USA > Arkansas > Historical review of Arkansas : its commerce, industry and modern affairs > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84
1119
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS
The father was summoned to the life eternal in 1884, at the age of eighty- seven years, and his wife passed away in 1887.
Dr. Samuel F. Paddock, father of him whose name introduces this article, received a liberal education in his youth and as a young man he secured employment in his father's bank at Oneida, New York. Having decided upon the medical profession as a vocation, he was matriculated in Rush Medical College, at Chicago, Illinois, in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1858, duly receiving his de- gree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately after graduation he came to the state of Arkansas, where he initiated the active practice of his profession. When the dark cloud of civil war cast its pall on the national horizon Dr. Paddock was aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Union, and although he was not an active soldier he defended his flag and his position when thrown among the secessionists. In connection with his work as a doctor he was engaged in the drug business at Fayetteville for many years and he was pension examiner of Washington county for fully twenty-five years. In politics he was a staunch Republican and he was always on the qui vive to do all in his power to advance the good of the community. He was married, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Miss Mary Eliz- abeth Brewster, a lineal descendant of William Brewster, who came to this country in the good ship Mayflower. Mrs. Paddock was a daughter of William K. Brewster, a miller at Great Falls, New Hampshire, at which place Mary Elizabeth was born on the 25th of December, 1831. William K. Brewster married Miss Nancy Tibbetts and Mrs. Paddock was the first in order of birth of their nine children. Dr. and Mrs. Paddock became the parents of three children, and the immediate subject of this review and Gracie, who died at eighteen years of age, attained to years of maturity. Dr. Paddock was summoned to eternal rest in 1885, and his wife passed away April 7, 1911.
Dr. Charles B. Paddock was reared and educated at Fayetteville, where he was a student in the University of Arkansas until he had reached his junior year, at which time he entered his father's drug store. Subse- quently he went to the city of Chicago, where he was graduated in the Chicago College of Pharmacy in 1884. Thereafter he was identified with the drug business in the western metropolis for the ensuing three years, at the expiration of which he went to Louisville, Kentucky, where he was matriculated in the Louisville Medical College, in which he was graduated in 1898, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He began the active prac- tice of his profession during his junior year in college and in 1898 he re- turned to Fayetteville, where he has built up a large and representative patronage and where his well merited success has been on a parity with his strenuous efforts. In connection with his life work he is a member of the Washington County Medical Society, the Arkansas State Medical So- ciety and the American Medical Association.
On the 22nd of February, 1897, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Paddock to Miss Minerva Wilkes, a daughter of Amos K. Wilkes, an old pioneer of Arkansas. Mrs. Wilkes, whose name was Eliza Hinds, was descended from the founders of the village of Hindsville, Arkansas, which place was named in their honor. The Wilkes family came to Arkansas from Missouri. Dr. and Mrs. Paddock have two children,-Grace and Charles Samuel.
Dr. Paddock is a staunch supporter of the Republican party in all questions of national import but in local affairs he maintains an inde- pendent attitude, giving his support to men and measures meeting with the approval of his judgment. Fraternally he is a Knight of Honor, a valued member of the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of
1120
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS
Ameriea, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Fraternal Aid. the Bankers' Life of Des Moines, the Mutual Protective League, the Loyal Order of Moose and Knights and Ladies Security, in each of which he is medical examiner. He is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Royal Neighbors and he and his wife hold membership in the Daughters of Rebekah. In a religious way Dr. and Mrs. Paddock attend and give their support to the First Christian church. of which they are members.
ANDREW S. GREGG, M. D., of Fayetteville, is a native son of the state of Arkansas and is one of the most scholarly representatives of his pro- fession in the southwest. He possesses all the requisite qualities of the suc- cessful physician, for added to his innate talent and acquired ability along the line of one of the most learned professions, he has a genial manner and sunshiny, hopeful nature, which eannot fail to have its effect upon his patients. His courteous sympathy as well as his professional skill has gained him distinctive preeedenee during the thirty years he has spent as a practitioner in Fayetteville.
