Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 23

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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did not enter upon that line of activity in which he became famous until he was past seventy years of age. His own experimentation and successful operations in rice cul- tivation in Louisiana, combined with the knowledge that he had gained of the production of the crop in the Orient, afterward made him known as the father of the rice industry in this country. In 1904 he originated the cooperative demonstration work under the United States department of agriculture, which was a plan for practical demonstrations on farms where the farmer received his instruction and applied it on his own farm. This was the origin of the county agent work. He also conceived the idea of forming boys' and girls' clubs in order to stimulate the interest of the young in agricultural development. He began home demonstration for farm women and girls in 1910, along the same practical lines. He had charge of the demonstration work in the south at the time of his death, which occurred in 1911, when he was seventy-seven years of age. To him belongs the credit for having added a new branch of our educational system. for his work resulted in the cooperative extension work under the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 and the employment of county agents, county home demonstration agents and boys' and girls' clubs throughout the whole country. Even foreign countries have adopted the same system of practical teaching.

His son, Bradford Knapp, was educated in the country schools of Iowa and in the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames, in which he remained a student for three years, after which he entered the Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, and was there graduated with the class of 1892. When he had completed his course he began farming in Louisiana and cultivated a sugar and cotton plantation for two years. He afterward . devoted three years to raising rice and in 1892 he and his father sustained heavy losses in the widespread financial panic of that year. Afterward Mr. Knapp entered upon the study of law in the State University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and was there graduated in 1896. Later he practiced law in lowa for a few years and also engaged in farming in that state. In the meantime he was keeping in close touch with demon- stration work as carried on by his father and in 1909 he was made assistant under his father in the agricultural department at Washington, D. C. After his father's death he was appointed his successor and thus upon Mr. Knapp devolved the task of formulat- ing practical plans for continuing the development of the demonstration work. In 1913 Mr. Knapp was sent to Europe to study farm conditions and in his travels covered Belgium, Germany, Denmark, England and Ireland. During the war period he prepared programs on farm production for the Southern States, which were adopted and uni- versally followed. During this period he created the phrase "Safe Farming" to describe such a degree of diversification as will permit the production of food and feed for home needs and the maintenance of soil fertility. While in the department he wrote several pamphlets on safe farming, publishing one such pamphlet each year and his writings on this subject have been widely used and quoted. He also prepared a pamphlet on the agricultural interests of Arkansas in 1920. His labors have been extremely helpful in the various sections of the country where he has been heard on questions relative to agricultural development, or where his writings are known. He remained in active connection with the agricultural department at Washington until 1920, when he came to Fayetteville to accept the position of dean of the College of Agriculture and director of experiment stations of the State University.

In the year 1904 Dr. Bradford Knapp was married to Miss Stella White, a daughter of L. A. White, a farmer of Iowa, and they have become the parents of five children: Bradford, Jr., who at the age of sixteen years is a high school pupil; Marion, fifteen years of age; DeWitt, twelve; and Roger, ten, all in school; and Virginia, who is two years of age.

Mr. and Mrs. Knapp belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and he is a Scottish Rite Mason. He also belongs to the Kappa Alpha, a college fraternity, and the Alpha Zeta, an honorary fraternity. He has membership in the Rotary Club and is interested in all those forces which make for progress and improvement along every line of uplift and general development. His duties at the present time are many. He has charge of the state experimental stations and under his supervision a thousand acres of land are being cultivated. One of the experimental stations is located at Fayetteville and the other at Scotts, Arkansas. He has taken much interest in the new method of ccoperative marketing the cotton crops. He has devoted his chief study and effort along three lines, the development of extension work, safe farming, and agricultural economics, especially marketing of farm products. Perhaps no better indication of Dr. Knapp and his ideals can be given than by quoting from an article that appeared in the Christian Century of June 23, 1921, as follows: "Dean Bradford Knapp of the Arkansas State College of Agriculture would be named by all informed southerners as the greatest agricultural leader in America. All will admit that he is foremost in the southland. His distinguishing characteristic is what might be called his evangelistic spirit. He is an apostle and prophet of the better rural life. He possesses all the

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cool acumen of the scientist, all the practical administrative ability of the detached executive, and adds an enthusiasm for his task and a fervency of interest in human life that would honor a social reformer. In fact Dean Knapp is a social reformer; he is not primarily interested in the material factors he so ably promotes-he is interested in them as means to the making of better farm homes, less provincial rural com- munities, a larger outlook for the farmer and a wider chance for his children to share the good things of life.

