Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 14

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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COLONEL C. F. ARMISTEAD.

Colonel C. F. Armistead, a retired army officer now living in Fayetteville, was born in Franklin county, this state, April 18, 1872, and is a son of John C. and Annie (Car- roll) Armistead who are natives of Virginia and of Arkansas respectively. The former was a son of John Armistead, who was also born in Virginia and spent his entire life in that state, living in the Shenandoah valley. The family came originally from Holland and has been represented in this country through several generations. General George Armistead was in command of Fort McHenry, off the Maryland coast, when Francis Key wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner." General Lewis Armistead, a cousin of John C. Armistead, was killed in Pickett's famous charge at Gettysburg. H. B. Armistead, brother of John C. Armistead, served with the rank of general in the Confederate army and for two terms was secretary of state of Arkansas. He also served for ten or twelve years as clerk of the federal court, continuing in that position until his death. John C. Armistead was born and reared in Virginia and came to this state soon after the Civil war. He wedded Annie Carroll, a daughter of De Rosey Carroll, who was horn in Maryland and was a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton. He served as a colonel in the Confederate army and was killed in front of his own home by bush-

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS

whackers in 1862. The Carroll family comes of English ancestry. To the marriage of John C. and Annie (Carroll) Armistead there were born two children, the elder being John B., a farmer and stockman of Franklin county, Arkansas. The parents are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, Sonth, and Mr. Armistead is a democrat in his political views. He served as mayor of Charleston and has always heen keenly inter- ested in public affairs but has given the greater part of his time and attention to his farming and stock raising interests since his removal to this state.

Colonel Armistead, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the Univer- sity of Arkansas, from which he was graduated with the class of 1893. He afterward took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in the high school at Fort Smith, Arkansas, for a few years. With the outbreak of war with Spain he joined the Arkansas volunteer forces for active duty and was made a lieutenant in the regular army in 1898. He served for six years in the Philippines with the regular army and for two and a half years in Cuba, white for nine months he was in France during the period of the World war. He temporarily held the rank of colonel and was retired as lieutenant colonel. He has rendered important military aid to his country in various sections of the globe, ever fully sustaining the high standards and the honor of the regular army. Coming to Fayetteville in 1918, he here purchased a home and retired from military life. In his service for his country he "ran true" to the history of his forebears, for he comes of military stock. He operated on the field of action in the Philippines and was in the front-line division in the World war, in command of the Fifty-eighth Infantry. The Armistead family has long been connected with military interests, being repre- sented in every war in which the United States has taken part. The ancestral line is traced back to William Armistead, who came from England in 1635 and settled in Vir- ginia. Since that time representatives of the name have most loyally supported the country in all of her military activities and the record of Colonel Armistead of this review reflects added credit and luster upon an untarnished family name.

In 1915 Colonel Armistead was married to Miss Jessie Smith, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Episcopal church and they occupy an enviable social position. Colonel Armistead has membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the American Legion and is also identified with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party. but he does not seek nor desire civic office. He has many friends in Fayetteville, where he now resides, and enjoys the respect of all with whom he has come in contact.

EUGENE CYPERT.

Eugene Cypert, attorney at law of Searcy, Arkansas, who for three terms occupied the bench of the county court and served as a member of the constitutional convention of 1917, has thus been very active in framing as well as executing the laws of the com- monwealth. He is a native son of Searcy, his parents being Jesse N. and Sarah Harlan ( Crow) Cypert. The former was a son of Jesse Cypert, who was born in North Carolina and emigrated to Tennessee, where he conducted an extensive plantation and also served as sheriff of Wayne county but devoted the greater part of his life to his farming interests. Ilis remains lie buried on the old plantation, which is still in possession of the family. He married Jemima Worthen, a native of Pennsylvania. In tracing the ancestral line still farther back it is found that Jesse Cypert was a son of Francis Cypert and that his father was born in Alsace Lorraine, whence he emigrated to the United States. The grandfather of Eugene Cypert in the maternal line was Joshua B. Crow, who was born in South Carolina, whence he removed to Alabama and thence came to Arkansas in 1849, settling in White county, where he entered six hundred and forty acres of land, which he purchased for twelve and a half cents per acre. The town of Kensett now stands on the northern part of the land which he thus secured. He had to clear all of his land, for it was covered with timber and the work was accomplished with the aid of several slaves whom he owned, his entire time and attention heing given to his plantation. He lost all of his personal property before the Civil war and died in 1866. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Lavenia West, also departed this life in the same year. The great-grandfather was the Rev. Charles Crow, a Baptist min- ister, prominent in his church. He preached in South Carolina and Alabama. He mar- ried Sarah Harlan, who was horn in South Carolina and was a descendant of George Harlan, a Quaker, who settled in Pennsylvania at the time William Penn founded the colony and afterward served as ruler of three counties in Pennsylvania.

