Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 51

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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Dr. Swindler pursued his professional education in the medical department of the University of Tennessee and following his graduation located at Dardanelle, Arkansas, where he remained until 1913. It was in this latter year that he came to Stuttgart, Arkansas, and here he has continued in active and successful practice. He offered his services to the government during the World war and was commissioned a first lieutenant of the Medical Corps but was not called out for active service. He filled the position of chairman of the local draft board and was also examiner and at no time did he hesitate in the performance of any duty that furthered American interests or upheld the policy of the government in relation to the World war.

Dr. Swindler was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Dunlap, a daughter of James Dunlap, and they have two children, a daughter and a son, Sarah May and Charles Edwin. Dr. Swindler is a Mason, and his religious faith is indicated in his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. He takes a deep interest in all forces that make for the uplift of the individual and the benefit of the community at large and his aid and influence are ever given on the side of right, progress, reform and improvement.

MILLARD BERRY.

Millard Berry, who is engaged in the abstract business in Springdale, was born in Washington, Indiana. October 19, 1856, and is a son of Walter E. and Angelinc (Cross) Berry. The father was born in Mason county, Kentucky, while the mother's birth occurred in Daviess county, Indiana, and they were married in the latter state. They removed to Texas on leaving the north and there lived for four years, on the expiration of which period they came to Arkansas, settling in Springdale in 1883. The father, who had followed farming for many years, lived retired after coming to this state. Mr. and Mrs. Walter E. Berry had one child, Millard, and all lived together until the father's death, which occurred about 1902. The mother survived for several years, dying in 1908 in the faith of the Christian church, to which she belonged, while Mr. Berry was a member of the Baptist church. In politics he was a democrat. The family record can be traced back to an early period in Kentucky. There resided Evans Berry, the grand-

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father of Millard Berry, who became one of the pioneers of Indiana, contributing to the agricultural development and progress of that state, in which he resided until his demise. The maternal grandfather, William Cross, was born in Virginia and he, too, became one of the early residents of Indiana.

Millard Berry of this review was educated in Washington, Indiana, and on starting out in life on his own account he entered a law office at that place. He was afterward admitted to practice at the bar of the state and followed his profession there for some time.

While still living in Indiana, Mr. Berry was married in 1878 to Miss Ida MeHolland. who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, a daughter of Thaddeus McHolland, who was a carpenter by trade. Mr. and Mrs. Berry became parents of six children: Thaddeus, who is engaged in the abstract business in Fayetteville, Arkansas; Walter, who resides upon a farm near Springdale; Marian, the wife of B. C. Heiner, who is a physician practicing at Stilwell, Oklahoma; Helen, the wife of C. A. McQnaid, a dentist of Hominy, Oklahoma ; Hazel D., whip married Howard D. Ewalt, who is engaged in the real estate business at Springdale; and Josephine, the wife of Percy Brown, a registered drnggist now connected with the Ownbey Drug Company of Springdale and Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Berry resided in Indiana until 1879 and then removed to Texas, where they remained for four years. On the expiration of that period, in 1883, they came to Arkansas, settling in Springdale, where Mr. Berry opened an abstract office. He also traveled through Arkansas and Texas during the first two years after coming to this state, after which he engaged in the abstract business, which has since claimed his attention. He is the oldest ahstractor continuously engaged in this line in the county. He now devotes his entire attention to this undertaking and the management of his farming interests. He owns valuable farm property in Benton and Washington counties and is now planting his land to vineyards. He started with nothing when he came here from Dallas county. Texas, with a two-horse wagon. There were only two buggies in the town of Springdale at the time and the place had a population of but five hundred. Great, indeed, have been the changes which have occurred through the intervening period, as the district has become thickly settled and highly developed, while the old horse and wagon and other primitive vehicles have been replaced by the automobile.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Berry are most widely and favorably known. Mrs. Berry belongs to the Christian church and Mr. Berry has membership with the Masons and the Odd Fellows. He is a past master of the former and a past Noble Grand of the latter. In politics he has always been a democrat and he has served as mayor of Springdale for two or three terms. He has also been a member of the city council and of the school board and for two terms he was county judge of Washington county. He has made a most excellent record in office by the prompt and faithful manner in which he has discharged his duties. He has ever stood for development and improvement in public affairs, and his life has been a potent force in the accomplishment of good for the com- munity in which he lives.

