USA > Arkansas > Historical review of Arkansas : its commerce, industry and modern affairs > Part 35
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For a few years after locating in Rogers, Arkansas, Mr. Little was engaged in the real estate business, being senior member of the firm of Little & Greenfield, which was discontinued in 1910, upon the organiza- tion of the First State Trust Company. This company began business January 11, 1911, with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars, one- half of which is paid up, and has for its officers J. F. Little, president : J. T. Greenfield, vice-president ; and A. W. Bevers, secretary and treasurer. The purpose of this corporation of strong men is to act as guardian for minor heirs and incompetents ; to furnish abstracts of title to real estate; to write fire insurance; and to arrange for cheap money for loans to cus- tomers upon Arkansas lands.
Rev. Mr. Little married, January 2, 1891, in Dunklin county. Mis- souri. Lavonia Summers, who was born in Stoddard county. Missouri. a
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daughter of Oscar Summers and a granddaughter of Judge John Long, of Saint Louis, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Little are the parents of seven chil- dren, namely: Lloyd T., who married Miss Jewel Haswell, of Garfield, Ar- kansas; Lelia, Maud, Nannie May, Mary, Neil and Joseph.
Fraternally Mr. Little has passed over both routes to the high point in Masonry, being a member and past officer of the Blne Lodge at Rogers; a member of Bethany Commandery, No. 16, K. T., of Bentonville; of the Albert Pike Consistory, at Little Rock; and of the Al Amin Shrine, A. A. O. N. M. S., of that city. He is likewise a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
NORBORNE S. HENRY is at the present time giving most efficient serv- ice as treasurer of Benton county, and he is one of the old residents of Ben- tonville. For nearly forty years he has been actively identified with the business affairs of the city, and both in domestic commercial matters and in industrial affairs is extensively known. Born in Augusta county, Vir- ginia, on the 10th of August, 1841, Mr. Henry passed his boyhood and youth in Waynesboro, where he acquired his education in a private academy. His father, Dr. Richard H. Henry, was a native of Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania, where his birth occurred in 1800 and whence he was taken by his mother to Staunton, Virginia, when but six months old. The father of Dr. Henry was a Scotsman and was the founder of the American branch of this family. The mother of the Doctor. after the death of her husband, became the wife of M. B. Brooks. Her children were: Richard H. Henry, Norborne .C. Brooks, Henrietta, who died unmarried, and Hannah, who became the wife of M. Raines.
Dr. Richard H. Henry passed his life in Augusta county, Virginia, and after due preliminary educational training he was matriculated in a medical college in New York City, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1819, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He was en- gaged in professional work in the Old Dominion commonwealth until his death, in 1844. He married Susan M. Cosby, a daughter of Dabney Cosby, a Virginia contractor. She long survived her honored husband and passed away in January, 1861. Dr. and Mrs. Henry became the parents of the following children: Mary F., who wedded Ed. T. Jones ; Sue W. became the wife of George W. Netherland, general superintendent of the Chesa- peake & Ohio Railroad Company, and she died in Richmond, Virginia ; Carrie C. married P. L. Yarbrough and passed her life in Millboro, Vir- ginia; Henrietta married Mr. Nichols and died during the Civil war at Millboro, Virginia ; Cornelia Ann became the wife of L. N. Stearnes and died at Ruther Glenn, Virginia; Amanda W. became Mrs. S. C. Baskins and passed her life at Staunton and Roanoke, Virginia, in which latter place she is buried ; Richard H. Bell, who was adopted by John Bell and spent his life in Staunton, Virginia ; and Norborne S., of this sketch.
Norborne S. Henry began life as a merchant's clerk at Pittsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, and when seventeen years of age he returned to Staunton and spent one year, 1858, in the academy at that place. He then went to Lexington, Virginia, and secured a clerkship in the establishment of Bacon & Lewis, and was so employed at the time of the inception of the Civil war. Mr. Henry entered the military service of the Confederacy on May 11. 1861, as a member of the Rockbridge Artillery, Stonewall's brigade. First Division of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. He participated in all the important engagements of his command in Vir- ginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, starting in at Falling Waters, Vir- ginia, First Manassas, then back to the Shenandoah Valley, where he fought at Kerntown, MeDowell, Middleton, Winchester, Cross Keys and
HH Garanfly-
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Port Republic. Thereafter the army was again transferred and it joined Lee's army where it opened the Seven Days' fight. Following this came Cedar Run, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg, Chancellors- ville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Fort Gilmer and Appomattox, where he was a witness of the closing scenes of the prolonged and sanguinary struggle between the North and South. During this strenuous service Mr. Henry was a private until advanced to the rank of sergeant, and he was paroled as such at the close of the war. He passed through the shot and shell unscathed, save for a bruise by a spent ball at Second Cold Harbor and a good shaking up at Port Republic by the ex- plosion, almost under him, of a twelve-pound shell, which almost buried him in the dirt and debris caused by the concussion.
