Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 130

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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Dr. Watkins was reared on the home farm at Mount Ida, Montgomery county, to which place his parents removed about 1881. ; He there attended the public schools and after deciding upon the practice of medicine as a life work he matriculated in the University of Arkansas as a medical student and was graduated with the class of 1903. He later pursued postgraduate work in the Royal London Ophthalmic Hos- pital of London, England, and since 1904 has followed his profession in Little Rock. specializing in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He has developed marked ability in this field and is regarded as one of the distinguished oculists, aurists and laryngologists of the state. He belongs to the Pulaski County Medical Society and also to the Arkansas State Medical Society.

Dr. Watkins was married July 1, 1909, the lady of his choice being Miss Zelpah Barrow, who was born in Drew county, Arkansas, in 1881, a daughter of John C. Barrow, who for some time resided at Little Rock and died November 23, 1919. Mrs. Watkins is a graduate of an academy at Little Rock and attended the Stuart Girls' School at Staunton, Virginia. By her marriage she has become the mother of four children: Martha Jean; Evelyn Grace; Sarah Eleanor, born February 2, 1913; and John G., Jr., born March 29, 1919. Their first born died at the age of one year. Dr. and Mrs. Watkins are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church, South. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and fraternally he is con- nected with the Knights of Pythias. Outside interests, however, make little claim upon his time and attention, for his activities are concentrated upon his professional duties. He has passed far beyond the point of mediocrity in his professional work

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DR. JOHN G. WATKINS

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and stands among the successful few having intimate and accurate knowledge of the science which has to do with the field of labor in which he specializes. He is a forceful and resourceful man and one whose ability and optimism inspire the con- fidence and courage of others.

J. M. VANDOVER.

J. M. Vandover, who was a resident of Benton county for forty-six years, died on the 21st of November, 1916, in Rogers, where for a number of years he had been successfully engaged in the live stock and livery business. He had attained the ripe old age of seventy-seven years, his birth having occurred in Missouri in 1839. His father, Theodore Vandover, spent his entire life in Missouri, where he followed the occupation of farming throughout his active business career.

J. M. Vandover, who was the eldest in a family of twelve children, obtained his education in the schools of his native state and after his textbooks were put aside secured a position as assistant overseer of a large plantation. At the time of the out- break of the Civil war he joined the Confederate forces and served throughout the entire period of hostilities between the north and the south, holding the rank of sergeant when the conflict ended. He was wounded at the battle of Pea Ridge and surrendered at Houston, Texas. Subsequently he made his way to Hempstead county, Arkansas, pur- chased a farm largely on credit and hegan its cultivation with the assistance of negroes. Success attended his efforts, so that he was soon able to pay for the property. The year 1870 witnessed his arrival in Benton county, where he purchased another farm, of which he later disposed. Then turning his attention to the live stock and livery business, he conducted his interests along that line with excellent results to the time of his demise, his capable management and untiring industry bringing him to the point of prosperity. His widow is still the owner of two large business properties in Rogers.

In 1866 Mr. Vandover was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie Dudley, a native of Ripley county, Missouri, and a daughter of James and Millie (Walker) Dudley, who were born, respectively, in Dickson and Hickman counties, Tennessee, and removed to Missouri in the latter '50s. When the Civil war hegan they removed to Texas and after the cessation of hostilities came to Benton county, Arkansas, where they spent the re- mainder of their lives. Their family numbered seven children, of whom three are living: Monroe, who is living retired in Abilene, Texas; Columbus, who makes his home on a farm in Benton county; and Mrs. Vandover. Riley Dudley, the eldest of the children, served as a lieutenant in the Coufederate army.

To Mr. and Mrs. Vandover were born four children: W. H., a successful stockman of Rogers, Arkansas; Riley C., also living in Rogers; Mattie, the wife of Bert Cadman, who is an express agent of Rogers; and Bell, who married C. A. Rogers and died at the age of forty-four years.

In politics Mr. Vandover was a democrat and his religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which organization his wife also belongs. His well spent life commended him to the esteem and goodwill of all with whom he was associated, so that his demise brought a sense of bereavement to an extensive circle of friends as well as to his immediate family. Mrs. Vandover yet makes her home in Rogers, where she is well known by reason of her long residence and is held in high regard.

