Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 40

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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To Mr. and Mrs. Williamson were horn four children: Maria L .; Etna A., the wife of Paul Powers of Washington, D. C .; Curnel Samuel, Jr., of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, who is engaged in merchandising; and Mary F., the wife of M. P. Relyea of New Jersey. For his second wife Mr. Williamson chose Ida L. Miller, who was born in Iowa. Mr. Williamson has been a member of the Elks lodge of Hot Springs for nineteen years. He has always voted with the republican party and he held the office of chief deputy sheriff under Mr. Houpt. He collected taxes individually during the smallpox epidemic of 1895 and in 1896 he acted as deputy sheriff, collecting all taxes and making settlements. A man of pronounced ability and of progressive public spirit, Hot Springs was loath to have him leave but she feels that she still has a claim upon him because of his extensive investments here and hecause of his continued interest in the welfare and growth of the city.

J. L. CLEMMER, M. D.

Dr. J. L. Clemmer, a successful physician and surgeon of Gentry, where he has been located since January, 1920, has continuously followed his profession in Benton county during the past two decades and has enjoyed an extensive and lucrative practice. He is numbered among the worthy native sons of Arkansas, his birth having occurred at Springdale on the 6th of September, 1877. His parents, J. G. and Hettie ( Mosher) Clemmer, are natives of eastern Tennessee. John Clemmer, the paternal grandfather, was also born in Tennessee, his parents having emigrated to this country from Germany about 1789. The maternal grandfather was Phillip Mosher, likewise a native of Ten- nessee. Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Clemmer were married in eastern Tennessee and came to Arkansas after the close of the Civil war. Mr. Clemmer served with the Confederate army as a member of a Tennessee regiment from 1862 until the cessation of hostilities, being captured twice and beging in prison when peace was declared. His time and energies throughout the period of his active business career were devoted to general agricultural interests, in the capable conduct of which he met with a gratifying and well deserved measure of prosperity. He and his wife now make their home in Spring- dale, where he has lived retired for the past three years. Their religious faith is in- dicated by their membership in the Lutheran church, while in politics Mr. Clemmer is a stanch democrat. They have been residents of Arkansas for more than a half century and have become well known and highly esteemed for their many estimable and admirable qualities. Their family numbered thirteen children, seven of whom are yet living.

J. L. Clemmer, who was the fourth in order of birth, was educated in the Spring-

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dale high school and then entered the University of Kansas Medical College at Kansas City, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of M. D. as a member of the class of 1901. He at once opened an office at Springtown, Arkansas, from which point he traveled over the surrounding district and thus continued in practice until January, 1920, when he removed to Gentry, where he has remained to the present time. Well merited success has attended his professional labors, for when he settled at Spring- town he was entirely without financial resources and during the period of his practice there accumulated sufficient capital to enable him to become possessed of considerable property. He has ever kept in close touch with the progress of the medical profession, pursued a special course in Tulane University in the fall of 1920 and in 1908 did four weeks' postgraduate work in St. Louis. His high standing among his professional col- leagues and contemporaries is indicated in the fact that he was chosen to the presidency of the Benton County Medical Society and he likewise belongs to the Medical Association of the Southwest, the District Medical Society, the Arkansas State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

In 1900 Dr. Clemmer was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Wasson, a native of Springtown, Arkansas, and a daughter of David Wasson, a prosperous merchant of Springtown. They bave become parents of three children: Vira E., who was educated in Galloway Female College of Searcy, Arkansas; Franklin, who is a high school graduate and will enter the University of Arkansas in the fall of 1921; and Iva May, a high school student.

Dr. Clemmer gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and fraternally is identified with the Masonic lodge at Gentry and with the Modern Woodmen of America. His wife and children are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. Both the Doctor and his wife have spent their entire lives in Arkansas and have become widely and favorably known throughout the northwestern part of the state, winning the warm regard of all with whom they have come in contact.

PROCTOR F. JOHNSON.