Jesse N. Cypert, father of Judge Cypert, was born in Wayne county, Tennessee, in 1823, and his life record covered the notably long period of ninety years, as his death occurred on the 1st of September, 1913. His wife was horn in Perry county, Alabama.

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS

in 1836, and died in Jannary, 1915. He was educated in the country schools of his lative county and afterward studied law there. Removing to Arkansas in 1850, he settled in Marion, Crittenden county, where he practiced his profession until 1851 and then removed to Searcy, where he became well known as an attorney. He had read law under Judge L. L. Mack in Tennessee and his thorough training well qualified him for success at the bar. In Searcy he opened a law office with John M. Bracy and Colonel William Hicks and following the war was a partner of John G. Holland. He was a member of the secession convention in 1861 and of the reconstruction convention of 1868 and also served as a member of the constitutional convention of 1874 and was the only man in the state who served in all these three conventions. In the latter year he was elected circuit judge and remained upon the bench for eight years, or until 1882, his decisions being strictly fair and impartial, so that he won rank among the able jurists of the state. In 1861 he had joined the Confederate army as captain of Company K, Eighth Arkansas Battalion, and after the battle of Shiloh he was promoted to the rank of major. He served largely west of the Mississippi and was in the quartermaster department. He was captured at Searcy, Arkansas, and was held as a prisoner of war at Little Rock for sixty days, at the end of which time he was paroled. It was during the early part of the war that he suffered from typhoid fever and it was after this that he was placed in the quartermaster department. When hostilities had ceased between the north and the south he returned to Searcy, where he resumed the practice of law. He also owned land on Little Red river, which he farmed and there also engaged in stock raising. He had to clear most of the land, which was largely covered with timber and after the war he had little left but his home, for his slaves were gone and his property was badly in need of repair, owing to conditions brought about by the war. To Mr. and Mrs. Cypert there were born three children: Florence, who became the wife of W. M. Watkins, the president of the Bank of Searcy, and died in 1896; Alice, who became the wife of H. A. Smith, a merchant and at one time county clerk of White county, her death occurring in 1886; and Eugene, the only son. The father was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and served for a half century as church trustee, His wife held membership in the Baptist church. Fraternally he was a Royal Arch Mason and member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while his political allegiance was given to the democratic party. As a lawyer, as a political leader and as a member of three constitutional conventions of Arkansas he left the. impress of his individuality and ability upon the history of the state in notable measure.

Judge Eugene Cypert was educated in the common schools of Searcy and in the Searcy Academy and began reading law in his father's office. He was admitted to the bar in 1884 and then entered into partnership with his father, a relation that was main- tained until the latter's death in 1913. Fifteen years before this, or in 1898, Eugene Cypert was elected county judge of White county and by reelection was continued on the bench for three terms. He, too, was called upon to aid in framing the organic law of the state, serving as a member of the constitutional convention of 1917. He has devoted the greater part of his life to law practice and has long enjoyed a large clientage of an important character. He is also a director of the Bank of Searcy, which he aided in organizing, obtaining the charter for the bank. He still owns a part of his father's old home place which adjoins Searcy and thus his interests are somewhat varied but the practice of law he has always regarded as his real life work and his devotion to the interests of his clients has hecome proverbial.