On January 1, 1865, Mr. Henry became a clerk in Danville, Virginia, where he remained until 1867, when he removed to Sedalia, Missouri. After two years' residence in the latter place he went to Seneca, Missouri, and engaged in the hardware business. In 1871 he came to Arkansas and established himself at Bentonville, where he opened a hardware establish- ment. He sold goods until 1885, when he joined in a railroad venture, building a road from Rogers to Bentonville, the Bentonville Railroad Com- pany being the constructing and operating company. Mr. Henry was gen- eral manager of the road when he severed his connection with it, after a period of thirteen years in the business. In 1897 he again opened a gen- eral mercantile establishment in Bentonville, and after spending several years in various commercial pursuits he permanently retired from business life. At this juncture he entered politics for the first time in his own interest, and he became the nominee, on the Democratic ticket, for the office of county treasurer of Benton county. He was elected at a special election in July, 1909, and was re-elected in the fall election of 1910. In the office he has emphasized the importance of keeping complete records of the daily transactions in the treasurer's department by installing a new system of bookkeeping, showing daily balances of all funds of the county, even to the most remote school district, and showing at all times the re- ceipts and disbursements of any fund for the immediate information of the public or the county court. In his political convictions, as already inti- mated, Mr. Henry is a stanch adherent of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, and he has ever given freely of his aid and influence in support of all measures and enterprises advanced for the general welfare. Both he and his wife are devout members of the Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as president and elder. He has attended the presby- teries and synods of the district and he was a member of the General As- sembly of the church at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1903.
On the 29th of September, 1873, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Henry to Miss Martha E. Talliaferro, a daughter of Dr. Charles D. Tal- liaferro, of Tennessee. Mrs. Henry was born in Benton county, Arkansas, in 1851, in which year her parents established their home here. The chil- dren of this marriage are: Carrie B., who is the wife of W. M. Fishback, of Bentonville; Norborne R., a railroad man, who resides at Rock Island, Illinois ; Dr. Richard T., of Bentonville, Arkansas; Jane W. wife of Geo. Pickard; Sue D., who died in 1894; Catherine E., wife of W. K. Mont- gomery, of New York city ; Mary Frances, deceased; and Cornelia Jett, a student in Cooper Union Institute, New York.
WILLIAM H. GARANFLO. One of Little Rock's recent and most im- portant acquisitions is William H. Garanflo, president of the State National Bank, the city's largest financial institution. This eminent banker and financier came here in 1911 from New Madrid, Missouri,
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where he had resided since 1890, and where he had been connected with various important organizations, such as the Mann & Garanflo Land Company and the St. Louis & Missouri Southern Railway Company, now building in Missouri with the expectation of reaching Arkansas' capital eity at a not far distant date. Of the latter he held the office of viee- president. Mr. Garanflo has cleeted to make this city his permanent home and with this in view has invested extensively in real estate in Little Rock and other section of the state. He is a man of great execu- tive gifts, combined with sound judgment and initiative, and he ever makes a particularly valuable adjunet to any enterprise, the State Bank being indeed to be congratulated upon securing him as its principal officer. All concerns with which he has been identified have profited in marked degree by his executive ability, tireless energy and genius in the broad combination and concentration of applicable forees. His value to the community is appreciably increased by the fact that he is a man of publie spirit and altruistic tendencies.
