Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 46

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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efforts. He conducted the business for fifteen years and then sold the store, after which he was out of business for several years. He then turned his attention to the hotel business and in the meantime he assisted in organizing the Citizens National Bank, of which he was president for two years. In 1909 he erected the Townsend Hotel, which was opened on the 6th of January, 1910, with fifty-seven guest rooms. It is situated on Chapel street and has been a popular hostelry, well patronized from the beginning, It is conducted along high standards of hotel service and the business has therefore proven a profitable one.

On the 25th of September, 1888, Mr. Townsend was united in marriage to Miss Sarah L. Warren of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and they have become parents of five children: Junius M .; Richard W .; Sarah L., who died at the age of seventeen months; Hubert F .; and Martha E. The second son, Richard W., was captain of Company H of the Three Hundred and Fifty-seventh Infantry, Ninetieth Division, in the World war and died from wounds received in action on the 12th of September, 1918, having been wounded in the St. Mihiel drive. Junius M. was also overseas as a member of Com- pany A, Three Hundred and Forty-third Field Artillery, Ninetieth Division, and following the signing of the armistice was with the Army of Occupation in Germany for six months.

Junius A. Townsend's religious faith is that of the Methodist church. The sterling worth of his character is widely recognized by all and he finds warm friendships among those who appreciate the embodiment of advanced principles in human conduct.

JAMES MONROE COMSTOCK.

Active and energetic, James Monroe Comstock closely watches every opportunity for the attainment of legitimate success and has made constant progress since starting out in the business world on his own account. He is now copartner in the Comstock Dry Goods Store at Van Buren, one of the representative business interests of that place.

James Monroe Comstock was born in McDonald county, Missouri, in 1860, a son of Thomas and Maranda J. (Brown) Comstock. The father was a native of Perry county, Tennessee, and his mother died when he was just a boy. After her death he went to Missouri with his father. In the year 1866 they removed from McDonald county, Mis- souri, to Lamar county, Texas, where they remained for three years. At the termination of that time they sold out their interests in Texas and traveled back to Missouri in ox-drawn wagons. In about 1863 the grandfather Murphy and his son were killed by northerners while going from their home to the mill, and Thomas Comstock then became a bushwhacker in the Confederate cause, and he and a party of men did much damage to the northerners during the remainder of the conflict. In 1869 the family again moved from McDonald county, Missouri, and they located at Lee Creek. fourteen miles north of Van Buren. in Crawford county, Arkansas. Mr. Comstock remained a resident of this county until his death in 1917, at the age of seventy-eight years, and he was recognized as a representative citizen of the community. Mrs. Comstock's demise occurred in 1912, at the age of sixty-two years.

James Monroe Comstock was reared and received his education in the schools of Crawford county, and after putting his textbooks aside engaged in farming. He was active along that line until he became twenty-three years of age, when, on January 1. 1884, he engaged in the general mercantile business with J. C. Wood at Uniontown. That association was maintained with the greatest of success until 1888, when Mr. Comstock sold out his interest to his father-in-law and entered into partnership with his brother, Randolph. This partnership was maintained until 1916. In that year Mr. Comstock again sold out and for the following two years engaged in farming and stock trading. He removed from Uniontown to Fort Smith, where he purchased a home and resided until 1918, when with his two sons, Kenney M. and Ira V., he concluded to embark in the dry goods business in Van Buren. He has since been active in the mercantile circles here and through his enterprise and intelligently directed efforts he has built up an extensive and steadily increasing patronage. Many of his customers come from Union- town to trade with him.

In 1884 occurred the marriage of Mr. Comstock to Miss Lucretia E. Wood, a daughter of J. C. Wood of Uniontown. To their union the following children were born: Dorey, who died in infancy; Kenney M., Nora, Ira V., Mand, Lelia, whose demise occurred at the age of thirteen years; Edna, Letty, Paul and Pauline. For forty-one years Mr. Comstock has been a member of the Masonic fraternity and he is an exemplary member of that craft. His religious faith is that of a Christian, and as a man actively interested in the development and improvement of the community he is identified with the Van Buren Business Men's Club. The growth of the Comstock Dry Goods Store is

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notable even in this district of rapidly developing enterprises and its splendid success is attributable in large measure to the executive force, keen sagacity and discrimination of James Monroe Comstock and his sons, Kenney M. and Ira V.

