Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 103

Author: Herndon, Dallas T. (Dallas Tabor), b. 1878
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago, Little Rock, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1172

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many years D. C. Ambrose, now retired, has been a dominant factor in the development and improvement of Fayetteville, for through his paper, The Republic, he has promoted all things good and progressive. Mr. Ambrose was born in Chicago, Illinois, on the 17th of December, 1847, a son of Samuel and Mary E. (Maine) Ambrose, both natives of Maine. In 1849 the father went to California and never returned to the east. His family never saw him again. He made one or two fortunes during the gold rush period but lost all prior to his death in 1909. Mrs. Ambrose died in 1913. To their union six children were born, none of whom are living with the exception of the subject of this sketch. The family was reared in the Baptist faith and the father was a stanch republican.

In the acquirement of an education D. C. Ambrose attended the schools of Free- port, Illinois, and his first occupation upon putting his textbooks aside was in the printing business. He went to Osage Mission, Kansas, in 1876, and conducted a paper there for many years. In 1889 he came to Fayetteville and with a Mr. Brooks purchased a paper. Soon afterward he bought out the interests of Mr. Brooks and he has been sole proprietor of the paper since then. For some time the paper was published as The Republican but it is now known as The Republic. In addition to putting out a news- paper Mr. Ambrose does a large job printing business and for twenty-one years he pub- lished the Daily Evening News. Up to the time Woodrow Wilson was candidate for presidency of the United States, Mr. Ambrose was a stanch republican. However, at that election he cast his vote for the democratic candidate and he has since been a stanch supporter of that party. He runs one of the most progressive papers in the county and he has a large and steadily increasing circulation. He has always boosted Fayette- ville and his paper has been a dominant force behind many projects for public improve- ment. Upon first locating in Fayetteville he took an active interest in civic affairs and his paper kept the waterworks proposition before the public until it became a reality and did the same with sewage and sidewalks. Mr. Ambrose is the oldest newspaper man in Fayetteville and he has won a representative place among the newspaper men in the state. D. C. Ambrose enlisted in Company A, Forty-Sixth Illinois Infantry at the age of sixteen, and served until the close of the war. He was in several skirmishes and in the last battle of the war at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley at the rear of Mobile, Alabama.

On the 2d of July, 1872, occurred the marriage of Mr. Ambrose to Miss Mary E. Rhodes of Freeport, Illinois, and to their union four children have been born: Chancey D., a newspaper man in Big Springs, Texas; E. D., connected with the water plant in Okmulgee, Oklahoma; R. C., now managing his father's paper in Fayetteville; and Addie, who is the wife of P. E. Schaaf, manager of a department in a shoe store. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and fraternally the father is a Knight of Pythias, being past chancellor of that order. As before stated Mr. Ambrose is now a stanch supporter of the democratic party. Before affiliating with that party, however, he served several years on the city council and ran twice for rep- resentative of state on the republican ticket. Although he made a good showing, he was defeated because of the large democratic majority.

R. C. Ambrose was horn in Fayetteville on the 30th of December, 1890. He received his early education in the schools here and later enrolled in the State University, where he was a student for three years. After putting his textbooks aside he engaged in the newspaper business and he has been active along that line ever since. He is now man- aging his father's paper and is fast becoming one of the brilliant newspaper men in the state. He is not married and resides with his parents. He is a consistent member of the Christian church and his fraternal affiliation is with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Like his father he is a stanch supporter of the democratic party.

Fayetteville is indeed fortunate iu numbering among her citizens D. C. Ambrose and son. They are never remiss in the duties of citizenship and they display a public spirit in their cooperation with many measures for the public good. They have many stanch friends throughout the county and state and they hold a high position in public regard.