"The last thing Bradford Knapp would do would be to give his time merely to help a farmer 'grow more corn to feed more hogs to buy more land to grow more corn' and so on round and round that vicious circle of materialism. He helps make two blades of grass and two strands of wool grow where one grew before as a means to less drudgery, more culture, better schools and churches and a better citizenship. It is a striking fact in American university life that the agrcultural college faculties take an interest in the church to a greater degree than any other faculty in the university circle. And there is no other single profession, not even excepting the teachers and Red Cross nurses, that shows more interest in rural churches than do the county farm agents. Dean Knapp says 'Emancipate the farmer's wife and you will emancipate the farmer; solve her problems and you will have solved the rural problem.' "

THOMAS HUMPHREYS.

Thomas Humphreys, mayor of Bradford, to which office he was called through a recognition of his public spirit and devotion to high municipal ideals, was born in Pike county, Ohio, on the 1st of November, 1864, and is a son of J. F. M. and Nancy (Pillers) Humphreys, who were natives of West Virginia and Ohio, respectively. In tracing the ancestral line it is found that the family has long been established on American soil. The great-grandparents lived in West Virginia, where Howell Humphrey, the grandfather, was born. He was employed in connection with iron work at the furnaces and he also engaged in flat boating on the rivers. For some time, however, he was foreman in different iron works in West Virginia, but eventually removed to Ohio, where he carried on farming and fruit raising. He married Edith McCracken, a native of West Virginia and both departed this life in Ohio at an advanced age. The maternal ancestry is one of long connection with the Buckeye state, for the grandfather, Cyrus Pillers, was born in Ohio, where he followed farming and fruit raising and also operated a still, but died in early manhood. His wife. who bore the maiden name of Polly Beakman, lived to an advanced age. In their family were nine daughters and one son and those living are: Abbie, Nancy, Elizabeth, Lou and Cyrus. Both the parents died in Ohio.

Having attained his majority, J. F. M. Humphreys, then a resident of Ohio, turned his attention to the sawmill business, which he followed in both Pike and Scioto counties, Ohio. He constructed and operated the mills there and also engaged in general lumber manufacturing. He likewise owned land and followed farming in the Buckeye state and in 1885 he removed to Bradford, Arkansas, bringing a sawmill with him. This he put in operation in Jackson county, where he purchased timber land and cutting the trees, sawed the timber. He also manufactured wagon stocks, shingles and lumber of various kinds and continued the operation of his sawmill until his death, which occurred in 1895, when he was hity-eight years of age, his natal day having been January 13, 1837. Ere his demise he had cleared a half section of land, which he placed under cultivation, devoting it to general farming and stock raising. He thus contributed to the material development of the county and was a man of marked business enterprise and capability. His wife, who was born in 1833, survived him until 1899. They belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and Mr. Humphreys always voted with the democratic party. Their family numbered six children, five of whom are living: Edgar .,, a farmer of Bradford; P. H., who was a merchant of Bradford for some time but now follows farming; Thomas; Mary, who became the wife of W. S. Clark and died in Ohio; J. F. M., a farmer of Bradford; and Minnie, the wife of T. E. Hickman, a druggist, postmaster and farmer of Pleasant Plains, Arkansas.