Among the well established attorneys at law in Eureka Springs is Proctor F. Johnson, who not only has a large private practice but is now serving as deputy prosecuting attorney. He is numbered among the native sons of Arkansas, for his birth occurred in Newton county on the 16th of December, 1891, a son of Oscar F. and Nannie (Parris) Johnson. The paternal grandfather, James F. Johnson was born in Ohio and served throughout the Civil war in the Union army. He was with Sherman on his famous march to the sea. At the close of the war he came to Arkansas and he resided in this state for some time, subsequently removing to Missouri where he was killed in a street car accident in 1912. The maternal grandparents were Stephen and Elizabeth Parris. He was a native of Texas and upon the outbreak of the Civil war, his sympathies being with the southern cause, he enlisted in the Confederate army. His death occurred while in service, the result of exposure in all kinds of weather and poor clothing and food. Oscar F. Johnson was born in Ohio and at an early age removed with his parents to Kansas, in which state he was reared to manhood. Mr. Johnson has followed many lines of business, having been engaged in the mercantile business for some time and having traveled for some large concerns on the road. He came to this state in the '80s and remained here for some time before going to Colorado, where he resided for two years. At the termination of that time he returned here and he has since been a resident of this state. He owns four hundred acres of valuable land in the county and is living retired in Eureka Springs. His wife is also living. She was born in Texas but came to this state in early life. Their marriage was celebrated at Harrison. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson four children have been born, Proctor F., the oldest child, being the only one living. For many years Mr. Johnson has been identified with the Masons and he is conceded an exemplary member of the craft. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party, he having firm belief in the principles of that party as factors in good government. Both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are highly respected citizens of Eureka Springs.

Proctor F. Johnson received his early education in the common schools of Carroll county and in due time entered the high school at Eureka Springs. Upon his graduation from that institution he enrolled as a student in the State University, with the intention of studying law, but being then only ahout seventeen years of age he changed his mind and at the end of the year withdrew from the university. He made his initial step into the business world as clerk in a mercantile establishment and then for some time was active in the cleaning and dyeing business. Ahout that time he again determined to make the legal profession his life work and he began to study under the direction of

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F. O. Butt, a prominent and well known attorney. In 1917 he was admitted to the bar and immediately opened offices in Eureka Springs for the practice of his profession. In the early part of the following year, however, the United States having entered the World war, Mr. Johnson put all personal interests aside and enlisted for active service. He was sent to Camp Pike for training and on the 15th of October was commissioned second lieutenant. He was then transferred to'Camp Funston, where he remained until the close of the war. Receiving his honorable discharge from the army he returned to his practice here and has gained for himself an enviable place among his professional brethren in the state. In January, 1920, he was appointed deputy prosecuting attorney and he is now active in that office. Mr. Johnson's clients are representatives of prac- tically all classes and the attention which he gives to business entrusted to him and the success which he has before the courts, give him an excellent standing in the community where he is greatly respected.

In November, 1919, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Johnson to Miss Bettie O. Woodruff, a native of Washington county, this state, and a daughter of Jasper N. Woodruff, and Minnie Bell Woodruff. The paternal grandfather, Jasper N., was a lieutenant in the Confederate army. The maternal grandfather, John M. Bell, was like- wise a Confederate soldier. Both families were pioneer lumbermen of Washington county. Mrs. Johnson is prominent in the club and social circles of Eureka Springs and she is active in all of the undertakings of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which she is a consistent member.

Mr. Johnson gives his political adherence to the democratic party and he has taken an active interest in the promotion of those principles and policies for which democracy stands. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons and he is a Knight Templar. Mr. Johnson is always interested in matters of progressive citizenship and is a cooperant factor in many projects for the general good, yet he regards the practice of law as his real life work, and in his chosen field of labor he has won continuous advancement through merit and ability which has placed him with the leading lawyers of Arkansas.

LESLIE GOODLOE.

