Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 75

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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In the acquirement of an education F. O. Butt attended the common schools of his native state and later, upon removing to this state with his parents, became a student in the high school at Harrison and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1893. For the following five years he engaged in teaching school, studying law in his spare time under W. F. Pace, and he was admitted to the bar on the 3d of February, 1896, on his twenty-first birthday. For two years prior to his admittance to the bar he had practiced in the circuit court by permission of the judge. He at once located in Green Forest and opening offices there followed his profession until he came to Eureka Springs in 1905. He has since practiced here and the zeal with which he has devoted his energies to his profession, the careful regard evinced for the interests of his clients and an assidnous and unrelaxing attention to all the details of his cases, have brought him a large business and made him very successful in its conduct. He handles much extensive and important litigation and is admitted to practice in the United States

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supreme court, the state supreme court and all federal courts. Although the greater part of Mr. Butt's time is spent in taking care of his professional duties, he is active in financial circles as vice president of the First National Bank of Eureka Springs, vice president of the First National Bank of Green Forest and of the Peoples Bank at Berry- ville. Mr. Butt owns four thousand acres of land throughout the state and he has just completed the erection of a beautiful suburban home. He is a self-made man and the success he enjoys is the result of his own intelligently directed efforts and laudahle ambition.

In 1901 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Butt and Miss Essie Cox, a native of Green Forest and a daughter of A. J. Cox. Her father is one of the prominent and suc- cessful agriculturists of the community in which he resides. Mrs. Cox is deceased. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Butt seven children have been born: John K., who is nineteen years of age and is a student in a law school at Little Rock; Katheleen and Robert Lee, students in the high school; Dorothy, in the eighth grade; Jack, in the sixth grade; Joe Vol, in the third grade; and Frank, four years old. Mrs. Butt is prominent in the club and social affairs of Eureka Springs and is a woman of charming and magnetic personality.

The religious faith of the family is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. and Mr. Butt is a generous contributor to its support. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, being a member of both the York and Scottish Rites. He has attained the Mystic Shrine and he is conceded to be an exemplary member of the craft. Mr. Butt is likewise affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and he has been deputy grand master of both that organization and of the Masons. He holds membership in the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, Woodmen of the World, and the Anti-Horse-Thief Association. Since attaining his majority Mr. Butt has given his stanch support to the democratic party, in the interests of which he has taken an active part. For two terms he represented his fellowmen in the state legislature and he was a state senator for four years. . For a like period he held the office of county examiner and for six years he was chief executive of Eureka Springs, his administration being marked by a period of progress and prosperity. In 1918 he was a delegate to the constitutional convention and is the present chairman of the county board of education. Mr. Butt's friends are legion, for his salient qualities have endeared him to those with whom he has come into contact. He enjoys the admiration and respect of his colleagues and contemporaries, the goodwill of acquaintances and the strong and enduring regard of those with whom he 'has been more intimately associated.

LAWRENCE BRANCH BURROW.

Admitted to the har in 1914, Lawrence Branch Burrow has since engaged in the practice of law. As a member of the well known firm of Reid, Gray, Burrow & McDonnell, with offices in Little Rock, he has an excellent clientage that connects him with much important litigation in the courts of the district. His birth occurred in Morrillton, Con- way county, Arkansas, September 5, 1892. His father, Thomas Ewell Burrow, also a native of this state, was born at Bunker Hill Landing, Perry county, his natal day being December 16, 1863. His grandfather was one of the early settlers of Arkansas. Thomas E. Burrow has spent practically his entire life within the horders of his native state and since 1893 has made his home in Little Rock, where he is prominently known as a successful merchant, engaged in the wholesale dry goods business as a member of the Beal-Burrow Dry Goods Company. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party. At the place of his nativity he was married to Miss Emma Robinson, who was born in Clarksville, Arkansas. They have become the parents of three sons and two daughters, of whom two sons and a daughter are now living, the latter being the wife cf Carey R. Harrison of San Francisco, California.

