USA > Arkansas > Historical review of Arkansas : its commerce, industry and modern affairs > Part 5
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The Doctor's first employment after the war was as a farm hand to earn money with which to pay his transportation home from the field. Later he chopped wood as a means of securing funds to prepare the way for his entry into the dental profession. He studied in the offices of Dr. R. H. Wilson and Dr. Canine at Louisville, Kentucky, and so rapid was his progress under their able preceptorship that he was able to enter upon the practice of his profession at Waverly, Tennessee, in 1866. He remained there until November, 1869, when he came to Arkansas and located in Russellville. There he practiced for a period of fifteen years, at the ex- piration of which he removed to Dardanelle, remaining there five years,
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and then came to Bentonville, Benton county, where he has since resided. He is therefore a pioneer in the dental profession in the state of Arkansas and he has gained wide renown for his dexterity in his chosen field of en- deavor. In connection with his profession he holds membership in the National Dentists' Association and in the Southern branch of the National Association. He was instrumental in the organization of the Arkansas Dental Association and was a member of a committee chosen by that asso- ciation to appear before the legislature of the state to secure legislation in the interest and for the protection of the dental profession.
In politics Dr. Wyatt is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the prin- ciples and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor, and though he has eschewed politics as a practice he has responded to calls from his townsmen to serve them in capacity of member of the Bentonville Board of Aldermen. In a business way he has contributed to the institu- tion of a canning factory in Bentonville, and in this concern he is giving most efficient service as secretary. In the time-honored Masonic fraternity Dr. Wyatt is affiliated with Bethany Commandery, No. 16, Knights Tem- plars, and with the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council, in the latter two of which he is incumbent of the position of treasurer. Both he and Mrs. Wyatt are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Sonth.
At Dardanelle, Arkansas, on the 5th of April, 1872, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Wyatt to Miss Elizabeth Parker, who was born in Yell county, Arkansas, in 1849. She is a daughter of John C. Parker, who was born and reared in middle Tennessee. John C. Parker was a minister and presiding elder of the western district of Arkansas in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in the ante-bellum days. Rev. Parker subsequently removed to Texas and he was summoned to the life eternal at Waxahachie, that state. He was united in marriage to a Miss Simpson and they hecame the parents of five children, of which number Mrs. Wyatt and her sister, Miss Corrana Parker, alone survive. Dr. and Mrs. Wyatt have no children.
LEONARD R. ELLIS, M. D. Popular verdict is a safe gauge of the ability and worth of an individual citizen, and by this metewand Dr. Ellis is to be consistently proclaimed one of the representative physi- cians and surgeons of the state of Arkansas. He is engaged in the successful practice of his profession in the city of Hot Springs, has been a loyal and influential factor in connection with public affairs, and he has the distinction of being surgeon major of the Arkansas National Guard, in whose affairs he maintained a specially lively in- terest.
Dr. Ellis was born in Tucaloosa county, Alabama, on the 2nd of June, 1874, and is a son of Dr. Evander C. and Mary Lavinia (Taylor) Ellis, both of whom are now deceased. Dr. Evander C. Ellis likewise was a native of the state of Alabama, as was also his wife, and he was a scion of one of the old and honored families of that commonwealth. He was one of the loyal sons of the fair southland who went forth in defense of the cause of the Confederacy in the Civil war, in which he served as a member of the Eleventh Alabama Infantry. He partici- pated in a number of the sanguinary battles marking the progress of the great confliet, and was severely wounded in the second battle of Cold Harbor. He never lost his vital interest in his brave associates in the prolonged polemie struggle between the north and south, as was indi- cated in the later years by his membership in the United Confederate Veterans' Association. He was a man of fine intellectnal and profes- sional powers, having admirably prepared himself for the work of his
PR Elismo,
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chosen voeation, and he continued in the practice of medicine until 1876, when he removed with his family to Arkansas. He first located in Lonoke connty, where he remained until June, 1884, when he estab- lished his home in the city of Hot Springs, where he continued in the successful practice of his profession until the time of his death, which occurred in 1908, his cherished and devoted wife having been summoned to the life eternal in 1902. Four sons and three daughters survive the parents. Other than Dr. Leonard R., of this review, the sons are Dr. Arthur C., who is engaged in the practice of medicine at Hot Springs : Robert W., who is record clerk of chief of police and who resides at Hot Springs, and Ernest C., who is at school. The daughters are Mary L., who resides in Hot Springs; Stella, who is the wife of W. B. Warren, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Blanche, who is the widow of J. J. Henderson, of Paris, Texas. Dr. Evander C. Ellis long held precedence as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of the state and he ever commanded the unqualified esteem of all who knew him. He was an nncompromising Democrat in his political proelivities and both he and his wife held membership in the Baptist church.