THOMAS STEPHEN BUZBEE.

Thomas Stephen Buzbee, who since the 1st of January, 1916, has been senior partner in the firm of Buzbee, Pugh & Harrison, attorneys of Little Rock, and who has been a representative of the bar of this city since 1900, was here born September 6, 1875, his parents being John S. and Emma (Speer) Buzbee. The father, a native of South Carolina, became a merchant of Little Rock at an early day and for an extended period was prominently identified with the commercial interests of the city, remaining in business to the time of his death in 1885. His widow, a native of Mississippi, still makes her home in the capital city.

At the usual age Thomas S. Buzbee entered the public schools and therein continued his studies until about twelve years of age, when he hecame a stenographer and was thus empoyed to the age of twenty-four years in the law department of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway. It was through the discharge of his duties in that connection that his interest in law was aroused and he resolved to prepare for

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the bar. Accordingly he devoted the hours which are usually termed leisure to the mastery of the principles of jurisprudence, studying at different periods under such able preceptors as George E. Dodge, Colonel Benjamin S. Johnson and John M. Moore of Little Rock. He thus qualified for his chosen profession and was admitted to practice in 1900. His first professional position was that of assistant attorney in the office of the general solicitor of the Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad Company and he continued to act in that capacity for some time after the road was absorbed by the Rock Island System. In 1906 he was made attorney for the Rock Island for the states of Arkansas and Louisiana, with headquarters in Little Rock. This corporation had extensive interests in the two states and as representative of the legal department, large and important executive duties devolved upon Mr. Buzbee. He also built up an extensive private practice and proved himself admirably equipped to handle all kinds of cases and handle them well. On the 1st of January, 1916, he became a member of the law firm of Buzbee, Pugh & Harrison, which was organized at Little Rock, with Mr. Buzbee as senior partner. Through the intervening period of more than five years this firm has attained a foremost position at the Little Rock bar, with a practice that is most extensive and of a representative character.

On the 9th of October, 1895, Mr. Buzbee was married to Miss Minnie Lee Wooldridge, a native of Little Rock and a daughter of James Wooldridge, who died in 1916. Mr. and Mrs. Buzhee have two children: Alvin and Martha Emma. The son, born in 1896, was graduated from the University of Michigan in 1920 and on the 25th of June of that year, was married in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Miss Marion Ardath Paul.

Mr. Buzbee has always voted with the democratic party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. During the World war he served on the questionnaire board for Pulaski county and was active in connection with the bond and Red Cross drives. He was also state manager of the speakers' division and in this connection thoroughly systematized the work, that all sections of the state might be advised upon the real issues and conditions growing out of the war. He is a most active and prominent mem- ber of the Winfield Memorial Methodist Episcopal church, South, of which he has served as steward, and he belongs to the Country Club and other social organizations, which are indicative of his genial nature and his unfeigned cordiality. He regards nothing as foreign to himself that has to do with the welfare and uplift of his fellowmen and the benefit of the community at large.

HARVEY LAMAR CROSS.

Harvey Lamar Cross, who since 1914 has been grand recorder for Arkansas of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, is also well known as a journalist, being the founder cf the Bentonville Weekly Sun, which he established thirty-one years ago. His identifi- cation with newspaper interests dates from 1874 and he is one of the best known editors in the state. Mr. Cross is a native of Missouri, his birth having occurred near Cameron, in Caldwell county, on the 6th of March, 1852. His parents were William H. and Fannie (Johnston) Cross, both of whom were born near Batavia, Ohio. The father was of Scotch descent, while the mother was of Irish lineage, the founder of the Johnston family in America emigrating from Ireland in an early day and settling in Ohio. In 1832 William H. Cross removed to Caldwell county, Missouri, where for many years he devoted his attention to the operation of a farm, his death occurring at Cameron, Missouri, in 1895, when he had reached an advanced age, while Mrs. Cross died in 1902 at the age of eighty-three years. In their family were the following children: Charles W., a resi- dent of Melvern, Kansas; David E., who died at St. Joseph, Missouri; John A., a well known attorney of Lathrop, Missouri; James H., residing at Cameron, that state; Harvey Lamar, of this review; Fannie, who married Lafayette Maper and died at Mirabile, Missouri; Mary E., the wife of Alonzo Carr of Polo, Missouri; Allie, who married B. F. Beckett, also a resident of Mirabile; and Josie, who married R. G. Howard of Cameron, Missouri.