Lawrence B. Burrow was but a year old when his parents removed from Morrillton to Little Rock and at the usual age he became a public school pupil, passing through consecutive grades, while later he attended the Smith Academy in St. Louis, Missouri, and subsequently matriculated in the Culver Military Institute, from which he was graduated with the class of 1911. Soon afterward he entered upon preparation for the bar and completed a course in the University of Virginia in 1914, taking his LL. B. degree while at Charlottesville, Virginia. Since his admission to the bar he has con- tinuously engaged in practice and through the intervening period of seven years has made steady progress in his profession.

On the 18th of April, 1916, Mr. Burrow was married to Miss Lila Jane Plunkett. She, too, is a native of Arkansas, her hirth having occurred in Eureka Springs, August 18,

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1895, her parents being William B. and Lila (Boyd) Plunkett. Her father was born in Arkansas and for a number of years they have made their home in Little Rock.

In his political views Mr. Burrow has always been a democrat. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons as a member of the blue lodge and he belongs to the Meth- odist Episcopal church, South, being secretary of its Brotherhood Society. He is much interested in the work of the church and its purposes and he cooperates heartily and earnestly in all those plans and projects which are making for the uplift and benefit of the individual and the benefit of the community at large.

DEANE H. TOMPKINS.

Deane H. Tompkins, who is actively engaged in the insurance business at Ashdown, is widely recognized as a young man of enterprise, ability, progressiveness and initiative. His birth occurred in Webster, North Carolina, on the 6th of September, 1887, and when he was nine years of age his mother brought him to Little River county, Arkansas, settling at Wilton, where he pursued his education in the public schools. It was in 1904, when a youth of seventeen years, that he came to Ashdown and began work in the office of the county clerk, being thus engaged for four years. Soon after severing that connection he established an abstract and insurance business, but in 1920 discontinued his activity in the real estate field and is now concentrating his attention solely upon insurance interests. He handles both life and fire insurance, representing the Equitable Life and about thirty fire insurance companies. An extensive clientele is accorded him, so that he writes a large amount of insurance annually and has become well known as one of the successful men in his line in southwestern Arkansas. He also had the agency for the Ford car in Little River county from 1916 until 1920 but disposed of this in the latter year.

On the 6th of December, 1906, Mr. Tompkins was united in marriage to Miss Julia Phillips and they have become parents of a son, William Deane. Their religious faith is indicated by their membership in the First Baptist church. Coming to Arkansas in his boyhood days, Mr. Tompkins has now been a resident of Little River county for a quarter of a century and has made many friends who esteem him highly as a man of genuine personal worth, a business man of ability and a citizen who is ever loyal to the best interests of the community.

JESSE THOMAS TADLOCK.

One of the alert and enterprising citizens of Crossett is Jesse Thomas Tadlock, foreman of the machine shops at the Crossett Lumber Company. He was born in Monroe, North Carolina, on the 18th of August, 1883, of Scotch, Irish and English ancestry. His father, S. B. Tadlock, is living, at the age of sixty-five years, and is traveling representa- tive for the John Deere Company of Moline, Illinois, his territory being southeastern Arkansas. He was born in North Carolina and came to this state in 1889. During the Civil war he served as a private in the Confederate army and participated in many of the important battles of that conflict. He enlisted at a very early age. In Charleston, South Carolina, in 1870, was celebrated the marriage of S. B. Tadlock to Miss Elizabeth Dees, whose demise occurred in 1900, in her fifty-eighth year. She was a native of that state, her birth having occurred near Charleston. She lost two brothers and her father in the service of the Confederacy. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Tadlock six children were born, four boys and two girls, Jesse Thomas, whose name initiates this review, being the fourth in order of birth. Three boys and one girl are living.

In the acquirement of an education Jesse Thomas Tadlock attended the Industrial School in Louisiana, receiving the equivalent of a grammar school education, and in later life he took a correspondence course in mechanical training from the International Correspondence School. Mr. Tadlock was but thirteen years of age when he started ont in the world on his own account, accepting a position as helper with the Magnolia Manufacturing & Supply Company at Junction City, Arkansas. After two years in that connection he went to Ruston, Louisiana, and was but sixteen years of age when he became an employe of the Ruston Foundry & Machine Company in the mechanical de- partment. He served four years as an apprentice machinist, at the termination of that time becoming an employe in the railroad shop at Monroe, Louisiana. He remained there for nine years. For four years he was machinist for the V. S. & P. Railroad, was one year machinist for the A. L. & G. Railroad, and subsequently was appointed master mechanic and foreman, in which capacity he was active until the 1st of January, 1916.