Leslie Goodloe, as well known figure in insurance circles in Arkadelphia, where close application and undaunted enterprise have enabled him to develop a business of sub- stantial and gratifying proportions, was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, December 16. 1878. He is a son of Albert Theodore and Sarah Louise (Cockrill) Goodloe, the former a native of Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, while the latter was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, where their marriage was celebrated in 1855. Immediately afterward they came to Arkansas, settling in St Francis county and the town of Caldwell was later built upon the plantation which Mr. Goodloe purchased. He acquired two thousand acres of land there and owned a large number of slaves. He was a man of liberal education, having graduated from the University of Virginia and also from the Richmond Medical College of Richmond, Virginia. For years he engaged in the practice of medicine in St. Francis county and in addition managed his large estate, being a man of splendid business ability and executive force. Both he and his wife were but children when their respective parents died and both were left estates of considerable consequence. Like her husband, Mrs. Goodloe had splendid educational opportunities, being a student at Dr. Price's Select School in Nashville, one of the leading educational institutions of the city at that time. Soon after the Civil war Albert T. Goodloe returned to Tennessee, where he had retained his summer home-Millbrook Farm- which adjoined The Hermitage, the home of Gen- eral Andrew Jackson, near Nashville. In subsequent years he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and gave his life to the holy calling until his labors were ended. He served in the Confederate army during the entire period of the Civil war and preached to the soldiers while with the army. He died February 22, 1912, having for a few years survived his wife, whose death occurred March 31, 1908.

Leslie Goodloe pursued his education in the Henderson-Brown College of Arkadelphia, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Arts degree at his graduation with the class of 1898. His brother, Granville Goodloe, was a member of the faculty of the college for several years. On the completion of his course there Leslie Goodloe spent one year as a student in the Randolph-Macon College at Ashland, Virginia, and then entered upon a law course at the University of Virginia, being graduated therefrom with the class of 1902.

Having thus qualified for the practice of the profession Leslie Goodloe located in Jonesboro, Arkansas, where he opened a law office but at the end of the year turned his attention to financial interests by organizing a bank in Hoxie, Arkansas, of which he served as cashier for four years. In the fall of 1906 he came to Arkadelphia as

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assistant cashier of the Citizens National Bank, in which capacity he served for six years. While an employe of the bank he built up an extensive insurance business and in 1912 he resigned his position with the bank and organized the United Insurance Agency, of which he was made general manager. Through the intervening period his attention has been given to insurance interests and he has gained a most extensive clientage for the agency which he represents, being recognized today as one of the prominent insurance men of his section of the state.

On the 28th of November, 1906, Mr. Goodloe was married to Miss Frances Louise Sims of Brunswick county, Virginia, and they have become parents of two children: Frances Ida and Albert Theodore. Mr. Goodloe is a member of Arkadelphia Lodge, No. 381, A. F. & A. M., and also of Arkadelphia Lodge, No. 1149, B. P. O. E., of which he is a charter member, while for two terms he served as exalted ruler. He is serving on the board of trustees of the Henderson-Brown College and is acting as secretary of the board. He is also the president of the Rotary Club and is in hearty sympathy with the high ideals and purposes of that organization, which is actuated not only by a desire to develop business relations in the city, but also to uphold the highest civic standards and the most advanced ideals of American citizenship. He was chairman of the exemp- tion board during the period of the World war and religiously he is connected with the Methodist Episcopal church, South, while his wife also holds membership therein.

E. L. PYE.

E. L. Pye, numbered among the progressive merchants of El Dorado, where he is owner of a drug store which he has conducted with growing success since 1907, was born in Drew county, Arkansas, February 29, 1868. His birth occurred upon a farm and there he spent his youthful days, dividing his time between the acquirement of an education in the public schools, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields. He continued to assist in the task of plowing, planting and harvesting until he had attained his majority, when thinking to find other pursuits more congenial than those of agricultural life, he left home and obtained a position in a drug store at Helena, where he was employed for two years. On the expiration of that period he removed to Monticello, Arkansas, where he occupied a similar position until 1896 and then came to El Dorado, where he has now made his home for almost a third of a century. Here he secured a clerkship in a drug store and thus spent his time in the employ of others until 1907, when he purchased his present business. He was ambitious to have a place of his own and carefully saved his earnings until his industry, economy and careful management had made the step possible. He now conducts business under the name of the Pye Taylor Drug Company, of which he is president and general manager, and his well appointed store and the straightforward business methods which he follows well entitle him to the liberal patronage accorded him.

