Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 115

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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On the 8th of June, 1881, Dr. Thompson was married to Miss Minta Bennett, a native of Logan county and a daughter of Joseph Bennett, one of the old-time pioneers of Arkansas. . They had three children: Dennis, the eldest, was educated at Paris until he had completed his public school course and then entered upon the study of dentistry in Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, where he was graduated in 1909. The following year he married Edith McCubbin and they have two children, Dennis R. and Edith Marie. While in college Dr. Dennis Thompson became a mem- ber of the Delta Sigma Delta and since entering upon practice he has made for him- . self a most creditable position in professional circles in Paris; Holman B., the second son, was graduated at Little Rock and is now engaged in the practice of medicine at Fort Smith; Robert, the youngest, is in a drug store at Paris. The wife and mother departed this life November 18, 1888, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, of which she was a loyal member.

In November, 1899, Dr. Thompson was married to Miss Lydia Cravens, who was born in Logan county, Arkansas, a daughter of Nehemiah Cravens, a Logan county pioneer, who served through the Civil war and was wounded in battle. To Dr. and Mrs.

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Thompson have been horn eight children: Claude, who is employed in a drug store in Paris; Ocie, who is the wife of Conway Gardner, a planter and merchant of Tupelo, Arkansas, who has large farming interests; Ray, who is connected with the drug husi- ness at Paris; Nehemiah, a salesman for the Little Rock Grocery Company, residing at Dardanelle; Buford, Grady and Laven, who are attending high school; and Woodrow Wilson, who has entered school.

The Doctor and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and he belongs also to the Masonic fraternity, loyally following the teachings of both organizations. In politics he is a democrat but not an office seeker, devoting the greater part of his time and attention to his practice. He has taken postgraduate work at New Orleans, attending Tulane University in 1904, and he is a member of both the Logan County Medical Society and the Arkansas State Medical Society, so that through their proceedings he keeps in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and progress.

H. C. ELLER.

H. C. Eller, the proprietor of the Interstate Garage & Storage Company and a civil engineer by profession, was horn August 9, 1880, on a farm about six miles south of Indianapolis, Indiana, his parents being W. J. and Mary Bell (Curry) Eller. His grandfather in the paternal line was the Rev. F. A. Eller, a minister of the Methodist church, who was located for some time at Bloomington, Indiana. His son, W. J. Eller, devoted his life to the occupation of farming. He wedded Mary Bell Curry and the latter still survives, making her home in Detroit. They were the parents of the fol- lowing named: Dr. Charles A. Eller, a physician, who is now mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico; O. H .; Mrs. Katherine Frishy; and Mrs. Ida Bell.

H. C. Eller obtained his education in the schools of Indianapolis until he had mastered the public school course, while later he hecame a student in the Indiana State University, there pursuing a course in civil engineering. Just prior to coming to Arkansas he was engaged in the oil refinery business in Kansas. He removed to this state in 1903, coming as a civil engineer to complete the Midland Valley Survey, which was then being made. From 1906 until 1918 he was again interested in oil, both in handling leases and in the refining of oil in the Oklahoma territory, covering the districts of Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Muskogee. On the 20th of January, 1918, he returned to Fort Smith and here established husiness under the name of the Interstate Garage & Storage Company. The garage has a floor space seventy-five by one hundred and forty-five feet and he has developed a substantial business in the conduct of this en- terprise. His ambition, however, lies in the pursuit of his profession, that of civil engineering, and he hopes soon to dispose of his garage and give his attention to road building and other engineering work in Fort Smith.

Mr. Eller was united in marriage to Miss Edith Upton, a native of Kentucky, and they have become parents of four children: William James, Annabelle Lee, Edith Charlotte and Jack. Mr. Eller is a loyal follower of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He also belongs to the Business Men's Club of Fort Smith and cooperates in all of the projects of that organization for the development of business in Fort Smith and the maintenance of high civic standards here. He has ever been actuated by a laudable ambition and the progress that he has already made indicates further advance for him in the future.

JOHN HENRY BIRD.