In the acquirement of his education, Thomas Humphreys attended the country schools of Pike county, Chio, for two or three months in the year, having to walk about three miles to school, where he studied his lessons sitting on homemade benches of split logs, while the other furnishings of the little schoolhouse were equally primitive. He remained with his parents to the age of twenty-seven years and came with them to Arkansas. He afterward purchased land which was partly improved and began the further develop- ment and cultivation of a farm, situated on the White river in Jackson county. There he continued until 1905, when he bought a sawmill in White county and devoted the

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succeeding six years to its operations and the manufacture of wagon stock. At length he sold his interests in the business to his brother, E. L. Humphreys, and purchased forty acres of land near Bradford, since which time he has engaged extensively in the cultivation of strawberries, employing the most modern and scientific methods in the care of his crops.

Mr. Humphreys was married to Miss Margaret Shelley, a native of this state and a daughter of R. J. Shelley, a farmer. They now have four children: Frankie, who is employed as a stenographer by the Frisco Railroad at Springfield, Missouri; Irene, the wife of James W. Durham, a farmer of Bradford; Thelma, who died in 1910 at the age of seven years; and Harold T., who was born in 1912 and completes the family.

Mr. and Mrs. Humphreys are consistent followers of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. He has always given his political allegiance to the democratic party and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have frequently called him to office. He served for nine years on the school board and was president of the board of com- missioners of White and Jackson counties, having in charge the road improvement in district No. 1. For 10 years he has been the mayor of Bradford, his reelection standing in incontrovertible proof of his capability, fidelity and the trust reposed in him. Over the record of his official career there falls no shadow of wrong nor suspicion of evil, for at all times he has been actuated by a most earnest desire to serve the city, giving to it a practical businesslike administration during which he has introduced many needed reforms and improvements in the methods of managing city affairs.

G. A. WARD.

No matter in how much fantastic theorizing one may indulge as to the cause of success, investigation into the lives of those who have won honorable prosperity shows that their advancement is due not to any unusual combination of circumstances but to the fact that they have improved opportunities and that industry, determination and honorable dealing are salient forces in winning success. Such has been the record of G. A. Ward, who since 1916 has been owner and editor of the Conway County Unit, one of the most enterprising newspapers in this state. He is not a native son of Arkansas, for he was born in Orange county, New York, on the 15th of January, 1857, a son of Alexander and Sarah Ward. His father was a native of England and came to this country in early life. He engaged in farming in New York state and there met and married his wife. G. A. Ward was the only child born to their union. His mother was a native of New York state.

G. A. Ward had but little opportunity for education, attending the country schools for a period of about six years. When twelve years of age he started out in life on his own account and obtained a position in the printing office of the Bath Times, Steuben county, New York, which was his introduction into the newspaper business. He then went to Bingham, New York, where he worked on a paper for several years as a compositor and the next eight years he spent in working on papers in various places. For some time he was on a paper in Dodd City, Arkansas, and then removed to Yellville, Arkansas, and discontinued his newspaper activities for some time. He engaged in the construction of a telephone system from that place to Forsyth, Missouri, and he had charge of the business there, which was known as the Yellville Telephone Company. The call of the newspaper proved too great, however, and he resigned his position and removed to Leslie, where he worked on the Leslie News. For some time he was on the Searcy News and later he engaged in farming near that place for two years. He farmed near Nettleton for one year but finally dis- posed of his land interests and in 1916 came to Morrillton, where he has since resided. For one year he was employed on the Democrat and subsequently established the Conway County Unit, in the conduct of which paper he is now active. He istalled all modern machinery, cylinder presses, linotype machines and other equipment and he prints a semi-weekly paper, having a circulation of some two thousand. The paper is conducted on a progressive and independent basis and it is one of the best papers in the county. Mr. Ward also does commercial printing and book printing. He is tireless in his devotion to his newspaper interests and the success he has achieved in this connection is the result of his own intelligently directed efforts and innate ability.

In 1901 at Yellville, this state, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Ward and Miss Amma Wood, a daughter of Joseph Wood, a successful agriculturist near Flip- pin. To their union six children have been born: Marina, the wife of W. C. Morgan, a resident of Morrillton, Ark .; Burleigh, employed in the office of the Conway County

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Unit; Ruby, also employed in the office of the paper; Evelyn and Anna Sue, at home; and Bernice, whose demise occurred at the age of twelve years.