E. L. CRANDALL,

With the development of the rice fields in this section of the state there has grown up an important industry, for the cultivation of rice is naturally followed by the estab- lishment and operation of rice mills and the promotion of commercial activity having to do with the handling of the product. To this field of labor E. L. Crandall directed his attention and is now manager of the rice mills at Carlisle. His birth occurred in Minnesota in the year 1876, his parents being N. C. and Elizabeth Crandall. He pursued his education in his native city while spending his youthful days under the parental roof and leaving the north he made his way to Louisiana, where he became connected with the rice business. He attained a first hand knowledge of rice culture, being schooled in the practical end of the business first as a well driller for rice irrigation wells and later as a rice grower and rice buyer for the Louisiana mills. In fact, he acquainted himself with every phase of the business and broad experience well qualified him for the onerous duties which he assumed on coming to Carlisle, taking charge of the extensive rice mills at this place as secretary and manager. In 1909 this mill was built by the Carlisle Rice Milling Company. The officials of the present organization were formerly: M. B. Moore, J. H. Sims, D. B. Perkins, H. I. Buechtley, and E. B. Roy. In 1916 the Arkansas State Rice Milling Company took over the mills, which have an output of twenty-five hundred barrels per day and furnish employment to fifty men. They handle the rice grown on fifteen thousand acres in this vicinity and the business has become one of the mammoth industries of this section of the state, constituting an important source of revenue to the district.

Mr. Crandall was united in marriage in 1905 to Rosa Tanigan, who died in 1912. Mr. Crandall was again married in 1915, this time to Miss Frances Sanders of Texarkana, and they have become the parents of two daughters: Margaret and Virginia. Mr. Cran- dall was the government representative at Carlisle during the World war period, serving as a member of the food conservation committee, having to do with the conservation of rough rice. He is interested in all that has to do with the general welfare and is indeed a public-spirited citizen, one who has the good of the community at heart, and while holding to high ideals employs the most practical methods in their attainment. As a business man he is thorough and progressive, discriminating readily between the essen- tial and the non-essential in all business affairs and possessing a considerable measure of initiative that enables him wisely to direct the interests of the corporation which he represents, his activities having constituted an important element in the company's success.

MARSHALL PATTERSON DOOLEY.

One of the well known citizens of Crossett is Marshall Patterson Dooley, foreman of the planing mill of the Crossett Lumber Company. A native of Tennessee, he was horn in Columbia, Maury county, on the 26th of July, 1861, of Irish ancestry on the paternal side and German descent on the maternal side. Both the Dooley and Holcomb families came to America from their native lands prior to the Revolutionary war. The father, William Hill Dooley, was born and reared to manhood in the state of Tennessee, where he engaged in farming for the greater part of his life. It was in 1842 in Tennessee that Mr. Dooley was united in marriage to Miss Mary Holcomb, who died in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1914, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. She was likewise a native of Tennessee, her family having been among the early settlers in the central portion of the state. Mrs. Dooley had three brothers who served in the Confederate army during the Civil war. Mr. W. H. Dooley died at Columbia, Tennessee, in 1872, when he was in his fifty-second year. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Dooley eight children were born, five boys and three girls, Marshall Patterson, whose name initiates this review, being the seventh in order of birth. Two boys and one girl are living.

In the acquirement of an education Marshall Patterson Dooley attended the primary school near Columbia, Tennessee, and worked on the farm during vacations and in his spare time until he reached the age of twenty years. In 1886 he came to Arkansas, secured work in connection with the sawmills here and has been active along that line since. Since 1902 he has been an employe of the Crossett Lumber Company and has

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been foreman of the planing mill since 1904. He is well fitted for that position, being thoroughly familiar with every phase of the sawmill business, and is one of the most highly valued employes of the concern. Mr. Dooley is a member of the board of directors of the Employes Investment Company of Crossett and is a stockholder in the East Arkansas Lumber Company at Little Rock. In 1909 Mr. Dooley was called to his first public office, heing elected mayor of Crossett, which office he held for seven years. He gave to the city a businesslike administration, which was marked by great prosperity and continued development in the general welfare. He has always been a stanch advocate of education and from 1903 to 1921 has been a member of the board of directors of the board of education.