W. W. REID, D. D. S.

Dr. W. W. Reid, actively and successfully engaged in the practice of dentistry at Beebe, was born at Des Arc, in Prairie county, Arkansas, May 18, 1877, and is a son of John R. and Jennie (Perry) Reid, both of whom were natives of Middle Tennessee. The former came to Arkansas with his grandfather, Roderick Mckeever, who was the first county clerk of Madison county, Tennessee, residing at Jackson. He cast in his lot with the pioneer settlers of Des Arc, Arkansas. He brought his slaves with him and engaged in farming quite extensively there to the time of his death. The maternal grandfather of W. W. Reid was a native of Tennessee and was a farmer and slaveowner, spending his life in his native state.

The marriage of John R. Reid and Jennie Perry was celebrated near Hazen, Arkansas, the former becoming a resident of the state prior to the Civil war. Here he acquired land and was an extensive farmer and slaveowner, his place of six hundred and forty acres being situated between Des Arc and Hazen. He had to clear a part of his land and placed the entire tract under cultivation. At one time he also owned a thousand acres between England and Little Rock, and sacrificed that place for ten thousand dollars. At one time he established a mercantile store at Des Arc and conducted it for several years. He freighted his goods up the Mississippi and White rivers to Des Arc and was prominently associated not only with the mercantile develop- ment of the town, but also operated a grist and saw mill upon his place. He was successfully engaged in business at the time of the onthreak of the Civil war, when

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he enlisted, serving throughout the period of hostilities. He did scout duty at Poison Springs, where he was shot in the right arm, but he remained with the Confederate forces until the close of the war, when he returned to his home. The farm had suffered greatly through the ravages of war, but he at once resumed the further development and improvement of the place, carrying on general farming and stock raising and specializing in handling blooded cattle. He was a man of prominence and influence in his community and was frequently called to public office, serving for several terms as judge of Prairie county. His labors were a vital element in locating the county seat at Des Arc, and in many other ways he was active in shaping the history and promoting the progress and upbuilding of the state. At length he retired from business and removed to Oklahoma, where his death occurred in 1915, when he was seventy-one years of age. He had long survived the mother of W. W. Reid, who died in 1887. Mr. Reid was married three times. His first wife was Lyda Greer of Jackson, Tennessee, and they had three children: Lizzie, who is the widow of Charles Petty and makes her home in Little Rock; Charlow, occupying the old home farm at Des Arc; and one other. Having lost his first wife, Mr. Reid married Jennie Perry, and they had four children, three of whom are living: W. W .; Kever of Hazen, Arkansas; and Grace, who is now Mrs. Fisher of Little Rock. For his third wife John R. Reid chose Mrs. Mattie (Rinehart) Jones, and they had four children: Guy, who is an architect of Stillwater. Oklahoma; Roy, who was in the United States service during the World war; Fabel: and Lynn. Mr. Reid was a member of the Presbyterian church and also belonged to the Knights of Honor. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party, and at all times he was actuated by a most progressive spirit, consistent with the public good.

W. W. Reid pursued a public school education at Des Are and at Searcy, Arkansas, and further studied in Tennessee. He took up dentistry under the direction of Dr. J. S. Stilwell of Searcy, and afterward pursued postgraduate courses, while at all times he has kept abreast with the trend of professional thought and progress through his wide reading and broad experience. He began practice on the 20th of February, 1897. opening an office at Des Arc and also giving certain days each week to practice in other towns. In October, 1899, he enlisted in the United States army at Jackson, Tennessee, and was sent to the Philippines as a member of Company M, Forty-sixth Massachusetts Infantry. There he participated in the battles of Montalabon, in the engagement at Palowith on the 18th of September, 1900; at Panta Gorda in February, 1901, and in the skirmishes at Molino, at Julang in 1900; at Buena Vista in the same year, and at Pinnan in 1901. He took part in General Swan's expedition in the southern part of the islands, and was in the service for almost two years.