Judge Cypert was united in marriage to Miss Louise I. Seat, who was born in Belton, Texas, a daughter of Benton B. Seat, a native of Tennessee, who was graduated from the university at Lebanon, that state, and afterward practiced law in Tennessee, in New Madrid, Missouri, and in Brownsville, Texas, serving as prosecuting attorney at the last named place. He came to Searcy in 1901, having retired from active law prac- tice, and died at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. He had filled the position of consul in Central America under President Cleveland. There were many interesting and ofttimes exciting events that occurred in connection with his life. When he was but eighteen years of age he went from Tennessee to California as one of the Argonauts of 1849. He served as captain in the Confederate army, enlisting in Texas, and was on duty most of the time west of the Mississippi river under General Dick Taylor. He participated in the battles of the New Mexico campaign with a command of thirty-two hundred, returning with only seven hundred and fifty. He took part in the battles of Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, the Galveston campaign and Yellow Bayou and on one occasion was shot through the arm, carrying the bullet with him to his grave. He also sustained a flesh wound in his head.

Judge and Mrs. Cypert have become the parents of five children: Sarah L., who was educated in the high school of Searcy and in Galloway College here, is now engaged in the abstract business; Jesse Benton is at home; Eugene is attending the Searcy high school; Florence Alice and Harriett Haymond are also at home. The religions faith of

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS

Judge Cypert and his family is that of the Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as ruling elder. He is a Royal Arch Mason and member of the Knights of Pythias and in politics has been a stalwart democrat since attaining his majority. His life has been fraught with the high purposes and lofty ideals which have characterized the family through many generations. He has rendered valuable public service and his life has been a potent force in connection with the maintenance of high legal and moral stand- ards not only in Searcy and White county, but throughout the commonwealth.

FRANK HILL.

Frank Hill, who for many years was engaged in farming and is now a teaming contractor living in El Dorado, was horn in Union county, Arkansas, a son of Jesse W. and Rebecca (Morrison) Hill, who were natives of Georgia and Alabama, respectively. The mother has departed this life, but the father is living, in his eighty-second year, and makes his home in El Dorado. He engaged in farming until 1909, when he retired from active life. He arrived in Union county, Arkansas, as a child with his parents in the year 1843, the family settling near Hillsboro, and through the intervening period of almost fourscore years he has continued his residence in this county. He was four years in the Civil war, having volunteered, and served from the beginning to the close of the war. He was wounded eight times during his service.

Frank Hill was educated in the district schools of Union county and on reaching adult age he engaged in farming, with which he was actively identified for a long period. He had been trained to the work of the fields, so that his experience had well qualified him for the duties which he took up on reaching his majority. At the present writing he is also numbered among the oil men who are operating in the oil field of El Dorado. He is likewise well known as a teaming contractor, working as high as forty mule teams daily.

In 1904 Mr. Hill was married to Miss Lillie Parnell, a native of Union county, and they have become parents of a son, Jesse Proctor, who is attending high school.

It was in the year 1913 that Mr. Hill established his home in El Dorado, where he has remained. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World and he has membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South, with which his wife and son are also identified. He likewise is owner of the land on which the first producing oil well was drilled in the El Dorado field. The discovery of oil and the development of the oil industry is constituting a great source of wealth in this state and Mr. Hill is bearing his part in shaping the history of the community in connection with the oil industry.

REECE ALEWINE.

