Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 150

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

USA > Arkansas > Centennial history of Arkansas > Part 150

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

GEORGE GILMER DANDRIDGE.

George Gilmer Dandridge, filling the office of postmaster of Paris, was born in Henry county, Virginia, in 1853, and is a son of William A. and Mary J. (Hammer) Dandridge, who were natives of Virginia and of North Carolina, respectively. The Dandridge family was established in Virginia at an early period in the colonization of that state. It was in the Old Dominion that William A. Dandridge was married and there he continued to reside until called to his final rest. He was a second cousin of Martha Washington. He was a farmer, a slaveowner, a tobacco grower and a manufacturer of tobacco and was very successful until the time of the Civil war. His widow survived him and after his death removed to Mississippi, where her last days were passed. Four of their sons were soldiers of the Civil war. Dr. T. W. Dandridge had charge of a hospital at Richmond, Virginia, but before the war was closed he was transferred to Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. R. B. Dandridge partici- pated in the first battle of Manassas and afterward served on the medical board. J. D. Dandridge died in Hanover county, Virginia, during the service from wounds which he had sustained in battle. H. C. Dandridge was also in the Confederate army and all four sons are now deceased. Six children of the family are living and the second in order of birth of the survivors is George Gilmer Dandridge of this review. The others are: Sam H., who is a merchant and farmer residing at Thyatira, Mississippi; Walter A., engaged in merchandising at Pontotoc, Mississippi; Lou, living with her brother in Pontotoc; Nannie A., the wife of P. W. Dalton, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he is engaged in the tobacco business; and Bessie Lee, the wife of Emmet Compton, a mining man of Altus, Arkansas. James S. died at the age of forty-one years; Pocahontas, the wife of J. T. Wilborn, died in 1917; and Pattie W., the wife of J. W. Thornton, died in 1916. The mother was a member of the Christian church, and the father attended its services and contributed to its support. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party.

George Gilmer Dandridge was educated in the common schools of Virginia and after- ward took up the occupation of farming. In 1871 he left his native state and went to Mississippi, where he carried on farming until 1881 and then came to Logan county, Arkansas, where he purchased land and engaged in the work of tilling the soil for about three years. He afterward removed to Paris, where he established a livery and transfer business, which he successfully conducted for some time. At length he was called to public office, serving as deputy sheriff for eight years, and in 1896 he was

GEORGE G. DANDRIDGE

953

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS

elected sheriff, occupying that position also for eight years. In 1913 he was appointed postmaster and has since occupied the position, which he has discharged with the same faithfulness and capability which he displayed when connected with the sheriff's office. He also has farming interests and other business enterprises and at one time was president of the American Bank & Trust Company. He has been dependent upon his own resources from early age and whatever success he has achieved and enjoyed is attributable entirely to his own labors.

In 1879 Mr. Dandridge was married to Miss Mattie Sue Norfleet, who was born in Mississippi, and they have become parents of eleven children: Mary Merle, the wife of E. A. Billingsley, a barber of Little Rock; Jessie Lee, the wife of Thomas H. Rogers, prosecuting attorney at Paris; Beatrice, the wife of M. S. Wilborn, who is engaged in the stock and dairy business in Mississippi; W. E., a solicitor with the Jordan Foster Printing Company of Little Rock; George Gilmer, who is with the Iron Mountain Railroad Company of Little Rock; S. C., who represents the Burroughs Adding Machine Company in Little Rock; Lena, the wife of Robert Smith, a farm demonstrator of Mississippi; Pattie W., the wife of M. B. Hardwicke, proprietor of a garage at Paris; Zelia, the wife of M. Thompson, a traveling salesman, living at Dardanelle; James S., who is a clerk in the post office at Paris; and Lucille, who is in school. The son, S. C. Dandridge, was in France during the World war, remaining overseas for eight months and was the first soldier from Paris, Arkansas, to get across. He was in England much of the time with the flying squadron.

Mr. Dandridge has always given his political allegiance to the democratic party and has been a stalwart champion of its principles. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and is a Royal Arch Mason. He has served as senior warden in the Masonic lodge and is a most loyal and faithful follower of the craft. His religious faith is that of the Christian church, and his entire life has been actuated by high and honorable principles, making him a man whom to know is to esteem and respect.