J. A. ROWLAND.

J. A. Rowland of El Dorado, an oil operator and representative of the insurance business, has spent his life in this section of the state He was born and reared on a farm in Union county, his natal day being August 16, 1874. After mastering the branches of learning taught in the common schools he continued his education in Searcy College for a time and later became a student in Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, thus qualifying for life's practical and responsible duties. When twenty- three years of age he entered the Bank of El Dorado as a bookkeeper and later filled the '

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position of assistant cashier of the Citizens National Bank, also becoming one of the stockholders in the institution. He is now the vice president of the First National Bank and was one of the prime movers in effecting the consolidation of the Citizens National Bank and the First National Bank, in July, 1921. He has become widely known through his financial connections and has won an enviable place in business circles. He is like- wise prominently identified with oil interests, handling oil leases and is at the head of an oil company. Another feature of his activity is the insurance field, Mr. Rowland handling both life and fire insurance since 1915, representing eighteen different com- panies. In this connection he has gained many clients and his business is a large and profitable one. He is also a stockholder in the oil mills. Whatever he undertakes he accomplishes, carrying forward to successful completion his well defined plans and projects. He early recognized the eternal principle that industry wins and industry has since been a guiding force in his life.

Mr. Rowland is well known as a member of the Masonic fraternity, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and he is serving on the board of trus- tees. He has also become a member of the Mystic Shrine and belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His name is on the membership rolls of the Rotary Club and his interest in the organization is shown in his fidelity to its high ideals. He is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church and all who know him-and he has a wide acquaintance- speak of him in terms of high regard, recognizing in him a forceful and resourceful business man and a loyal and progressive citizen.

JUDGE JACKSON T. BULLOCK.

Judge Jackson T. Bullock, prominent representative of the Pope county bar and former judge of the county court, is engaged in active practice in Russellville and the nature of the legal business entrusted to him is at once proof of his capability in handling intricate and involved problems of the law. His course has ever been char- acterized by marked loyalty to the interests of his clients and marked fidelity to duty in every relation of life. Arkansas, therefore, is proud to number him among her sons, for he has spent almost his entire life in this state, having been but a year old when he was brought to Arkansas from near Dresden, Weakley county, Tennessee, where his birth occurred September 22, 1855, his parents being William Jefferson and Mary Ann ( Wallace) Bullock. The family home was established in Marion county, Arkansas, where the pareuts remained until 1857 and then brought their family to Pope county, where their remaining days were passed and where they ranked with the leading and substantial citizens. The father followed farming as a life work and met with sub- stantial success in his undertaking. At the same time he was keenly interested in the welfare and progress of his community and gave his support to all measures for the general good. He always voted with the democratic party and hoth he and his wife were consistent members of the Primitive Baptist church. Their family numbered nine sons and two daughters, the latter dying in early life, while the sons reached adult age. Amos, the eldest of the family, was a valiant soldier of the Civil war, serving as a mem- ber of an Arkansas regiment in the Confederate service. He died in 1910. Those liv- ing are: Andrew W., who resides sixteen miles north of Russellville on a farm and is a minister of the Baptist church; W. G., a retired teacher, living at Dover, Arkansas; John H., a lawyer of Ola, Arkansas; Jackson T., of this review; Jefferson J., a farmer and dry goods salesman, living at Russellville; Thomas D., who is county superintendent of schools of Pope county; and A. W., a teacher of Hector, Arkansas. The father died in 1883. The paternal great-grandfather of Judge Bullock was William Bullock, an Eng- lishman, who came to the United States about the time of the American Revolution. He settled in Virginia and followed farming there until his removal to Franklin, Ten- nessee, being one of its first settlers. There Judge Bullock's father, William Jefferson Bullock, was born. Amos Bullock, grandfather of Judge Bullock, was born in the Old Dominion and emigrated to Tennessee at an early day, following farming there to the time of his death, which occurred in 1858.