On the 19th of September, 1888, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Dooley to Miss Molly Kinnabrew, a daughter of J. D. and Nanny Kinnabrew of Rison, the ceremony heing performed at that place. To their union eleven children have been born, eight boys and three girls. Two boys and one girl died in infancy. The living children are: Roy, assistant cashier in the Bank of Crossett, who is thirty years of age and is married to Ruby Parkhill of Crossett; Ora Belle, the wife of Elmer Oslin, who is active in the conduct of a grocery business in Arkansas City; Jessie, who is working in the Inmber company in the office of Mr. Thornton; Eunice, living at home; Joe, eighteen years of age, and J. D., fifteen years of age, who are students in the Crossett high school; Mar- shall P., Jr., twelve years of age, who is a student in the grade schools; and Ray, nine years of age, also a student in the grade schools.

The religious faith of the family is that of the Methodist church, to the support of which they are generous contributors. Fraternally Mr. Dooley is identified with the Woodmen of the World and the Masons, holding membership in Crossett Lodge, No. 576, A. F. & A. M. Since age conferred upon Mr. Dooley the right of franchise he has given his support to the democratic party, in the interests of which he has taken an active part. He is one of the representative and public-spirited citizens of Crossett whose aid may be counted upon in the furtherance of any movement for the development and improvement of the community.

WILLIAM JOSEPH ECHOLS.

William Joseph Echols, banker and merchant, who made valuable contribution to the development and progress of Fort Smith through the many years of his con- nection with the city, was born on a plantation in De Soto county, Mississippi, in 1848, his parents being Elkanah and Louisa (Shotwell) Echols. His grandfather, William Echols, was the owner of a large plantation in Alabama and later became a resident of Mississippi, where he also was prominently known as a planter. The father of William J. Echols was a resident of Huntsville, Alabama, before his removal to Mississippi and was descended from an old Virginia family. Like his father he was a planter and slave owner, giving his entire life to the management of his agricultural interests.

William J. Echols was reared on his father's plantation and pursued his edu- cation in public and private schools in southern Mississippi. He started out in the business world as a merchant at Senatobia, Mississippi, where he remained for about ten years and then removed to Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1881. Here he opened a wholesale grocery house, which he conducted to the time of his death on the 2d of March, 1897. Through the intervening period he built up a business of very substantial and gratifying proportions, his ramifying trade interests covering a broad territory. After a few years residence in Fort Smith he also organized and founded the Merchants' Bank, now a National Bank of Fort Smith, of which he became the first president, remaining as its chief executive officer until his life's labors were ended. He made this one of the most substantial and thoroughly reliable banking institutions of the state. His business policy was always such as would bear the closest investigation and scrutiny and in which enterprise, determination and progres- siveness figured strongly. His plans were always carefully formulated and promptly executed and his energy enabled him to carry forward to successful completion what- ever he undertook.

In October, 1871, at Memphis, Tennessee, Mr. Echols was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Carter, of North Carolina, in which state Mrs. Echols was reared and educated. Three children were born of this marriage: William Joseph, who is now president of the Merchants Bank, which his father established and he became his father's successor in the office; Maud Shotwell, now the wife of C. W. Hammill of New York city; and Elizabeth C., the wife of James Reynolds of Fort Smith.

Mr. Echols was a democrat in his political belief and his religious faith was

WILLIAM J. ECHOLS

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that of the Christian church. Since his demise Mrs. Echols has erected the Echols Memorial Christian church in Fort Smith, at Alabama street and May avenue. She also built a beautiful residence on Fifteenth street, it heing one of the most attractive homes of the south. Mr. Echols was never a club man but gave his time and energy without limit to his business affairs and his close application undoubtedly hastened his death. By reason of his business activity he contributed in large measure to the upbuilding and progress of the city in which he made his home and he ever measured up to the highest standards of manhood and citizenship in every regard. Mrs. Echols is a cultured lady of the southern school, devoting her life to her home and her family and taking helpful part in charitable and benevolent work, yet always without ostentation or display. Frequently her hounty is not known save to the recipient and to herself hut it is well known that the deserving never make appeal to her in vain. Her friends-and they are legion-say that she is one of the most honored and most loved women of Arkansas.

SAM BEASLEY.