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Resigning his position he became associated with the Missouri Pacific at Ferriday, Louisiana, as machinist but after six weeks in that connection he came to Arkansas as machinist for the Southern Lumber Company at Warren. He was in their employ for nine months and then went with the Bradley Lumber Company there, as master mechanic for four years. In the early part of 1920 he came to the Crossett Lumber Company and in December of that year was made foreman of the machine shops, which important position he has since held. This company is one of the largest in the state and Mr. Tad- lock has been a dominant factor in promoting the efficiency of his end of the business.

On the 7th of March, 1905, Mr. Tadlock was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Good- nough, a daughter of C. S. Goodnongh, one of the well known citizens of Ruston, Louisiana. Mrs. Tadlock was a woman of much culture and refinement and was well known in the club and social circles of the various communities in which she resided. Her demise occurred in March, 1921, coming as a severe blow to her family and many friends in this community.

Mr. Tadlock is a consistent member of the Methodist church, to the support of which he is a generous contributor, and fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Western Star Lodge, No. 24, A. F. & A. M., of Monroe, Louisiana; Monroe Chapter, No. 18, Royal Arch Masons; and Albert Pike Consistory at Little Rock. Along the line of his work he holds membership in the International Association of Machinists, which organization he served as corresponding secretary from 1909 through 1912. During the World war Mr. Tadlock gave generously of his time and money in the fur- therance of the government's interests and he was especially active in Red Cross and Liberty Loan drives, Although he has been a resident of Crossett but a short time he has made many friends and is recognized as a man whose aid may be counted upon in any movement for the development and improvement of Crossett.

CONRAD ELSKEN.

Alert and energetic, watchful of all opportunities pointing to success, which oppor- tunities he has wisely utilized in the upbuilding of his own fortunes, Conrad Elsken has also contributed through his business activity to the development of the section of the state in which he lives. He has hecome well known as a merchant, banker and promoter of a telephone system and his work has always been an element of much public worth. Born in Prussia, Germany, May 6, 1850, he is a son of Gerhart and Maria (Neisens) Elsken, who were also natives of Germany, whence they came to the United States in 1859, settling in Illinois, where the father followed farming. The mother died in that state and in 1878 Mr. Elsken came to Arkansas, where he lived retired to the time of his death. They were members of the Catholic church and they had a family of ten children, three of whom are yet living: Conrad; Henry, who works in his brother's store in Subiaco; and Christina, who is the wife of Matthias Klein, a native of Wiesbaden, now living near Paris, Arkansas, where he follows farming.

Conrad Elsken was educated in the schools of Illinois, being a lad of but nine years when brought to the new world. When his textbooks were put aside he took up the occupation of farming, which he followed until nineteen years of age and then began clerking in a store, continuing in that employment until he came to Arkansas. For three years he engaged in farming on rented land in this state and in 1881 began working in a store at Patterson's Bluff. In 1883 he removed to Paris, where he again engaged in clerking and while thus employed was appointed land agent for the Fort Smith & Little Rock Railroad, now the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad, for Logan and Franklin counties. He made his financial start in that way. He afterward en- gaged in the transfer business, operating between Altus and Paris, hauling an entire carload per day. After the railroad was built he engaged in merchandising at Paris and at Charleston, beginning with a small capital and a small store. In fact, he had only four hundred dollars with which to establish business and his partner had about an equal amount. They prospered from the beginning, owing to their earnest desire to please their customers and their straightforward dealing, and from time to time they increased their stock and broadened the scope of their activities. The business was established in 1895 and was so continued for twenty-two years, or until 1917, when the partnership was dissolved. In the meantime Mr. Elsken had removed to Subiaco, where he had established a store, and he is still engaged in merchandising at this place. This, however, constitutes but one phase of his activity, for he is the vice president of the First National Bank of Paris and president of the Citizens Telephone Company. which has all the telephones in Logan and South Franklin counties, numbering alto- gether about two thousand. He likewise owns farm land and he has made every dollar

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that he possesses through his own efforts. He now devotes most of his time to the telephone business, but gives general supervision to all his other interests, and his sound judgment and unfaltering enterprise are manifest in the success which he has continuously enjoyed and which is indeed well deserved. He is a director of the Fort Smith, Subiaco & Rock Island Railroad.