After completing his public school course Harvey L. Cross became a student at Smith Academy of Cameron, Missouri, from which he was graduated in 1870. He had engaged in teaching in the public schools of Caldwell county, Missouri, for a time and in 1870 he began farming in that county, following that occupation for a period of four years. He then became interested in journalism, founding the Winston Independent at Winston, Missouri. In 1887 he sold that paper and published the Daily and Weekly Sun at Cameron, Missouri, until 1891, when he sold his interests in that state and removed to Bentonville, Arkansas. Here he founded the Weekly Sun, which he has since owned, producing a paper of much interest and value to the community. The plant is thoroughly modern and the Sun is published in accordance with the most progressive

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ideas of modern journalism. It now has a large circulation and it is regarded as one of the best weeklies in the state. In 1893 Mr. Cross began the publication of the fra- ternal journal, the A. O. U. W. Guide, the official organ of that order, which he joined in 1891, his connection therewith forming one of the important interests of his life. He is one of the most prominent members of that organization in Arkansas. At the convention held at Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1896 he was chosen grand recorder of the Grand Lodge of the state, an office which he filled continuously for a period of fourteen years, there being no opposing candidate. For ten years he acted as supreme representa- tive of his state in the supreme lodge sessions at national conventions and he also became well known as a lecturer, extending his subjects to Masonry and life insurance in general. He acted as state agent for the St. Louis National Life Insurance Company, of which he also served as a director, and in 1914 went to Little Rock, Arkansas, as grand recorder for the state of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in which capacity he is now serving, doing valuable work in that connection. Since 1915 the Sun has been conducted by his daughter, Mrs. Frank W. Peel, well known in literary circles of Arkansas.

On the 25th of September, 1870, Mr. Cross was united in marriage to Miss Ella Zann Rineman, a daughter of Isaiah and Isabelle (Lloyd) Rineman, the former a native of Coshocton, Ohio, and the latter of Baltimore, Maryland. They were the parents of four children: Napoleon, Richard, Mary and Elia Zann. Mr. and Mrs. Cross have a family of three children: Don L., a well known life insurance man of Little Rock, who married Mary Peel; Zillah Z., the wife of Frank W. Peel of Bentonville, Arkansas; and Victor I., who married Susie Bohart. These children were all born on the same day of the month, the 29th, a most interesting coincidence.

Mr. Cross is an earnest and active member of the Christian church, in which he is serving as a deacon, and in addition to his connection with the Ancient Order of United Workmen he is also identified with the Knights of Pythias, the Masons and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. In his political views he is a democrat. He is actuated by a progressive spirit in all that he undertakes and while conducting his newspaper work he made the Sun the champion of every movement calculated to upbuild Benton- ville and promote the growth of the surrounding district. His influence is at all times on the side of advancement and improvement and he is discharging the duties of his present office in a most capable and satisfactory manner, liis worth as a man and citizen being widely acknowledged.

S. S. BUELL.

S. S. Buell, an enterprising and progressive merchant of Green Forest, engaged in the hardware trade, was horn December 9, 1869, in the city which is still his home, his parents being George D. and Hester (Thorne) Buell, who were natives of Marietta, Ohio, and of Parkersburg, West Virginia, respectively. The latter was a daughter of Mike Thorne, a native of Virginia, who removed to Berryville, Arkansas, in an early day and settled upon a farm near the town, there spending the remainder of his life. Following the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. George D. Buell they located in Virginia, where they lived for two years and then came to Arkansas about 1850, remaining in this state throughout the balance of their days except for a period of three years which was spent in Missouri during the Civil war. They made the trip to Arkansas by boat, landing at Clarksville, whence they came across the country to Green Forest. Mr. Buell here entered land and his remaining days were passed upon his farm. He was a successful. self-made man. He taught school for a number of years and in his farming operations displayed careful management and sound judgment, so that substantial results accrned. Through his business activity and his prominence in other connections he became well known throughout the county. He also held some county offices and was always active in politics as a supporter of the republican party. His religions faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church. To him and his wife were born nine children, of whom four are yet living: John A., who is a merchant of Green Forest, Arkansas; D. C., a farmer residing at Van Buren; S. S., of this review; and C. D., living on the farm that his father owned.