Judge Bullock obtained a common school education in Arkansas and began teaching at the age of seventeen years, obtaining a second grade certificate in 1874. He taught school until he had reached the age of thirty-one, but in the latter part of this period regarded school teaching merely as an initial step to other professional labor, for it was his desire to become a member of the har. In fact he read law when teaching and at the age of thirty-one years he was elected probate judge of Pope county, filling the position for four years. On the expiration of that period he was elected circuit court clerk and occupied the office for four years. It was in 1894 that he was admitted to the bar and since that time he has continuously engaged in practice. He has also at dif-

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ferent periods filled public offices, serving at one time for five years as mayor of Rus- sellville, during which time he gave to the city a businesslike and progressive adminis- tration. He was also a member of the constitutional convention of 1918. The practice of law, however, in later years has been his real life work and he is well known as a member of the bar who prepares his cases with great thoroughness and care and presents his cause clearly, cogently and logically, so that he has won many verdicts favorable to his clients and is regarded as a safe counselor as well as an able advocate. He is now attorney for the Bank of Russellville and local attorney for a railway company. He has been admitted to all the state and federal courts and was licensed to practice in the supreme court of the state in 1895.

On the 1st of October, 1882, Judge Bullock was married to Miss Winnie Price, who was born in Pope county, Arkansas, a daughter of Allen A. Price, a native of Tennessee, who came to Arkansas about 1854. He was a farmer and blacksmith but at the time of the Civil war he put aside all business and personal considerations and joined the Con- federate army. He had been the owner of a number of slaves prior to that conflict. Judge and Mrs. Bullock became the parents of three daughters: Tillie, at home; Mary F., the wife of Earl Varnadore, a salesman for a wholesale house of Fort Smith; and Gussie, the wife of Albert L. Wilson, a farmer of Russellville.

Judge Bullock is a Knights Templar Mason and served as master of the local lodge in Scottsville, Arkansas, for a period of five years, teaching school there. He has also served as high priest of the chapter and eminent commander of the Knights Templar Commandery. He likewise belongs to the Woodmeu of the World and to the Loyal Order of Moose and his political belief is that of the democratic party and his religious faith that of the Presbyterian church. He has always guided his life by high standards and his activities have been prompted by worthy motives that neither seek nor require disguise. His entire course has won him public approval, has gained him success in law practice and honor in office, while the nature of his life work has made his service one of value to the community which he has represented. As a mem- ber of the constitutional convention he aided in framing the organic law of the state and in many ways has left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the history of Arkansas.

YOTT EDWARD WHITMORE, D. D. S.

Dr. Yott Edward Whitmore, a representative of the dental profession in Little Rock, was born in Cameron, Missouri, October 8, 1873. In 1875 his parents, Edward J. and Emmeline (Lay) Whitmore, removed to Little Rock and here the mother is still living, while Mr. Whitmore died in 1888. He was a soldier of the Union army, serving with the rank of colonel in a Missouri regiment during the Civil war. Throughout the years of his residence in the Arkansas capital he was engaged in the railroad business in connection with the operating department and Dr. Whitmore, after acquiring his educa- tion in the schools of Little Rock, naturally drifted into the railroad service, becoming identified with mechanical lines. He became a machinist and later a locomotive engineer but in 1900 he concluded that engineering was not his vocation. Attracted to the pro- fession of dentistry he went to St. Louis, where he pursued a course in the St. Louis Dental College and later attended the Chicago College of Dental Surgery, from which he was graduated in 1905 with the degree of D. D. S. He opened an office in Little Rock in the same year and has practiced in this city continuously with a constantly increasing patronage. He engages in general dental practice and is regarded as one of the most able representatives of the profession in this city. He has a splendidly equipped office, supplied with the latest devices known to dental surgery and his skill and ability have produced splendid results. He is an ex-president of the Little Rock Dental Society and belongs also to the State Dental Society and the National Dental Association.

Dr. Whitmore, in 1920, took as his second wife Miss Lena J. Jaquemine of Mis- sissippi, a young lady of more than ordinary beauty and culture. By his first marriage he had three children: Eva Corolyn, now a freshman in Galloway College; Yott Edward, Jr., who is a pupil in the Junior high school of Little Rock; and Charlotte Augusta, who is pursuing the work of the grades.