Dr. Leonard R. Ellis was an infant at the time of the family re- moval from Alabama to Arkansas, and his rudimentary education was secured in the schools of Lonoke county. He was ten years old at the time of the family removal to the city of Hot Springs and here he was reared to maturity, in the meanwhile duly availing himself of the ad- vantages of the publie schools, including the high school. As a vonth his alert mind and adventurous spirit led him to indulge his fancies for varied experiences, and he traveled about through the southwest and the northwest. finding employment and invigoration as a cowboy in the Panhandle of Texas, as well as in Montana and Mexico. His reminis- cenees concerning this period in his life are most graphic and interest- ing, and through the experience thus gained was aided the development of the sturdy and independent character which denotes the man as he is and which has enabled him to place values on men and affairs. It was but natural that he should be one of those roused to action when the war between the United States and Spain was precipitated, and he enlisted as a member of the First Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, with which he served as hospital steward. The regiment was not called into field service, but was stationed at the reserve camp in Chickamauga, subject to eall. The doctor had been identified with the Arkansas National Guard for some time prior to the war, and he was mastered ont with his regiment, after which he received his honorable discharge, in October, 1898.
The experience which he had gained while serving as military hos- pital steward qniekened in Dr. Ellis a desire to enter the profession which had been so signally honored and dignified by the life and labors of his father, and in preparation for the work of his chosen profession he entered the medical department of Vanderbilt University, at Nash- ville, Tennessee, in which excellent institution he completed the pre- scribed technical course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1899, with which he received his well earned degree of Doetor of Medicine. Soon after his graduation Dr. Ellis assumed the position of surgeon for an extensive mining corporation in the state of Coahuila, Mexico, where he remained for one year, at the expiration of which, in the spring of 1900, he returned to his home in Hot Springs, where he has since continued in active general practice and where his sueeess has been on a parity with his recognized ability. He is known as a specially skilful surgeon, and has performed many fine operations, both
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major and minor. He is a member of the surgical staff of both the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern and the Chicago & Rock Island railroads, is medical examiner for a number of the leading life insurance companies represented in Arkansas, and he is actively identi- fied with the Garland County Medieal Society, the Arkansas State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Ellis has been specially influential and enthusiastic in connec- tion with the Arkansas National Guard, and has aided materially in bringing the state militia up to its present admirable standard, besides which he holds the rank of major and surgeon in the medical depart- ment of the same, as he has been ineumbent of the office of surgeon major since 1907. He has made a special study of modern sanitary science and preventive medieal ageneies, and in this connection he has gained distinctive recognition among the members of his profession in this section of the Union. He is at the present time president of the board of health of Hot Springs, and prior to assuming this office he served four years as eity physician. He is essentially liberal and pro- gressive in his eivie attitude and is a valued member of the city council. in which he represents the First ward. He has been called to other positions of publie trust, and the very nature of the man implies that his work is never perfunetory in any relation he may eonsent to assume. Earnestness and vitality characterize him both intellectually and physi- cally, and his genial personality wins to him warm and inviolable friendships.
He has attained to the chivalric degrees in the time-honored Ma- sonie fraternity, in which he is affiliated with Hot Springs Lodge No. 62. Free and Accepted Masons; Hot Springs Chapter No. 47, Royal Arch Masons, and Hot Springs Commandery No. 5, Knights Templar, all of Ilot Springs, besides which he is identified with the adjunct organization, Sahara Temple, Aneient Arabie Order of the Nobles of the Mystie Shrine, as well as with Hot Springs Lodge Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. In politics he is found aligned as a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies of the Democratie party, and he takes a lively interest in the questions and issues of the hour.