Sam Beasley, an able member of the Bentonville bar and junior partner in the law firm of Floyd & Beasley, was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, March 2, 1882, a son of B. F. and Ann ( Bowen) Beasley, likewise natives of that state, where they continued to reside until 1896. In that year they made their way to Benton county, Arkansas, where the father engaged in agricultural pursuits. They were faithful members of the Christian church and Mr. Beasley gave his political allegiance to the populist party. He died in 1903, but the mother is living, making her home at Hiwasse, Arkansas. Of the children born to their union five are living, namely: Sam, of this review; Joe, who is a leading lawyer of Bentonville and is now serving as county judge of Benton county; Hattie, who is filling the office of postmistress of Hiwasse; Esther, who resides at home and is engaged in teaching a country school; and Noble, who is attending the West Point Military Academy.

Mr. Beasley attended the public schools of Benton county and the Normal School at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, after which he began the study of law in the office of W. B. Horsley, prosecuting attorney for the fourth judicial circuit. Having mastered the prin- ciples of jurisprudence, he was admitted to the bar in 1910, after passing the required examination, and later was made deputy circuit clerk, which position he continued to fill for.a period of four years. In 1914 he was elected circuit clerk and for four years was the incumbent in that office, after which he became associated in practice with Judge Floyd under the style of Floyd & Beasley, a relationship that has since been maintained. They rank with the leading law firms of the locality. Mr. Beasley is a capable attorney, well versed in all branches of the law, and his ability is manifest in the logic of his deductions and the clearness of his reasoning.

Mr. Beasley was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Banks, a native of Hiwasse, Benton county, and a daughter of Houston Banks, a pioneer farmer of this county who served as a soldier in the Confederate army during the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Beasley have become the parents of a son, Sam, Jr., aged five years. They are members of the Christian church and Mr. Beasley gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a past grand chancellor, and he is also a prominent Mason, belonging to the blue lodge, of which he is a past master; to the chapter, of which he has been made secretary, and to the commandery, of which he is now serving as eminent commander. He holds to high standards in his law practice.

R. B. SADLER, D. D. S.

Dr. R. B. Sadler, actively and successfully engaged in dental practice in Paris, is a native son of Logan county, born May 22, 1874. He is a brother of C. C. Sadler and a representative of one of the oldest and best known of the pioneer families of the state, mentioned at length on another page of this work in connection with the sketch of C. C. Sadler.

Dr. Sadler obtained his early education in the rural schools and the schools of Paris, Arkansas, and in preparation for his professional career entered Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1895 and was graduated in 1898. He then entered upon active practice in Paris, where he has since remained and through the intervening years has

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enjoyed a business of extensive proportions. He is also a director of the First National Bank of Paris but devotes almost his entire time to dentistry and is thoroughly familiar with the most progressive methods and advanced theories of the science. He holds mem- bership in the Arkansas State Dental Association and the National Dental Association, and his prominence among his professional brethren is indicated in the fact that he was elected to the presidency of the state society. For a number of years he was the only dentist in the Dardanelle valley between Dardanelle and Fort Smith and he rode all over the country in his buggy to administer professional relief. He thus became widely known and few men enjoy equal esteem and regard. He educated himself pro- fessionally, incurring some indebtedness to pursue his college course, and this he paid in full with interest after entering upon practice.

On the 24th of January, 1901, Dr. Sadler was married to Miss Blanche Hardwick, a daughter of D. D. Hardwick, who was born in Mississippi and when a small boy was brought to Logan county, Arkansas, hy his parents, who cast in their lot with the earliest settlers of this part of the state. His father had a large farm of over one thousand acres, which he sold for Confederate money and thus lost heavily. D. D. Hardwick served throughout the war with the Confederate troops and until his death always devoted his life to farming. Dr. and Mrs. Sadler have two children: Howe, who finishes high school in 1922; and Herblin, also attending high school.

The family are members of the Presbyterian church and Dr. Sadler is also identified with the Knights of Pythias. Politically he is a democrat and has served on the town council, while at the present writing he is president of the school board, the cause of education finding in him a stalwart champion. He was secretary of the advisory board for Logan county, Arkansas, during the World war and at all times he has given his aid and support to every measure or project that is promoted for the benefit and up- building of city, commonwealth and country.

