Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 140

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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and marked executive ability have enabled him to formulate plans which have been resultant factors in the development and growth of the city and its popularity as a health resort.

On the 19th of February, 1894, Mr. Belding was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Miller of Malvern, Hot Spring county, Arkansas. She acquired her education at Potter's College of Millersburg, Kentucky, and is a woman of culture and refinement and possesses a pleasing personality. Four children have been born to this union: Miller George, George Robert, Jr., Martha and Rose.

Mr. Belding is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and his political allegiance is given to the democratic party. He is a popular member of the Rotary Club and fraternally is identified with Hot Springs Lodge, No. 380, B. P. O. E., and Centennial Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. He has always been loyal to any public trust reposed in him and puts forth every possible effort for the benefit and upbuilding of the city in which he makes his home. His career has been actuated by a spirit of progress that has been productive of substantial results and his worth is widely acknowledged.

GEORGE M. LOVE, M. D.

Dr. George M. Love, one of the leading and most progressive representatives of the medical fraternity in Rogers, where he has practiced his profession with notable success during the last twelve years, was born in Lovington, Illinois, on the 9th of December, 1873. His parents were Robert J. and Nettie (Porter) Love, who were natives of Indiana and Illinois, respectively, their marriage being celebrated in the latter state. Representatives of the Love family emigrated from Ireland .to Canada and thence crossed the border into the United States. Robert J. Love, the father of Dr. Love, devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits throughout his active busi- ness career. He removed to Kansas in 1881 and purchased a farm in Allen county, that state, whereon he continued to reside throughout his remaining days and which is still the home of his widow, who has now reached the age of sixty-eight years. In the conduct of his agricultural interests he won a gratifying measure of success and lie was widely recognized as a substantial and esteemed citizen, well read and well in- formed, who contributed to the upbuilding and development of his community in no inconsiderable degree. He gave his political allegiance to the republican party, was a Methodist in religious faith and fraternally was identified with the Masons and the Woodmen. To him and his wife were born six children: George M., whose name introduces this review; Olive, who is the wife of J. O. Gillenwater, a farmer residing in Oklahoma: Arthur, who is also engaged in agricultural pursuits in Oklahoma; Claude, likewise living on a farm in Oklahoma; Myrtle, who is at home with her mother; and Roy, who cultivates his mother's farm in Allen county, Kansas.

George M. Love acquired an academic education in Kansas City, Kansas, and subsequently attended the Kansas City University there, being graduated from that institution with the degree of Ph. B. in 1906. In further preparation for a profes- sional career he then entered the Hahnemann Medical College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1909. He at once located in Rogers, Arkansas, where he has remained continuously since and has been accorded a large and important prac- tice. He also conducts a sanitarium, containing six beds, which he established in 1910. He has taken postgraduate work in Chicago, has spent a month each year in visiting hospitals and has specialized in the study of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Through membership connection with professional organizations he keeps thoroughly in touch with advanced thought and research work, belonging to the Benton County Medical Society, the Arkansas State Medical Society and the National Orificial Sur- geons Society. He is the president of the Benton County Tuberculosis Society and has long been recognized as one of the most prominent and able representatives of the medical profession here.

On the 3Ist of March, 1896, Dr. Love was united in marriage to Miss Alice Harris, who was born in the state of New York and whose parents now make their home at Garfield, Kansas. Her father is a native of England, while her mother's birth occurred in Ireland. Dr. and Mrs. Love have one son, George R., who is a junior student in a Chicago medical school.

In his political views Dr. Love is a republican and for eight years has filled the position of city alderman, while at the present time he is serving as president of the school board. He has been identified with every movement for the benefit and upbuild- ing of his city, having led the fight for pure water, for fire-fighting machinery and good roads. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, while fraternally he is a Knights Templar Mason and an Elk. He also belongs to the Rotary Club, of

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which he has served as president. An enterprising, public-spirited citizen and skillful physician and surgeon, his labors have been a potent force in the development and growth of his community and his reputation is a most enviable one.