Dr. Gregg was born in the vicinity of Fayetteville, Washington county, Arkansas, on the 6th of July, 1857, and is a son of Lafayette Gregg, who was a prominent lawyer in Arkansas in the ante-bellum days and who, during the period of reconstruction, was a member of the su- preme court of the state. Judge Gregg was a native son of Lawrence county, Alabama, where his birth oceurred in 1827. When a child he ac- companied his father, Henry Gregg, to Arkansas. The latter was born in 1800 and devoted his entire active business career to agricultural pur- snits. He became the father of four children, Maston, Lafayette, Albert and Mrs. DeLaney Cardwell. Judge Gregg received but limited educa- tional advantages in his youth, but through persistency of purpose and a stalwart determination to acquire a training for the legal profession he plodded on and was eventually admitted to the bar of Arkansas. At the time of the inception of the Civil war he was a strong Union man. He was colonel of the Fourth Arkansas Cavalry and served under General Steele in the Western Department during the war. He was a dashing, gallant soldier, participating in many of the most important confliets marking the progress of that sanguinary struggle. When the war was ended and peace had again been established he became an active politician, taking up the cause of Republicanism. Prior to his appointment as a member of the supreme court of the state he was prosecuting attorney of Washington county and in both offiees his work was characterized by sin- cere devotion to duty and publie-spirited loyalty. He was a good, earnest talker, expressing his thoughts with the utmost fluency and ease, and as a lawyer, was a clear, foreeful and skilled practitioner. He was nominated for governor of Arkansas by the Republicans and made the race to pre- serve party organization and to demonstrate the courage of his eonvie- tions. He married Miss Mary A. Shreve, a daughter of Wilson Shreve. who was a native of Todd county, Kentucky. Judge Gregg died in 1891. and his cherished and devoted wife passed away in 1900. They were the parents of the following children: Dr. Andrew S., the immediate subject of this review; Lafayette W., assistant United States attorney at Fort Smith. Arkansas; Alice, who died as a child; Henry L., who is now in the employ of the Winchester Arms Company at New Haven, Connecticut ; and Ida, who maintains her home at Fayetteville.
Dr. Andrew S. Gregg was educated in the publie schools of Fayette- ville, in which place he also attended the University of Arkansas, there receiving an excellent literary training. His father's farm lay against
1121
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS
the townsite and while ont of school his youthful exercise was given to choring and other labor on the farm. He was graduated in the State University as a member of the class of 1878, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. For a time thereafter he was engaged in teaching school and gradnally he became interested in the medical profession. He accordingly studied under the direction of Dr. Wood for a time and in the fall of 1818 he entered the St. Louis Medical College, in which he was gradnated in 1881, with his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately after his graduation he returned to Fayetteville, where he opened offices and entered upon the active practice of his profession. During the score and a half of years which mark his career in this city he has built up a large and representative practice and gained prestige as one of the most skillful and most learned physicians and surgeons in Washington county. In connection with his life work he is a member of Washington County Medical Society, the Arkansas State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
On the 1st of October, 1885, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Gregg to Miss Nora B. Cardwell, a daughter of James Cardwell, a pioneer settler in this state. Mrs. Gregg was born in Washington county in 1865 and she and the Doctor are the parents of two children, concerning whom the following brief data are here incorporated: Alfred Welch was graduated in the University of Arkansas, in the class of 1910, and he is now inenm- bent of the position of electrical engineer with the Westinghouse Concern at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; and Mildred is a student in the University of Arkansas, being a member of the class of 1912. Mrs. Gregg is a woman of most pleasing personality and is highly esteemed by all who have come within the sphere of her influence.
In his political convictions Dr. Gregg is a staunch advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party and it has ever been his aim to exert his influence in support of all projects advanced for the gen- eral good of the community. He is a member of the time-honored Masonic order and of the Knights of Pythias.
BRUCE HOLCOMB is the present able and popular incumbent of the office of cashier of the First National Bank of Fayetteville, and he was born in this city on the 1st of October, 1873. He is a son of Jo Holcomb, a pioneer of the county of Washington, Arkansas, where he was a merchant in partnership with the late Stephen K. Stone at the time of the inception of the Civil war. Jo Holcomb came west from Indiana in company with his father, Rev. John Holcomb, a Baptist preacher, who located at Spring- dale, Arkansas, where he owned much land and where he figured as a man of prominence and influence. Rev. Holcomb was a farmer in addi- tion to his ministerial duties, and he died at Springdale at an advanced age. He was born and reared in the state of North Carolina.
