USA > Arkansas > Historical review of Arkansas : its commerce, industry and modern affairs > Part 49
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Andrew I. Roland is bound to Arkansas by the primary tie of birth within her borders. It was on a farm in Grant county that his eyes first opened to the light of day, and the date of his nativity was Feb- rnary 7. 1871. As the measure of greatness in a man or woman is largely determined by the intellectual streams and the moral tides flow- ing down the ancestral hills and emntving into the human sonl it cannot he other than profitable to glanee, briefly though it may be, at the line-
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age of the subject. His parents were Thomas W. and Louisa (Ken- nedy ) Roland, the father a native of Tennessee and the mother of Arkansas. The former was a farmer and shoemaker by occupation. Locality is a great moulder of opinion, and Thomas Roland was con- vinced honestly and sincerely that secession was wrong. Nevertheless when the long lowering Civil war cloud broke in all its fury and sub- merged the country in desolation he, like many other men holding like opinion, offered his aid to the Confederacy. He was seriously wounded in the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, on Saline river. After the war he re- turned to Sandy Springs, now Leola. The death of this good man occurred in 1877 and was due to the effects of his wound, from which he had never entirely recovered.
Andrew I. Roland was the fourth in a family of six children, the other members of the family being James W., John W., George T., Martha J. and Mary A. Only six years of age at the time of his father's death, he remained upon the farm in Grant county with his mother and brothers and sisters. There are many who will account him fortunate in having in his youth the wholesome, free experiences of the country boy. It is needless to say that by actual doing he gained much of the training of the incipient agriculturist. His mother died in 1885, and the little household was broken up. Financial resources were doubtless low, and as there is no arguing with necessity young Andrew, although only fourteen years of age, set forth, like the pro- verbial hero of romance, to seck his fortunes. He remained in Grant county, working for his board and clothes for two years, but by 1888 he was greatly advanced in prosperity, since he received his clothes and six dollars per month. In August, 1888, good fortune came to him in the shape of an invitation to make his home with Colonel E. H. Vance. Jr., who was residing at Malvern, and so his connection with Grant county was severed. While living with Colonel Vance he found time in addition to the duties with which he was intrusted to attend the pub- lie schools, and he thus acquired an ordinary education. His ability was recognized by his patron, and he eventually had an opportunity to study law under Colonel Vance, and his attack on Blackstone was so effectual that he was admitted to the bar in 1896. He met with the usual experiences of young lawyers, no matter what their calibre, but in due time built up a fine clientele in Malvern. He was not long in manifesting his readiness in debate, his mastery of every subject he handled and the unfailing courtesy and goodwill with which he treated friend and foe alike-one of the surest signatures of a nature born to high destinies.
In the matter of politics Judge Roland early subscribed to the articles of its faith, poring over the pages of its history and finding in- spiration in its high traditions. In 1904 he was elected county judge of Hot Spring county and served three terms by successive elections. He was elected strictly on his merits by Democrats as well as Republicans. as the county is overwhelmingly Democratic. In this office he has shown inflexible integrity and personal independence, joined with per- sonal purity and dignity of character. It is his distinction to have been licensed to practice in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas and in the Circuit and Supreme Courts of the state. In 1910 received one of the highest compliments in the gift of his party by his nomination for governor of Arkansas. In spite of the Democratic nature of the state, had national conditions not exerted too strong an adverse influence it is not unlikely that Judge Roland would have had an opportunity to show his skill in guiding
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the ship of state. His politieal star is still in the ascendent, however, and it is likely that his history has only begun to be written.
Judge Roland laid the foundation of a happy life companionship by his marriage on the 11th day of May, 1898, his chosen lady being Miss Harriet E. Turner, daughter of Merton E. and Catherine A. ( Emerett ) Turner. Mrs. Roland was born near Jacksonville, Illinois, but was reared in Hot Spring county, Arkansas, and it was at Malvern that their marriage was celebrated. They have three sons-Isaac Hous- ton, Thomas W. Roland, named for his soldier grandfather, and Robert Douglas.