A life of well directed business activity has brought to John Henry Bird a substantial measure of success. He makes his home in Camden and although he is one of the more recent additions to the citizenship of that place he has become well established in the regard and goodwill of his fellow townsmen. Mr. Bird is a native . of Coosa county, Alahama, born August 14, 1866. His grandfather was a native of Wilcox county, that state, and for many generations the ancestors of John H. Bird have been residents of America. His father, John W. Bird, was born in Coosa county, Alabama, February 5, 1843, and is now living with a daughter, Annie, at the age of seventy-nine years. He was in the service of the Confederate army from June 12, 1861, until June 12, 1865, or for exactly a period of four years. He was a prisoner at Fort Look- out, Maryland, when the war ended. He had served as color-bearer for the Fifty-ninth Alabama Regiment. He now fills the office of constable of Ecore Fahre township, Ouachita county, having occupied the position for the past thirty years. During his

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active life he has held various other public offices, serving as deputy sheriff, as marshal, as policeman and as constable. He married Caroline Earheart, who was born in South Carolina, November 4, 1845, and is now living, at the age of seventy-six years. They have traveled life's journey together as man and wife for fifty-six years, having been married in Coosa county, Alabama, August 15, 1865. As the years have been added to the cycle of the centuries their mutual love and confidence has increased and together they have met courageously the hardships and trials of life and shared in its joys and in the prosperity that has come to them. Mr. and Mrs. Bird have a family of ten children and have reared thirteen, having taken others into their household. John H. Bird is the eldest and the others are: Richard; Alice; Oscar; Garland; Annie; Minnie; Meek; Walter, who died at the age of thirty-two years; and Fannie, who died at the age of nine years.

John Henry Bird was educated through his personal efforts. He had but limited opportunities in his youth but made the best possible use of his time and of the chances that came to him. He took up his abode in Camden in 1881 and engaged in packing shingles for R. D. Newton of this place for a period of twelve years. He afterward became a salesman for the Singer Sewing Machine and represented that business for a quarter of a century. The fact that he so long continued with the company is in- disputable proof of his ability, fidelity and determination, qualities which have been the salient features in the attainment of his present-day success. He now has oil in- terests in El Dorado. He owns forty acres of land in proven territory which is yet undeveloped but which is quite valuable. He purchased this land many years ago with the purpose in view of raising his children away from city influences and the land has turned out to be of great worth in connection with the oil industry of the southwest. He likewise has property holdings in Little Rock and Camden and has made judicious investments of his means, so that his annual income is a most grati- fying and substantial one. From 1897 until July 27, 1921, he lived in El Dorado and then removed his family to Camden, where he now makes his home.

On the 18th of February, 1892, Mr. Bird was united in marriage to Miss Betty Hickey of Camden, Arkansas, who was the daughter of Overton Hickey, now deceased. Her father was at one time a Protestant Methodist minister and was one of the pioneer preachers of northern Arkansas, becoming widely known in his section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Bird have become parents of the following children, all living, with one exception. The children are: Harry, who is a machinist of El Dorado and who married Miss Annie Mason of Louisiana; Horace, who is a boiler-maker and who married Miss Lulu Brown of De Moines, Iowa. He served eighteen months with the American Expedi- tionary Forces in France as an aviation mechanic; Homer, who is also a boiler-maker and who married Miss Rondie Murphy of El Dorado, in which place they make their home; Walter, who is a car mechanic, now living in El Dorado; Floy, who was drowned in the Ouachita river, July 4, 1918, at the age of seventeen years; Wharton, Hubert and Mildred, at home. It is Mr. Bird's purpose to rear his children to lives of usefulness in the world and this is attested by the fact that his sons have become connected with trades that make them valuable factors in business circles. The re- ligious faith of the family is that of the Methodist church and Mr. Bird and his wife quite loyally follow its teachings, taking an active part in the various divisions of the church work, doing all in their power to promote Christian standards.

ELBERT HAYS WILKES, M. D.