In the city of Great Falls, Montana, on the 15th of June, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Ellis to Miss Edna A. Coburn, who was born and reared in that state and who is a daughter of Robert A. Coburn, one of the best known and most honored pioneers of Montana, where he took up his residence in 1859, at a time when that seetion was on the extreme frontier of civilization. Mr. Coburn is one of the most extensive stock growers of the northwest, and in this connection he is president of the Coburn Cattle Company. Dr. and Mrs. Ellis have a winsome little daughter, Mary Lavinia. Mrs. Coburn is a popular factor in the best social activities of her home eity and is a woman of most engaging personality.
HARVEY LAMAR CROSS is the editor and proprietor of the Bentonville Sun and has resided in Arkansas for nearly a score of years. He has made his influence bear fruit as a citizen of the state and as the editor of a strong daily and weekly paper. For many years he did an admirable work along fraternal lines in the ranks of the Ancient Order of United Work- men as the grand recorder of Arkansas and as editor of the official paper of the order, only resigning these responsibilities when the office of re- corder was ordered removed to Little Rock.
Mr. Cross was born in Caldwell county, near Cameron, Missouri. on the 6th of March, 1852. and he was reared to the invigorating discipline
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of the home farm. He finished his rudimentary education by a course in the Smith Academy of Cameron, in which he graduated as a member of the class of 1870. He familiarized himself with hard work while a youth on the parental homestead and he inherited a sturdy constitution, a rare quality of modern day hustling, and a large capacity for accomplish- ing things. These qualities are of much value to any progressive com- munity and Bentonville has nothing to regret through the accession of Mr. Cross as a citizen. He is a son of William H. Cross and Fannie (Johnston) Cross, both of whom were born near Batavia, Ohio. In 1832 the father removed to Caldwell county, Missouri. IIis ancestors were of Scotch origin and he married into the Johnston family of Irish descent, thus combining the versatility and alertness of the latter nation with the unswerving loyalty to duty and unwavering fidelity of the former nation. The Johnstons were originally from Ohio, whither the founder of the fam- ily in the United States had immigrated from Ireland at an early day. Mr. Cross was engaged in agricultural pursuits during the major portion of his active business career, passing the closing years of his life in Cam- eron, Missouri, where he was summoned to the life eternal in 1895, at a venerable old age. Mrs. Cross survived her honored husband for a number of years and passed away in 1902, at the age of eighty-three years. They were the parents of twelve children, three of whom died in infancy, and concerning the nine the following brief data is here incorporated: Charles W. resides at Melvern, Kansas; David E. was a resident of St. Joseph, Missouri, at the time of his demise; John A. is an attorney at Lathrop, Missouri ; James H. maintains his home at Cameron, Missouri ; Harvey L. is the immediate subject of this review; Fannie became the wife of La- Fayette Mapes and died at her home near Mirabile, Missouri; Mary E. wedded Alonzo Carr and resides at Polo, Missouri; Allie is the wife of Benjamin F. Beckett, of Mirabile, Missouri; and Josie is the wife of R. G. Howard, of Cameron, Missouri.