W. J. ROBBINS.

W. J. Robbins, engaged in the real estate business at Carlisle and thoroughly fa- miliar with property conditions and values in his town and county, was born in Wauke- gan, Illinois, in 1861, his parents being Ebenezer and Harriet (Frazier) Robbins. The father, a native of the state of New York, started to California with the gold rush in 1849 and was quite successful in his quest for the precious metal on the Pacific coast. With a goodly fortune he returned to Illinois and retired from active business. He took up his abode in Bloomington, that state, and afterward removed to Kansas, where his last days were passed. At Bloomington he had previously engaged in the milling busi- ness but his success in that field and in his search for gold in the west enabled him to put aside further business cares and spend his remaining days in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. To him and his wife were born four children: Alice, who is now deceased; Mary; George; and W. J.

The last named was a pupil in the schools of Fort Scott, Kansas, and when his textbooks were put aside he became connected with the grain trade in that city. He afterward removed to Colorado and subsequently went to New Mexico for the benefit of his health. At length he came to Carlisle, Arkansas, as representative of the receiver for the Pine Bluff & Northern Railroad in the operation of the line. He was next with the mercantile firm of Nichols & Hutson for a period of five years and subsequently he engaged in the real estate business on his own account. In connection with the rice land development here he secured many buyers who settled in this section of the state and developed rice farms. He disposed of lands to the value of more than a million, five hundred thousand dollars, mostly to Illinois buyers and thus brought to the dis- trict some of the most prominent and successful rice farmers in this region. His labors in the field of real estate have indeed been an important element in the progress and upbuilding of his part of the state and he remains an active factor in the same line, thoroughly familiar with property values and knowing fully what is on the market for purchase or sale.

Mr. Robbins acted as a member of the board of exemption in Carlisle during the World war and in every possible way did what he could to further the country's inter- ests and strengthen the home lines, which were the financial defense of the firing line on the western front. He is a man of progressive spirit, alert, energetic, determined and whatever success he has achieved is the direct outcome of his merit and ability.

HON. THOMAS WADE RAINES.

Hon. Thomas Wade Raines, a prominent representative of the Lincoln county bar engaged in practice at Star City, is connected with the work of the courts both as law- ver and lawmaker, being a member of the Arkansas state legislature, to which he was elected in 1920. He was born at Ridgeway, South Carolina, July 24, 1873, a son of William R. and Sarah Jane (Motley) Raines, both of whom were natives of that state, in which they were reared and married. They continued to reside in South Carolina until 1884, when they came to Arkansas, settling in Drew county, eight miles north of Monti- cello, where the father devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits until his demise, which occurred on the 30th of June, 1921. The mother died in August, 1919.

In the acquirement of an education Mr. Raines attended the public schools of Drew county, Beauvoir College at Wilmot, Arkansas, and afterward entered the law department of the University of Arkansas, from which he was graduated with the class of 1915, receiving the LL. B. degree. He was admitted to practice before the supreme court on the 8th of June, 1915, and in the federal court on June 6, 1920, having opened an office at Star City in 1915, and here he has since successfully followed his profession. He has demonstrated his ability to solve intricate legal problems and his clientele is now one of large proportions. His is a natural discrimination as to legal ethics and he is so thoroughly well read in the minutiae of the law that he is able to base his argu- ments upon a comprehensive knowledge of and familiarity with statute and precedent and to present a case upon its merits, never neglecting to give a thorough preparation and never failing to recognize the main point at issue.

In 1904 Mr. Raines was united in marriage to Miss Hallie Kersh, a daughter of the Hon. N. B. Kersh, deceased, who was one of the most prominent men of Lincoln county.

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He was an able member of the Arkansas state legislature and was the father of the con- cubinage act, in which connection he became widely known, and labored earnestly to secure the passage of the measure. Mr. and Mrs. Raines became the parents of eight children, five of whom survive, namely: Lucille K., Christine, Quincy, Kirby and Hallie.

