Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 146

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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Fraternally Dr. Hesterly is identified with the Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, holding membership in Prescott Lodge, No, 80, and he is likewise a member of the Knights of Pythias. Along strictly professional lineshe is identified with the American Medical Association; the Tri State Medical Association, comprising the states of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas; the Southern Railroad Surgeons Association; the

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Southern Medical Association; the Arkansas State Medical Society; and the Nevada County Medical Society. Dr. Hesterly has ever held to high ideals in his profes- sional service, has utilized every opportunity to promote his knowledge and thus advance his efficiency and has the tact and ready sympathy which enables him to understand the mental as well as the physical condition of his patients. The con- sensus of public opinion places him among the representative practitioners of southern Arkansas.

JACOB B. HESTERLY, M. D.

Prescott numbers among her native sons Dr. Jacob B. Hesterly, whose birth occurred on the 13th of November, 1892, a son of Dr. Simeon J. and Mary M. (Gibson) Hesterly, further mention of whom is made on another page of this work.

Jacob B. Hesterly received his early education in the public schools of Prescott and later entered Ouachita College at Arkadelphia. Subsequently, determining to follow in his father's footsteps, he enrolled in the medical department of the University of Arkansas and received the M. D. degree in 1915. During the following year he was an interne in the City Hospital at Little Rock and on the 2d of June, 1917, putting all personal interests aside, he enlisted in the United States army for service in the World war. He was assigned to the medical department laboratory division and sta- tioned at New York city, where he remained until he received his honorable discharge on the 19th of June, 1919. He then returned to Prescott and began the practice of his profession in association with his father.

In 1917 Dr. Hesterly was married to Miss Rene Elizabeth Smith, a daughter of . C. H. Smith, president of the First State Bank at Prescott. Mrs. Hesterly is prominent in the club and social circles of this community.

Along strictly professional lines Dr. Hesterly holds membership in the American Medical Association; the Association of Military Surgeons; the Arkansas State Medical Society and the Nevada County Medical Society. Fraternally he is a member of Chi Zeta Chi, a national college fraternity. Dr. Hesterly is a consistent member of the Baptist church, while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. They have many friends in this community who have known them since childhood and they are ranked among Prescott's substantial and representative citizeus. Dr. Hesterly is meeting with the most gratifying success in the practice of his profession and owing to his skill, both as a surgeon and physician, he is acquiring far more than a local reputation.

P. R. WATKINS, M. D.

Dr. P. R. Watkins, who is rendering signal service to his fellowmen through his capability in the practice of medicine and surgery at Mena, was born in Collinsville, Alabama, March 13, 1866. He is a son of General Pinkney and Caroline (Siniard) Watkins and a grandson of Green Watkins, who was born in Georgia bnt became a pioneer settler of Alabama, whence in 1860 he removed to Arkansas, his death occurring near Pine Bluff. He was a farmer, devoting his life to agricultural pursuits. He married a Miss Tidmore and their son, General Pinkney Watkins, was born near Gadsden, Alabama, in 1838. In his native state he married Caroline Siniard, who was born in Collinsville, Alabama, in 1842. General Watkins was a school teacher and farmer and for many years he served as justice of the peace. He was a well informed man for his day, being a great reader and thus keeping in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress. In politics he was a republican and at the time of the Civil war he strongly advocated the Union cause. The Confederate gov- ernment, however, forced him to enter the army. He soon deserted and joined the Union forces and while not a soldier he did work for the army and remained with the Boys in Blue until the close of hostilities. In the fall of 1867 he removed to Arkansas, settling in the northern part of the state and subsequently took up his abode in Washington county, Arkansas, where he remained for five years. He after- ward spent a year in Logan county and thence went to Scott county, his death occurring in 1901 near Mansfield, where he owned a small farm. For a considerable period he had survived his wife, who died in 1883. They were members of the Baptist church and their sterling traits of character won for them many friends. They had a family of nine children, five of whom are living: P. R., of this review; Helen, who is the wife of J. A. Coker, a farmer of Scott county, Arkansas; Pearl, the wife of J. N.