Dr. Elbert Hays Wilkes, an alumnus of the University of Arkansas, who has en- gaged in practice in Little Rock since his graduation in 1909, was born October 7, 1878, on a farm in Madison county, Tennessee, and is one of a family of two sons and a daughter, whose parents are James S. and Josephine (Hays) Wilkes. The parents were also natives of Tennessee, the former born in Haywood county, in 1832, and the latter born in Madison county, in 1842. They were married in Madison county, in 1877. The father's death occurred in 1898, while the mother died at Crossett, Arkansas, in 1913. The three children are living. For four years James S. Wilkes served in the Confederate army. He always gave his political allegiance to the democratic party and in days of peace his attention was given to farming.

The youth of Dr. Wilkes was spent on the home farm in his native county and he completed his public school education in the high school at Mercer, Tennessee. He afterward attended the West Tennessee College in Madison county for two years, thus acquiring his more specifically literary training and in preparation for the practice of medicine he matriculated in the University of Arkansas, completing a course in the medical department with the class of 1909. He has continued his residence in this

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state to the present time. Locating in Little Rock he has here successfully practiced, gaining a substantial patronage as the years have gone by.

On the 30th of April, 1910, Dr. Wilkes was married to Miss Bessie Lee Matthews, who was born in the town of Des Arc, Arkansas, October 7, 1886, and who attended the Arkansas College at Batesville. They have become parents of two children: Frances Nell, who was born May 14, 1911; and Elbert H., who was born May 30, 1915. Dr. and Mrs. Wilkes are active and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, in which he is serving as one of the stewards. His political faith is that of the democratic party. His appreciation for the social amenities of life is seen in his connection with fraternal organizations and in Masonry he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and has become a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise helongs to the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Civitan Club, while along professional lines he is connected with the Pulaski County Medical Society and in 1909 was elected to the presidency of the Prairie County Medical So- ciety. He likewise belongs to the Arkansas State Medical Society and to the Ameri- can Medical Association, his connection with these bodies indicating his desire thoroughly to acquaint himself with all of the advanced thought of the profession and all those truths which have come to light through experience, investigation and re- search on the part of his contemporaries.

S. H. BLACKMER.

A life of intense and well directel activity has brought S. H. Blackmer to a po- sition where he can put aside business cares and enjoy in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil. For many years he was extensively anl successfully engaged in contracting but is now living retired. He is nearing the seventy-eighth milestone on life's journey but in spirit and interest seems a much younger m :n He was born about eight miles from Fayetteville, September 2, 1844, and is a son of Shepard and Charity (Luper) Blackmer, the former a native of New England, while the latter was horn in Tennessee, being a daughter of Allen Luper, who came to Washington county, Arkansas, at a very early period in the settlement and development of this section of the state. He was a farmer by occupation and died here. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shepard Blackmer was celebrated in Washington county, where he had arrived in the early '40s. He also devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits and to the brick mason's trade. He owned and cultivated a farm and the careful management of his business affairs made him one of the well-to-do men of the community. He died in California in 1852 and his wife's death occurred in Indian Territory. She was a mem- ber of what was known as the Hardshell Baptist church. Mr. and Mrs. Blackmer had four children, but only two are living: S. H., of this review; and Mary, who is the widow of Stephen Byrnes, formerly a merchant of Springfield, Missouri.

S. H. Blackmer was educated in Washington county, Arkansas, and when still a youth in his teens he enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining the Union army on the 1st of February, 1863, and remained at the front until the 10th of August, 1865. He participated in the battles of Fayetteville and Jenkin Ferry and in a number of skirmishes and most loyally performed his duties until the country no longer needed his military aid. After the war he returned home and began work at the brick mason's and plasterer's trade. Subsequently he went to Springfield, Missouri, where he was employed for four years and then came to Fayetteville, where he has worked con- tinuously since. He has done brick work and plastering in nearly all of the buildings on the public square and in many of the leading residences of the city. For more than a half century he has followed this line of business and his industry and per- severance have brought to him the success which is now his.