In Mr. Garanflo are united the French and English elements. The paternal ancestors came originally from France, the family locating in Germany in 1812, and coming to this country as early as 1832. They located on the shores of Lake Erie in Pennsylvania, and in Erie county, that state, occurred the birth of the subject on the 8th day of May, 1865. The father. Frederick Garanflo, was born in Germany in 1830, and thus was but two years of age when he became a citizen of the United States. The mother, whose maiden name was Abigail Mills, was of an English family and was born in Hartford, Connectieut. In 1873 Mr. Garanflo, who was then a lad in the neighborhood of eight years of age, removed with his parents to what was then the frontier of civilization-Osborne county, northern Kansas. At the age of fifteen years he commeneed to teach school and subsequently finished his education, taking scientific and commercial courses in Kansas College.
Mr. Garanflo's career as a banker was inaugurated in Kansas in 1888, when he aeeepted a minor position in a monetary institution in Portis, Kansas. In 1890 he removed to southeastern Missouri and there successfully engaged in banking and other enterprises, establishing the first bank at New Madrid in the year mentioned. In course of time he organized the Mann & Garanflo Land Company and subsequently ac- cepted the position of vice-president of the St. Louis & Missouri South- ern Railway Company. He was a member of the board of regents of the Cape Girardeau Normal School, but resigned this upon his accept- ance of his present office and its attendant change of residenee, also severing his official banking connection at New Madrid, Missouri. His residenee at that place had been of more than twenty years' duration.
On the 25th day of December, 1888, Mr. Garanflo was united in marriage to Miss Annie Thompson, who was born and reared in New York city, and she is the daughter of an English family. They share their charming home with nine promising sons and daughters, whose names are as follows: Fred, George, Constance, Melvin, Mildred, Will- iam, Robert, Edith and Aliee.
HON. EMANUEL M. FUNK. Excelling in achievements and command- ing success in diverse fields of endeavor, Hon. Emanuel M. Funk, of Rog- ers, Benton county, has met with recognition as a skilful and able lawyer; is influential in the field of journalism ; and has attained prominence as a politician. A native of Illinois, he was born near Mount Morris, Ogle county, July 20, 1851, a son of Michacl Funk. His paternal grandfather, Samuel Funk, a miller by trade and a Dunkard in religion, settled as a
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pioneer in Illinois in 1839, and spent his last years in Ogle county, that state.
The descendant of a Virginia family which had German blood eonrs- ing through its veins, Michael Funk was born, in 1822, in Maryland. As a young man he served an apprenticeship at the cooper's trade, and was afterwards a merchant, and eventually became a stockman and farmer. Moving with his family to Jowa in 1854, he settled in Poweshick county as an agriculturist, and was there a resident until his death, in 1899, with the exception of twelve years (1886-1897). when he lived in Louisiana. A stanch Demoerat in politics, he supported his party's candidate for the presideney at every election excepting the one in which Horace Greeley was the Democratie nominee, his son Emanuel. however, supporting the candidate of the Southern Democrats. Ile married Adaline Newcomer, a daughter of Emanuel Newcomer, of Virginia. She died in Poweshiek county, Iowa, in June, 1900, aged seventy-six years. Six children were born of their union, as follows: Mrs. George Cox, of Deep River, Iowa; Henry U., of Rogers, engaged in the practice of law with his brother ; Emanuel M., the subject of this brief sketch : George, pastor of a Presby- terian ehureh at Fort Worth, Texas; Lee, of Iowa, Louisiana ; and Martin, who died aged fifteen months.
Completing his early education in the public schools of Iowa, Emanuel M. Funk began reading law in the office of his brother Henry before he attained his majority. In 1881, before Judge Reed, he was admitted to the bar in Audubon county, Iowa, and in 1891 was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court before Chief Justice Black. Beginning the practice of his profession in Iowa, he has met with good success as a lawyer: At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Funk entered the political arena as a delegate to a county convention, and subsequently served in similar capacities in both county and state. He was an alternate to the national Democratic con- ventions of 1888 and 1892, and has a wide acquaintance with the prominent men of his party, among his warm personal friends being William J. Bryan, in whose interests he stumped the states of Missouri and Arkansas in 1896.
During the same year, 1896, Mr. Funk located in Rogers, Arkansas, having sold to J. H. Pollard the Springdale Democrat, which he had founded in 1896. In company with his son, Erwin (. Funk, he purchased from William Butler the Rogers Democrat, a paper which was established in 1881, by Mason & Graham, as the News Era. In 1892 the name was changed to the Rogers Democrat, and the Messrs. Funk, its present owners. are maintaining its high standing as one of the foremost Demoeratie organs of the state.