Judge Roland is useful and prominent in many walks of life. He is secretary of the board of stewards of the Malvern Methodist Episeo- pal chnreh, Sonth, and he was chairman of the building committee which built the new church edifice for this congregation. This, completed in 1910, is one of the costliest and handsomest churches in Arkansas. He stands high in Masonic eouneils, being a royal areh Mason and past high priest of the local chapter in Malvern.
JOHN CALVIN ROSS. Hon. John Calvin Ross is one of the most conspicuous figures in the history of jurisprudence in Hot Spring county, Arkansas, having gained distinctive preferment at the bar of this section of the state. Although he has not been identified with the legal profession for more than six years, his rise to distinction as a versatile trial lawyer and well fortified counselor has been almost meteorie, for his equipments for the law were of an unnsnally stable quality. Nature has endowed him with a remarkably strong mentality. and with the passage of years he has developed that persistent energy and elose application without which there is no success. His ad- vaneement has been continuous and commendable, and to-day he is recognized as one of the leaders of his chosen profession in his home county.
A native of Hot Spring county, Arkansas, John Calvin Ross was born on the 5th of September, 1865, and he is a son of R. E. and Eliza- beth ( Thompson) Ross, both of whom were summoned to the life eternal in this county, the former in 1881 and the latter in 1899. The father was born in Alabama, where was solemnized his marriage to Miss Eliza- heth Thompson, and he emigrated to Hot Spring county, Arkansas, about the year 1851. At the time of the inception of the Civil war Mr. R. E. Ross was an ardent sympathizer with the canse of the seceding states, and he manifested his intrinsie loyalty to the country of his forefathers by enlisting as a soldier in the Confederate army. He served with all of gallantry and faithfulness until the elose of the war, participating in many of the important confliets marking the progress of that sanguinary struggle, the same including the battles of Prairie Grove, Helena and others. Much of his military service was under General Hawthorne, in the Trans-Mississippi department. After the close of the war he returned to his old home in Saline township, about ten miles distant from Malvern, and there he continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits until his demise, which ocenrred in 1881, as previ- ously noted. Mr. and Mrs. Ross were the parents of ten children, and of the mimber three are living in 1911.
John Calvin Ross was reared to the vigorous discipline of the home farm, in the work and management of which he early began to con- tribute his share. ITis preliminary educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the public schools of Hot Spring county, and subsequently he was enrolled as a student in the University
62pr. О.Б. МСобы
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of Arkansas, which excellent institution he attended for one year. For a number of years he has been a resident of Malvern, the county seat of Hot Spring county, and here he pursued his studies for the legal profession. In 1905 he was admitted to practice at the Arkansas bar, and since that time he has been granted a license to practice before the United States Supreme and Federal Courts. He rapidly built up a large and representative clientage, and he now holds prestige as one of the leading lawyers in this section of the state. In his political adher- ency he is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Democratic party, in the local conneils of which he has long been an active factor. He has been twice elected a member of the state legislature, serving with efficiency in the sessions of 1905 and 1907. During his inenmbency as a member of the lower house of the state legislature he gained dis- tinetion as the author of the two-cent passenger rate for railroads in Arkansas. He introduced the bill providing for this law in the ses- sion of 1905, at which time it was passed unanimously by the lower house, but was defeated in the senate. He introduced and pushed it again in the session of 1907. where it was known as Honse Bill No. 1. At that time he succeeded in getting it passed by both the house and the senate and it became a law. The railroads, however, seenred tem- porary injunctions prohibiting its enforcement, pending decisions of the higher courts, and the matter is still in litigation, in April, 1911.
In 1889 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Ross to Miss Bertha Bah- cock, who was reared and educated in Syracuse, New York, and Mal- vern, and who is a daughter of Anson Babcock, a representative citi- zen of Syracuse, where he was engaged in fruit growing. Mr. and Mrs. Ross have no children.
In a fraternal way Mr. Ross is affiliated with the time-honored Masonic order, and he is also a valued and appreciative member of various legal organizations of representative character. In their re- ligions faith he and his wife are devout members of the Baptist church, in the varions departments of whose work they are most zealous fac- tors. They are very popular in connection with the best social activities of Malvern, where they command the unqualified confidence and esteem of their fellow-citizens.