Harvey L. Cross initiated his independent business career as a teacher in the public schools of Caldwell county, Missouri. In 1870 he engaged in farming in Caldwell county and continued to be identified with that line of enterprise for a period of four years, at the expiration of which time he founded a newspaper at Winston, Missouri. This paper he called the Winston Independent and upon disposing of it, in 1887, he published the Daily and Weekly Sun in Cameron, Missouri. In 1891, four years later, he sold out his interests in Missouri and removed to Bentonville, Arkansas. In this city he founded the Sun, a weekly paper to which he has given some of the best years of his life and which he has made popular as a genuine home paper and as an agency for the moral elevation of the county. In 1893 he began the publication of a fraternal journal, the A. O. U. W. Guide, the official organ of the Ancient Order of United Work- men in Arkansas. He became a valued and appreciative member of this order in 1891, as a charter member of Bentonville Lodge, of which he was master workman for a number of years. He has ever manifested a deep interest in the purposes of the order and was chosen grand recorder of the Grand Lodge of the state in 1896, at a convention held in Shreveport, Louisiana. He continued the popular and efficient incumbent of this posi- tion for a period of fourteen years, retiring only when the office was re- moved to the capital city of the state. His frequent re-elections occurred without opposition, but his work as grand recorder was not the greatest service he accomplished for the order. His ever readiness to respond to invitations to present Workmanship along Upchurch lines and his ability to expound fraternal principles, as exemplified by the practices of the order, render him a popular and valuable member. He was supreme repre- Vol. III-3
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sentative of his state to the Supreme Lodge sessions for ten years at its various national conventions. His lectures have extended to Masonry and to the subject of life insurance in general, and after severing his official connection with the Workman he became state agent of the St. Louis Na- tional Life Insurance Company, being one of the directors of this corpora- tion. He is a man of fine mental caliber and broad human sympathy. He has lived a life of usefulness such as few men know. Unwaveringly he has done the right as he has interpreted it and his contribution to the moral, civic and material development of Benton county have been of the most insistent type.
On the 25th of September, 1870, Mr. Cross was united in marriage to Miss Ellis Ann Rinaman, a daughter of Isiah and Isabelle (Lloyd) Rinaman, the former a native of Coshocton county, Ohio, and the latter of Baltimore, Maryland. To Mr. and Mrs. Rinaman were born the fol- lowing children: Napoleon, Richard, Mary T. and Mrs. Cross. Mr. and Mrs. Cross became the parents of children as follows: Don L., a news- paper man at Springfield, Missouri, married Miss Mary Peel; Zillah Z. is the wife of Frank W. Peel, of Fayetteville; Victor I. is a hardware merchant at Grove, Oklahoma, and he married Susie Bohart. The above children were all born on the same day of the month, the 29th being the lucky birthday of the family. Mr. Cross is a deacon in the Christian church at Bentonville. He is affiliated with the time-honored Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, in each of which he has taken an active part.
WILLIAM A. DICKSON. A talented and accomplished member of the Benton county bar, William A. Dickson, junior member of the firm of Rice & Dickson, is prosperously engaged in the practice of law at Benton- ville, where he is attorney for various financial organizations and has charge of many cases in the chancery courts. A son of the late Joseph S. Dickson, he was born in Benton county, Arkansas, on a farm adjoining Bentonville, March 31, 1870. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Dickson, came from Bedford county, Tennessee, to Benton county, Arkansas, in 1832, and was here engaged in tilling the soil until his death, in 1845, at the age of forty-five years. His children were as follows: Robert, who died while in the Confederate service; John E., who died, in 1906, in Ben- tonville, leaving a family ; Joseph S .; E. H., of Bentonville; William G., who was killed while serving in the Confederate army; Mrs. Maxwell, who died in early womanhood ; and Mrs. Nancy I. Harston, of Bentonville.
Born in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1839, Joseph S. Dickson was reared in pioneer days, with but little opportunity for gaining an education. From his boyhood days he was familiar with agricultural labors, becoming a farmer from choice. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company F, Thirty-fourth Arkansas Infantry, and served under Colonel Brooks in the Trans-Mississippi Department until surrendering with his command at Fort Smith, Arkansas. He afterwards continued his operations as a tiller of the soil until his death, December 20, 1909. Although not an active politician he was a strong supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, never hesitating to express his convictions, and took an intelligent interest in local affairs. He was a man of deep religions sentiment and practice, and a worthy member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. He married Sarah C. Pickens, a daughter of William Pickens, who settled in Benton county, Arkansas, in 1854, coming here from Bedford county, Tennessee. She passed to the life beyond in 1884, leaving four children, namely: William A., the subject of this brief review ; Charles, of Benton-
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ville ; Mrs. L. O. Greene, of Pea Ridge, Arkansas; and Alva E. Dickson, who died in 1905.