In religious faith Mr. Raines is a Baptist and he is a member of the Sous of Con- federate Veterans, being connected with Camp Ben Mccullough. He is well known in fraternal circles, being identified with the Woodmen of the World and the Garnett Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he is also connected with the Masons, belonging to Branchville Lodge, No. 256, F. & A. M. His fellow citizens have called him to public office and in 1920 he was chosen to represent his district in the state legislature, serving throughout the session as a member of the judiciary committee and giving to each question which came up for settlement his thoughtful consideration. He has ever stood for development and for constructive measures and puts forth every possible effort for the benefit and upbuilding of his community, county and state. Merit and ability have brought him to the front in his profession and he holds to high ideals in his private practice and in his public life.

GEORGE SCHAFFER.

George Schaffer is the president of the O. K. Transfer & Storage Company of Fort Smith and is a native son of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Auglaize county in 1873. His parents were George and Mary (Lenhart) Schaffer and he is a brother of Frank Schaffer, who was formerly state sealer of weights and measures in Ohio. He married Martha Wiss of Wapakoneta, Ohio. He was about to join the army when the armistice was signed. He is now associated with his brother George in the O. K. Transfer & Stor- age Company of Fort Smith.

George Schaffer spent his youthful days in Ohio and his educational training and early opportunities prepared him for later responsibilities. For a time he was identi- fied with the tie and timber business, thus representing the Missouri Pacific Railroad in Oklahoma and he still controls the business for that corporation. It was in August, 1919, that he became identified with the O. K. Transfer & Storage Company and atter a brief period he purchased the interests of the other members of the company and be- gan the development of the business which he now controls and which is one of exten- sive proportions. Seeing the possibilities for success in this field he has merged several transfer companies with the one of which he is the head and today he and his brother Frank, who is the secretary and treasurer, are the sole owners of the business, which is capitalized for forty thousand dollars. They now operate the largest transfer com- pany in Fort Smith and in fact control the greater part of the business of this character in the city. Their building affords a floor space of thirty thousand square feet and in addition they have two warehouses. They operate twenty-two motor trucks and twenty moving vans which are horse drawn and they own sixteen teams. Their employes num- ber sixty and the business is one of the important interests of the city.

Mr. Schaffer was united in marriage to Miss Sue Steven Johnson of San Antonio, Texas, and they have become the parents of a son, Kent, who is now fifteen years of age. Mr. Schaffer belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and to the Ro- tary Club, while his brother Frank is a member of the Lions Club and of the Business Men's Club. They are most alert and energetic business men, watchful of every oppor- tunity pointing to success in their chosen field and have gained a notable measure of prosperity since taking over their present business. They discriminate readily between the essential and the non-essential in business affairs and what they have accomplished represents the wise utilization of their innate talents and powers as applied to modern- day business conditions.

J. W. HOLLEMAN.

J. W. Holleman, vice president of the Ritchie Grocery Company, wholesale gro- cers of Arkansas and of Lonisiana, with the parent house located in Camden, is today classed among the most representative and progressive business men of his section of the state. Enterprise and determination have characterized him throughont, his busi- ness career and a resolute purpose and laudable ambition have enabled him to overcome all difficulties and obstacles in his path and to work his way steadily upward to suc- cess. Mr. Holleman was born in Murray county, Tennessee, on the 3d of February,

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1858, and is a son of Richard T. and Sarah (King) Holleman, the former a native of Tennessee, while the latter was born in Virginia. In 1861 Richard T. Holleman, with his wife and four children, drove across the country with ox team and wagon to Arkan- sas, settling on a farm in Ouachita county, on which stood an old water-power mill. There he followed farming and milling and during the period of the Civil war many a poor family, from which the husband and father-the support of the household-was away at the front, had reason to bless him for timely assistance that came in the gift of a bag of meal when the family was hungry.