ASHLEY COCKRILL.

Ashley Cockrill, of the firm of Cockrill & Armistead, is a widely known and able lawyer. A son of the late Judge Sterling Robertson Cockrill, a jurist of unusual distinc- tion, it seems not too much to say of the son that he maintains well the traditions of his father. The firm, of which he is a partner, is retained by a number of the largest corporate enterprises doing business in the state of Arkansas.

Ashley Cockrill was born November 8, 1872, at Little Rock, where he has resided all his life. His father, Sterling Robertson Cockrill, was a native of Tennessee, born at Nashville, September 26, 1847, and was a descendant of John Cockrill, an English- man who came to America with the ill-fated army under General Braddock during the Seven Years' war, from 1756 to 1763, and settled in Virginia. Sterling Robertson Cockrill, Sr., removed in early manhood to Tennessee, settling at Nashville. He mar- ried Henrietta McDonald and they became parents of a son, Judge Sterling R. Cockrill, who was born in Nashville, September 26, 1847. With the outbreak of hostilities be- tween the north and the south he entered the Military College at Marietta, Georgia, and when a lad of but fifteen years he joined the Confederate army for active military service. During the last two years of the war he was a sergeant of artillery in the command of General Joseph E. Johnston and when the war had ended be resumed his studies in Washington University, now Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Virginia. He was graduated in law in 1870 from the Cumberland University of Leba- non, Tennessee, and the same year removed to Arkansas, opening a law office in Little Rock. The following year he was married to Miss Mary Ashley Freeman, a grand- daughter of the Rt. Rev. George W. Freeman, the first bishop of-the Protestant Episco- pal diocese of Arkansas and a granddaughter of United States Senator Chester Ashley. The supreme court, under his guidance as chief justice, achieved nation-wide reputation for the excellence of his decisions. He died honored for his great public services and esteemed for his character as but few men are.

Not long after becoming a member of the Little Rock bar Judge Cockrill entered in partnership with Hon. A. H. Garland, under the firm style of Garland & Cockrill, the senior partner later becoming governor of the state and afterward United States sena- tor from Arkansas. Official honors of equal note were conferred upon the junior part- ner of the firm, for in 1884 Sterling R. Cockrill was elected chief justice of the supreme court of Arkansas and proved himself the peer of the ablest members who have sat in this court of last resort. In 1888 he was reelected to the bench and served as chief jus- tice until resigning in March, 1893. A contemporary writer has said of him: "He was

954

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS

a man of prodigious learning in the law and yet spared neither time nor labor in his legal investigation, discussing all relevant questions with marked clearness of illustra- tion, strength of argument and fullness and variety of learning. Of exalted character, appreciative of the source from which issue all human motives and actions, his was es- sentially and primarily a judicial mind and fortunate was the state of Arkansas that his services were enlisted on the bench of its supreme court. The reports of this court show that his discussions contain the highest conception of the law and his name has gone on record as that of one of the most honored and distinguished jurists of the state. He served as president of the Arkansas Bar Association and at the time of his death Governor Dan W. Jones ordered that the flag on the state capitol be unfurled at half mast and that the public business of the state be suspended during the hour of the funeral." Judge Cockrill died on the 12th of January, 1901, his death being deeply de- plored throughout the commonwealth because of the prominent part which he had played in shaping and molding its history. He not only commanded the highest respect of his colleagues and contemporaries, but won warm friendship and to the great majority of his fellow citizens of Arkansas the news of his demise carried with it a sense of deep personal bereavement. Judge Cockrill was ever a stalwart advocate of democratic principles and manifested the keenest interest in public affairs, delving deep to the root 'of all matters of general concern and standing steadfastly for every cause which he deemed essential and valuable in the promotion of public interests.

Ashley Cockrill, who has also come into prominence in connection with law prac- tice in Arkansas, was born in Little Rock, November 8, 1872. Well descended and well bred he had the advantages not only of the public schools of Little Rock, but also of study in the Little Rock University and later he matriculated in the University of Virginia, at Charlottesville, where he remained a student from 1889 until 1892. Stimu- lated by the example of his father he determined to follow in his professional foot- steps and for a time read law under Judge Cockrill, also attending the local law school, until his admission to the bar in Little Rock in 1894. He then entered upon active prac- tice in connection with his father, under the firm style of Cockrill & Cockrill, the association between them continuing until the death of the judge. Ashley Cockrill after- ward conducted a private practice, extensive and important in character, and later he became senior partner in the firm of Cockrill & Armistead. He has argued many cases and lost but few and few lawyers have made a more lasting impression upon the bar of the state, both for legal ability of a high order and for the individuality of a per- sonal character which impresses itself upon a community.