Dr. Whitmore still holds membership in the International Association of Machinists and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engineers. He belongs to the Chicago Odontograph Society and his college fraternity is the Delta Sigma Delta. He also has membership in the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, is a thirty-second degree Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine. In politics his course is that of an independent democrat and the only office that he has ever held is that of street commissioner, for he has ever preferred to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his professional

DR. YOTT E. WHITMORE

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interests and duties. He is of a jovial and friendly nature and in every way an optimist. Following the example of his father he volunteered his services to the government in connection with the World war but was not called to duty before the armistice was signed. Practically his entire life has been passed in Litle Rock, where from the age of two years he has made his home and that his has been a well spent life is indicated in the fact that his stanchest friends-and they are many-are those who have known him from his boyhood to the present time.

JAMES B. STRACHAN, M. D.

Dr. James B. Strachan, one of the leading physicians of Hot Springs, where he has been engaged in the general practice of medicine and surgery during the past twelve years, was born in Goderich, Ontario, Canada, on the 26th of June, 1881. His parents, William and Barbara ( Morris) Strachan, were also natives of that place. The father is still living and is one of the representative agriculturists of Goderich, Ontario, but the mother is deceased.

James B. Strachan obtained his professional training in the medical department of the University of Louisville in Kentucky, having made his way to that state for the purpose of studying medicine. The degree of M. D. was conferred upon him at his graduation with the class of 1905 and during the four succeeding years he was asso- ciated with the experimental department of the firm of Parke, Davis & Company of Detroit, Michigan. The year 1909 witnessed his arrival in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he rented the office which he has occupied throughout the intervening years and where he has built up an extensive and lucrative practice as his professional knowledge and ability have become recognized. He is a valued member of the Hot Springs Medical Society, also belongs to the Garland County Medical Society, the Arkansas State Medical Association, the Southern Medical Association and the American Medical Association.

During the World war Dr. Strachan served on the medical staff of the United States General Hospital, No. 14, at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and was assigned to the urological service, in which he acquitted himself with distinction. In the Masonic fra- ternity he has attained high rank, belonging to Hot Springs Lodge, No. 62, A. F. & A. M .; Hot Springs Chapter, R. A. M .; Hot Springs Commandery, K. T .; Albert Pike Con- sistory, No. 1, A. & A. S. R .; and Sahara Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is likewise iden- tified with Hot Springs Lodge, No. 380, B. P. O. E., while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the First Presbyterian church. Dr. Strachan is genial in dis- position, unobtrusive and unassuming, and is an extremely busy and successful prac- titioner, constantly overburdened by demands for his services, both professionally and socially.

R. F. FORREST.

For twenty-seven years R. F. Forrest has been identified with the Benton county bar and his ability has developed with the passing years until he now ranks with the leading attorneys of Siloam Springs. He has built up a large practice and in the trial of cases committed to his care has won notable verdicts. He was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, February 26, 1859, a son of Upton F. and Sarah Elizabeth (Basehoar) For- rest, the former a native of Tennessee, while the latter was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania. While a student at Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, that state, the father met and married Miss Basehoar, this being just before the outbreak of the Civil war. He enlisted in the Union army and was in the service for three years and three months, during which period he was attached to the Thirty-seventh, One Hundred and Eighty-seventh and Two Hundred and Second Regiments. He was wounded and was confined for three months in Libby prison, but managed to make his escape, rejoining his regiment and serving until the close of the war. He received his wound at the battle of Monocacy River, Maryland, which took place on the 9th of July, 1864, and died from the effects of his injuries ten years later. He had won promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel and after his discharge from the service followed the occupation of farming until his demise. He was a member of the Lutheran church and a republican in his political views. Mr. and Mrs. Forrest became the parents of seven children, of whom six are living, namely: R. F., of this review; L. S., who is a printer by trade and resides at Baltimore, Maryland; Mrs. Georgette Adeline Koehler, a resident of Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Jonathan D., a prominent cigar manufacturer of Baltimore; Mrs. Alice Wingate, whose husband is a farmer residing in Adams county, Pennsylvania; and Eugene F., who is associated in business with his brother Jonathan. The paternal

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grandfather, Jonathan D. Forrest, a native of the Keystone state, engaged in the prac- tice of law and also served as justice of the peace. The maternal grandfather, Daniel Basehoar, was also a native of Pennsylvania and of Hessian descent.