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Dunlap, a farmer of Bonham, Texas; G. E., who is a practicing physician at Muse, Oklahoma; and Carrie, the wife of Monroe Lipe, a farmer of Bonham, Texas. General Pinkney Watkins married again in 1885, Miss Amy S. Ashley, one of his boyhood sweethearts, becoming his wife. She was a native of Alabama and is now living at Alabama City, Alabama.

P. R. Watkins pursued his education in the rural schools of Scott county, Ar- kansas, and also attended the schools for a time in Washington county. Later he spent three years as a student in Buckner College in Sebastian county, Arkansas, and in order to meet the expenses of his college course previously engaged in teaching school. He followed the profession while helping at home on the farm and attending school and college for six years and while thus employed saved money sufficient to enable him to pursue his own education, including his medical course. He owed only a hundred and fifty dollars when he completed his medical education but it took him four years to pay his debt. He began practice at Whitefield, Oklahoma, and after- ward was located at Briartown, Oklahoma, for a year. He then removed to Dallas, Arkansas, where he practiced for two years and on the 23d of March, 1897, he arrived in Mena, and his progress has been continuous. He entered upon active practice here with Dr. Jennings, with whom he was associated for three years and since that time he has practiced alone. He has pursued two postgraduate courses in Vanderbilt Uni- versity at Nashville, Tennessee, spending two and a half months as a student on the first occasion and three and a half months after his second entrance. He is a member of the Polk County Medical Society and the Arkansas State Medical Society and has served as president of the former. He is a delegate to the State Medical Society for the year 1922 and at all times has kept in touch with the proceedings of these bodies, so that he is familiar with the most advanced methods being followed by fellow members of the profession throughout the state. His standards of service have ever been high and his progressiveness has brought him steadily to the front as one of the most competent and successful physicians of Mena.

On the 4th of May, 1899, Dr. Watkins was married to Miss Bertie Dixon, who was born near Mansfield, Arkansas, a daughter of Henry W. and Amanda (Landon ) Dixon, who were natives of Polk county, Arkansas, and of Ohio, respectively. Her father served as a captain in the Union army and in days of peace devoted his attention to farming and to the operation of a cotton gin, while later he became a merchant. He was quite successful in his business affairs and was widely and favorably known.

Dr. and Mrs. Watkins are consistent followers of the teachings of the Missionary Baptist church. Fraternally he is a Mason, while his political allegiance is given to the republican party. He served as school director for nine years, the cause of educa- tion finding in him a stalwart champion and he has also been a member of the board of health. The major part of his time and attention, however, has been concentrated upon his professional interests and duties, which he discharges with a sense of marked obligation, and all who know him accord him high rank as a representative of the medical fraternity.

J. M. DILLON.

J. M. Dillon, editor of the Woodruff County Democrat, published at Cotton Plant, Arkansas, was born in Woodbury, Tennessee, April 29, 1873, his parents being J. M. and Mary Jane (Stephens) Dillon, who were also natives of Woodbury. The Dillon family was established in Tennessee in pioneer times and the grandfather, Thomas Dillon, was there born. He was a harness and saddle maker by trade and he married Miss Mary Arbuckle. The grandfather in the maternal line was Elijah Stephens, a native of Georgia, who at an early day removed to Tennessee, where he engaged in merchandising and also became a planter. He wedded Mary Whitely and both departed this life in that locality. In their family were seven children: Samuel, Joseph, Elijah, Mary Jane, Fannie, Betty and Viola.

Born and reared in Woodbury, J. M. Dillon, Sr., learned and followed the trade of harness and saddle making. * He served in the Civil war throughout the period of hostilities with the infantry forces under Captain Wiley and in days of peace he con- tinned to engage in the harness and saddlery business from the time of his apprentice- ship until his demise. He died in Woodbury in February, 1873, at the age of forty-seven years, while his widow survived until 1912, dying at the age of sixty. In their family were four children: James, now deceased: William, who follows farming in Texas; Fannie, the wife of C. Gribble of Woodbury, Tennessee; and J. M., of this review. The parents were consistent members of the Christian church and the father was identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political endorsement was always given to the democratic party.