Obtaining his rudimentary education in the public schools of Benton- ville, William A. Dickson subsequently entered the law department of the Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tennessee, and was there graduated in June, 1892. During the same year he was admitted to the Benton county bar before Judge E. S. McDaniel, passing his examinations with a good record for ability and knowledge. Immediately opening an office in Bentonville, he lias remained here since, and as a member of the legal firm of Rice & Dickson has built up an extensive and lucrative practice. Soon after his establishment as a lawyer, Mr. Dickson was appointed deputy prosecutor under Judge Tillman, now president of the University of Arkansas, at Fayetteville, and served two years in that capacity. In addition to his regular practice he is now attorney for the Benton County National Bank, the Farmers' State Bank of Rogers, and the Bank of Centerton.
Mr. Dickson married, June 11, 1902, in Benton county, Irene Gibson, a daughter of Robert Gibson, a well known merchant of Siloam Springs. Mr. Gibson married Lyda Johnson, and they became the parents of three children, Mrs. Dickson, Mrs. Price McArthur and Lydia Gibson. Mr. and Mrs. Dickson have one child, Price A. Dickson, born May 12, 1903.
Having never swerved from the political faith of his ancestors, Mr. Dickson is a straightforward Democrat, and gives freely of his service and influence to his party and its candidates in campaign times. He is a member and past master of Bentonville Lodge, No. 56, A. F. & A. M., which he has represented in Grand Lodge ; and a member of Bethany Con- mandery, K. T. He is likewise a member of Bentonville Lodge, No. 31, K. of P., and has served as a delegate to the Grand Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. Professionally Mr. Dickson is a member and secretary of the Benton County Bar Association, and religiously he is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, of which he is deacon.
HON. FLEMING F. FREEMAN. Standing prominent among the wide- awake, brainy business men of Benton county is Hon. Fleming F. Free- man, of Rogers, who represented the Thirty-fourth senatorial district of Arkansas during the years of 1909 and 1910 in the State Legislature, and is influential in advancing the commercial affairs of his state. He has resided within the limits of Arkansas since a youth of fifteen summers, and what he is and what he has- accomplished as a citizen reflect credit upon his early training and upon the personal attributes of his manhood. A son of Captain F. F. Freeman, he was born July 1, 1868, in Tupelo, Lee county, Mississippi, of honored Southern ancestry. Ilis forebears on both sides of the house were pioneers of old Virginia, among them being the Fontaines, prominent French Huguenot settlers of the Old Dominion state; the Ayletts; the Lees; and the Croswells; this unmixed Virginia stock fur- nishes the strain of distinguished blood flowing through Senator Free- man's veins and urging him upward toward a high standard of attain- ments.
Captain F. F. Freeman was born and bred in Mobile, Alabama. Turn- ing his attention to the study of law when young, he was admitted to the bar and was for many years engaged in the practice of his profession in Mississippi, his death occurring in that state, at Holly Springs. Possessing the mental caliber that enabled him to participate effectively in public affairs, the reconstruction period following the Civil war gave him ample opportunity to apply his remedy for the reformation of political condi-
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tions and the elimination of "carpet-bag" rule in his state. Ile married, in Mississippi, Pattie A. Croswell, a daughter of R. H. and Martha S. (Aylett) Croswell, and to them four children were born, namely: Mrs. S. W. Johnson, of Brownwood, Texas, with whom her widowed mother re- sides ; Fleming F., the special subject of this brief personal record; Mrs. J. M. Ganaway, whose husband is city clerk of MeAlester, Oklahoma; and Mrs. Laura Klyce, of Los Angeles, California.
As regards his early training Senator Freeman was especially fortunate in his home environments, having been brought up in a household where intellectual attainments reigned. His mother, a cultured and accomplished woman, was a strong factor in directing his education. Until thirteen years of age he attended the distriet schools regularly, after which he as- sumed the rsponsibility for his future career. Coming to Arkansas in 1883, he was for several years a elerk in a Pine Bluff store, subsequently becoming himself actively identified with the commercial interests of that place. Going from there to Fort Smith, Mr. Freeman organized the Fort Smith Wholesale Grocery Company, which he eondueted successfully for five years. Selling out, he transferred his investments to Rogers, his pres- cnt home. Here he purchased a small lime industry, enlarged the output of the factory, and, with characteristie foresight and enterprise, has since extended its trade and developed a finely paying business, which is sure to be one of the permanent enterprises of this part of Benton county, as lime- stone abounds here in plenty and purity.
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