Continuing his activities in the field of politics, Mr. Funk was elected to the State Legislature from Benton county, and was a member of the Committee on Ways and Means, and chairman of the Printing Committee. IIe was also one of the special committee to cheek up the state officials. and especially the office of Governor Davis, at that session of the law- making body of Arkansas. In the investigations that followed of the state offices, the committee found some irregularities in the handling of funds. and the report of its members to the Legislature shows this condition to have been the most serious charge sustained. While in the Legislature, Mr. Funk introduced a measure providing for the depositing of surplus county funds with banks paying interest on daily balances, but the measure failed to pass. At a more recent session, a similar bill became a law, and the school fund of the state is thereby enriched Ile secured the passage of an act to enlarge the State Insane Asylum; one to make some beneficial changes in the road law; and another increasing the powers of the State
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Railroad Commission. He was appointed by Governor Jones a commis- sioner for Arkansas to the Trans-Mississippi Exposition.
On March 16, 1876, in Poweshick county, Iowa, Mr. Funk was united in marriage with Addie L. Walters, a daughter of Philip and Catherine (Weimer) Walters, natives, respectively, of Virginia and New York. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Funk, namely: Erwin C., one of the proprietors of the Rogers Democrat, married Minnie M. Michael ; Wini- fred C., wife of J. S. Marshall, of Muskogee, Oklahoma ; Grace, a graduate of the Moody Bible School, at Chicago, Illinois, is now a missionary of the Congregational church at Chaoaw, China; and Irma F., a student in the University of Arkansas.
ASA C. WILMOT. Conspicuous among the Benton county citizens whose individuality and influence has impressed itself along the channels standing for progress and prosperity is Asa C. Wilmot, of Rogers. Coming to Arkansas to avoid the extremes of climate of the frigid North, the gentle breezes of the Ozarks, the silky air and clear Italian sky have con- spired to induce him, as well as others from every cardinal point, to here establish a permanent home. He was born September 28, 1839, in Chau- tanqua county, New York.
Asa C. Wilmot, Sr., his father, was born in Utica, New York, in 1800, and was engaged in farming and lumbering in his native state until his death, in 1840, while yet in the prime of life. He married Phebe Gardner, a native of Oneida county, New York. She survived him, living on the home farm until after her children were well settled in life, when she moved to Plover, Wisconsin, where she resided until her death, in 1896, at the venerable age of ninety-six years. Her children were as follows: Mariette, who married Captain John Nelson, master of a Lake Erie boat, and died in early life; Irene, who died near Nauvoo, Illinois, married George Black; Ursula, who became the wife of Judge Minor Strope, of Plover, Wisconsin, died in that place; Jane married John Warner, and died at Hamlin, New York; Jeannette became the second wife of Cass Beech, and spent her last years in Plover, Wisconsin; Adaline was the first wife of Cass Beech; Frederick died in Plover, Wisconsin; George died in Plover, Wisconsin ; and Asa C., Jr., is the youngest child.
Leaving the Empire state when a young man, Asa C. Wilmot spent a short time in Hancock county, Illinois, from there going to Wisconsin, locating first at Plover, but later going to Stevens Point, where he lived twenty-seven years. During his earlier life he was identified with the lumber regions of the Mississippi basin, working in the forests of Minne- sota and Wisconsin. On August 20, 1863, at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, he enlisted in Company D, Fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, being made sergeant of his company and serving under Colonel Allen, who, as senior colonel, was commander of the Third Brigade much of the time. Being, with his regiment, a part of the First Division, Sixth Corps, commanded first by General Sedgwick and later by General Wright, Mr. Wilmot served in the Army of the Potomac, being with General Sheridan in the valley of the Shenandoah and with General Grant's Army in the reduction of Richmond and the capture of the Confederate forces under General Lee. Mr. Wilmot fought in the battle of Winchester and at Cedar Creek, where Sheridan made his famous ride, afterward joining the forces operating around Richmond, being at Petersburg and at other points of furious fight- ing during the closing months of the conflict. In the engagement with General Early, at Cedar Creek, Mr. Wilmot was hit in the foot by a piece of shell, his only casualty during the war. He was present at the last "rites" of the Confederacy, at Appomattox, after which he attended the
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Grand Review at Washington, D. C., where, with his regiment, he was mustered out of service.