PHILANDER K. ROOTS. It is most gratifying to the publishers of this history to accord recognition at this point to one who has ever been on the alert to forward all measures and enterprises projected for the general wel- fare of the state of Arkansas. He has with ready recognition of opportunity directed his labors into varions fields, wherein he has achieved marked sue- cess, the major portion of his active business career having been devoted to civil engineering and fully a decade to banking enterprises. Philander K. Roots is a brother of Colonel Logan H. Roots, who was prominent and in- fluential citizen of Little Rock at the time of his demise, which occurred in 1893, and concerning whose history a sketch appears elsewhere in this pub- lication.
Mr. Roots was born in Willington, about twenty miles east of Hart- ford, Connecticut, on the 4th of June, 1838, and is a son of Benajah Guern- sey Roots and Martha Sibley (Holt) Roots. The Roots family traces its ancestry back to stanch English extraction and the original representative of the name in America came to this country in 1634. The paternal great- grandfather of Mr. Roots was a clergyman of the Congregational church and was a graduate of Yale College. His son, grandfather of him whose name initiates this review, was graduated in Dartmouth College and be- came a clergyman in the Baptist church, in which he gained particular
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prominence in the field of home missions. Benajah G. Roots, father of Philander K., was a pioneer settler in the state of Illinois, where he was prominent in educational affairs for a number of years, although he had fitted himself for the profession of civil engineer, to which line of work he had previously devoted considerable time and attention. The father was summoned to the life eternal in 1888 and his cherished and devoted wife passed away in 1864. They were the parents of four children, of whom Philander K. was the second in order of birth.
Philander K. Roots was a mere intant at the time of the family re- moval from Connecticut to Perry county, Illinois, where the father entered a tract of government land in the vicinity of what is now Tamaroa. Mr. Roots received his preliminary educational training in his own home, under the able preceptorship of his father, who was a man of brilliant mental attainments and broad and liberal views. Subsequently he pursued the study of civil engineering at Carrollton College, at Carrollton, Illinois, and still later he took a similar course in the State Normal School at Bloom- ington, Illinois. Before being graduated in the latter institution he was for a time assistant to his father when the latter was division engineer on the Illinois Central Railroad in Illinois, this having been in the early period of that now great system. In the year 1853 he was employed as an engineer to stake out the town of Centralia, Illinois, and thereafter he was associated for a time with the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, with headquarters at Paducah, Kentucky, in the capacity of locating and constructing en- gineer, retaining that position until the inception of the Civil war, at which time he returned to Illinois and became principal of the high school at Duquoin. He continued to be engaged in the pedagogic profession for one year and he then gave evidence of his intrinsic loyalty to the cause of the I'nion by becoming a prominent figure in connection with the engineering corps thereof. He performed distinguished services, particularly under General Thomas, operating between Nashville and Atlanta. Much of his engineering was reconstruction work following the raids of the Confederate Generals Wheeler and Forrest in that section of the South. Immediately after the close of the war he went west, spending considerable time in Nevada and California, being for a time deputy state surveyor in the former state but devoting most of his energy to mining operations.
The year 1869 marks Mr. Roots' advent in Arkansas, location having been made at Devall's Bluff, where for some years he was connected with plantation enterprises, in which he was associated with his brother. Col- onel Logan H. Roots. In the early "?Os he again worked along the line of his chosen vocation, being then locating and constructing engineer for the ('airo & Fulton Railroad, which is now a part of the St. Louis, Iron Moun- tain & Southern Railroad system. Mr. Roots has won fame and fortune as a civil engineer and his name will always rank high as that of one of the successful men of his profession. In 1843 Mr. Roots went to Fort Smith, where for the ensuing seven years he was the managing official of the First National Bank, in which he is still an extensive stockholder. In 1880 he came to Little Rock, where he has since maintained his home in the beau- tiful and spacious residence at 1018 Scott street. He was cashier of the First National Bank at Little Rock for a period of ten years, at the expira- tion of which, in 1890, he retired from active participation in official affairs, having since devoted his time to his individual, financial and property interests, which are of broad scope and importance. He is a man of marked executive ability and although now rather advanced in years he still retains in much of their pristine vigor the splendid mental and physical faculties of his youth.