With the industrial and manufacturing interests of Atkins, Reece Alewine is closely associated through his operations as a miller and lumberman. He has developed a business of substantial proportions and his enterprise and determination have consti- tuted the foundation upon which he has builded his success. He comes to Arkansas from South Carolina, in which state his birth occurred December 29, 1868, a son of J. C. and Emma (Milford) Alewine, both natives of South Carolina. The father, who was born in 1842, represented one of the old families of that state, being a son of Michael Alewine, who spent his life in South Carolina. The mother was born in 1846 and her father was also a native of South Carolina. It was in that state that J. C. Alewine and Emma Milford were married and there made their home until 1870, when they came to Arkansas, settling in Pope county, where he purchased a farm and has remained upon that place. In early manhood he joined the Confederate army, enlisting from South Carolina, serving for more than three years. He was the youngest soldier in his regiment and his comrades called him the baby. He has met with substantial success since coming to Arkansas and now owns a farm of one hundred and twenty acres of well improved land. He is a Royal Arch Mason and has served as treasurer of his lodge for many years. In politics he is a democrat and in religious faith he holds membership in the Baptist church. To him and his wife were born six children: Reece; O. C., who is engaged in business with his brother Reece, at Atkins; G. W., who is engaged in farming with his father; J. J., a farmer of Pope county; Sarah, the wife of James Reyonlds, an insurance man of Pine Bluff, Arkansas; and Jane who is the wife of C. L. Matthews, who is engaged in clerking in a store at Atkins.

During his youthful days Reece Alewine attended the country schools of Pope county and started out to provide for his own support as a farmer, devoting his atten-

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS

tion to agricultural pursuits until twenty-eight years of age. He then removed to Atkins and worked in a mill for nine years, after which he purchased the property and has since operated the mill, being associated in the enterprise for a time with Mr. Evans, later with Mr. Bell and now with his brother. The mill has a capacity of seventy-five barrels daily and in addition to carrying on this business he has a lumberyard and has built up a good trade in handling lumber and building material.

In 1911 Mr. Alewine was married to Miss Myrtle Austin, who was born in Pope connty, Arkansas, a daughter of S. Y. Austin, one of the old settlers of the county and a farmer by occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Alewine have become parents of one son, Mau- reece, now six years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Alewine belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and his fraternal relations are with the Masonic lodge and chapter. He is a past master of the order, having served for three different terms as worshipful master of his lodge and at the present time he is high priest of the chapter. He likewise belongs to the Woodmen of the World and both he and his wife are members of the Order of the Eastern Star. He votes with the democratic party and gives stalwart allegiance to its principles but has never been an aspirant for public office. His time and energies have been concentrated upon his business affairs and it has been by reason of his close application, his thoroughness and his reliability that he has advanced steadily until his undertaking has brought to him a substantial measure of prosperity.

ALFRED LEE PEACHER.

Alfred Lee Peacher, filling the position of postmaster at Fort Smith, was born in Linneus, Missouri, in October, 1870, and is a son of James and Elizabeth ( Wilson) Peacher. The father was a native of Virginia and the grandfather came from West- moreland county, Virginia. He served as a soldier of the Continental army during the Revolutionary war. The Wilson family came from Tennessee, so that in both the paternal and maternal lines Alfred Lee Peacher is descended from old southern fam- ilies. His father removed to Linneus, Missouri, where he took up the occupation of farming and there spent his remaining days, always devoting his life to agricultural pursuits.

Alfred Lee Peacher obtained his education in the Brookfield Academy at Brookfield. Missouri, in Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, in the University of Wooster at Wooster, Ohio, and in the University of Chicago, in which he pursued postgraduate work. In early life he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in Charles- ton, Arkansas, and at Van Buren, Arkansas, where he was superintendent of schools. Thinking to find other pursuits more congenial and profitable, however, he entered the insurance field in 1903, establishing an agency at Fort Smith, and he had already huilt up a good business when he was called to his present position. It was in 1919 that he was appointed by President Wilson to the office of postmaster of Fort Smith, in which capacity he is now serving.

In 1904 Mr. Peacher was married to Miss Leanny Teague and they have one child, Alfred Lee, Jr. The parents are widely and favorably known and both as a business man and as a public official Mr. Peacher has made an excellent record that has gained for him the respect and confidence of all.

OSCAR DILLON.