On the 30th of December, 1896, Mr. Cockrill was united in marriage to Miss Jennie R. Mitchell, a daughter of the late Professor James Mitchell, who was editor of the Ar- kansas Democrat from October, 1878, until his death June 26, 1902. From 1874 to 1877 he held the chair of English and history at the University of Arkansas, which position he resigned to enter the newspaper field. As a soldier of the Confederate army, as a scholar and publicist, no man ever served Arkansas-his native state-more acceptably. Mr. and Mrs. Cockrill have become parents of four sons: James Mitchell, Sterling Robertson, Chester Ashley and Harry Howard; and two daughters, Jane and Anne. The religious faith of the family is that of the Protestant Episcopal church and Mr. Cock- rill is also identified with a number of the leading fraternal and social organizations of his native city. He has followed in his father's footsteps not only professionally but also politically and has ever been a stanch advocate of democratic principles. Through the World war he served on the questionnaire board. He belongs to the Arkansas State Bar Association and served as president thereof. He is, moreover, a valued member of the American Bar Association, serving at one time as its vice president, while from 1916 until 1919 he was a member of its executive committee. His professional position is an enviable one. His analysis of the facts in a case is always clear and exhaustive and he sees without effort the relation and dependence of the facts and so groups them as to enable him to throw their combined force upon the point they tend to prove. Thus it is that he has become one of the strongest representatives of the Arkansas bar.

PORTER E. MARTIN.

Porter E. Martin, who is engaged in merchandising at De Witt, having a store attractive in its appointments and in the line of high-grade groceries which he carries. was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1875, his parents being J. J. and Sarah E. (Street) Martin. The father was also a native of Tennessee, while the mother was a daughter of Anthony Street, who removed from Georgia to Tennessee and became the owner of a foundry at that place.

In the youthful days of Porter E. Martin his parents removed from Memphis to

955

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS

Arkansas, settling in White county, where he pursued his education as a public school pupil. He started out in the business world as an employe in a grocery store and thus became familiar with the line of trade in which he is now engaged. Close application and energy have enabled him to work his way steadily upward. He came to De Witt in 1916 and here opened a grocery store which he has since successfully conducted, car- rying a large and well selected line of staple and fancy groceries, while his reasonable prices, his fair and honest dealing and his earnest desire to please his customers, have brought to him a liberal and well deserved patronage.

Mr. Martin was united in marriage to Miss Stella Sullanas of Fordyce, Arkansas, and they have become parents of three children: Porter, Ruth and Wylie. Mr. and Mrs. Martin are members of the Presbyterian church, in the work of which they are actively interested and they manifest a helpful attitude toward all those forces and projects which pertain to the public welfare.

ANDREW S. GREGG, M. D.