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J. M. Dillon was educated in the schools of his native county and in Woodbury College at Woodbury, Tennessee, where he entered upon his business career as an employe on the Cannon County Courier published at that place. He afterward went to Chattanooga, where he was employed in connection with the Tradesman and after- ward in Nashville secured a position on the Nashville Banner. He was next located at Waxahachie, Texas, where he remained for ten years, working as a printer in the mailing department of the Daily Light. He next removed to south McAlester, Okla- homa, where he secured a position on the Daily Capital and later he was engaged in the job printing business at McAlester on his own account, opening a shop there. Following his removal to Fort Smith he did job work with the Hammond Printing Company and later purchased their plant, which he conducted for three years and then sold. On leaving Fort Smith he went to Forrest City, Arkansas, where he worked on the Times and afterward established the Forrest City Enterprise, which he published for eight months and then sold to the firm of Young & Babb. His next removal took him to Wynne, Arkansas, where he leased the Wynne Progress, which he published for a year. In March, 1915, he came to Cotton Plant and established the Woodruff County Democrat, which he still owns and publishes and in connection with the work of issuing the paper he has done all kinds of job work and commercial printing. His is the only newspaper published in the southern district of Woodruff county. They installed all the machinery and he bought his last plant at Clarendon, removing it to Cotton Plant. He has devoted the greater part of his life to the printing business and is familiar with every phase thereof, his success being attributable to his close application, his thoroughness and his sound judgment in the management of his busi- ness affairs. He belongs to the Arkansas Press Association.

In 1901 Mr. Dillon was married to Miss Mary Rebsamen, a native of Clarksville, Arkansas, and a daughter of G. and Mary E. (Langford) Rebsamen, who were natives of Mississippi, and relatives of the Blyes family, who were the first settlers of Scott county, Arkansas. The Rebsamen family comes from Switzerland. Her father was a well educated man. speaking five different languages and also possessing consider- able musical talent. He taught music through the greater part of his life, living at Clarksville, Arkansas, but later removed to Texas, while subsequently he returned to Van Buren, this state, there spending his last days. To Mr. and Mrs. Dillon were born five children, four of whom are living: Richard, who is a musician, residing at Cotton Plant; Sidney, who is clerking; J. M., Jr., who died at the age of two and a half years; Helen and Elmo, at home. Mr. Dillon and his family are members of the Christian church and in politics he is a stanch democrat. He issues his paper in the interests of the party and he has built up a circulation to seven hundred and eighty. It is published weekly and Mr. Dillon has made the journal a source of interest to its many readers in this locality.

GUILLAUME E. BERSON.

Guillaume E. Berson is the treasurer of the Boston Store, the largest department store of Fort Smith, and his business ability, his careful study of commercial condi- tions and his indefatigable energy, are salient features in the attainment of the success which is attending this establishment. Mr. Berson is a native of Tennessee, his birth having occurred in Brownsville, in January, 1871. His education was largely acquired in Trenton, that state, and he started out in the business world in connection with a general store at that place, securing a position in 1885, when but fourteen years of age. He worked diligently and his faithfulness to his employer's interests enabled him to hold his position for three years, at the end of which time he believed that better opportunities might be secured elsewhere and he came to Arkansas, settling first in Little Rock. There he worked for the Townsley Dry Goods Company, now out of business, continuing in the capital city for three years. On the expiration of that period he came to Fort Smith as representative of the Townsley interests and remained with their house in this city for a year. In 1892 Mr. Berson entered upon a business connection with the Boston Store and through the intervening period to the present time, covering almost thirty years, he has been associated with its estab- lishment. Steadily he has worked his way upward, winning promotion from time to time, until he was called to an official position. For the past twelve years he has been the treasurer of the company and has contributed in notable measure to the success of the business, which he has seen grow from a comparatively small estab- lishment to one of very large dimensions. The store would be a credit to a city of much greater size than Fort Smith. A large and pleasing line of goods is carried and the store is attractive by reason of its tasteful arrangements and the display of

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the stock. Moreover, the company has always held to the highest standards in the personnel of the house and in the treatment accorded patrons, and fairness and honesty have ever been salient features in the attainment of the trade.