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Politically Mr. Roots gives his allegiance to the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and while he has never desired public office of any description, he has ever manifested a deep and sincere interest in all matters tending to advance the good of the com- munity. In his religions faith he is a devout communicant of the Protes- tant Episcopal church, in which he has been senior warden for the past forty years and in which he is superintendent of the Sunday-school. In April, 1885, he was instrumental in the organization of the Young Men's Christian Association at Little Rock and in connection with the subsequent advance- ment of that association he has been specially active. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the time-honored Masonie order, in which he has passed through the circle of York Rite Masonry complete from entered apprentice to Knight Templar. He has also completed the circle of the Scottish Rite branch, having attained to the thirty-second degree. God-fearing, law- abiding, progressive, Mr. Roots' life is as truly that of a Christian gentle- man as any man's can well be. Unwaveringly he has done the right as he has interpreted it. Possessed of an inflexible will, he is quietly persistent, always in command of his powers, never showing anger under any circum- stances.
In the city of San Francisco, California, on the 23d of May, 1866, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Roots to Miss Frances Maria Blakeslee. the ceremony having been performed by Bishop Kip. Mrs. Roots was reared and edneated in Duquoin, Illinois, and she was an aunt of the wife of his brother, the late Colonel Logan H. Roots. To this union were born the following children : Bishop Logan H. Roots, of the Episcopal diocese of Hankow, China; Rev. Willard H. Roots, Episcopal missionary in the state of Idaho; Mrs. Mary Emily Hall, of Little Rock; and one who died in infancy. The mother of the above children was summoned to eternal rest on the 21st of Angust, 1906, her memory being deeply revered by all who came within the radius of her gracious personality and gentle influ- ence. Logan H. Roots, bishop of Hankow, China, married Miss Eliza L. McCook, a daughter of the Rev. J. J. MeCook, of Trinity College, Hart- ford, Connecticut. To this union has been born four children-three sons and one daughter-all natives of Hankow, China. Willard Holt Roots. who is an Episcopal minister at Shoshone, Idaho, married Miss Katherine Philp, of Canada, and they have one child, Mary Frances. Both sons, after completing regular college courses, were graduated in the Cambridge, Mas- sachusetts, Theological Seminary. Mary Emily, the only daughter of Mr. Roots, is the wife of Walter G. Hall, and they are the parents of two chil- dren, Graham Roots Hall and Mary Emily. Mrs. Hall has been a faithful and efficient teacher in the Sunday-school of the Episcopal church for many years and she is now president of the Young Women's Christian Association in Little Rock. Mr. Roots, with his daughter, son-in-law and two grand- children, are all living comfortably together in the old home at 1018 Scott street, where is dispensed that gracious and generous hospitality for which Arkansas and the South are so widely renowned.
HON. GEORGE R. HAYNIE. Having systematically applied his abili- ties to his chosen profession, which ever demands as the price of she- cess a generous measure of veritable talent and much intellectual force, Hon. George R. Haynie, of Prescott, has achieved success in his legal rareer and is now one of the leading lawyers of Nevada county and a citizen of prominence and worth.
The Haynie family from which he is descended lived for many years in what is now the southeastern corner of Nevada county, but was then a part of Ouachita county. His grandfather, Wilburn Haynie.
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came from Alabama to Arkansas in the early forties, locating as a pio- neer in the south central part of the state, where Edmond T. Haynie, father of George R., was born and bred. Edmond T. Haynie married Georgia Ann Bass, and both are now living in Gurdon, Clark county, Arkansas.
Born in Nevada county, Arkansas, in 1870, George R. Haynie ob- tained his rudimentary education in the common schools and afterward studied law in the office of Hon. C. C. Hamby. Being admitted to the Arkansas bar in 1896, he began the practice of his profession at Pres- cott, where he has since remained, his success having been assured from the first. He is a lawyer of high standing and of eminent qualifica- tions and is recognized throughout this part of the state as a leading member of his profession.