It was in 1909 that Dr. Reid came to Beebe, where he opened an office and has continued in practice, having been a representative of the profession here for thirteen years. He has been accorded a liberal patronage and his mechanical skill and ingenuity. combined with broad scientific learning along the line of his profession, insure him continued success.

Dr. Reid was married to Miss Mary Lena Norfleet, a native of Brinkley, Arkansas, and they have one child, Ward, who is attending the Agricultural College at Jonesboro, Arkansas. Dr. Reid belongs to the Presbyterian church, while his wife has membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Beebe Lodge, No. 145, A. F. & A. M., and he also has membership in the Odd Fellows Lodge at McRae. He votes with the democratic party, but the honors and emoluments of office have never had attraction for him, as he has always preferred to devote his attention to other interests. He is a member of the Arkansas State Dental Association and also of the National Dental Association, and thus keeps thoroughly informed con- cerning all that has to do with the improvement of methods in his profession.

WILLIAM ANDERSON SNODGRASS, M. D.

Dr. William Anderson Snodgrass, physician and surgeon of Little Rock and the son of Andrew J. and Elmira ( Waterfield) Snodgrass, was born in the town of Murray. Calloway county, Kentucky, in 1872. His father was a native of Johnson county, Tennessee, and the ancestral line in America dates back to two brothers who came to the new world early in the seventeenth century. William Snodgrass, the great-grand- father of Dr. Snodgrass, was a lieutenant colonel in Washington's army during the Revolutionary war and Andrew J. Snodgrass was a soldier in the Civil war, serving with the Confederate forces during the struggle from 1861 until 1865. He is still living and now making his home in Little Rock. The mother of Dr. Snodgrass was a native of Kentucky and is of pioneer stock in both the paternal and maternal lines. On the

DR. WILLIAM A. SNODGRASS

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pages of Kentucky history again and again appears the name of Waterfield and of Welch.

Born in Murray, Calloway county, Kentucky, in 1872, Dr. Snodgrass acquired his early education there hut when he was ten years of age his family removed to Arkansas and in Little Rock he completed his public school and collegiate courses, after which he entered the medical department of the University of Arkansas and was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1896. He ranks high among the surgeons of the south. He has for a quarter of a century been one of the leaders of his profes- sion in Little Rock and for eleven years he occupied the position of demonstrator of anatomy, while for eight years he occupied the chair of clinical surgery in the Uni- versity of Arkansas. Dr. Snodgrass now devotes his entire time to surgical practice and is on the staff of the City, St. Vincent's and the Baptist Hospitals and for the past seventeen years has been physician to the Arkansas Methodist State Orphanage. He is a member of all the medical societies and has served as secretary of the Pulaski County Medical Society, a position which he filled in the early days, while for two terms he acted as its president. For six years he was chairman of the council of the Arkansas State Medical Society and he also holds membership in the Southern Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is likewise a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and has ever made it his purpose to keep thoroughly informed concerning the advances that are being made by the leaders in medical and surgical practice. Broad study and investigation keep him in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and progress and he is indeed recognized as one of the leading surgeons of the state. He served in the World war with the rank of major in the Medical Corps and organized the only Red Cross Hospital Unit entered from the state of Arkansas, With this unit he went to France in January, 1918, and in April of the same year was transferred to the regular army in charge of Field Hospital No. 12, thus serving nntil mustered out in May, 1919.

It was in the year 1898 that Dr. Snodgrass was married to Miss Lelia Phillips, a daughter of John W. Phillips, of Hempstead county, Arkansas, her parents being pioneers in that section of the state. Mr. Phillips is a veteran of the Civil war and is well and popularly known in Arkansas. Dr. and Mrs. Snodgrass have four children: Myra, who is a graduate of the Nashville College and is now the wife of James Murray of Little Rock; Ruth, who is a graduate of the Little Rock high school; Wil- liam A., Jr., and John Patterson, who are students.