On the 26th of August, 1869, Mr. Blackmer was married to Miss Docia Virginia Fallin, mentioned in connection with the sketch of Joseph Fallin on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Blackmer have become parents of four children: A son, Alonzo Clinton, died at the age of eighteen years. He was a student in the University of Arkansas at the time of his death. He was the oldest of the family; Mary Stella is the wife of George W. Bashaw, a valuation engineer of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, living in the city of Denver; Lillie L. married Frank Murtha, and has six children, two of whom are living, F. M., Jr., and Virginia H. These two children were reared by Mr. and Mrs. Blackmer, as their mother died when they were children; Albert H., is the fourth child of Mr. and Mrs. Blackmer. He is a hrick mason, located at Bristow, Oklahoma. He was a star football man of his class during his term in the University of Arkansas.

Politically Mr. Blackmer has always been an earnest republican and loyally sup-

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ports the party at all times. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having taken the degrees of the lodge, chapter and council and he has served as master of his lodge, while at the present time he is treasurer of the chapter. His religious faith is that of the Christian church and he has served as one of its deacons for a number of years. His has been a well-spent life. He started out in the business world empty- handed, having nothing following the close of the Civil war. In the years which have since come and gone he has won a substantial measure of success and at one time he owned considerable property. He is now taking life easy, leaving active work to others. He has ever enjoyed the respect and confidence of all with whom he has been associated and those who know him bear testimony to his many sterling traits of character, to his fairness in every relation of life and to his undaunted integrity, so that his word.has ever been as good as any bond solemnized by signature or seal.

T. J. COLLIER, SR.

T. J. Collier, Sr., a well known cotton planter residing at Pine Bluff, was born in a log cabin on the present site of Altheimer, Arkansas, July 18, 1870, his parents being T. H. and Edna J. (Jones) Collier. The father was a native of Alabama and a veteran of the Civil war, having served in the Confederate army. Removing to Arkansas, he settled in Jefferson county, where he became a pioneer cotton planter, owning a large plantation at Altheimer. He thus carried on business extensively and successfully until the time of his death and became widely known in that connection throughout this section of the state. It was in the year 1919 that he was called to his final rest. He reared a family of six children, all of whom are living in Arkansas.

T. J. Collier, whose name introduces this review, pursued a course of study in Central University of Richmond, Kentucky, and continued his education in the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, while subsequently he attended the Eastman Col- lege at Poughkeepsie, New York, being thus well qualified by liberal educational train- ing for the practical and responsible duties of life. He was reared on the old home plantation and after attaining adult age became associated with his father in the planting and growing of cotton at Altheimer, Arkansas, under the firm style of T. H. Collier & Son. In 1914 they removed to Pine Bluff and organized the cotton brokerage firm of T. J. Collier & Son, under which name the plantation is also conducted. T. J. Collier, Sr., is today one of the largest cotton planters in the state, now owning six thousand acres of land devoted to the culture of the crop. He has made a most thorough and comprehensive study of cotton raising, knows the conditions of the soil and the needs of the plant and his methods are at once scientific and practical.

Mr. Collier was united in marriage to Miss Kitty King, who was born in Memphis, and they are parents of a son and a daughter: T. J., Jr., and Kathleen. The son was educated in the Virginia Military Institute, also in the Louisiana State University and the latter institution conferred upon him the Master of Science degree in 1913. He was an instructor in chemistry in the Louisiana University in 1914. He married Elizabeth Adams, a daughter of James Adams, and they have become the parents of one child, Ann.

During the World war Mr. Collier took an active interest in upholding all those forces and agencies which made for the benefit of the country in its relations with the allied armies, devoting all of his time to war work without compensation. He was chairman of the Red Cross war drives of Jefferson county and also chairman of the home service. He likewise served as chairman of the committee having in charge the first and second Liberty Loan drives. He also has taken an active interest in Masonry, having served as worshipful master of Robert E. Lee Lodge, No. 313, F. & A. M., for fourteen years and illustrious potentate of Sahara Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., for four years and is a thirty-second degree Mason. The Collier family is widely and prominently known in this section of the state, occupying an enviable social position, while Mr. Collier is highly esteemed by reason of his business ability, his progressive citizenship and his interest in all those things that are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride.