Dr. Andrew S. Gregg, a physician of Fayetteville, is a native son of the state of Arkansas and is one of the representatives of his profession in the southwest. For some forty years he has practiced in Fayetteville and his courteous sympathy and his professional skill have gained him distinctive precedence. Dr. Gregg was born in the vicinity of Fayetteville, Washington county, on the 6th of July, 1857, a son of Lafayette and Mary (Shreve) Gregg, the former of whom was a prominent lawyer in Arkansas in the ante-bellum days and who, during the period of reconstruction, was a member of the supreme court of the state. In his youth Judge Gregg received hut limited educa- tional advantages. He was born in 1827 in Lawrence county, Alabama, and when a child came with his father, Henry Gregg, to Arkansas. Henry Gregg was horn in 1800 and devoted his entire active business career to agricultural pursuits. He was the father of four children: Maston, Lafayette, Albert and Mrs. DeLaney Cardwell. Al- though his educational advantages were limited, Judge Gregg was determined to acquire a training for the legal profession and through his persistency of purpose and stalwart determination he plodded on and on and was finally admitted to the bar of Arkansas. At the time of the inception of the Civil war he was a strong Union man and he served as colonel in the Fourth Arkansas Cavalry, under General Steele in the western depart- ment during the war. He participated in many of the important conflicts and was a dashing, gallant soldier. At the close of the war he became an active politician, taking up the cause of republicanism. Prior to his appointment as a member of the supreme court of the state he was prosecuting attorney of Washington county and in both of- fices sincere devotion to duty and public-spirited loyalty, characterized his work. As a lawyer he was a clear, forceful and skilled practitioner, and a good, earnest talker, expressing his thoughts with the utmost fluency and ease. In the '80s he was nominated for governor of Arkansas by the republicans and made the race to preserve party or- ganization and to demonstrate the courage of his convictions. He was married to Miss Mary A. Shreve, a daughter of Wilson Shreve, who was a native of Todd county. They were the parents of the following children: Dr. Andrew S., whose name initiates this review; Lafayette W., former assistant United States attorney at Fort Smith, Arkan- sas; Alice, who died in infancy; Henry L., who is now in the employ of C. C. Burrow & Company of Little Rock, Arkansas; and Ida, who maintains her home in Fayette- ville. Judge Gregg died in 1891 and his widow departed this life in 1900.

In the acquirement of an education Dr. Gregg attended the public schools of Fay- etteville, in which place he also attended the University of Arkansas, and there received excellent literary training. While attending school he spent his vacations on his father's farm and his youthful exercise was given to choring and other labor on the farm. In 1878 he was graduated from the State University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and for some time thereafter he was engaged in teaching school. He gradually became interested in the medical profession and accordingly studied under the direc- tion of Dr. Wood for a time. In the fall of 1878 he entered the St. Louis Medical Col- lege and was graduated from that institution in 1881, with his well earned M. D. degree. Immediately afterward he returned to Fayetteville and opened offices, entering upon the active practice of his profession. During the many years he has practiced here, he has gained prestige as one of the most skillful and most learned physicians and sur- geons of Washington county. In 1914 he received a fellowship degree from the Ameri- can College of Surgeons. He makes a specialty of surgery and is tireless in his devo- tion to his professional duties. Dr. Gregg is now acting as city health officer. In the line of his profession he is a member of the Washington County Medical Society, the Arkansas State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

956

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS

On the 1st of October, 1885, occurred the marriage of Dr. Gregg to Miss Nora B. Cardwell, a daughter of James Cardwell, a pioneer settler of this state. Mrs. Gregg is a native of Washington county, where she was born in 1865, and she is a woman of most pleasing personality, being highly esteemed by all who have come within the sphere of her influence. Dr. and Mrs. Gregg are the parents of two children: Alfred and Mil- dred. Alfred was graduated in the University of Arkansas with the class of 1910 and he is now incumbent of the position of electrical engineer with the Monongahela Valley Traction Company at Clarksburg, West Virginia. Mildred graduated from the Uni- versity of Arkansas with the class of 1912.

Since age conferred upon Dr. Gregg the right of franchise he has been a stauch supporter of the republican party, having firm belief in the principles of that party as factors in good government. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masons and the Knights of Pythias and he is an exemplary member of those crafts. He also belongs to the Anti-Horse-Thief Association.

CULBERT L. PEARCE.

Culbert L. Pearce, attorney at law, engaged in the practice of his profession at Bald Knob, was born in Independence, Arkansas, October 8, 1877, and is a son of William C. and Sarah A. (Calhoun) Pearce. The father was born in Henderson county, Tennessee, March 18, 1836, and the mother's birth occurred in Abbeville, South Carolina, April 10, 1848, whence she came with her parents to Independence county, Arkansas. The former was a son of John Pearce, who was born in North Carolina, in 1808, and died in Pleasant Plains, Arkansas, in 1876. In young man- hood he wedded Lucy Collins, who was born in Tennessee, in 1811, and departed this life at Pleasant Plains the year previous to her husband's death. They removed from Henderson county, Tennessee, to Independence county, Arkansas, in 1858, mak- ing the trip overland by wagon to Memphis and thence up the river to Grandglaise, then a boat landing. From that point they continued to drive across the country to Pleasant Plains, where Mr. Pearce entered land, obtaining a timber tract. He had to clear away the trees and brush before he could break the sod and plow the fields. He had to go some distance for provisions but wild game of all kinds was plentiful and furnished many a meal for the settlers, although groceries and dry goods had to be obtained at Jacksonport. He was a carpenter by trade and his knowledge thereof was of great value to him in carrying on the improvements of his farm. A cane he made is now in possession of Mr. Pearce of this review and is a cherished heirloom. The grandfather died in Independence county. The materual grandfather was Wil- liam Morris Calhoun, who was born in South Carolina, in 1803. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Nancy McDonald, died in 1859. Mr. Calhoun was a shoemaker by trade and came from Abbeville county, South Carolina, to Alabama and thence to Arkansas, settling in Independence county in the early '50s. He conducted an inn and relay station near Pleasant Plains and the old building is still on the homestead. He owned slaves and extensively engaged in farming. also operating a gin and tan- yard, but he lost everything during the Civil war, going as a refugee to Texas, where he died at Owensville, Roberts county. He had a son, David, who served in the Con- federate army. Z. T. Calhoun, another son, is a planter, living on the White river.