J. W. Holleman was reared on the old homestead farm, where he remained until his twenty-second year. He pursued his early education in the subscription schools and also studied under private tutors for about three months in the year. There were no free schools in the district in which he lived for many years following the Civil war. He learned, too, many valuable lessons in the school of experience and his training in the work of the farm was thorough and comprehensive. In 1880 he left the farm and removed to Camden, where he started upon his business career independently. For twelve years he worked as a clerk in one of the mercantile houses of Camden and in 1893 in partnership with C. D. Gee bought out the grocery business of the Thomson Grocery Company and for ten years conducted the store under the firm name of Holle- man & Gee. In 1903, however, Mr. Holleman sold his interests to his partner and on the reorganization and incorporation of the Ritchie Grocery Company in 1903 he became a member of the company and was elected to the board of directors. On the death of Mr. Ritchie, in 1911, he was elected to the vice presidency of the company and has contin- ued in that position, covering a period of more than a decade. Through the intervening years he has lent his energies to constructive efforts and administrative direction and his marked executive ability has been manifest in the continued growth and success of the business. He has thoroughly familiarized himself with every phase of the trade and has been largely instrumental in extending the commercial connections of the house.

In 1884 Mr. Holleman was married to Miss Bettie Thomson, a daughter of Colonel Tom D. Thomson, who served with the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Confederate army during the period of hostilities between the north and the south. He was also one of the prominent business men of Camden. To Mr. and Mrs. Holleman have been born two children: Raymond T., a stockholder in the Ritchie Grocery Company; and Bessie, the wife of J. E. Gaughan, attorney at law of Camden, Arkansas. The son Raymond served through the World war, being the first enlisted man from Ouachita county, of which there is any record, to arrive in France. He enlisted May 17, 1917, and was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps. He served in this department for a short time only and was then transferred to the Motor Transport Corps. He was in France for twenty months, including a period of eight months following the signing of the armis- tice and was honorably discharged on the 16th of June, 1919. Mr. Holleman and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and are interested in all that makes for progress and improvement in the community. Their social position is an enviable one and their home is the abode of a warm-hearted hospitality which is greatly enjoyed by their extensive circle of friends.

FRED ROSSNER.

Many important business interests have felt the stimulus and profited by the exertions and well defined business plans of Fred Rossner, who is now numbered among the capitalists of Little Rock. Here he is successfully engaged in the insurance business and is identified with many other large and important commercial and finan- cial concerns, and the story of his life should serve of stimulating interest to others, showing what may be accomplished through individual effort when there is a will to dare and to do.

Mr. Rossner was born in Saxony, Germany, May 12, 1849, his parents being Gotfried and Christine (Mueller) Rossner, who were also natives of Saxony. The father was horn in 1811, while the mother's birth occurred in 1813. They became the parents of a family of six sons and six daughters, but Mr. Rossner of this review is the only one now living. His father was a contractor and builder and both parents died in Saxony, the mother departing this life in 1872, while the father's death occurred in 1874.

Reared under. the parental roof, Fred Rossner pursued his education in the public schools of his native country to the age of fourteen years and when a youth of eighteen years came to the United States, arriving in Little Rock in September, 1870. Through the intervening period he has here made his home. He had one brother, Frank Rossner, who came to the United States in 1868 and settled in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where

