, having been a faithful soldier in the Revolutionary War, enter- ing the colonial service at the age of eighteen. He was a farmer and of English descent. The subject of this sketch is the second of three sons and three daughters, he and two sisters being the only surviving members of the family. Thomas F. received little schooling, but was thoroughly drilled in the details of farm work. Since about eleven years of age he has resided in Scott County, Ark., and from here, on May 6, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, First Arkansas Cavalry, Confeder-
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