Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 145

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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EDGAR L. MCLENDON.

Cleveland county is proud to number among her native sons Edgar L. Mclendon, circuit, county, chancery and probate clerk, with residence at Rison. He was born five miles west of Rison on the 7th of July, 1879, a son of Lee and Maxie (John) McLendon, both of whom are living. On the paternal side he is of Scotch-Irish descent, members of the family having come to America at an early day, settling in Georgia. The maternal family is American for many generations back. Lee Mclendon was born in Georgia and came to Arkansas with his parents, when a boy of twelve or thirteen years. They were among the early settlers of Cleveland county, locating on land some twelve miles east of Rison. There Lee Mclendon was reared to young man- hood. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war he put all personal interests aside and enlisted in Company G, First Arkansas Cavalry, with which he served throughout the conflict, participating in many of the strategic battles of that war. At the close of the war he returned to Cleveland county and engaged in farming, achieving more than gratifying success. He is now living in retirement at Rison in his seventy- eighth year.

Mr. Lee Mclendon married Miss Maxie John, who is now in her seventy-fourth year. She was likewise born in Georgia, coming to this state with her parents as a girl of twelve years. The Johns located fifteen miles east of Rison and were among the pioneers at that point. Mrs. Mclendon had one brother, Joe John, who served in the Civil war from Arkansas and was killed in active service. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. McLendon eight children were born, five boys and three girls, all of whom are living. Edgar L., whose name initiates this review, was the sixth in order of hirth.

In the acquirement of his education Edgar L. Mclendon attended the common schools of Cleveland county, near Rison, and remained on the parental farm until he was twenty-one years of age. He then started farming on his own account, pur- chasing a farm five miles west of Rison and he lived thereon until 1912. In 1911 he was elected county treasurer and the following year removed to Rison, taking over

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the duties of that office. He served six years in that connection and in 1918 was elected circuit clerk of Cleveland county, that office including the duties of county, probate and chancery clerk. He became the incumbent in that office in January, 1919, and is now serving his second term in that capacity. He believes every public office to be a public trust and ever discharges the duties devolving upon him to the best of his ability.

On the 27th of February, 1902, near Pine Bluff, this state, occurred the marriage of Mr. Mclendon to Miss Delector Rhodes, a daughter of R. B. Rhodes, a well known farmer of Cleveland county, residing teu miles northwest of Rison. To their union three children were born, two girls and one boy: Jewel is now the wife of Russell Hawkins of Mississippi. They are residing in Pine Bluff, where Mr. Hawkins is mechanic for the S. R. Thomas Automobile Company; Lillian, who is fifteen years of age, is a freshman in the Pine Bluff high school; and Leon, thirteen years of age, is a student in the Rison public schools. Mrs. Mclendon died on the 11th of June, 1918, in her thirty-second year, and her death came as a severe shock to her family and many friends. She was a woman of much culture and refinement and had for many years been a leader in the social circles of this community.

The religious faith of Mr. Mclendon is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, of which he is a steward. Fraternally he is identified with the Woodmen of the World, Crumps Camp, No. 89, of Rison and with Rison Lodge, No. 182, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. During the World war Mr. Mclendon gave generously of his time and money in the furtherance of the government's interests and was not only active as associate member of the legal advisory board of Cleveland county but took a prominent part in all drives. He is one of Cleveland county's most progressive and public-spirited citizens. He has been a dominant factor in the upbuilding of the town and county and his many sterling traits of character have won for him the confidence and respect of all of his fellowmen.

J. W. NOLAN, M. D.

Dr. J. W. Nolan, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in El Dorado with office in the Garrett Hotel building, was born at Cherry Ridge, Lonisiana, Janu- ary 27, 1881. His youthful days were spent on the home farm on which his birth occurred and his training and experience were such as usually fall to the farm bred boy. He began his education in the common schools and afterward pursued a high school course. He then took up the profession of teaching when he was twenty years of age, utilizing this means in order to acquire the funds necessary for a college educa- tion. He was ambitious to make advancement along intellectual lines and with the desire to become a member of the medical profession he entered the State University of Arkansas, from which he was graduated on the completion of the medical course, with the class of 1916.