In 1895 Mr. Berson was married to Miss Lillie Leftwich of Fort Smith, and they have become parents of two sons: Jack B. and G. E., Jr. The elder son is now asso- ciated with his father in business and recently married Miss Imogene Stuart, a daughter of A. C. Stuart of Texarkana, Texas. Jack Berson served in the United States army for a year and a half during the World war. He enlisted as a private and was pro- moted to sergeant, while later he became quartermaster sergeant and eventually was made a second lieutenant. He was identified with the Quartermaster Corps of the regular army and was stationed at Jacksonville, Florida, and at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and finally, when advanced to the rank of second lieutenant, was transferred to Washington, D. C. The younger son, Guillaume E, Jr., attends the Washington Lee University at Lexington, Virginia.

Mr. Berson manifests the keenest interest not only in his own business but in business conditions which affect the general relations of trade in Fort Smith. He is a member of the Business Men's Club and is serving as one of its directors. Fra- ternally he is a Mason, loyally following the teachings and purposes of the craft. He is likewise connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and with the Modern Woodmen of America and he has membership in the Rotary Club and in the Country Club. The terms progress and patriotism are each considered the keynote of his character, for throughout his career he has labored for the improvement of every line of business or public interest with which he has been associated and at all times has been actuated by a fidelity to his country and her welfare.

R. H. SANDERS.

In the mercantile circles of De Valls Bluff, R. H. Sanders is widely and prominently known, being the senior partner in the firm of Sanders & Frohlich, who are con- ducting a general store. Mr. Sanders was born in Madison county, Mississippi, in 1857 and is a son of J. B. and Eva (Denson) Sanders. The father, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, was a son of R. T. Sanders, who with his family came to Arkansas on the 14th of January, 1870, locating first at Des Arc, where they took up their abode upon a farm. They afterward removed to a farm in the vicinity of De Valls Bluff and R. T. Sanders devoted the remainder of his life to agricultural pursuits, spending his last days at Hazen. He married a daughter of Daniel Boone of Hernando, Mis- sissippi, who was a cousin of the distinguished Daniel Boone, Indian fighter and Kentucky pioneer. His son, J. B. Sanders, died at Forrest City, Arkansas, to which place he and his family, with the exception of R. H. Sanders, had removed. There the father lived retired until his life's labors were ended in death. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Eva Denson, was a daughter of Harvey and Mathilda Denson of Madison county, Mississippi. Mrs. Sanders died in the early '60s and Mr. Sanders was married in 1865 to Lucy Guinn of Mississippi and she is still a resident of Forrest City. J. B. Sanders was a soldier of the Civil war, serving under General Forrest with the Mississippi troops. One of his brothers, Marshall Sanders, was also in the army, while still another brother, Troy Sanders, was killed in action. R. H. Sanders of this review has three half brothers who are living in Forrest City, Arkansas, these heing W. T., J. T. and J. G., the last named being now sheriff of St. Francis county.

R. H. Sanders spent the first thirteen years of his life in his native state and then accompanied his parents and grandparents on their removal to Arkansas, the family arriving on the 14th of January, 1870. He was reared on a farm, passing through all of the experiences of the farm bred boy who divides his time between the duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and such tasks as are assigned him by pa- rental authority. Not wishing to follow agricultural pursuits as a life work, Mr. San- ders ultimately turned his attention to commercial interests and in course of time became proprietor of a general store at De Valls Bluff. This he successfully conducted and in 1913 he was joined by Jacob Frohlich, a partnership being formed under the firm style of Sanders & Frohlich. Through the intervening period they have conducted the business most successfully and today have the largest general store in the town. Their shelves are filled with a large and carefully selected line of goods and their pro- gressive business methods, their thorough reliability and their enterprise have secured to them a most liberal patronage. Mr. Sanders, however, does not confine his atten- tion alone to commercial pursuits but is as well a prominent figure in financial circles of De Valls Bluff, being president of the People's Bank, in which connection he is shaping the policy and directing the destiny of the institution.