S. S. Buell was educated in the schools of Berryville and began life as a farm bred boy, taking up the occupation of tilling the soil when he started out in the husiness world independently. Later he engaged in the lumber business at Green Forest and devoted his attention to the management of his lumberyard until 1915, when he sold the prop- erty and turned his attention to the hardware trade. He now carries a very large stock of general hardware and has been quite successful in the management of his interests.

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He has ever recognized the fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement and he has therefore put forth every effort to please his customers.

In 1890 Mr. Buell was married to Miss Neva Benton, who was born in Fort Scott, Kansas, a daughter of G. W. Benton, who came to Arkansas about 1874 and followed carpentering in this state. Mr. and Mrs. Buell are the parents of seven children: Frank, a farmer living at Alpena Pass; Arkansas; Claude E., who is now engaged in the hard- ware business with his father; Lydia, the wife of Henry Emmett, a farmer of Green Forest; Q. M., who is in the hardware business with his father; Cleo, the wife of Blake McMahan, residing on a farm in Carroll county; James H., in school; and Thelma Lce, also in school. Two of the sons are veterans of the World war. Claude E., was trained at Pensacola, Florida, where he remained for thirty days and then went across, spending about eleven months in the service on one of the convoys. Q. M. was also in the army but was held at Little Rock throughout the entire period of his connection with the military forces of the country.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Buell are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fra- ternally he is a Mason and an Odd Fellow and has passed through the chairs of the latter lodge three times. In politics he is an earnest republican and has served on the county central committee for the last twenty years. He does all in his power to advance the interests of his party yet devotes the major part of his attention to his store and his farm. He owns a farm property three miles from Green Forest and finds interest and recreation in its supervision and control. He is truly a self-made man and one who deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, as his success is the direct reward of persistent and earnest individual effort.

ROBERT T. SESSIONS.

In every community are found the men who are leaders in connection with business and public interests-men whose enterprise and determination carry them steadily for- ward, while their labors result not only in individual benefit but also in public progress. Such a man is Robert T. Sessions, who is engaged in merchandising at Winthrop, where he also owns and conducts a sawmill. He was here born February 19, 1876, and was reared upon a farm about three miles from the town. His early education was acquired in the public schools near his father's home and he afterward attended the high school at Lockesburg, while subsequently he matriculated in the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, studying there for a year. He taught school through several summer terms and eventually turned his attention to merchandising, continuing in the business for several years. He afterward established a drug store, of which he was proprietor for four years, and then carried on general merchandising, his progressive and reliable business methods gaining for him a substantial patronage. In 1906 he turned his atten- tion to the real estate business and throughout the intervening period has been a promi- nent factor in this field of activity, negotiating many important property transfers. He also owns and operates three sawmills, all in Little River county, and he conducts an extensive business as a tie contractor. His interests are thus varied and important, constituting valuable features in the steady industrial and commercial growth of his part of the state.

Mr. Sessions was united in marriage to Miss Mabel Davis and they have become parents of two children, Dorothy and Evelyn. Mr. Sessions belongs to the Masonic fraternity and has become a member of Ashdown Chapter, R. A. M. His political endorse- ment is given to the democratic party and he has served on the central committee of the county. While he has never been ambitious to hold political office, he has always labored earnestly to secure the success of his party and to have in office men capable of wisely controlling the business of town, county and commonwealth. He has served as president of the school board and he is found as a stalwart champion of every plan that has for its object the promotion of public progress and improvement. In business his judgment is sound, his enterprise unfaltering and his persistency of purpose and laudable ambition have constituted the key which has unlocked for him the portals of success.

JAMES H. FORBES.