Having obtained his M. D. degree, Dr. Nolan then located in Hillsboro, Arkansas, where he remained for a year and on the expiration of that period he came to El Dorado, where he has since engaged in general practice, devoting his entire time to his professional duties. He has made steady advancement in his chosen calling, for he is most conscientious in his work and never neglects in the slightest degree the task that devolves upon him. He belongs to the Union County and Arkansas State Medical Societies and also the American Medical Association.

Dr. Nolan is well known as a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Masonic fraternity and is a loyal follower of the high purposes of these organizations. He is likewise a consistent member of the Baptist church and his life is ruled by principles which in every land and clime awaken confidence and regard.

OTTO V. MARTIN.

Otto V. Martin is a most alert, energetic and wide-awake young business man, who is at the head of the Otto V. Martin Industries of Fort Smith, with offices in the Merchants National Bank building. He was born in Ozark, Arkansas, in 1891, and is a son of W. A. and Orinthia (Adams) Martin. Thus he was constantly broadening his knowledge and in his studies specialized in industrial chemistry, metallurgy and similar lines. For a time he taught school at Texarkana and in the high school of Fort Smith he became a teacher of chemistry. It was in 1917 that he organized and promoted the Industrial Laboratories Company of Fort Smith, of which he became

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the president. This company manufactures heavy chemicals and specializes on waste products. It manufactures sweeping compounds, floor oils, manganese salts, etc.

Mr. Martin does research work in connection with all of Arkansas' natural re- sources, for the purpose of utilizing the products of the state and all by-products. He specializes in dust prevention and gravel road building and has been very active in superintending the roads construction in Arkansas and Oklahoma. He has had contracts for the building of roads, amounting to five hundred thousand dollars. He is still a young man but has already made notable progress and occupies today a prominent position among the road builders of the southwest. He understands thor- oughly all the scientific processes and methods which lie back of his manufacturing and building interests and his progressiveness has brought him prominently to the fore in these connections. He has now combined his various interests under one head and is doing business under the name of Otto V. Martin Industries, of Fort Smith, Arkansas.

During the period of the World war Mr. Martin served on the war industries board and was engaged in experimentation with poisonous, gases. He is ever loyal to all interests calculated to henefit the country at large or to advance the wonderful development of the southwest and he has made for himself a most creditable position in the commercial circles of Fort Smith.

SIDNEY YANCEY WEST.

Sidney Yancey West, a cotton merchant of Little Rock, prominent as a represen- tative of the industry in the southwest, his position in trade circles being indicated in the fact that he was elected to the presidency of the Little Rock Cotton Exchange in 1920, has throughout his entire career manifested those sterling qualities of industry, perseverance and sound judgment which constitute the basic element not only of individual prosperity hut of public henefit as well.

Mr. West was horn on a farm in Holmes county, Mississippi, July 6, 1885, and is a son of Benjamin G. and Mary (Crump) West. The father's birth occurred in Oxford, Mississippi, in 1855, while the mother was born in Holly Springs, that state, in 1864, They were married at the latter place iu 1882 and 1891 they removed from the farm in Holmes county to the city of Memphis. On coming to Arkansas they settled in Pulaski county and through the intervening period to the present time Benjamin G. West has been identified with agricultural pursuits in this state. His political endorsement has always been given to the democratic party. He and his wife have two sons and three daughters and the family circle still remains unbroken by the hand of death.

Sidney Yancey West was but six years of age when his parents removed to Memphis and there in the public schools he acquired his education. In later years he has learned many valuable lessons in the school of experience. Moreover, from the faithful performance of each day's duties he has found strength and encourage- ment for the labors of the succeeding day, and step by step he has advanced, each forward step bringing him a broader outlook and wider chance for the attainment of the goal of success. For twenty-one years he has been connected with the cotton trade and is today conducting a large and profitable business as a cotton merchant. He has studied closely every phase of the business, so that his labors have at all times been directed with a sound judgment which insures the accumulation of a com- petence. That his colleagues and contemporaries in this field have faith in his busi- ness wisdom is indicated in the fact of his election to the presidency of the Little Rock Cotton Exchange in 1920. He was president of the Pine Bluff Cotton Exchange in 1913; treasurer of the World's Cotton Conference in New Orleans in 1919; Arkansas delegate to the World's Cotton Conference, Liverpool, England, in 1921; a member of the executive committee, World's Cotton Conference in 1919 and 1921; and a member of the committee of cotton exporters to work out details of the war finance corpora- tion in 1921.

