Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 137

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. M. D. Black, whose name introduces this review, spent his youthful days under the parental roof and after mastering the preliminary branches of learning taught in the public schools, he continued his education in the University of Tennessee. Like some of his brothers he took up the study of medicine as well as of dentistry and won the M. D. degree in addition to that of D. D. S. He located for practice in Mississippi, remaining at McCool for a time and afterward removing to Tennessee. He opened an office in Memphis and later became a representative of the profession in Marelton. The year 1901 witnessed his arrival in Fort Smith and he now has dental parlors at No. 71016 Garrison avenue. His offices are splendidly appointed and equipped and he shows marked mechanical skill and ingenuity in the use of the multitudinous delicate little instruments which constitute the working equipment of the dentist. Moreover, he keeps in touch with the advanced research and scientific discoveries of the profession and is familiar with all that modern study has brought to light concerning the care of the teeth.

Dr. Black was united in marriage to Minnie Lorene, and they have become parents of two children. They are well known socially in Fort Smith, having an extensive circle of warm friends who entertain for them high regard and who extend to them the hospitality of their homes. Dr. Black is interested in all that pertains to the general welfare and his aid and cooperation are never sought in vain where public interests are concerned.

JOHN B. FOOTE.

One of the strong financial institutions of Hot Springs is the Security Bank, of which John B. Foote is the president. For thirty-one years he has been connected with banking interests and is regarded as an authority on finance in his city. . In the control of the bank he has shown marked business ability, foresight and enterprise and has made for himself a creditable place among the substantial and trustworthy financiers of his part of the state. He is a native of Kentucky, his birth having oc- curred at Louisville, Jefferson county, on the 28th of December, 1871. His parents were Silas Kinney and Amanda Malvina (De Wolf) Foote, the former born in Vermont, in 1827, while the latter's birth occurred in Kinsman, Trumbull county, Ohio, on the 13th of November, 1832. They were married at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1870 and the subject of this review was the only child born of that union, although there were five children by a former marriage. S. K. Foote removed to Louisville and devoted his attention to the life insurance business and was accounted one of the successful business men of his community. He died in 1896, in that city, while the mother survived him for many years, her demise occurring in 1917. Her father, Oratia De Wolf, removed from Connecticut to Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1813, and there followed the occupation of farming, becoming a large landowner. In that state he was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Palmer.

Mr. Foote received limited educational opportunities, attending the public schools of Hot Springs and the Davenport Business College at Davenport, Iowa, from which he was graduated in 1889. In the following year he entered upon his financial career as an employe of the City Savings Bank & Trust Company, which was at that time located on the site of the present Security Bank building. He devoted every energy

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to mastering the business and remained with that company until April, 1896, when the Security Bank was organized and he became associated with the new institution as bookkeeper and teller. His faithful and efficient work in those connections led to his promotion to the office of cashier in November, 1907, and in August, 1920, he was made president, in which capacity he is now serving. He has advanced with the growth of the institution and the policy of the bank is largely the outcome of his opinions, labors and experience. He thoroughly understands the details of modern finance and because of his able and systematic work has won a gratifying measure of success, his efforts proving a potent factor in promoting the growth and development of the institution.

On the 19th of April, 1893, Mr. Foote was united in marriage to Miss Chaffar L. Darby, a native of Marianna, Florida, and a daughter of Benjamin Wade and Anna Jane Darby, who removed to Hot Springs in 1872 and here spent their remaining years. Mr. and Mrs. Foote have become the parents of four children: Anna Malvina, Wilburt Wade, Emily Chaffar and Jane Boswell.

Like his father, Mr. Foote is a republican in his political views and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the First Baptist church. For over three decades he has been connected wth financial interests and as the years have passed he has gained wide experience and expert ability in his line of work. He has labored effectively to broaden the scope of the institution which he represents and his activities have ever been of a character that have contributed to public progress and prosperity, as well as to individual success.