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FRED ROSSNER

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he died in 1920, leaving a wife and an adopted son, Henry Rossner. A sister, Minnie Rossner, came to the United States in 1870, joining her brother Frank in Fond du Lac. There she afterward became the wife of Henry Mennerich and in 1871 they removed to Sioux City, Iowa, where Mrs. Mennerich died in 1917, leaving one son. Frank, and two daughters, Frieda, unmarried; and Mrs. Lula Rockwell, who now has a son and two danghters. Mr. and Mrs. Rockwell now reside in Homer, Nebraska. Fred Rossner was a young man of twenty-one years when he arrived in Little Rock. He had previously learned the trade of bricklaying, at which he worked for two years after coming to this city, and in 1872 he embarked in the confectionery husi- ness on his own account, beginning the sale of candies in a tent. He had but limited capital, but as time passed on he prospered and after a brief period he secured a store room, which he outfitted for the business. Steadily his trade developed and in 1878 he began the manufacture of candy, in which he continued for twenty years or until 1898, when his health obliged him to retire, for in the intervening period he had worked sixteen hours a day and had thus undermined his strength. After a forced rest of six months, however, he. recovered his normal health and at this time turned his attention to the insurance business in Little Rock, in which he has since continued, handling fire and accident insurance. He has secured a very large clientage and his business is now one of very gratifying and substantial proportions. Many other business inter- ests have also profited by the labors and the enterprise of Mr. Rossner, who is now a director of the Southern Trust Company and also the president of the Citizens Build- ing & Loan Association. He is likewise a director of the Pulaski Building & Loan As- sociation and is president of the Liberty Building Association, with which he has been identified for twenty-eight years, while his connection with the Citizens Building & Loan Association covers a period of twenty years. He is likewise the vice president of the Karcher Candy Company of Little Rock. Thus his business affairs have con- stantly broadened in scope and importance and success in notable measure has come to him, so that he is now classed with the capitalists of the city. He has ever pro- moted his fortunes along constructive lines, his path never being strewn with the wreck of other men's fortunes.

In 1878 Mr. Rossner was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Wendt, who was born in Little Rock. She died October 1, 1881. The children of this marriage are: Edna, who is the wife of John E. Parsons and has two sons, Wilfred and Johnnie; and Fred, who married Marguerite Jones and has two daughters, Louise and Frances. On the 1st of August, 1883, Mr. Rossner was again married, his second union being with Louisa Heitman, whom he wedded in Little Rock. They have two children: Louise, who is the wife of P. E. Douglass and has two sons, Rossner and Albert; and Earl, who married Miss Mabel Clarey and has one child, Aubry.

In his political views Mr. Rossner is a democrat, but the honors and emoluments of office have no attraction for him. He is identified with several fraternal organiza- tions, having membership with the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. For twenty-nine years he has been the treasurer of Bayard-Damon Lodge, No. 3, K. P. of Little Rock, and for the past sixteen years has been grand trustee of the Grand Lodge of the Knights of Pythias of Arkansas. He is likewise identified with the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks and with the Little Rock Turnverein, and his religious faith is that of the First Presbyterian church. He has never had occasion to regret his de- termination to come to the new world, for in this land he found the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has made steady progress toward the goal of pros- perity, while his fidelity to the interests and purposes of his adopted land has made him a loyal American citizen.

WILLIAM HENRY MCLEOD.

William Henry McLeod, cashier of the First National Bank at Lake Village, is a native son of Arkansas, his birth having occurred near Banks, in Bradley county, on the 17th of February, 1882. On the paternal side he is of Scotch-Irish descent and his paternal grandfather, Malcolm McLeod, was one of the pioneer residents of Brad- ley county, having come to this state from North Carolina in 1859. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted as a private in the Arkansas infantry and participated in many of the strategic battles of that conflict. David Washington McLeod, the father of William Henry McLeod, was born near Banks, this state, where he was reared to manhood. In early life he engaged in farming and he was active along that line until his demise in 1915, at the age of fifty-three years. He had lived in retirement in Banks a few years before he died and his death came as a severe shock to his many friends throughout the community. At Banks, in 1881, was celebrated the marriage

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of Mr. McLeod to Miss Martha Jane Rice, who was born near Banks, in which town she is now living, aged fifty nine years. Her parents were among the early settlers in that vicinity. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. McLeod seven boys and four girls were born. Five of the sons and three of the daughters are living. William Henry, whose name initiates this review, was the oldest child.

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 140

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