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Mr. Sanders was united in marriage in 1895 to Miss Elizabeth Lovejoy, a daughter of S. S. and Ellma (Morrow) Lovejoy. The children of this marriage are: Margaret, who was educated in the Agnes Scott College of Georgia and is now a teacher in the high school at Jacksonville, Illinois; Ruth, who will graduate from the Agnes Scott College in 1923; and Elizabeth, a graduate of the high school of De Valls Bluff in 1922.

Fraternally Mr. Sanders is connected with the Knights of Pythias. His religious faith is that of the Baptist church, in the work of which he has taken active and help- ful part, serving as superintendent of the Sunday school and doing everything in his power to advance the work of the church and extend its influence.

F. B. TANNEN HOLLENBERG.

No citizen of Arkansas perhaps has labored more earnestly and effectively to maintain the honor and good name of the state than has F. B. Tannen Hollenherg. He is a most capable and successful business man, being owner of the oldest and largest piano concern of the southwest, conducted under the name of the Hollenberg Music Company. Notwithstanding the demands made upon his time and energy in the conduct of this business, he has always found opportunity for public service and no man has more quickly responded to the call of duty. His name is associated with the history of material development, with the history of military activity in the state and with the moral progress of the community and there is definite evidence of the fact that his opinions have had to do with shaping national affairs.

Mr. Hollenberg was born at Providence Forge, near Richmond, Virginia, January 22, 1866, in the old ancestral home of the family. He comes of German ancestry, one of his great-grandfathers being Heinrich Tannen, kriegsrat and domainerat of Hannover. The other, G. H. Hollenberg was the oberland baumeister of Hannover and in whose honor was erected a monument at Osnabrück by those who had long kuown and loved him. The grandfather of F. B. T. Hollenberg was consistorial secretar of the kingdom of Hannover and helonged to one of the wealthy families of that part of the German empire. H. G. Hollenberg, father of F. B. T. Hollenherg, was born in Osnabrück, Hannover, Germany, and acquired a liberal education, speaking five languages fluently. In young manhood he learned the business of piano making in Germany, France and Italy and he also developed considerable musical talent. He was a thorough musician and an exceptional violinist. He owned two valuable instruments, one heing an Amati. which was a family possession, his maternal grandmother being herself a splendid violinist, and the other a Stainer, both now in the possession of his son. In 1849, like many other intellectual and wealthy young German gentlemen, he came to the United States and established a piano manufactory in New York, but his business there was destroyed by fire, and as his health had become impaired through over- work, he was advised by his physician to seek a change in climate. Thus four years after coming to the United States he settled in Huntsville, Alabama, where he became proprietor of a piano warehouse and general music store, which constituted one of the important features in the business of that city. He afterward removed to Mem- phis, Tennessee, and in 1865 the piano house of which he was the head began doing busi- ness in Arkansas and in 1873 established a branch at Little Rock, which was incorporated in 1887 as the Hollenberg Music House. His thorough integrity matched his progres- siveness and enterprise in business and his name was honored wherever known. In 1863 at Huntsville, Alabama, he married Amelia Adelaide Binns, who was born in Alabama and represented one of.the old families of New Kent county, Virginia, con- nected with the history of that state from the early part of the eighteenth century. The estate of the Binns family comprised many thousands of acres which were handed down through successive generations of the family until the Civil war. Several of the ancestors of Mrs. Hollenberg were connected with the Revolutionary. war and she became active in the work of the Daughters of the Revolution and also the Daughters of the Confederacy.

In his youthful days F. B. T. Hollenberg became an assistant of his father in the music trade and for some years prior to his father's death in 1893 was identified with the Little Rock branch of the business and for several years had been manager of the house, which was later taken over by a company of stockholders. In order to increase the scope and activity of the enterprise Mr. Hollenberg in 1891 organized the Hollenherg Music Company of Chicago, Illinois, with a much greater capital and into this merged the Hollenberg Music House of Little Rock. With the incorporation Mr. Hollenberg was elected president and general manager and has so continued. In 1909 he purchased the interests of the other stockholders in the business with the exception of a nominal amount of shares to maintain the organization. The capital

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 146

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