J. T. MCGILL.

For many years the name of McGill has been a prominent and honored one in legal circles of Benton county and J. T. McGill, city attorney of Bentonville, is ably sustaining the traditions of the family in this respect. He has also served as mayor of Bentonville and is a native son of whom the town may well feel proud. He was born July 2, 1885, a son of Leonidas H. McGill, a leading attorney and highly esteemed citizen of Bentouville, extended mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work.

J. T. McGill, the eldest son in a family of ten children, completed a high school course at Bentonville in 1905 and subsequently entered the law department of the State University of Arkansas, from which he was graduated in 1910. For a time he practiced independently but since 1917 has been associated with his father, under the firm name of McGill & McGill and they have been accorded a large and distinctively representative clientage, connecting them with much of the important litigation tried in the courts of the district. Mr. McGill has served as city attorney of Bentonville and efficiently discharged the duties of. that office. While advancement at the bar is proverbially slow, he has made substantial progress, readily mastering the intricacies of the law and preparing his cases with great thoroughness, precision and skill. He has much natural ability hut is withal a hard student, believing in the maxim "There is no excellence without labor" and following it closely.

Mr. McGill is affiliated with the Christian church. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and he has been called upon to fill the office of mayor of Bentonville, in which he made a most creditable record, giving to the town a pro- gressive and businesslike administration. He is a member of the Arkansas State and American Bar Associations, also belongs to Kappa Sigma, a college fraternity, and is likewise connected with the Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past chancellor commander. He has always been loyal to every trust reposed in him and at all times has been actuated by a public-spirited devotion to the general good. His time and attention are concentrated upon his profession, in which he has made continuous progress, and he is recognized as one of the able attorneys of Bentonville.

R. A. WARREN.

Although R. A. Warren has been a resident of Van Buren but a short time, he has achieved a place among the representative business men here. He is active in the conduct of the Warren Drug Store and he enjoys a large and steadily increasing patronage. Mr. Warren is one of Arkansas' sons by adoption, for he was born in Ten- nessee in 1878, a son of Arthur Warren.

R. A. Warren entered the schools of his native state upon attaining school age and after putting his textbooks aside, in due time took his initial step into the business

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world. He entered the drug business in a clerical capacity and has learned that business from the ground up. Quick to take advantage of every opportunity offered he won constant promotion from one position to another, until in 1903 he went into that line of business on his own account. He came to Arkansas in that year and located at Clarksville and was active in business circles there for over fifteen years. He next removed to Poteau, Oklahoma, where he remained two years and in the early part of 1920 he came to Van Buren and purchased the drug store of W. A. Bostick, now secretary of the Business Mens Club of Van Buren. Mr. Warren is accounted one of the energetic, prosperous and capable young business men of the town, a stanch supporter of all worthy and beneficial movements, and a general favorite among those with whom he has come into contact.

In 1900 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Warren to Miss Mattie Kaufman, and to them two children have been born: R. A., Jr., sixteen years of age; and Juanita, seven years of age. Mr. Warren takes an active interest in the development and improvement of the community and he holds membership in the Commercial Club of Van Buren. He was active in the various campaigns during the World war and registered for service just before the signing of the armistice ended hostilities. Mr. Warren is loyal and enterprising, possessing the progressive spirit of the times and accomplishing what he undertakes, and he has won the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come into contact. His business has become one of broad scope and importance and the high reputation of the enterprise constitutes its best business asset.

