USA > Arkansas > Historical review of Arkansas : its commerce, industry and modern affairs > Part 6
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Becoming a permanent resident of Rogers, Mr. Freeman instinctively beeame interested in its material development and improvement. He agi- tated the building of a sewer system, and was appointed one of the com- missioners to oversee its installation. He advocated the building of cement walks, and through his influence a sentiment was created that resulted in Rogers being the best equipped of any small town in the state as regards sidewalks. He is now advocating the subject of street paving, and with it the movement to build permanent public highways aeross the country in order to bring Benton county well up with the procession in the matter of modern conveniences and necessities.
In polities a steadfast Democrat, Senator Freeman's interest in publie affairs has ever been a lively one, with no thought of public office for his personal advantage. When offered. by Governor Donaghy, the appoint- ment of senator to fill an unexpired term, he aceepted it and gave to the state the best service of which he was capable. In 1909 he was cleeted to succeed himself in the Senate, but in 1910 was not a candidate for the office. While in the Senate Mr. Freeman was a member of the committee on Railroads, Appropriations, Publie Printing, Federal Relations and Pub- lic Health. His active interest in legislation extended to the completing of the state capitol building : the establishment of the four agricultural colleges of the state ; and in a law establishing the State Tax Commission. having for its objeet the reformation of the revenue system of the state. Loeally Mr. Freeman is an active member of the Rogers Commercial Club. which he served as president two years.
Mr. Freeman married, in Mexico, Missouri. April 12, 1898, Irene Felker, a daughter of Colonel W. R. Felker, of Rogers. Mrs. Freeman is a woman of refinement and eulture, her education having been chiefly oh- tained at Stevens College, in Columbia, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Freeman are the parents of three children, namely: Willyda, Freeman F .. Jr., and Kate. Fraternally Mr. Freeman is a member of the Knights of Pythias. of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the Woodmen of the World, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
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MORGAN McMICHAEL. A young man of exceptional business ability, well equipped mentally to meet every emergency, with an industry and enterprise that give full scope to his natural talents and an integrity of character that invariably inspires confidence in his associates, Morgan Mc- Michael, manager of the Rogers branch of the Benton County Hardware Company, has won for himself an honored position in the business world. When, in 1908, by the purchase of the hardware stock of the Walkers, the company entered Rogers as a business center, Mr. McMichael was selected to become the head of the new enterprise, which is the only one of the firm's trio of stores in Benton county to engage in both the wholesale and retail trade.
During his residence of ten years in Arkansas, Mr. MeMichael has become thoroughly imbued with the new spirit permeating the vitals of business in his adopted state. Entering the service of his employers in an humble capacity in 1001, he was connected with the Bentonville house until his promotion to his present responsible position with the Rogers house. From boyhood he had grown up under the influence of some of the leading spirits of the new company, and they knew him and had per- fect faith in his capabilities. Their business success depending upon the employment of carnest and purposeful men. they added him to the force because he filled the requirements.
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A son of John M. MeMichael, he was born at Buena Vista, Colorado, November 1, 1884, but spent a large part of his early life in Missouri. Born in Xenia, Ohio, in 1842, John M. McMichael received liberal edu- cational advantages for his times, and as a young man entered the jour- nalistic field. He spent a few years in Colorado, being there connected with an entirely different enterprise. Not content, however, with the financial returns, he went back to his native state, where he was subse- quently associated with various newspapers. He founded the Plattsburg Lerer, and for a long time was on the staff of the Saint Joseph Daily News. Subsequently returning to Plattsburg, Missouri, he established the Platts- burg Leader, which he built up to be ene of the influential journals of his locality. A man of intense feeling and vigorous expression, he became a prominent member of the Democratic party, and at one time made an un- successful effort for the congressional seat of Hon. A. M. Dockery. His county, however, sent him to the Missouri Legislature, and there he mingled with the men that conceive and accomplish legislation for a common- wealth. He continued in active business until his death, in 1904. He mar- ried Julia Lincoln, a daughter of Julia Ann Gateward Lincoln, of Liberty, Missouri, and of their union six children were born, of whom two survive, namely : Morgan, with whom his widowed mother resides ; and Julia, also of Rogers, Arkansas.
Acquiring his early education in Plattsburg, Missouri, Morgan Mc- Michael attended the public schools and the Plattsburg College, his natural preference leading him into the fields of merchandise.