W. J. MURPHY.

W. J. Murphy, a saddlery manufacturer of Fort Smith, who has developed a business of large proportions, which is one of the important productive industries of the city, was born in the state of New York, in 1851. His boyhood and youth were passed in New York state and the period of his early manhood was spent in New York and St. Louis. He came to Fort Smith in 1885, when thirty-four years of age and here turned his attention to the business in which he is now engaged. His thoroughness and cap- ability have been manifest throughout the period of his residence in western Arkansas. In the thirty-six years which have elapsed since Mr. Murphy took up his abode in Fort Smith the business has steadily grown until today he utilizes a large building, five stories in height, with a frontage of forty-five feet and a depth of one hundred and thirty feet. His plant is splendidly equipped with the latest improved machinery to facilitate the work and the product is of such excellent quality as to find a steady sale on the market. The output is sold to the wholesale trade through Oklahoma and western Arkansas and the business is one of gratifying proportions.

Mr. Murphy was united in marriage to Miss Mollie Durkin of Dubuque, Iowa, and they have become the parents of two sons and a daughter: Robert J., William J., and Angie. The latter is now the wife of R. W. Halliburton of Fort Smith. Mr. Murphy is a member of the Business Men's Club and also of the traffic bureau, being thus identified with organizations which are making a thorough and systematic study of business conditions and opportunities, with the purpose of upbuilding Fort Smith as a trade center and enlarging the scope of its commercial activities.

IRA WILLIAM BLACKLOCK.

Ira William Blacklock, superintendent of schools at Hazen, has in his professional career held to the highest educational standards and his labors have constituted a potent force in the advancement and development of the schools under his care. A native of Kentucky, he was born near Hartford, in 1874, and is a son of Charles and Lois ( Barrett) Blacklock, both of whom were also natives of Hartford. The Blacklock family is of Scotch origin, the name being derived from Black Loch, which is the Scotch word for lake. Richard Blacklock was among the first of the family to settle west of the Mis- sissippi, going to Texas at a very early day. In the year 1894 Charles Blacklock and his wife established their home on a farm at Poyen, Grant county, Arkansas. Later they removed to Sheridan, where Mr. Blacklock again engaged in farming and also

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conducted a leather and harness manufacturing business. Still later he moved to Benton, where he lived to the time of his death, in January, 1919. To him and his wife were born nine children, seven of whom are living: Ira William; Ora, the wife of K. P. Davis; Mary, the wife of J. D. Ritchey of Texas; Ella, the wife of J. C. Whitley; Maude, the wife of J. M. Scott; Thomas M., who is a minister of the Baptist church in New Mexico; and Clarence E.

It was during the early boyhood of Ira W. Blacklock that the family home was established in Kansas and in the public schools of that state he pursued his studies until he had mastered the usual branches of learning that constitute the public school curriculum. Later he attended the Central Normal College at Great Bend, Kansas, and he began teaching in Stanton county, that state, while later he was identified with educational work in Butler county. In 1894 his parents removed to Oklahoma and dur- ing that year Ira W. Blacklock taught in Red Bud, Kansas. In 1895 he secured a school near Donaldson, Arkansas, and later spent four year, as a teacher in the schools of Donaldson, after which he matriculated in Ouachita College, where he remained as a student for three years, teaching during the summer months at Butterfield and at Elmore during that period. Afterward he spent two years as principal of the high school at Sheridan and subsequently was principal at Prattsville, whence he returned to Sheridan in 1906, there remaining uutil 1909. Ambitious to promote his own education he next attended the University of Arkansas for a year, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree. A year was spent as principal of the Yellville high school, after which he went on the road as a traveling salesman in connection with educational interests. He was called from that field of labor by an increase of one-half in salary, to take charge of the Sheridan schools, with which he was again connected for three years. He next went to Mount Harmony School for one year as principal, after which he attended the Peabody College for Teachers. In the fall of 1916' he took charge of the Bryant school and in 1919 he became superintendent of the Rondo high school. Then he went to Beebe as super- intendent at that place, at a decided increase in salary. In 1921 he became superintendent of the schools at Hazen and has made a splendid record here as in the other localities in which he has labored. He is constantly looking ahead to meet the demands of the times and has introduced many advanced and progressive methods into the schools, at all times seeking to make instruction of the most practical worth in the lives of the pupils who come under his guidance.

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 46

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