R. GOFF.

Business enterprise and progressiveness finds a substantial representative in R. Goff. a wholesale grocery merchant of Mena. Possessed of a laudable ambition and inde- fatigable energy he has made steady progress in his commercial career and step by step has advanced until he occupies a prominent position among the successful mer- chants of this section of the state. He is descended from an old family of the state of New York, his grandfather being Harry Goff, who was born there and afterward removed to Michigan, where his remaining days were passed. He was the father of De Witt C. Goff, who was born in New York and accompanied his parents to Michigan in early life. He engaged in conducting a hotel at Breedsville, that state, for many years and was also engaged in the hotel business at Shelby, Michigan, for some time. Eventually he removed to Tennessee, where he again conducted a hotel and later he became a resident of Texarkana, Arkansas, where he turned his attention to farming. In 1894 he arrived in Polk county, Arkansas, where he homesteaded land and for a time devoted his attention to its cultivation but ultimately removed to Cove, where he retired from active business and there his death occurred in the year 1903. He served as a soldier of the Civil war, valiantly defending the Union cause for four years. He entered the service when very young, in fact, misrepresented his age in order to be allowed to join the army. He became a member of the Ninth Michigan Cavalry, serving as a private and afterward as corporal and participated in the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee, and other important engagements. He gave his political allegiance to the republican party. It was in young manhood in Michigan that he married Abigail Church, a native of the state of Vermont and a daughter of Romeo Church, who was a railroad man and was killed while in the railway service. Mrs. Goff survives her husband and now makes her home in Los Angeles, California. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom nine are living, R. Goff being the third in order of birth. D. C. Goff, the eldest, is now engaged in the wholesale grocery business in De Queen, Arkansas; Mabel is the wife of O. C. Kerby, a merchant of Grannis, Arkansas; R. Goff is the next of the family and was born in Michigan, De- cember 12, 1876; Goldie is a widow, residing in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Vivian is the wife of J. C. Hoge, who is engaged in the oil business in Sperry, Oklahoma; G. G. Goff follows merchandising at Cove, Arkansas; A. (. Goff is agent for the Dodge cars at Idabel, Oklahoma: R. D. Goff is conducting a mercantile establishment at Richmond. Arkansas; and Mymia is the wife of Stanley Turner, who is with an oil company at Los Angeles, California.

The educational opportunities accorded R. Goff were extremely limited, as he had the opportunity of attending school for only three terms of three months each, the last term when he was eleven years of age. He then started out to provide for his own support and since that time has worked his way steadily upward. He was first employed in a sawmill and later he worked as delivery boy in connection with grocery stores, while ultimately he became a clerk in different stores. His training and experience along this line made him desirous of engaging in business on his own

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account and he carefully saved his earnings until his industry and economy had brought him sufficient capital to enable him to take this step. In 1903 he opened a small general store at Cove, Arkansas, with a capital of six hundred dollars, the savings from his salary. In 1911 he removed to Mena but still owns an interest in the store at Cove, carried on under the firm style of Goff Brothers & Gamble Company, of which he is the vice president. In the meantime the business had steadily developed until it became one of large proportions and their enterprise is today one of the foremost commercial interests of Cove. With his removal to Mena in 1911 Mr. Goff established the wholesale grocery house of which he is now the head. The business was incorporated and was capitalized for twenty thousand dollars, which sum has since been doubled. The company has accumulated from its earnings eighty thousand dollars and has paid forty-two thousand dollars in dividends. In a word, the enter- prise has been very profitable from the beginning, owing to the careful management and splendid business ability of Mr. Goff and his associates. He has carefully studied the market, so that he has been able to make judicious purchases and profitable sales. Moreover, he always carries a splendid line of goods of standard quality and his earnest efforts to please his patrons and his thorough reliability in all business trans- actions, have ever been potent elements in the attainment of his present-day success. He now devotes practically his entire time and attention to the wholesale business and carries a large stock, not only of groceries hut of dry goods. From time to time he has extended the scope of his activities by the establishment of other houses and now is interested in four wholesale groceries-in Mena, in Ashdown, in De Queen and in Poteau. He is the president of the company operating at Mena and vice president of the De Queen establishment, while in the house at Poteau he is senior partner. owning a half interest. He is, indeed, a self-made man and deserves all the credit which that term implies, for he has made every dollar that he possesses since he was twenty-four years of age. He has also acquired a good practical education since entering business and as the years have passed he has steadily progressed along many lines. He has much real estate in Mena and considerable farm property, having made judicious investments in realty as opportunity has offered.