In politics Dr. Snodgrass follows the principles of the democratic party and in religious faith the teachings of the Methodist church. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason. It has been men of the type and character of Dr. Snodgrass who have formed the strong fabric of this state-men who have never ceased to uphold in public aid and in private life the things that are wholesome and righteous and make for the upbuilding of a great commonwealth.

DREW FRANK HARRISON.

Drew Frank Harrison, a restaurant proprietor of El Dorado, was born in Hillsboro, Union county, Arkansas, February 7, 1880. His father, C. F. Harrison, who died in 1918, was one of the pioneer settlers of the city of Cleveland, Arkansas, and contributed to the early development and progress of the state. He came of a family distinctively American in its lineal and collateral branches through several generations. Throughout the greater part of his life he followed the occupation of farming, though for a short time he was engaged in commercial pursuits. He had two brothers who served through- cut the entire period of the Civil war, also another brother who was killed while fighting at the front. C. F. Harrison was united in marriage to Miss Laura Sanders, who departed this life in 1913. She was born and reared in Union county, Arkansas. where her father had settled in pioneer times. She also belonged to one of the old American families, her ancestors having lived on this continent for an extended period.

Drew F. Harrison was educated in the country schools of Union county and in early youth worked in different positions, being employed in various ways until 1912. With an accumulated capital of two hundred and fifty dollars, saved from his earnings, he then started a restaurant in a small way. In the succeeding years he has built up a business which represents an investment of twenty thousand dollars and of which he is the sole owner. He has ever maintained high standards in the service given to the public, and his restaurant is a popular establishment, a traveler or a fellow townsman being always assured of a good meal if he visits the Harrison place of business. In addition to the conduct of his restaurant Mr. Harrison owns a cotton gin in Upland, Arkansas, and has one hundred and sixty acres of land near there, his tract being

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situated only a short distance from the oil fields, with possibilities that oil may also underlie his place. He is likewise a stockholder in the El Dorado Natural Gas Company.

On the 24th of September, 1904, Mr. Harrison was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Thompson of El Dorado, who was born and reared near Waldo, Arkansas, and belongs to an old family from Chattanooga, Tennessee. They have hecome the parents of two sons and a daughter, but the daughter, Mabel, died in 1912, at the age of five years. The two sons are: Asberry Columbus, now sixteen years of age; and Drew Frank, Jr., a lad of six.

Mr. Harrison belongs to El Dorado Lodge, No. 13, A. F. & A. M., also to the Eastern Star and to Columbia Camp of the Modern Woodmen. The religious faith of Mr. and Mrs. Harrison is that of the Baptist church, and their interest centers in those channels through which flow the greatest good to the greatest number. Mr. Harrison gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and is interested in everything that pertains to the welfare and progress of his community, his cooperation being a tangible asset in the work for public improvement.

WILLIAM G. HODGES, M. D.

Dr. William G. Hodges, who since 1912 has devoted his time and energies to the practice of medicine in Malvern, was born in Hot Spring county, Arkansas, October 21, 1878. His youth was spent on the home farm, seven miles from Malvern, and in his boyhood days he became familiar with the work of the fields from the time of early spring planting nntil crops were harvested in the late fall. He acquired a common school education and attended high school at Friendship, after which he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed from 1900 until 1905. In this way he earned the money with which he met the expenses of an advanced conrse. He taught the Gifford high school and eventually qualified for the practice of medicine as a student in the Barnes Medical College of St. Louis, Missouri. There he was graduated on the 17th of June, 1912. He had become a resident of Fallsville, Arkansas, in 1907, and through the vacation periods in his college course he practiced to some extent at that place and at Magnet. Following his graduation he opened an office in Malvern and through the intervening years he has successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery. He pursued a postgraduate conrse in surgery in the Illinois Postgraduate Medical School of Chicago, in 1919 and afterward attended the Mayo Brothers' clinics at Rochester, Minnesota, in May, 1920. He also specialized in surgery in the Illinois Postgraduate School, and in January, 1921, he took postgraduate work in the St. Louis clinics. He has thus at intervals promoted his efficiency through wide study and experience under some of the ablest physicians and surgeons of the conntry He has constantly advanced in his profession and in large measure enjoys the confidence and good will of his colleagues and contemporaries. Broad reading has also kept him in tonch with the onward march of professional progress and he has gained much valnable knowledge through the proceedings of the Hot Spring County Medical Society, the Arkansas State Medical Society, the Tri-State Medical Society, the Sonthern Medical Association and the American Medical Association, in all of which he has membership. He has served as chairman of the city health board, and has also heen both city and county health officer. He stands with that progressive class of physicians and surgeons who are ever attempting to prevent, disease by a dissemination of knowledge that will promote sanitary conditions and thus check epidemics or the ravages of disease of any kind.