Mr. Ward follows an independent course in politics, giving his support to the man he thinks hest fitted for the office without regard for party principles. Frater- nally he is identified with the Masons and he is a member of the State Press Associa- tion. Mr. Ward is rightly entitled to the proud American title of self-made man and those who meet him find that he possesses many of the qualities which awaken admiration and give rise to warm friendships. He started out in the business world with no false ideas concerning the way of attaining success. He early realized that diligence is the root of all honorable advancement and hy reason of his persistent purpose and the skill which he has constantly displayed (for he has continually studied the newspaper business in its various phases), he has gained the liberal patronage which is accorded him and which is certainly well merited.

F. D. WATSON.

F. D. Watson, automobile dealer of Huntsville, handling the Ford cars, was born in Hall county, Georgia, near Gainesville, in 1890. He is a son of W. M. and Nancy ( Hausen) Watson, who were also natives of Georgia and on coming to Arkansas in 1892 settled in Madison County. There the father purchased a farm, on which he spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1918. His father was David Watson, who was born in South Carolina, hut in early life removed to Georgia, where he died at the advanced age of ninety years. He had served under General Longstreet as a Confederate soldier in the Civil war. The maternal grandfather of F. D. Watson was David Hausen, who was born in Georgia, and came to Arkansas, where his remain- ing days were passed, his death occurring when he had reached the age of eighty- eight. His daughter, Mrs. Nancy Watson, survives and is now living with her son. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which her husband also belonged and his political allegiance was given to the democratic party. They became parents of eight children: Minnie, the wife of Calvin Stanfield, residing on a farm in Madison county; Garland, a farmer, living in Fayetteville, Arkansas; J. A., a sales- man with the Bear State Oil Company at Springdale, Arkansas; E. M., whose home is on a farm near Fayetteville; F. D., of this review; Paul, a teacher in the schools of Madison county; Luther, living on the old homestead farm; and Lee, who is living with his brother, F. D. Watson, and attending school.

In his youthful days F. D. Watson mastered the branches of learning taught in the schools of Huntsville and then took up the profession of teaching, which he fol- lowed for eight years, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge that he had acquired. He then purchased a store which he conducted for three years and in 1918 he established the Ford plant and has continued in this business to the present time. He not only maintains a Ford agency but handles all kinds of sup- plies and his business is now one of large proportions.

In 1910 Mr. Watson was married to Miss Addie Dyer, who was born in Huntsville, a daughter of J. W. Dyer, a well-known farmer of Madison county. Mr. and Mrs. Watson are the parents of four children: Era, Carl, Mildred and Stanley, all yet in school. Mr. Watson and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal church, and he belongs also to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has always voted the democratic ticket since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, but has never sought nor desired office as a reward for party fealty, preferring to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his business affairs. His close application, unfaltering energy and thoroughness have been the salient features in the success which has come to him, making him one of the repre- sentative young business men of the city.

D. W. GOLDSTEIN, M. D.

Dr. D. W. Goldstein, who is connected with the Cooper clinic at Fort Smith, his activ- ities covering the departments of radium, therapy and dermatology, was born in Green- ville, Mississippi, in 1888, his parents being Merx and Rosa (Wolf) Goldstein. He ohtained a high school education, after which he entered the University of Tennessee for the study of medicine, having mentally reviewed the broad field of business in order to select a vocation which he believed would prove congenial and profitable. Attracted by the practice of medicine and surgery, he matriculated in the University of Tennessee. winning his M. D. degree in 1910. He afterward went abroad for postgraduate work, Vol. II-10

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studying in Vienna, Berlin and London. He also studied in Philadelphia and New York. and in his practice has always specialized in dermatology, having gained a marked degree of efficiency in that field.