PHILIP McNEMER.

Philip McNemer, active in the practice of law since 1910 and throughout this period identified with the Little Rock bar, was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, October 8, 1888, and he is the eldest of a family of three children, horn to Jolin F. and Sallie (Crabtree) McNemer. The father's birth occurred in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1865,

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while the mother was also born in that place. Their marriage was celebrated in Owensboro in 1886 and their children are: Philip; Kathleen, who died in 1904, at the age of fourteen years; and Mabel. It was in 1890 that the family home was established iu Little Rock, where the father continued to reside until his death in 1916. He had become a resident of Arkansas in 1890 and was a prominent and influential citizen of Pulaski county for a considerable period. In 1899 he was elected to represent the tenth district of Arkansas to the state senate, remaining a member of the general assembly for two years. His political endorsement was always given to the democratic party. He died October 21, 1916, and is survived by his widow, who makes her home in Little Rock.

Philip McNemer was but two years of age when the family home was established in Arkansas' capital city. When a lad of six he became a pupil in the public schools and mastered the branches of learning taught in successive grades until he was graduated from the high school with the class of 1906. He afterward had the benefit of instruction in the University of Arkansas, in which he pursued his more specifically literary course, gaining the A. B. degree in 1909. He continued as a law student in the University of Arkansas and was graduated with the LL. B. degree in 1910. He is a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. Since 1910 he has devoted his attention to law practice and he brought to the starting point of his legal career certain rare gifts-eloquence of language and a strong personality combined with a logical mind and ready capacity for hard work. An excellent presence, a dignified manner, marked strength of character and a thorough grasp of the law, with ability accurately to apply its principles, have been factors in his effectiveness as an advocate and he has been connected with much important litigations tried in the courts of the district.

On the 20th of March, 1920, in St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. McNemer was married to Miss Gertrude Dick, who was born in St. Louis and completed her education in the Washington University. She is a daughter of John W. Dick of St. Louis, who was born in Scotland and now resides in St. Louis, but his wife is deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. McNemer are members of the Second Baptist church and are in- terested in all those forces which make for the uplift of the individual and the better- ment of the community. In politics Mr. McNemer is a democrat and during the World war he served on the legal advisory board. At all times he has held to high ideals of life and in his profession has ever been careful to conform his practice to the most advanced ethical standards.

JOSEPH B. WHARTON, M. D.

A history of the medical profession of Arkansas must needs present the record of Dr. Joseph B. Wharton, of El Dorado, widely known as a consulting and operating surgeon and as division surgeon for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. After careful preparation he entered upon the active work of the profession and year by year has broadened his knowledge and efficiency through further reading, study and extremely wide experience. He was born in Toledo, Cleveland county, Arkansas, June 30, 1877, and is a son of the Rev. John and Mattie (May) Wharton, also natives of the same county. The father is now a retired Baptist minister, residing in Homer, Louisi- ana. He was long widely known in Arkansas, serving in various pastorates and filling the pulpit of Immanuel church at Little Rock for several years. He was also for a number of years engaged in active ministerial work at Monroe, Louisiana, and for several years at Austin, Texas.

Dr. Wharton pursued his literary education in the Florida State College and in the University of Texas at Austin, where he won the Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of the class of 1895. Thus he laid broad and deep the foundation upon which to build the superstructure of professional learning. The same year he entered the medical department of the University of Texas at Galveston and on the completion of the regular course received his professional degree in June, 1898. Later he pursued a postgraduate course in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Atlanta, Georgia, and that institution conferred upon him the M. D. degree in 1899. Later he served as interne in the Shreveport Charity Hospital of Shreveport, Louisiana, for a year, and on the 1st of April, 1900, took up his abode in El Dorado, where he entered upon the practice of medicine. For seventeen years he engaged in general practice but since 1917 has confined his attention solely to surgery and in the field of his specialty has won notable success. For the past seventeen years he has been division surgeon for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad and also represents Colonel Paul Brown in the Warner Brown Hospital of El Dorado. He was one of the organizers of this hospital, was made vice president and became one of the members of the

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 115

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