Jo Holcomb was born in 1825 and he was summoned to the life eter- nal in 1904. His settlement in Washington county dates from 1840, and upon the outbreak of the Civil war he became a defender of the South. He enlisted for service in the Confederate army and was in the quarter- master's department as an agent supplying provisions and ammunition for the use of the army in the field. In politics he was staunehly allied with the cause of the Democratic party, and he was one of the early cir- enit clerks of Washington county. He married Miss Belle Smith, a daughter of James Smith, a pioneer settler in Hempstead county, Arkan- sas. She passed away in 1898, the mother of Cener, who is now the wife of Dr. E. F. Ellis, of Fayetteville; Bruce, the immediate subject of this review: Joe Belle, an instructor in the University of Arkansas; and
1122
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS
George, who is in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company at Oakland, California. Jo Holcomb was twice married, his first wife having been Cener Boone. This union was prolific of but one child, Her- bert, who is now deceased.
About Springdale and in the city of Fayetteville Bruce Holcomb, of this sketch, passed his boyhood and youth. After completing the curricu- lum of the public schools of Fayetteville he was matriculated in the Uni- versity of Arkansas, which excellent institution he continued to attend until his junior year, at which time he turned his attention to business life. When twenty-three years of age he was elected to the office of county clerk, in which capacity he gave most efficient service for two terms of two years each. After retiring from public office he began his banking career as an employe in the old Washington County Bank, which was later merged into the Arkansas National Bank. He was assistant cashier in that institution for a time but left it, in 1904, to aid in the establishment of the First National Bank, of which he was made cashier. The First National Bank of Fayetteville was chartered in the month of August, 1904, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, later increased to one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, and was officered as follows: S. P. Pitman, president ; F. P. Earle, vice-president ; and Bruce Holcomb, cashier. Its official corps is now comprised of Dr. E. F. Ellis, president ; Mr. Holcomb, cashier ; and F. P. Earle, Art Lewis and J. J. Baggett, vice- presidents. The board of directors consists of, in addition to the officers, D. F. McMillan, S. H. Slaughter, W. T. Nesbit, S. F. Downs. The state- ment of the bank issued upon the call of the comptroller, January 7, 1911, showed a surplus of $20,000.00, net profits of $7,589.88, circulation $110,- 000.00, United States bond account $31,500.00, deposits of $513,681.95, and capital stock of $125,000.00. It is one of the best and most reliable monetary institutions in the county and the sterling integrity of its offi- cers constitute one of its best assets.
At Fayetteville, on the 26th of June, 1901, was celebrated the mar- riage of Mr. Holcomb to Miss Mary Lou Crawford, whose death occurred in March, 1909. She is survived by two children, Crawford and Mary. Mrs. Holcomb's parents were William P. and Nancy ( Mitchell) Crawford, of Cane Hill, Arkansas.
Bruce Holcomb is known as the man who conducts the First National Bank. The success of the institution reflects credit upon the manage- ment of its affairs, the details of which have fallen to the cashier. Mr. Holcomb is straightforward and sincere in all his relations in life and he holds a secure vantage ground in the confidence and esteem of the citi- zens of Fayetteville. Politically he is a Democrat but aside from his early incumbency as county clerk he has never sought political preferment of any kind. He is a zealous member of the Presbyterian church but does not affiliate with any fraternal organization.
WILLIAM E. HILL. The present able incumbent of the office of county and probate clerk of Benton county, William E. Hill, was born in Polk county, Missouri, on the 9th of November, 1870. His father was William M. Ilill, who was a son of Dr. John W. Hill, who was a native of Washington county, Tennessee, whence he removed with his family to Polk county, Missouri, about the year 1848. Dr. Hill married Miss Maria Winton, and they became the parents of four children, William M., IIar- vey, who died unmarried, as did also Minerva; and Lou, who became the wife of W. H. Haines, passed away in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1890. Dr. Hill achieved distinctive precedence as a physician and surgeon in Polk county, Missouri, and there he passed the closing years of his life.
1123
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS
William M. Hill continued to reside in Missouri until 1821, when he re- moved with his family to Benton county, Arkansas. He served as a faith- ful and gallant soldier in the Confederate army in the war between the states and he was mustered into service in a Missouri regiment near Stock- ton. After the war he was engaged chiefly in clerical work and prior to his advent in Arkansas he married Miss Harriet E. Bullock, a daughter of Judge Charles P. Bullock, of Pineville, Missouri. The Bullocks were originally from Kentucky, where the family is one of old pioneer stock. Mrs. Hill died in 1877, in Polk county, Missouri, and Mr. Hill passed away at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, in 1900, at the age of sixty-nine years. William and Harriet Hill had four children, concerning whom the follow- ing brief data are here recorded: William E., the immediate subject of this review ; Ida became the wife of R. D. Morrison, of Pea Ridge; Arra Harvey resides in Kansas City, Missouri; and Cora is deceased.