Dr. Hodges is a faithful follower of Masonic teachings and also of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and religiously is connected with the Methodist church. His life has been spent in Arkansas, he is well known in varions sections of the state, and merits the friendship and kindly regard which are uniformly tendered him.

JAMES A. GALLAHER.

James A. Gallaher, member of the Fort Smith bar, practicing as senior partner in the firm of Gallaher & Gean, a relation that has been maintained for more than six years, is a native son of Arkansas, his birth having occurred in the city of Paris in May, 1871, his parents being Thomas J. and Eliza J. (Rhyne) Gallaher. While spending his youthful days in his father's home he attended the public schools and later became a student in the Paris Academy. Determining upon the practice of law, he began reading with the purpose of winning admission to the bar and continued his studies in the

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University of Arkansas until graduated with the class of 1898. Immediately afterward he opened an office in his native city and there remained for about a decade, or until 1908, when he came to Fort Smith. Here he has continued in practice, and on the 25th of March, 1915, entered into his present partnership relation with Roy R. Gean, under the firm style of Gallaher & Gean.

In 1912 Mr. Gallaher was married to Miss Elba B. Culbertson of Fort Smith, who is well known in this city, both Mr. and Mrs. Gallaher having an extensive circle of warm friends, and to them the hospitality of the best homes is freely accorded. Fra- ternally Mr. Gallaher is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Brotherhood of American Yeomen, and he was a delegate to the national convention of the Yeomen, while for ten years he served as secretary of the local organization. He is also the secretary of the Southern Live Stock & Lumber Company, which indicates that his activities have been extended into other business fields outside of his profession. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and he was nominated on its ticket for the office of circuit judge. However, he has always considered the pursuits of private life as in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts, and he has made a lasting impression upon the bar of the state, arguing many cases and losing but few. His course in the courtroom is characterized by a calmness and dignity that indicate reserve strength, and while he has manifested the utmost devotion to the interests of his clients, he never forgets that he owes a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law.

CHRIS J. LEDWIDGE.

Chris J. Ledwidge, engaged in the undertaking business at Hot Springs, was born in Ireland on the 16th of May, 1871. He spent the first ten years of his life on the Emerald isle, and then came to America in 1881 with his parents, who crossed the country with their family until they established a home in Hot Springs. Here Chris J. Ledwidge was reared to manhood and he acquired his education by attending the public and night schools. When twenty-one years of age he started out to provide for his own support as a carpenter and continued to follow the building trade and con- tracting for a period of twenty years. He then turned his attention to the livery business, and in 1908 purchased the undertaking business of which he is now sole owner. His undertaking establishment is situated at Nos. 215 and 217 Central avenue, and here he has splendid equipment and is accorded a liberal patronage. He is the inventor and patentee of an electric switch danger signal for use on automobiles. This switch is very easily adjusted on the steering gear and contains four lights-red, green, yellow and white, which can be seen at any angle by occupants of an approaching car, or by pedestrians. In case of collision or danger the lights can be switched to any of the four colors, each color having its separate meaning. This patent has been endorsed for use by the city council of Hot Springs and also of Little Rock.

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 51

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