Mr. Pye has ever manifested a helpful and progressive interest in public affairs and has served as a member of the town council of El Dorado. He also belongs to the Baptist church and to the Knights of Pythias fraternity-associations which indicate much con- cerning the nature of his interests and the rules that govern his conduct.

SIDNEY W. DUKE.

Sidney W. Duke, cashier of the First National Bank at Mena, was born in Prescott, Arkansas, September 10, 1889. His grandfather, James W. Duke, was a native of Georgia and served for four years in the Confederate army during the Civil war. He was a farmer by occupation and spent his last days in Nevada county, Arkansas. The grand- father in the maternal line was John W. Gann and he, too, was born in Georgia, while at the present time he makes his home in Nevada county, Arkansas, where he is ex- tensively engaged in farming. He was one of the standard bearers in the Confederate army during the period of hostilities between the north and the south.

T. H. Duke, the father of Sidney W. Duke, was born in Georgia and having arrived at years of maturity wedded Eliza Gann, whose birth occurred near Prescott, Arkansas, where they are still living. They became parents of six children: Sidney W .; Myrtle. now the wife of J. D. Crosby, a contractor of Hope, Arkansas; Fred, who is living in Mena; T. H., who is assistant cashier of the First National Bank at Mena; Horace G., who is an insurance man at Fort Smith, Arkansas; and Chipley Sterling, who is attend- ing school in Prescott. The parents are consistent members of the Baptist church and politically Mr. Duke is a democrat. He went to Prescott with his parents soon after

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the Civil war and has there resided to the present, now living retired from business, although for many years he was connected with the lumber trade.

Sidney W. Duke pursued his education in the Prescott high school, in the University of Arkansas, which he attended for two years, and in the University of Illinois, in which he was a student for a similar period. He started out to provide for his own support by working for a contractor and builder of Little Rock, with whom he remained for six months and later he engaged in the building and loan business in Texarkana for an equal period. In September, 1912, he came to Mena and secured the position of bookkeeper in the First National Bank. He was promoted to the cashiership in 1917 and has occupied that position through the intervening period, proving a courteous and obliging official and one who is very popular with the patrons of the bank. He also has an insurance department in the bank, of which he has charge and has gained a large clientage in that connection. His business activities also extend to other corpora- tions, for he is the president of the Oden State Bank at Oden, Arkansas, a director of the Bank of Hatfield and secretary of the Duke Magruder Dry Goods Company at Mena. Mr. Duke votes with the democratic party and keeps thoroughly informed concerning the vital questions and issues of the day but does not seek office. He belongs to the Baptist church and he is well known in fraternal circles, being now exalted ruler of the Elks' Lodge, No. 781. He is also a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine and has filled the position of eminent commander in Malta Commandery, No. 17, K. T., of Mena. He has membership in the Kappa Sigma, a college fraternity, and he is ever most loyal to the interests which be represents, whether of a public or private nature. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, as he started out in the business world empty-handed and has progressed by reason of his close application, his thoroughness and persistency of purpose and his reliable methods in all of his dealings. Today he is a well known figure in financial circles in western Arkansas.

C. C. SADLER.

C. C. Sadler, engaged in the abstract business at Paris, is one of the native sons cf Logan county, his birth having here occurred October 12, 1867, his parents being James O. and Mary Z. (Clements) Sadler. The father was born in Arkansas in September, 1838, and was a representative of one of the old and honored pioneer families of the state. His father was Rufus C. Sadler, who was probably a native of Georgia and removed to Mississippi, whence he came to Arkansas in the '20s. He assisted in trans- porting the Indians to the territory and he was a farmer, merchant and slave owner. The maternal grandfather, Abel B. Clements, a native of Tennessee, also came to Arkansas long prior to the Civil war and served as county judge in southwestern Arkansas. His daughter, Mary Z. Clements, was born in the southwestern part of this state on the 12th of February, 1840, and there she became the wife of James O. Sadler on the 9th of August, 1866. He was a farmer and merchant, conducting a store at Shoal Creek and also carrying on merchandising at Elsworth for a number of years. In 1887 he removed to Paris and thereafter lived largely retired from active business until his death, which occurred in January, 1913. For about four years he had survived his wife, who died April 3, 1909. They were the parents of seven children, of whom five are living; C. C., who is the eldest of the family; J. M., who is field man for the Bankers Trust Company of Little Rock, having for a number of years been associated with the banking business, connected with the state banking department for some time; Ocie M., the widow of William L. Cravens, Jr., who was a merchant and bookkeeper; R. B., who is a practicing dentist at Paris; and Lewis C., cashier of the First National Bank at Paris. The parents were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, taking an active part in the church work. In early life they had heen members of the Presbyterian church but later joined the Methodist denomination. Mr. Sadler was also a Mason and for a number of years served as secretary of the Masonic lodge in Blaine. In politics he was a democrat and at the time of the Civil war was a captain of Headquarters Company under Cabell. He was wounded in the arm at the battle of Wilson Creek, Missouri. Both he and his wife were highly esteemed as people of sterling worth and as representative of two of the old and honored pioneer families of the state.