Since attaining accountable age duty has ever been the watchword of Sidney Y. West and when he felt that his country needed his military aid he entered the Officers Training Camp at Plattshurg, New York, in July, 1916, remaining there for thirty days. He then returned to Little Rock and after a thorough study of condi- tions he finally joined up with the adjutant general of the United States army, be- coming civilian aide to Adjutant General McCain, serving from May, 1917, until January 1, 1919.

Mr. West is an Episcopalian in religious faith and a democrat in his political views. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is prominently

SIDNEY Y. WEST

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known in club circles not only in Little Rock but in other cities as well, having mem- bership in the Country Club, the Little Rock Athletic Association, the Lakeside Coun- try Club, the Memphis Country Club of Memphis, Tennessee, the Rotary Club of Little Rock and the Wamsutta Club of New Bedford, Massachusetts. His social quali- ties make for popularity wherever he is known, and his circle of friends is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance.

ALBERT SIDNEY GOODWIN.

Albert Sidney Goodwin, a native son of Arkansas and a representative of one of the pioneer families of the state, is well known in financial circles of Hot Springs as cashier of the Security Bank and is making a most creditable record in the office by the prompt and faithful manner in which he is discharging his duties. He was born near Batesville, in Independence county, Arkansas, on the 27th of August, 1877, a son of Hezekiah H. and Mary E. (Pope) Goodwin, the former of whom was also a native of that section of the state, while the latter was horn in Dalton, Georgia. The paternal grandfather, Overton P. Goodwin, was a native of Virginia and con- tinued a resident of that state until 1836, when he came to Arkansas, casting in his lot with its pioneer settlers.

In the acquirement of an education Albert S. Goodwin attended the grammar and high schools of Batesville, Arkansas, and afterward turned his attention to educa- tional work, teaching in the rural schools of that vicinity for about three years. He then went to Little Rock, Arkansas, and during the fall of 1901 was employed in a clerical capacity in the Nelson Morris packing house. He next went to Jonesboro, Arkansas, where he entered financial circles, becoming a clerk in the Bank of Jones- boro. His next removal took him to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where he was given charge of the commercial department of the Ouachita Baptist College, and for about two years was thus engaged. On the 13th of July, 1904, he came to Hot Springs as bookkeeper for the Security Bank and his conscientious and efficient discharge of his duties in that connection won for him merited promotion until in 1908 he occupied the position of assistant cashier, while on the 18th of August, 1920, he was advanced to the cashiership, in which capacity he is now serving. The complex problems of banking are thoroughly familiar to him, for comprehensive study and broad expe- rience have acquainted him with the various phases of the business, and through able and systematic work he has been largely instrumental in promoting the growth and success of the institution.

On the 16th of August, 1904, Mr. Goodwin was united in marriage to Miss Effie Sims, a daughter of Robert C. Sims, now deceased, who became one of the successful planters of Independence county, this state. To this union four children have been born: Mary Frances, Alberta, Ernestine and Virginia.

Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin and two of their daughters are members of the Baptist church and his political allegiance is given to the democratic party, while fraternally he is connected with the Masons, holding membership in Sumpter Lodge, No. 419, F. & A. M., of Hot Springs; Hot Springs Chapter, No. 47, Royal Arch Masons; Hot Springs Commandery, No. 5, Knights Templar; Sahara Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. of Pine Bluff. His business career has been marked by continuous advancement and he has labored effectively to broaden the scope of the institution with which he is connected. His success has been the result of intense application, ceaseless watchful- ness of opportunity, unwavering courage and a readiness to assume responsibility. As a business man his standing is of the highest and in all matters of citizenship his influence is on the side of progress and improvement.

JOHN K. MOOSE, D. D. S.