In 1861 William C. Pearce, father of Culbert L. Pearce, enlisted as a member of Company A, Eighth Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, becoming a hospital steward and druggist in connection with the army. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Resaca and all the engagements of the Atlanta campaign. He was also at Jonesboro and he served part of the time under General Hood. In 1865, following his return from the war, he put in a crop in Independence county and in October of the same year he embarked in the mer- cantile business at Pleasant Plains in partnership with A. J. Cheek. He afterward purchased land there and carried on general farming and stock raising. He was made a Master Mason in 1866 and in 1868 became a member of the Royal Arch Chap- ter, being identified with McGuire Lodge, No. 208, A. F. & A. M., at Oil Trough, and also with Oil Trough Chapter, No. 84, R. A. M. In politics he was a democrat, served as postmaster at Oil Trough and also as justice of the peace from 1882 until his death in 1898. He died on the 25th of March of that year and his demise was the occasion of deep regret to his many friends. His widow survives and is a con- sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of five children: Zachary H., who was born in 1870 and died in 1885; Mollie, the wife of J. W. Adams, a farmer of Elmo, Arkansas; Laura, who became the wife of W. A.

957

CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS

Nichols and died in 1906; Cornelia, who is living with her mother at Bald Knob; and Culbert L.

The last named having acquired a common school education in Independence county afterward spent two years in the academy under Professor A. G. Albright at Cushman. In 1900 he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed until 1904 in the rural districts. He was then elected clerk of the circuit court of Independence county and served for a term of four years, after which he was elected county and probate judge, serving one term. On the expiration of that period he began the practice of law, which he had been reading as opportunity offered for a number of years before. On the 22d of October, 1912, he was admitted to practice in the circuit and chancery courts and on the 29th of May, 1916, was admitted to practice before the supreme court of Arkansas, while on the 23d of May, 1916, he began practicing in the federal courts. He is a member of the State and American Bar Associations, and in his professional career has always held to advanced standards and ethics. He practiced first at Batesville for a year and then removed to Bald Knob, where he has continued in the general practice, specializing in chancery work. He also deals in Arkansas lands,

Mr. Pearce was married to Miss Mabel Owen of Sulphur Rock, and they have become parents of two children: Margaret Alice, who was born February 24, 1912; and Owen Calhoun, who was born April 30, 1916. Mr. Pearce has always given his political allegiance to the democratic party and from 1902 until 1904 he served as county deputy assessor of Independence county. He filled the office of justice of the peace in Cushman at the age of twenty-two years and in all the public positions he has filled has proven a most capable official and loyal citizen. He is also prominently known in fraternal circles, for from 1909 until 1911 he was a member of the board of trustees and the secretary of the Odd Fellows' Home. He has membership in the Odd Fellows Lodge at Bald Knob, has filled all of the chairs in the local organization and has served as district deputy. He likewise belongs to Bald Knob Lodge No. 229, A. F. & A. M., with which he has been identified since 1903. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and his life has ever been guided by high and honorable principles, making him a man whom to know is to esteem and respect. He is a representative of honored pioneer families of the state, his ancestors having aided in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which has been built the present progress and prosperity of Arkansas and the work which they instituted in early times has been carried on by Culbert L. Pearce under different conditions and according to modern-day standards.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 150

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