C. C. Sadler was educated in the country schools of Logan county and started out in the business world by assisting in his father's store. He afterward began studying law in an office and was admitted to the bar in January, 1906, at which time he began practice in Paris but now devotes the greater part of his attention to the abstract business, in which he has engaged since 1908. He has a splendid set of abstract books, is thoroughly accurate, systematic and reliable and his patronage is now extensive.

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In 1897 Mr. Sadler was married to Miss Jennie Gwaltney, who was born in Logan county and died August 7, 1908. She had four children, of whom three are living; James Overton, who works at an oil station in Paris; Mary Lee, attending Galloway College at Searcy; and Elizabeth Murphy, also a student in Galloway College. In July, 1909, Mr. Sadler was married to Theodocia Foster, who was born in Logan county, Arkansas.

They are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Sadler is also identified with the Knights of Pythias. He is a past chancellor commander of the lodge and keeper of the records and seal. He is also identified with the Woodmen of the World. Politically a democrat, he has served as town recorder, as school director and for four years as deputy circuit clerk, while for an equal period he filled the office of county treasurer and was a faithful custodian of the public funds. He has always been active in political circles and his opinions carry weight in the local councils of his party. His entire life has heen passed in Logan county, and those who have known him from his boyhood, as well as the acquaintances of his later years, bear testimony to the sterling traits of his character, to his reliability and progressiveness in business and to his faithfulness in all matters cf citizenship.

JOHN THOMAS HUMPHREYS.

Although many years have been added to the cycle of the centuries since John Thomas Humphreys departed this life, he is still remembered by those who were his friends and associates in life because of the sterling qualities of his character and the strong friendships which he made. He was born in Charlestown, Virginia, March 30, 1830, and in early manhood went to California, making his way to the Pacific coast during the time of the gold excitement in the far west. He was educated in Virginia and having studied law was admitted to practice in Van Buren, Arkansas.

It was while in Van Buren, Arkansas, in the latter part of the '50s that Mr. Humphreys met the lady who afterward became his wife. In November, 1860, he wedded Miss Belle Aldridge, a daughter of Thomas and Amanda M. (Jones) Aldridge, the former a native of Alabama, while the latter was born in Kentucky. They became early settlers of Arkansas, making their way to this state in the early '30s and the father at one time owned considerable land and a large number of slaves. Some of the descendants of the slaves are still living upon the original farm and in fact two are still living there who were born in slavery. The farm is situated twenty-five miles east of Fort Smith and is yet known as the Aldridge place. There were two sons and three daughters in the Aldridge family and both sons served in the Confederate army. H. T. Aldridge was killed in the last battle of the war, while delivering a message, and Thomas H. Aldridge died from the effects of disease contracted in the service. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. Mrs. Humphreys is the only surviving member of the family. Mr. Aldridge settled near Charleston, Arkansas, and was a cotton dealer. He also conducted a small merchandise store for the benefit of his employes and his neighbors. After the outbreak of the Civil war he went to Texas as a refugee and there died in 1863. The mother of Mrs. Humphreys died June 21. 1883, her last days being spent on the same plot of ground on which Mrs. Humphreys now resides.

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 40

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