Dr. John K. Moose has for the past seventeen years heen actively engaged in the practice of dentistry in Gentry, where he is the only representative of his pro- fession and has most satisfactorily met the demands made upon him in this connection. He is a native of Taylorsville, North Carolina, and a son of David W. and Sophia (Kivett) Moose, who were also born in that state. Representatives of the family removed from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, where the birth of Anthony Moose, the paternal grandfather of Dr. Moose, likewise occurred. The maternal grandfather, John Kivett, spent his entire life in Randolph county, North Carolina. David W. Moose, the father of John K. Moose, successfully followed farming and carpentering

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throughout his active business career. His sympathies were with the Union cause during the period of hostilities between the north and the south, but he did not join the army, doing duty with the Home Guards. His political allegiance was given to the republican party, while his religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Baptist church, to which his wife also belonged. It was in North Carolina that he wedded Miss Sophia Kivett and both died in Alexander county, that state. Their family numbered nine children, seven of whom still survive.

John K. Moose, the third in order of birth in his father's household, supplemented his preliminary education by a course of study in the United Baptist Institute at Taylorsville, North Carolina, and subsequently pursued a course in dentistry at Knox- ville, Tennessee, where he was graduated with the degree of D. D. S. in 1891. His first professional work was done in Georgia, whence he afterward returned to Alexander county, North Carolina, there continuing in practice for a decade. The year 1904 witnessed his arrival in Gentry, Arkansas, where he has remained throughout the intervening period of seventeen years and where his time has been busily occupied, as he is the only dentist in the town. This fact alone is unmistakable proof of his professional ability. He displays marked skill in handling the multitudinous delicate little instruments which constitute a part of the equipment of the modern dental practitioner and possesses most thorough knowledge concerning the care and preser- vation of the teeth.

In 1882 Dr. Moose was united in marriage to Miss Georgia Cushing, a native of Georgia, and they have become parents of the following children: Paul, who is em- ployed by the Eastman Kodak Company in San Francisco, California; Kivett, who is deceased; Estell D., who is engaged in the oil business at Granger, Texas; Edgar T., who resides at Drumright, Oklahoma, and is also engaged in the oil business; Alma, a student in the Baptist College at Grand Island, Nebraska; and Georgia, who is a milliner and resides at home.

In politics Dr. Moose is a stalwart republican. He has served as alderman for several terms and has twice been elected mayor of Gentry, giving to the city a most husinėsslike and progressive administration characterized by many needed reforms and improvements. He acted as food administrator of his town and township during the period of the World war and while still a resident of North Carolina filled the position of postmaster at Lenoir under President Mckinley. Both he and his wife are devoted and consistent members of the Missionary Baptist church, while fra- ternally he is identified with the Masons, now serving as secretary of the blue lodge. Gardening affords him needed recreation and he has also been a contributor to the local press, in which connection he has gained wide popularity as a writer of humorous articles. He was also the originator of a local organization in Gentry called the Sun- shine Dodgers and in fact has long heen recognized as one of the leading and valued residents of the town.

CHARLES GREEN COLQUITT.

Charles Green Colquitt, mayor of Magnolia, was horn in Columbia county on the 1st of April, 1876, a son of John C. and Sarah Louisa (Gladney) Colquitt, both of whom are deceased. John C. Colquitt was born in Georgia and came to this state in 1869. For some time he engaged in farming and in conducting a mercantile busi- ness and he achieved substantial success in both connections. In 1885 he represented Columbia county in the state legislature and was speaker of the house in 1895. He was in the auditor's office of the state for twelve years. In Columbia county on the 28th of August, 1870, was celebrated the marriage of John C. Colquitt to Miss Sarah Louisa Gladney. She was born and reared in Columbia county, her parents having come here from Tennessee, in 1845. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Colquitt six children were horn, Charles Green, whose name initiates this review being the third in order of birth. All of the children are living. Mr. Colquitt died at his home in Magnolia, in 1913, when sixty-seven years of age. Mrs. Colquitt's demise occurred in Magnolia in 1908.