In January, 1899, Mr. Goff was married to Miss Dora Gore, who was born in Tennessee, a daughter of I. H. Gore, now living a retired life in Cove, Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. Goff have become parents of five children, four of whom are living: Ione, who attended the Ward-Belmont School in Nashville, Tennessee, and is now a teacher of expression living at home; Virgellia, who also completed a course of study in the Ward-Belmont School at Nashville and is now acting as bookkeeper for her father; Norris, sixteen years of age, attending high school at Mena; and Helen Gould, also in school.

Politically Mr. Goff is a republican, having firm faith in the principles of the party as factors in good government. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. He is now chairman of the financial committee that is endeavoring to get the Methodist assembly to locate in Mena and at all times he cooperates in every movement that tends to promote the material, intellectual, social and moral progress of his community. He is recognized as a leader here, especially in all those activities which make for betterment and for the uplift of the individual. His life record should indeed serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what may be accomplished through individual efforts guided by sound intelligence. There are few men who are forced to start out in life with greater handicaps than Mr. Goff but with persistent effort he has over- come all the difficulties and obstacles in his path and today is ranked among the wealthy men of Polk county, enjoying the honor and respect of all, not alone hy reason of the success he has achieved but also owing to the straightforward business policy that he has ever followed.

SAMUEL ROSS MORGAN.

Samuel Ross Morgan, investment banker of Little Rock, his life at all times actuated by high and houorable purposes and his life guided by indefatigable effort and energy, has by reason of these qualities won both success and an honored name in the financial circles of the capital city. The attractiveness of Arkansas as a place of residence is strongly indicated in the fact that so many of her native sons have remained within her borders, contributing to her upbuilding and enjoying the advantages here offered. Mr. Morgan is a native of El Dorado, Arkansas, who was born July 7, 1886, and is a son of William W. and Eliza (Alphin) Morgan, the latter a daughter of Julius Alphin, who served as a soldier of the Confederate army during the Civil war. William W.

SAMUEL R. MORGAN

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Morgan was born May 1, 1855, in El Dorado, Arkansas, and for many years made his home there. He became a contractor and builder, thus taking active part in the industrial development of the community. His political endorsement was given to the democratic party and he filled the office of tax assessor, also served as justice of the peace and as county judge, in which connection he rendered decisions strictly fair and impartial. His wife was born in the town of Betliel, Union county, Arkansas, February 5, 1861, and they were separated by death, when on the 15th of April, 1921, William W. Morgan was called to the home beyond, survived by his wife and four children. In the family there were three sons and three daughters, of whom but one son and one daughter have departed this life.

Samuel Ross Morgan, who was the third in order of birth in his father's family, attended the public schools of El Dorado, passing through consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school with the class of 1902. Later he attended the Uni- versity of Arkansas and liberal educational advantages qualified him for life's practical and responsible duties. Since 1915 Mr. Morgan has been engaged in business as an investment banker and in this connection has become widely and prominently known. He is thoroughly acquainted with the value of commercial paper and has a large number of clients, whose interests he bas carefully served and safeguarded. The busi- ness is now one of gratifying proportions and his position in financial circles is a most creditable one.

On the 28th of April, 1908, in El Dorado, Mr. Morgan was married to Miss Maude Wade, who was born in Blanchard, Union county, Arkansas, in 1889, and is a daughter of Hopkins and Mattie C. (Ramsey) Wade, both of whom were natives of Louisiana. The father has now departed this life, but the mother survives and makes her home in El Dorado. Mrs. Morgan is a graduate of Ouachita College, in which she completed her course in 1906, winning the Master of Arts degree. By her marriage she has be- come the mother of three children: Mary Elizabeth; S. Ross, who was born July 15, 1914; and William Ellis, born September 15, 1917. Both Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are identified with the First Methodist Episcopal church, South, contributing generously to its support and taking an active interest in its work. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, while in Masonry he has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party, which he has supported since attaining his majority, but he has never sought nor desired office. He has always regarded the pursuits of private life as being in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts and his business affairs have been capably conducted. Tireless energy, keen perception, honesty in purpose, a genius for devising the right thing at the right time, joined with every day com- mon sense are his chief characteristics. He has been watchful of all of the details of his business and of all indications pointing toward prosperity and from the beginning has had an abiding faith in the ultimate success of his enterprise. While he has won a substantial measure of prosperity he also belongs to that class of rep- resentative American citizens who promote the general welfare while advancing in- dividual interests.