In 1877 Mr. Elsken was married to Miss Elizabeth Besselman, who was born in Germany and died in 1898. They were parents of three children: Augusta, the wife of John McGlyn, proprietor of a grocery store at Paris: Gahart, who is engaged in mer- chandising at Paris; and Henry J., who is bookkeeper and superintendent of the tele- phone system at Paris. In 1900 Mr. Elsken was married to Miss Margaret Kramer, who was born in Germany, in the Alsace-Lorraine district, or the Bavaria district. They have become parents of seven children: Margaret, at home; William, Edward, Anton, Mary Ann and Hermina, all in school: and Gregor, who is four years of age.

The family are communicants of the Catholic church at. Subiaco and Mr. Elsken belongs to the Knights of Columbus. In politics he is a democrat and served as county treasurer of Logan county for eight years. He also was a member of the town council of Paris and is now mayor of Subiaco. He likewise organized the post office here and became the first postmaster. He took a most active and helpful part in furthering the interests of the government during the World war and was at the head of the Council of Defense in Logan county. He also had charge of different bond drives. His son, Henry J., volunteered for the wire service and was put in school at Fayette- ville and afterward transferred to Bloomington, Indiana, but never had the opportunity to enter overseas service. Mr. Elsken was also on the charity board of the state under Governor Roberson and thus in many public capacities he has done valuable and im- portant service.

THOMAS A. JOHNSTON.

Thomas A. Johnston, living in Dardanelle, is connected with both farming and banking interests in Yell county. He is a capable business man, alert and energetic and the thoroughness and system with which he has managed his business affairs have constituted vital elements in the attainment of his present-day prosperity. Yell county numbers him among her native sons, his birth having here occurred October 5, 1857, his parents being Joseph C. and Malinda (May) Johnston, who were natives of Tennes- see and of Maryland, respectively. The latter was a daughter of Jesse May, also a native of Tennessee, when he removed to Johnson county. Arkansas, at an early day. He became quite prominent in that county, where he conducted extensive farming inter- ests and owned a large number of slaves.

Joseph C. Johnston was comparatively young when his father died, and he there- fore largely guided his own destiny. He was a well educated man and throughout his life was an extensive reader, keeping in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress in this way. Upon many topics of public concern he kept abreast with the best thinking men of the age and he was recognized as a most excellent and entertaining con- versationalist. He went to California in the days of the gold excitement in 1849, travel- ing with a company that had forty-five wagons, each drawn by two or four yoke of oxen or steers, while one hundred and eighty-five men were in the party. They were nine months on the road ere they reached the Pacific coast. Mr. Johnston remained in Cali- fornia until 1853 and met with success in his undertaking, accumulating considerable gold there. He then rejoined his wife and two children who had remained in Arkansas, and when he left California it was with the intention of taking his family to that state, but after reaching home he changed his plans and instead removed to Yell county, set- tling on a farm two and a half miles from Dardanelle. He purchased slaves with which to cultivate the fields and continued to reside upon the farm until his demise. The land acquired by the parents has never been out of the possession of the family. The father was a member of the Presbyterian church, while his wife belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church, and his political allegiance was given to the democratic party. To him and his wife were born nine children, of whom five are living: John M., who yet occupies the old homestead farm; Mary, the widow of M. J. Catlin, residing at Little Rock; Susan, the wife of M. L. Davis, a prominent attorney of Dardanelle; Thomas A .; and Joseph S., who lives on the old home farm. The father was a stone mason by trade, serving an apprenticeship of seven years in his early life and though in later years he devoted his attention to farming he was yet able to do much mechanical work. He built the sheds and barn foundation with his own hands and instituted many other improvements on his property by reason of his mechanical ingenuity. Prior to the Civil war he took over the Gazette, which was a weekly publication, and as a result of the war he lost all of his slaves and considerable money