Oscar Dillon is the president of the De Soto Spring Company and is also further identified with the business interests of Hot Springs through his connection with the Citizens Ice & Fuel Company. A man of sound judgment and keen sagacity, his coopera- tion is regarded as most valuable to the conduct of business enterprises and he pos- sesses notable initiative and resourcefulness in all that he undertakes. A native of Missouri, he was born in Holt county, March 31, 1855, and was therefore a lad of nine years when in 1864 his father, W. E. Dillon, removed with the family to Nebraska City. The father was a freighter who crossed the plains with both mules and oxen, making the trip to Salt Lake City and to Denver, Colorado. He was thus engaged until the railroads were built, when freighting by team was no longer profitable. As Oscar Dillon became of sufficient age to assist his father he took active part in the work and drove four mules across the plains when a hoy of only ten years. He made many overland trips with the freight wagons across the plains and experienced all the hardships and trials of journeying in that fashion. He saw large herds of huffalo and often saw the Indians as he traveled from the starting point to his destination. At one time he

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS

was interested in a cattle ranch on the Republic river and he remained a resident of Nebraska until 1879. He then went to Texas and was a Texas ranger for a period of fifteen months. Returning to Arkansas, he located at Little Rock, where he served as deputy United States marshal under Torrence, for about two years. He was also inter- ested in buying and selling horses there and in 1880 he came to Hot Springs, where he lived for a time.

In the year 1882 Mr. Dillon was married to Miss Ada Baird, a daughter of William Baird, one of the pioneers of Hot Springs. They began their domestic life ,in this city and continued to reside here until 1893, when they removed to Texas, and Mr. Dillon was engaged in the cattle business, living at Fort Worth, Dallas and San Antonio. He likewise followed general merchandising and remained a resident of Texas until 1897, when he removed to Denver, Colorado, there residing for a year. He then went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he conducted a general insurance business for a number of years. His next removal took him to St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he engaged in the insurance business and became the organizer of the Minnesota Casualty Company. Later he went to Regina and to Saskatoon, British Columbia, and conducted a laundry in each place.

After leaving the northern country Mr. Dillon took up his abode in Huntington, Indiana, where he was counected with manufacturing interests until his return to Hot Springs in 1920. Here he purchased the De Soto spring and erected there one of the finest drinking pavilions and buildings in the state. The structure is built of Texas marble and contains a large refreshment room, while in addition the famous De Soto spring water is there sold. There is also a beautiful ballroom, where there is dancing every night except Sunday, and this is patronized by the leading people of the city. A very fine orchestra is here found, rendering high-class music for dancing. Mr. Dillon is the president of this company and associated with him in the undertaking is F. W. Fooshe. Mr. Dillon was for a time also interested in the Citizens Ice & Fuel Company of St. Paul.

Mr. and Mrs. Dillon have a son, W. E. Dillon, and a daughter, who is married to C. W. Whittaker. The son is the manager of the Retail and Wholesale Merchants Asso- ciation of Utah.

Mr. Dillon belongs to several fraternal orders, being identified with the Eagles, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen. His lodge associations have brought him a wide acquaintance and his business affairs have further extended the circle. He is a genial, cordial gentleman, so that he wins friends among all, and in business it is his earnest desire to please his patrons, so that he gives to them the best possible service along the lines of business in which he is engaged.

C. P. HUMMEL.

C. P. Hummel, deceased, was long a well known and highly esteemed resident of Monte Ne. He came to the southwest from the Keystone state, his birth having occurred in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, August 12, 1868, his parents being Peter B. and Emeline (Hartman) Hummel, who were likewise natives of Pennsylvania. They came to Arkan- sas in the year 1894 and the father conducted a large hay ranch near Carlisle. Subse- quently he sold that land and removed to Monte Ne in 1901, at which time he purchased a farm and developed his acreage into rich and productive fields, his place constituting one of the finest farms in the county. His family numbered five sons, of whom two are living. C. P. Hummel was the third in order of birth, Those still living are: D. B. Hummel, a farmer residing at Burlington, Kansas; and C. C., living at Cariisle, Arkan- sas, where he is engaged in the grocery business. In early life the mother was a member of the German Reformed church, but later both Mr. and Mrs. Peter B. Hummel became affiliated with the Seventh Day Adventist church. Peter B. Hummel was a soldier of the Union army in the Civil war, doing service as a blacksmith and remaining at the front until the close of hostilities. On one occasiou he was wounded but never went to the hospital.

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 14

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