Returning then to Wisconsin, Mr. Wilmot engaged in lumbering for a few years, when he established himself in Minnesota, where he was en- gaged in financial pursuits for a time. He subsequently spent a brief while as a hotel keeper in North Dakota, but resumed his regular channels of business in Minnesota, making Saint Paul his home until 1893, when he brought his family to Rogers, Arkansas.
Becoming extremely interested in the matter of determining at sight good money, and, thereby, to detect counterfeit coin or paper, or raised bills, and to qualify himself as a teacher of the art, Mr. Wilmot went to Washington, D. C., and made a close study of the art in the treasury department. Having thus gained an expert knowledge of the subject of money manufacturing, he found it necessary to procure the consent of the Government before he could engage in the business of instructing others. The Government having granted him a permit to use his knowledge, he is one of a few persons authorized by the Government to engage in this work. His calling is one of great value to the money handlers of the country, and he is a strong factor in combatting the evils of the counterfeiters by edu- cating the people not to take their productions. His work. naturally. takes him away from Rogers much of the time. as, accompanied by his wife, he makes long trips over different parts of the United States, spread- ing knowledge of value, making new friends in every part of our country, and acquiring an experience that forms a large part of his enjoyment of life.
On September 28. 1861, in Waupaca county, Wisconsin, Mr. Wilmot was united in marriage with Anna Morrison, a daughter of Robert Mor- rison, a Scotchman, who married Mahala Brooks, of Kentucky. She was born in Marion county, Indiana, in 1841, being one of a family of six children. Four children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Wilmot. namely: Walter R., of Minneapolis, is a demonstrator of automobiles, rep- resenting one of the leading factories of the United States; Sybil, widow of O. M. Mitchell, resides in Chicago, Illinois; Bessie E. is the wife of George D. Parks, one of the leading merchants of Rogers, and president of the First National Bank ; and John C. is superintendent of a variety factory in Chicago.
JAMES M. SHINN, of Harrison, is a leading attorney of the bar of Boone county. where he has maintained his residence since 1901. This gifted representative of his profession is a native son of the state, and he is still to be accounted among the younger generation, his birth having oc- curred in Newton county November 14, 1872, in the neighborhood of Western Grove. He is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Newton county, his father, Thomas J. Shinn, having been born there in June, 1851. Thomas J. Shinn received his education in the country schools of the district of his nativity and in the city schools of Russell- ville, Arkansas, and bv a self-directed course of reading he prepared him- self for the practice of medicine. Since the early seventies he has been identified with the medical profession, save during that time in which he served the county in public office and even then finding occasion to minister to his former patrons from time to time.
Dr. Shinn is one of the forces in the Democratic affairs of Newton county. He has served the county as sheriff and as circuit and county clerk and he was also sent to the legislature of the state as a member of the Lower House, which was signal mark of the confidence he had inspired in his constituents. the county having a normal Republican majority.
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The Shinn family was founded in Newton county by James M. Shinn, the grandfather of the subject, who was a native of Buncombe county, North Carolina. He and one Captain Russell settled as Arkansas pioneers in the town now known as Russellville, and when a postoffice was located there the community was deemed worthy of a name. In fact a name was a necessity. With all gallantry Captain Russell announced his conviction that Shinnville would be an appropriate and excellent name, but Mr. Shinn demurred and proposed Russellville, eloquently commenting upon its su- perior merits. It was at last found necessary to flip a coin in order to arrive at a decision and "Russellville" won. In 1850 Mr. Shinn removed to Newton county and there died in 1873, at the age of sixty-one years. He was a veteran of the Mexican war and the captain of a company of Arkan- sas troops. He was a man in whom much confidence was placed and while a resident of Pope county he was sent to represent the same in the State Legislature. Within the years bounded by his advent into the state in 1845 until his death in 1873 he witnessed remarkable growth on the part of the commonwealth, while contributing in due measure to the same. He was a Mason and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. The maiden name of the wife of the grandfather of James M. Shinn was Sophia Harkee, and Dr. Thomas J. Shinn was their only son. These worthy people had also daughters as follows: Paulina, who became the wife of Hugh Wells, a soldier of the Mexican war and father of James Wells, of Bentonville; Mrs. John Lee, of Western Grove, Arkansas: Mrs. W. R. Lee, of Oklahoma ; and Priscilla, who became Mrs. Milligan, of West- ern Grove, Arkansas.
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