A prominent figure in the commercial circles of southern Arkansas is James H. Forbes, secretary and treasurer of the Four States Grocery Company of Texarkana, a position to which he has attained through perseverance, industry and ability. He was born in Wilson county, Tennessee, November 1, 1866. and was there reared upon

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a farm. He acquired a common school education and also received private instruction. In young manhood he went to Mckinney, Texas, where he started out in the husiness world as an employe in a retail grocery house, thus gaining considerable knowledge of the business and laying the foundation for his later success. He continued to work along that line for eighteen years and theu went upon the road as a traveling sales- man for the Collin County Mill & Elevator Company, with which he was thus con- nected for three years. On the expiration of that period he came to Texarkana, Arkansas, and took active part in incorporating and organizing the Four States Whole- sale Grocery Company, which he represented upon the road for two years, contributing in large measure to the upbuilding of the trade during that period. He then became secretary of the company in 1907 and at the present time is hoth secretary and treasurer. The business of the house has steadily grown and developed until the ramifying trade connections now cover Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. He is also a director and the vice president of the Miller County Bank & Trust Company, of which he was one of the organizers. In all business affairs he displays sound judgment and keen discrimination and accomplishes his purposes hecause his plans are well defined and he possesses untiring industry.

Mr. Forbes has always manifested keen interest in the public welfare and is one of the directors of the Chamber of Commerce. He is likewise a member of the Rotary Club and one of the trustees of the city disposal plant. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he has member- ship in the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a trustee and steward. His cooperation can always be counted upon to further any plan or measure for the public good and his influence has been a potent force on the side of public advancement.

JAMES CURRAN CONWAY.

James Curran Conway is the secretary of the Southern Trust Company. Honored and respected by all, he occupies a most enviable position in business and financial circles, his prominence, however, being due not only to the success he has made, but to the honorable and straightforward business methods he has ever followed, to the fact that he is a representative of one of the distinguished southern families and that he has cast his lot in life in harmony with that of his ancestry. He has the distinction of being a grandson of the first elected governor of Arkansas and is a native son of Little Rock, his birth having occurred on the 25th of November, 1888. His father, Frederick Elias Conway, was horn in Arkansas in 1849 and was a son of Governor James Sevier Conway, a native of Greene county, Tennessee, born on the 5th of December, 1796. His parents were Thomas and Ann Conway, whose family numbered seven children, five others of whom attained eminence in connection with public life, these heing: Henry Wharton, territorial delegate; Elias Nelson, auditor and governor; Frederick Rector, surveyor general of Missouri; John Rector, who was widely known as a physician and surveyor; and William Conway B., who was circuit and supreme court judge and who used the letter B at the end of his name to dis- tinguish him from another William Conway, who was constantly getting his mail. and as neither of them had a middle name he added the letter B to his name, thus referring to his old home at Bardstown, Kentucky. It was in the year 1816 that James Sevier Conway removed to St. Louis, Missouri, and in 1820 he came to Arkansas on a surveying expedition. He took up his abode in the territory in 1823, purchasing a farm on Red river in Lafayette county. Two years later, through appointment of President John Quincy Adams, he surveyed the western boundary of the territory from Red river to the Arkansas, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, the task claiming his attention for nearly three months. Thirty years afterward this line was resurveyed and was found not to vary an inch from his survey in its whole length. President Andrew Jackson appointed him in 1831 to make the survey of the southern boundary, through a country of interminable swamps and marshes and for a period of three months, he, as commissioner for Arkansas, in association with R. A. Crane, com- missioner for Louisiana, was either wading through the streams and swamps or breaking the ice to make progress. The hardships and strenuous life greatly undermined his health. On the 21st of June, 1832, he was appointed surveyor general of the territory of Arkansas, upon the creation of the office, and was serving in that position when elected governor. Arkansas was admitted to the Union after an all-night session of congress and the most protracted debate. In a public letter James S. Conway said that the people ought to be grateful to the friends of General Jackson for bringing Arkansas into the Union "in opposition to the united efforts of the trio-party of federalists, national republicans and nullifiers assisted hy the anti-Masons." Mr. Con-

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 130

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