In May, 1917, Dr. Goldstein enlisted for service in the World war and was com- missioned a first lieutenant at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. He was sent to Camp Gordon at Atlanta, Georgia, as battalion surgeon of the Three Hundred and Twenty-fifth Infantry, and in April, 1918, went overseas. While in France he was promoted to a captaincy in the Eighty-second Division. He was with the field troops in the offensive and defensive sectors on the western front, being stationed at Toul and at Maubache. He was also on active duty in the offensive at St. Mihiel, in the Meuse-Argonne and was with the combat troops of the Three Hundred and Twenty-eighth Infantry. Later he was made regimental surgeon of that command and received a citation for distin- guished service in rendering first aid under fire. He met all of the experiences of modern warfare and exerted his professional skill to the utmost in rendering aid to wounded and stricken comrades, never considering his own health or safety when he could make his labors of avail in ministering to the soldiers of his regiment. In June, 1919, he was sent to Camp Pike, Arkansas, and was recommended for a promotion to the rank of major.

With his return to Fort Smith Dr. Goldstein joined Cooper clinic and has since done important work in this connection in radium, therapy and dermatology. He has at all times kept abreast with the trend of modern professional thought, research, investiga- tion and progress, and is accounted one of the able young physicians of western Arkansas.

Dr. Goldstein was united in marriage to Miss Florence Pahotski. Beyond the interests of his home, outside activities make little claim upon the time and attention of Dr. Gold- stein, for he has always preferred to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his professional interests, and he discharges his duties with a marked sense of conscientious obligation.

HERBERT P. LEWIS.

Herbert P. Lewis, who owns and edits the Gravette News-Herald, one of the leading newspapers of Arkansas, has also gained prominence as an author, possessing literary ability of a high order. He was born in Minnesota, February 24, 1874, a son of Leland B. and Emily (Chreviston) Lewis, the former born at Cornish Flats, New Hampshire. August 23, 1826, and the latter at Racine, Wisconsin, in 1843. When a young man of twenty-three years, the father joined the rush of gold seekers who made their way to California in 1849, and subsequently he went to Minnesota, where his marriageoccurred. He resided in that state from 1859 until 1891, when he came to Arkansas, settling at Sulphur Springs, in Benton county, where he followed the occupation of farming. He was a Freethinker in his religious views, and politically he was a democrat with inde- pendent tendencies. He died at Gravette, Arkansas, at the age of eighty-three years, and Mrs. Lewis died August 14, 1921, at her home in California. She was a member of the Baptist church. They became the parents of eight children: one son and a daughter, are deceased. Those living are: Edward, who was formerly engaged in the jewelry business at Fairmont, Minnesota, hut is now operating a fruit farm at Santa Ana, California; Charles F., a leading physician of Austin, Minnesota, owning a clinic there in association with two other members of the profession: Alvin, who is assisting his brother Edward in conducting his California farm; Herbert P., of this review; George, a resident of Willis, Kansas, and Orin J., who resided with his mother in Los Angeles. California. The paternal grandfather, Thomas Lewis, was of Irish descent, and his demise occurred in one of the New England states. The maternal grandfather. William Chreviston, was born in Pennsylvania, and prior to the Civil war went to Minnesota, where he spent his remaining years.

Herbert P. Lewis acquired his education in the rural schools of Minnesota and the high school at Fairmont, that state. Twenty-five years ago he became a newspaper corre- spondent and has gained prominence in this connection, contributing articles to the Little Rock (Ark.) Gazette and also to The Democrat and other leading publications. Fifteen years before starting his newspaper he was connected with business interests of Gravette as a photographer and jeweler, but for the past fourteen years has devoted the greater part of his time to journalism. He owns and edits the Gravette News- Herald, which he is conducting along the lines of modern and progressive newspaper education, and its circulation is steadily increasing. He is a trenchant, forceful, scholarly writer and has become well known as the author of Uncle Eb and also The Man From Arkansas, written in defense of Arkansas and in humorous style.

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 23

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