Taking an active and intelligent interest in local and county af- fairs, Mr. Haynie was elected prosecuting attorney in 1910 for the eighth judicial circuit, which embraces the following counties: Lafay- ette, Miller, Hempstead, Nevada and Clark. Since assuming the duties of his office he has served with credit to himself and to the honor and satisfaction of his constituents. He is a prominent member of the Woodmen of the World and was head counsel for the state of Arkansas from March, 1909, until March, 1911.
Mr. Haynie married, September 12th, 1888, Mary T. Williams, who was born and educated in Nevada county, and to them five children have been born, namely : Mary Winnie, Mrs. Fannie A. Nichols, George Otis, Lawrence Edmond and Bracey. Mr. and Mrs. Haynie are highly esteemed and are prominent in the social life of the city.
MARTIN W. GREESON. Possessing the ability that qualifies man for a leader among men, Martin W. Greeson, of Prescott, Nevada county, has attained high rank as a lawyer, is widely known in financial circles as a banker and capitalist and as a publie-spirited citizen has served his community as mayor and as a member of the city school board.
Mr. Greeson was born at Clinton, Van Buren county, Arkansas, and was there brought up and primarily educated. His father, H. Greeson, a native of Wayne county, Tennessee, was a pioneer of Van Buren county, Arkansas, locating there in 1841. He lived to the venerable age of ninety-one years, passing away in Prescott, Nevada county, in September, 1910. His wife, whose maiden name was Louisa Harrison, still resides in Prescott.
Acquiring his preliminary education at Clinton, Arkansas, Martin W. Greeson entered the law department of Cumberland University, in Lebanon, Tennessee, and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1888. In the summer of that year he established his home in Prescott, Nevada county, and began the practice of his profession. Steadily mounting the ladder of success, he gained a large and highly remunerative practice as a lawyer, accumulating a handsome compe- teney. Of late years Mr. Greeson has discontinued his legal work in order to devote his attention and energies to the management of his private property and his other interests. which are mostly in Prescott and vicinity.
Mr. Greeson is vice-president of the Nevada County Bank, the old- est institution of the kind in the county, and is also interested finan- cially in various other business and industrial enterprises. He has taken an active part in municipal affairs, serving as a member of the Prescott board of education and as mayor of the city. While serving in the latter capacity the city, under the Local Improvement Statute, was
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organized into a district, and the municipal water and light plants, which are owned by the city and are free from debt, were built and paid for. He was also a member of the City Council for many terms and did much towards the inaugurating of beneficial projects. Fraternally Mr. Greeson stands high in Masonic circles, being past grand master of the grand lodge of Arkansas. Religiously he belongs to the Method- ist church.
Mr. Greeson married, at Brookhaven, Mississippi, Miss Carrie Ted- ford, and they have five children, namely : Hartwell, Gladys, Beulah, James Allen and Louise.
JAMES M. DALY, M. D. Arkansas has given her due quota of native sons to the learned professions, and among these is to be given special recognition to Dr. Daly, who has gained prestige and success as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of the state and who is now engaged in the active practice of his profession in the thriving city of Nashville, Howard county.
Dr. Daly was born at Bodeaw, Nevada county, Arkansas, on the 20th of September, 1867. and is a son of Dr. John W. and Maria (Munn ) Daly, the former of whom was born in Missouri and the latter in Mis- sissippi, where the Munn family was early established and became one of much prominence. Dr. John W. Daly gained his academie and pro- fessional education in Missouri, in the western part of which state his father, a native of the fine old city of Dublin, Ireland, settled in an early day. Dr. John W. Daly went forth to do valiant service as a soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, in which he served as surgeon in a Missouri regiment that was a part of the command of the gallant General Price. He came to Arkansas about the time of the close of the war and established his residence in Nevada county, where he con- tinued in the active practice of his profession until 1905, when, vener- ahle in years and spent with the arduous and unselfish labors of many years devoted to the relieving of human suffering, his death occurred in Nashville, Missouri, in 1910. He was one of the pioneer physicians of his section of the state and none had a more secure hold upon popular confidence and affection. His wife died in 1902. Of their nine children all are living except Dr. J. W. Daly, Jr. John W. Daly was a man of most alert mentality, excellent intellectual and professional attain- ments and strong and steadfast character. His political faith was that of the Democratic party and his religious views were indicated by his membership in the Missionary Baptist church.
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