EVERETT FRED HARRISON, D. D. S.

Dr. Everett Fred Harrison, actively and successfully engaged in the practice of dentistry in Carlisle, having a thoroughly equipped office, while his mechanical skill and ingenuity constitutes a splendid supplement to his scientific knowledge, received his professional degree in 1916 and through the intervening period has made his home in Carlisle. He is a native son of Illinois, his birth having occurred in that state, near Benton, in 1883, his parents being D. F. and Lucy (Bellamy ) Harrison. His grand- parents in the paternal line were Benjamin F. and Mary (Lipe) Harrison, who had removed to Illinois from Virginia and were descended from the famous Harrison family of the Old Dominion. Benjamin F. Harrison was an own cousin of the elder Carter Harrison, for four terms mayor of Chicago. His wife, Mary (Lipe) Harrison, removed from North Carolina to Illinois. The grandparents of Everett F. Harrison in the maternal line were John D. and Mary J. (Cline) Bellamy of Claiborne county, Tennessee. On leaving that state they removed to Franklin county, Illinois, going there soon after the close of the Civil war. Their daughter, Lucy Bellamy, was a relative of the noted Edward Bellamy, author of the widely read book, "Looking Backward," in which were foretold with absolute precision many of the modern In- ventions and improvements which are familiar today. It was about twenty years ago that Mr. and Mrs. D. F. Harrison came to Arkansas, settling on a farm at Hazen. In their family were five children: Everett F., of this review; Charles, who is a minister

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of the gospel located in Chicago; Maude, who is a teacher in the schools of Oregon; Hugh, who is engaged in the automobile business; and Callie, deceased.

Everett F. Harrison largely pursued his education at Hazen after coming to Arkansas and later matriculated in the Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, for the study of dentistry and won his professional degree in 1916. He then began practice at Carlisle, where he has now remained for a period of fourteen years, and his recognized ability and his increasing skill have brought him to a prominent posi- tion in professional circles, his practice today being extensive.

Dr. Harrison volunteered for service in the World war but was rejected on ac- count of physical disability. However, he served as chairman of the Red Cross and also acted as secretary of the committees having in charge various drives. He married Miss Helen Carmody, a daughter of James and Mary ( Kelleher) Carmody, and they are widely known in this section of the state, where they have many friends. Dr. Harrison is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America and along strictly pro- fessional lines he is connected with the Arkansas State Dental Society and the National Dental Association. Through the proceedings of these bodies he keeps in close touch with the trend of professional thought and scientific investigation and at all times follows the most advanced methods in his chosen life work.

LEE E. BILES, M. D.

Dr. Lee E. Biles, devoting his attention to the practice of medicine and surgery at Augusta, is a native of White county, Arkansas, born at Rose Bud on the 11th of December, 1872, his parents being Benton H. and Marguerite (Connell) Biles. The father, a native of Warren county, Tennessee, was born in 1837 and there engaged in farming until he came to Arkansas in 1860, with about one hundred other settlers. He drove a team across the country and on reaching his destination entered land and began farming. He enlisted for service in the Civil war and after the cessation of hostilities in 1865 he became engaged in merchandising at Rose Bud, of which town he was the founder. He there erected the first residence and the first store and became an extensive landowner. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party and for twenty years he acted as postmaster of the town of Rose Bud, making a most creditable and commendable record in that connection. Fraternally he was identified with the Masons, belonging to the blue lodge at Rose Bud. In 1868 he married Marguerite Connell and to them were born four children: Mrs. Zeno Plant of Searcy, whose husband is tax collector; Lee E .; Mrs. Flora Lynch, whose husband is engaged in the saddlery and shoe business in Augusta; and Lula, deceased. The parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. The mother died at the age of thirty-five years, while the father departed this life at the age of seventy- three.

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 137

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