In the acquirement of an education R. F. Forrest attended Pennsylvania College, where he completed his course in 1881, after which he entered the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with the class of 1883. He has been admitted to the bar in the states of Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Okla- homa and Arkansas and first engaged in practice in Pennsylvania, continuing a resident of that state until 1886, when he went to North Platte, Nebraska. In 1894 he left that city and came to Arkansas, opening an office in Siloam Springs, where he has continued to make his home. He has been admitted to practice in the Federal courts of the state and also has professional interests in Oklahoma, the list of his clients being an exten- sive one. He is a strong and able lawyer, clear and concise in his presentation of a case, logical in his deductions and sound in his reasoning, while in the application of legal principles he is seldom at fault. He has made extensive investments in property, owning a well developed farm of one hundred and twenty acres, a three-acre tract and another comprising five acres within the corporation limits of Siloam Springs and some good residences and town lots.

In 1892 Mr. Forrest was united in marriage to Miss Anna Stolle, a native of Penn- sylvania, and they have become the parents of seven children: Leland Stanford, the eldest, is a graduate of the Arkansas State University and the law school of the Uni- versity of Michigan and is now professor of equity and law at Drake University of Des Moines, Iowa. He entered the World war and was attached to the Thirty-fifth Division, with which he served overseas for a year, having charge of the mustering in and out of men. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and an exemplary representative of the craft; Henry Clay, the next of the family, while a sophomore at the University of Arkansas enlisted in Company B, Second Arkansas Regiment, being at that time eighteen years of age. He received his training at Camp Beauregard and was transferred to the One Hundred and Forty-second Artillery. In January, 1917, he was taken from that command and transferred to Toul, France, where he joined the One Hundred and First Field Artillery, which was attached to the Twenty-sixth Division of the American Expeditionary Force. His hattery was placed in the first line with the French artillery forces and they were the first American troops to fire upon the enemy. He participated in every battle fought by the American forces, including the engagement at Chemin Des Dames, both battles of the Marne and the campaign along that river, the battle of St. Mihiel and the engagement at Verdun, known as the battle of Death Valley, in which four hundred thousand Frenchmen lost their lives, with heavy casualties among the Germans. He was severely gassed but otherwise escaped without injury; Helen Grace, the third in order of birth, who was graduated from the University of Arkansas with the degree of A. B. and L. I., is a teacher of higher mathematics at Colorado Springs, Colorado. She is a member of the Phi Delta sorority; Gladys, who is also a graduate of the State University, is now employed as a stenographer in Siloam Springs; Harold, a high school graduate, is a linotype operator connected with a newspaper published at Siloam Springs: Elizabeth is attending high school; and Eugene Frank is a pupil in the eighth grade of the grammar schools.

The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Forrest gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He is an active worker in its ranks and is a leader of the party in this part of the state. He is a member of Sigma Chi, a college fraternity, and is also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and has passed through all of the chairs in both orders. Industry has been the key which has unlocked for Mr. Forrest the portals to success. He has made wise use of his time, his talents and his opportunities and has won a prominent position in the field to which he has directed his labors, his upright policy gaining for him the respect of his professional colleagues and the confidence of the general public.

JAMES EDWARD JOHNSON, M. D.

Dr. James Edward Johnson, a physician successfully practicing in Fort Smith, was born in Greenwood, Arkansas, in 1890, and is a son of Dr. J. E. and Mary L. (Ryan) Johnson. The father was born near Aberdeen, Mississippi, and studied medicine at Louisville, Kentucky, after which he engaged in practice in Mena, Arkansas, and later removed to Greenwood, where he followed his profession to the time of his demise. He was also prominent in public affairs and served as a member of the state legislature. To him and his wife were horn six children: J. E., of this review; Dr. Hugh Johnson; Anna Johnson, the wife of Dr. M. L. Perry of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Pearl Johnson, the wife

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 103

Author: Herndon, Dallas T. (Dallas Tabor), b. 1878 Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Chicago, Little Rock, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 1172

Author: Herndon, Dallas T. (Dallas Tabor), b. 1878
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago, Little Rock, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1172