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Thomas A. Johnston was educated in the schools of Yell county and was early trained to the work of the fields. After his textbooks were put aside he farmed for a number of years and he is today the owner of two hundred and fifty acres of land, on which he raised thirty-six crops before he rented the property, which he leased in 1920 for the first time. During the thirty-six years in which he tilled the fields he never lost a week on the farm. He is now president of the Dardanelle Bank & Trust Company, occupying the presidency for the past five years, while for fifteen years previous he has been one of the directors and has been a patron of the bank from its estab- lishment. He still owns much land in Yell county, also a valuable farm in Johnson county. He was a charter member in an oil mill at Dardanelle, which was burned, at which time he was president of the mill. He still owns considerable real estate in Dardanelle and his holdings likewise include the ownership of an ice plant, which is operated by his son and which has proved a profitable investment, he having but two dollars and sixty cents on his books outstanding for the last year. Mr. Johnston also owns a half interest in the cotton gin at Dardanelle. He made the principal part of his fortune through farming and trading in land, but in all business ventures he has pros- pered, possessing sound judgment and unremitting diligence qualities which bring splendid results. In connection with Mr. Cotton he planted a peach orchard of one hun- dred and sixty acres and in 1912 they shipped from this orchard sixty carloads of peaches, or twenty-five thousand bushels.

In 1891 Mr. Johnston was united in marriage to Miss Viola M. Boles, who was born in Yell county, a daughter of Thomas Boles, who was a prominent citizen of Ar- kansas, serving as congressman from this state at an early day through election on the republican ticket. He afterward removed to Fort Smith and became United States mar- shal for the western district of Arkansas. He had served for four years in the Union army, proving a brave and loyal soldier. He died in Fort Smith about sixteen years ago, honored and respected by all who knew him

To Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have been born three children: Neal died aged two years and eight months; one died at birth; and Thomas G. is proprietor of the ice plant and a fuel business in Dardanelle. He spent two or three years in Hendrix College and was taking a commercial course at Tyler, Texas, when he volunteered for service in the World war. He was in the training school at Camp Pike at the time hostilities ceased. He married Pauline Gibson of Nashville, Arkansas, and the young couple and his parents are widely and prominently known in Dardanelle and Yell county.

Since age conferred upon him the right to exercise the voting privilege Thomas A. Johnston has given his support to the democratic party. He was formerly identified with the Independent Order of Good Templars, but still belongs to the Modern Wood- men. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and their aid and influence have ever been on the side of justice, truth and right. He has worked for temperance and for all those forces which uplift the individual and promote the standards of the community at large. At the same time he has wisely and carefully directed his business affairs and his progressiveness along industrial, commercial and agricultural lines have been the potent features in making him one of the men of affluence in Yell county. Honored and respected by all, no man occupies a more enviable position in business and financial circles than does Thomas A. Johnston, not alone by reason of the success he has achieved, but also owing to the straightforward business methods which he has ever followed.

CAPTAIN JOEL MONROE MCCLINTOCK.

Captain Joel Monroe Mcclintock, an attorney at law and an honored pioneer set- tler of Prairie county, now living at De Valls Bluff, has been closely associated with the development and upbuilding of this section of the state since about the close of the Civil war and has taken a most active part in promoting public progress and in advancing the general welfare. He was horn in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, thir -- teen miles east of Pittsburgh, in 1839, his birthplace being the farm of his father, Ralph McClintock, who was a native of Pennsylvania and who in early manhood wedded Nancy Monroe, who was born in Allegheny county, that state, and was a daughter of Joel Monroe, with whom Joel M. Mcclintock made his home during his early youth. The father upon leaving Pennsylvania removed westward to St. Charles county, Mis- souri, but afterward returned to the Keystone state. Later he became a resident of Illinois and for a time served as county treasurer of Bureau county. In the year 1873 he came to Arkansas, settling at De Valls Bluff, and his last days were spent in Little Rock, where his death occurred in 1890. His wife also died in the capital city. They were the parents of seven children, four of whom are still living:

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Centennial history of Arkansas, Part 75

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