William E. Hill received his preliminary educational training in the public schools of Benton county and he later supplemented this discipline by a course of study in the Pea Ridge Academy. He was but seven years of age at the time of his father's removal from Missouri to Arkansas and he has continued to reside in Benton county during the long intervening years to the present time. That he put his scholastic attainments to good use is evident when it is stated that he followed the pedagogic profession for ten terms in Benton county, doing his last work, in 1900, in Central district, No. 136. On the 1st of January, 1901, he assumed the duties of deputy in the office of county clerk, under his successor, Marion Doug- las. In 1908 he became nominee for the office of county clerk himself, was successful at the polls in the fall elections, served his term of two years, and was elected as his own successor in 1910. In politics Mr. Hill is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor, and he has ever given freely of his aid and influence in support of all worthy projects advanced for the gen- eral welfare of the community. In a fraternal way he is affiliated withi the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Missionary Baptist church, in the various departments of whose work they have been active factors.
On the 20th of August, 1902, Mr. Hill was married to Miss Bernice Ketchem, a daughter of Levi L. Ketchem, who had long been engaged in agricultural pursuits in Boone county, Missouri, where Mrs. Hill was born. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have two children, William Lee, who was born on the 10th of April, 1904, and Earl S., born on the 12th of September, 1906. Mr. and Mrs. Hill are popular and prominent figures in connection with the best social activities of their home city of Bentonville, Arkansas.
MARION DOUGLAS. Representing the native born citizens of Benton county, Marion Douglas is known as a man of sterling qualities and of good business capacities ; and his early education and his habits of thought and observation have tended to provide him with a good fund of general information which has proved valuable to him in his public career. He is now serving his second term as tax collector of Benton county and his eleventh, year in the Court House. A son of the late Thomas H. Douglas, he was born October 31. 1872, near old Springtown, and was there bred and educated.
Thomas H. Douglas, born in middle Tennessee in 1841. lived there for twenty years, when, in 1857, he came to Arkansas to establish a home. The country was then in a political turmoil and rumors of war floated through the air. Early in 1861 he responded to the call for troops to defend the position of the South, enlisting in a regiment of the Arkansas
1124
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS
Confederates and was connected with the Trans-Mississippi Department un- til after the battle of Wilson Creek. His command was then transferred to the Eastern Department, and as a portion of the troops operating in Mississippi fought in the engagements at Corinth, Inka, Port Gibson and others of historie mention. Taking part in all of these battles he continued with his regiment until the close of the war, being neither captured nor wounded. One of his brothers. Captain Marion Douglas. however, lost his life at the battle of Port Gibson.
The dove of peace again hovering over a reunited country, Thomas II. Douglas located near old Springtown and was there engaged in agri- cultural pursuits until his death in February. 1908. He was interested in public affairs, and was a stanch supporter of the principles of the Demo- cratic party, although he had no desire for public office. He married, near old Springtown, Sarah E. Morrison, who was born in Benton county, Ar- kansas, where her father was a pioneer settler in 1840. She is now living near Springtown and has five children living. as follows: J. Milton, of Benton county ; Ellen, wife of N. H. Mitchell, of Gentry, Arkansas ; Mor- rison, residing near his birthplace; Marshall, of Bentonville, a member of the Benton County Hardware Company, and buyer for the firm; and Marion, the third child in succession of birth, the special subject of this sketch.
A boy of scholarly tastes and ambitions, Marion Donglas acquired a sufficient education in the schools of Springtown and vicinity to enable him to adopt a professional career, and he abandoned the farm, as it were, and became a school teacher. After a time, yielding to a preference for po- litical and public service, Mr. Douglas accepted a deputyship under the county clerk, Harry Hust, and served in that position four years. Suc- ceeding then to the office of clerk, he served as such from 1904 until 1908, when he became a candidate for the position of tax collector of Benton county, winning the nomination against an old soldier, and was elected to the office. At the expiration of his term, in 1910, Mr. Douglas was re- elected, and is serving with characteristic ability and faithfulness in this responsible position. True to the faith in which he was reared, he repre- sents Democracy in his political affiliations, and the tenure of his office holdings bears evidence of the value of his service.