Charles Green Colquitt was educated in the Magnolia public schools and took an academic course, which was equivalent to two years in college. Subsequently he enrolled in the school of commerce in the University of Kentucky at Lexington, and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1899. He. then hecame active in the cotton business as an employe of Ardis Company, Ltd. His conscientious per- formance of every duty assigned him soon won him promotion and in 1909 he was made manager of that concern, his headquarters being in Shreveport, Louisiana. In 1912 he severed his relations with that company and until 1914 traveled for the

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Crunden-Martin Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Missouri, his territory covering the state of Mississippi. In 1915 he returned to Magnolia as a representative of the Lesser-Goldman Cotton Company of St. Louis, and was active in that connection until May, 1921. In 1920 Mr. Colquitt was elected mayor of Magnolia and his administra- tion is being marked by prosperity and a general development and improvement in the welfare of the community. He has extensive interests, being a stockholder in the Columbia County Bank and in the Consumers Ice & Light Company.

On the 18th of December, 1905, occurred the marriage of Mr. Colquitt to Miss Robbie May Colquitt, a daughter of Robert Colquitt of Shreveport, Louisiana. The ceremony was performed at Austin, Texas. To the uuion of Mr. and Mrs. Colquitt two children have been born: Robert, who is thirteen years of age and a student in the grammar school here; and Charles G., Jr., ten years of age, who is likewise a student in the grammar school.

The religious faith of the family is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and they are generous contributors to its support. Mr. Colquitt holds membership in the Traveling Men's Protective Association. He is justly accorded a place among the prominent and representative citizens of Magnolia, for he belongs to that class of men whose enterprising spirit is used not alone for their own benefit but also advances the general good and promotes public prosperity.

SIMEON J. HESTERLY, M. D.

The medical profession in Arkansas finds a worthy representative in Dr. Simeon J. Hesterly, who has been practicing in Prescott for twenty-four years. He was born in Magnolia, this state, on the 19th of September, 1863, a son of Francis B. and Mary A. ' Hesterly, both natives of Georgia. Their marriage was celebrated in that state and they resided there until the outbreak of the Civil war, in 1861, when they came to Arkansas. For a short time they stopped in Magnolia, Columbia county, but later removed to Nevada county, where Mr. Hesterly purchased a farm. He was actively engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1893, when he retired and moved into Prescott, where his death occurred five years later.

In the acquirement of an education Simeon J. Hesterly attended the public schools of Prescott and in due time became a student in the Tom Allen high school, gradu- ating therefrom with the class of 1884. After putting his texthooks aside he engaged in farming with his father and was active in that association until 1888, when he took up the study of medicine, reading under the preceptorship of Dr. A. Harris, a well known physician and surgeon of Prescott. In 1889 and 1890 he attended a course of lectures at the old Memphis Hospital Medical College, now the medical department of the University of Tennessee, and subsequently he went to Pine Bluff, where he began the practice of his profession. In 1896 he was graduated from the Memphis Hospital Medical College, remaining in Pine Bluff for the remainder of that year, but on the 1st of January, 1897, he came to Prescott, where he has since practiced. A professional partnership was formed in 1919, when Dr. Hesterly's son, Dr. J. B. Hesterly, further mention of whom is made on another page of this work, became associated with his father in the practice of his profession and they have gained wide recognition, not only from the general public but also among their professional brethren. The senior Dr. Hesterly has remained a constant student of his chosen profession and has taken several postgraduate courses since locating in Prescott. In 1900 he attended the Chicago Post Graduate School and in 1912 he took postgraduate work at the New York Polyclinic. He again attended the Chicago Post Graduate School in 1915. Aside from his professional interests, Dr. Hesterly is vice president of the Bank of Prescott and he is an equal partner with his son, Francis B., in the Hesterly Drug Store here.

On the 27th of March, 1885, occurred the marriage of Dr. Hesterly to Miss Sarah M. Gibson, a native of Nevada county, and to their union five children have been born: Francis B., who is conducting the Hesterly Drug Store in Prescott; Bertha A., the wife of G. R. Scott, assistant cashier of the Bank of Prescott; Dr. Jacob B., physi- cian and surgeon of this city; Beulah E., the wife of O. G. Stephenson of Prescott; and Ernest, who is in his junior year at the Prescott high school. The religious faith of the family is that of the Missionary Baptist church and Dr. Hesterly has been a deacon in the church for many years.

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 145

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