On November 30, 1902, in Benton county, Arkansas, Mr. Douglas was united in marriage with Mrs. Emily (Cooper) Pace. She was born in Washington county, Arkansas, in 1878, a daughter of Emily F. Cooper, who migrated from Tennessee to that locality. She married for her first husband Arlan Pace, and by him had one child, Cecil Pace. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas four children have been born, namely: Fred, Hal, Marion Doke and Dan Morrison. Prominent in the Masonic fraterni- ty, Mr. Douglas is a member of Bentonville Lodge, A. F. & A. M. ; of Ben- tonville Chapter. R. A. M .; of Bethany Commandery. No. 16, K. T .; of Al Amin Temple, Ancient Arabie Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member and past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and has represented both of these orders in the Grand Lodge.
THOMAS M. WYATT, D. D. S., has been a resident of Bentonville for the past twenty-one years, and during this period he has gained distinctive precedence as a loyal and publie-spirited citizen and one who has con- tributed in generous measure to every worthy project advanced for the general welfare of the community. He is the oldest dentist in the state of Arkansas who holds membership in the state association of dentists, and can safely be declared to be the last of his era to give way to the pressure of years and leave the field to the generation of the present day.
1125
HISTORY OF ARKANSAS
Dr. Wyatt was born in Stuart county, Tennessee, on the 9th of Janu- ary, 1839, and he was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and early familiarized himself with the log-cabin school and other primitive conditions of the country youth of ante-bellum days. His father, John C. Wyatt, was born in North Carolina and his parents were from Spartans- burg district, South Carolina. They were planters and some of the name owned slaves and were numbered among the aristocracy of the South. Wil- liam Wyatt was the grandfather of Dr. Thomas M. and he was a soldier of the Revolution. His remote American ancestor was an Englishman who came to Spartansburg district, South Carolina, and reared a family of seven sons, whose representatives have scattered across the continent and constitute the forefathers of the present-day generation of the Wyatts in the United States. John C. Wyatt married, in Tennessee, Miss Frances Yar- brough, who died in July, 1839, with Dr. Wyatt as her only child. For his second wife Mr. Wyatt wedded Delia Stagner, and they reared a family in Stuart county.
Dr. Wyatt had scarcely more than begun the serious affairs of life when the war between the states broke ont. He immediately enlisted at Camp Quarles, near Clarksville, Tennessee, in 1861, joining Company F. Fourteenth Infantry, under Colonel Forbes, General Anderson's brigade. The regiment was ordered to Virginia. where it became a part of General Jackson's command, and its first battle was fought in the Shenandoah Valley. In December, 1862, he was paroled on account of illness and was confined in a hospital for a time. Thereafter he was placed on detached duty as wardmaster in hospitals at different points for a time. When able he re-entered the army, joining the Second Tennessee Cavalry, and he saw much varied and exciting service from then until the close of the war. His regiment was at Knoxville during the siege, and subsequently at that place he was captured by the enemy and after being held in duress for three weeks he was taken aboard a train for Chattanooga, bound for Camp Chase, Ohio. En route, he planned to escape from the heavily guarded stoek ear, in which thirty-nine soldiers were confined, a single comrade, Mr. Fambrough, being in the secret of his intent. In the darkness of a black night both leaped from the moving train and landed upon a fill, scareely seratehed but followed by oaths and bullets from the gnards on duty. They crossed Sand Mountain and reported at Gadsden, Alabama. procured transportation to Rome, Georgia, and then joined their command in Virginia. At Bristol. Tennessee, Dr. Wyatt was again taken prisoner, and he made his escape near Barboursville, Kentucky, and three days later he was retaken by the Federal Home Guard and taken to Williamsburg. Whitley county, Tennessee. There he actually "lied out" of their clutches, a practice regarded as a long suit for captured soldiers. He again crossed Sand Mountain to Gadsden and was sent to Blue Mountain, Selma, Mont- gomery, and then on to Virginia to his command. When the war ended Dr. Wyatt was with the army at Wytheville, Virginia, where his company disbanded and he was mustered out at Charleston, West Virginia.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.