Mr. MeMichael is ummarried. Without political ambitions he is con- tent to enjoy the esteem of a wide circle of acquaintances and of his asso- ciates in the commercial world. He is a member of the Christian church, and liberal in his benefactions, nothing escaping his generous hand, which has for its object the exploiting of Arkansas, her institutions and her people.
ANDREW JACKSON RUSSELL. For many years closely identified with the advancement of the agricultural prosperity of Benton county, Andrew J. Russell has more recently been associated with public affairs, at the present time being sheriff of the county. As may be seen from the official
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position which he holds, Mr. Russell is held by his fellow-citizens as an able and valued worker in their interests, while his fidelity to his duties and his integrity and good sense have won for him the respect and esteem of the community. He was born May 14, 1860, in Bentonville, a son of James B. Russell. His grandfather, Samuel Russell, migrated from Ten- nessee, his native state, to Missouri, locating in Benton county, where he continued a resident the remainder of his years.
James B. Russell was brought up on a farm in Missouri, and as a young man chose farming as the better means for gaining a livelihood. Coming to Arkansas in 1859, he settled on a farm seventeen miles west of Bentonville, and was there employed in cultivating the soil until his death, in 1874, when but fifty years of age. He married, in Missouri, Polly J. Horton, who was born in Alabama, but was reared and educated in Mis- souri, where her parents located when she was a child. She passed away in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1910, aged seventy-nine years. She bore her husband six children, as follows: Andrew Jackson, the special subject of this short personal notice; Josephine, deceased, was the wife of George H. Austin, of Benton county ; William, of Hydro, Oklahoma; Mary, wife of W. L. Jeffries, of California ; Elisha, living in New Mexico; and Elizabeth, wife of J. P. Kirk, of New Mexico.
Gleaning his early education in the district schools, Andrew .J. Rus- sell selected farming as his life occupation, being governed in his choice his early training and environments. He is proprietor of a well-kept farm near Bentonville, and was there engaged in cultivating and improv- ing his land until 1905. when he was appointed, by Sheriff Pickens, deputy sheriff. He succeeded himself in the same position under Sheriff Hick- man, and in November. 1908, was elected sheriff of Benton county. Ren- dering exceptionally fine service in this responsible position, Mr. Russell was re-elected to the office of sheriff in November, 1910, a record showing his popularity as a man and a citizen. Politically he is a stanch adherent of the Democratie party.
Mr. Russell married. in Benton county. Arkansas, in August, 1885. Margaret M. Brooks, a daughter of Isham Brooks, who came from Georgia to Arkansas. Fourteen children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Russell, namely: James W., married and engaged in farming near Ben- tonville; Samuel, married Nora Henedge, of Allen county, Kansas, and lives on a farm in Benton county; Mollie: Grover C., living in Benton county ; Stella ; Elbert and Everett, twins: Perry: Bessie; Vina; Andrew Jackson, Jr .; Nora ; Bessie and Buelah. Mr. Russell is not affiliated with any organization excepting the Baptist church, of which he is a member.
CHARLES F. RENNER. Prominently identified with the business ae- tivities of Washington county as one of the leading insurance men of Springdale, Charles F. Renner is widely known as a man of ability and worth, and is held in high regard by his fellow citizens. A son of the late R. E. Renner, he was born in Cocke county, Tennessee. December 2, 1810. Ilis grandfather, William Renner, was born in Greene county, Tennessee. where his parents located on leaving their native state, which was either Maryland or Pennsylvania. He was of German descent, and like his an- cestors acquired his living as a tiller of the soil, being also for awhile en- gaged in milling pursuits. He married, and reared the following named children : Reuben E., the father of Charles F .: Frank, of Coweta, Okla- homa; Mrs. Nellie Niece and Mrs. Isaac Stewart, of Cocke county. Ten- nessee : Laura, of Springdale, Arkansas; Mrs. V. Dryman, of Cocke county ; and Mrs. Susan Parrott, of Springdale, Arkansas.
Born in Cocke county, Tennessee, in 1845, Reuben E. Renner was a
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young man of patriotic impulse and enthusiasm, and ere he had reached his majority had served four years as a soldier, wearing the uniform of blue. At the very beginning of the Civil war he enlisted in the Eighth Tennessee Infantry, and under the command of General Sherman took an active part in the one hundred days of strenuous service from Chickamauga to the cap- ture of Atlanta, meeting the enemy in hotly contested fights nearly every day. After the fall of Atlanta, he went North with General Schofield's army and assisted in annihilating General Hood and his forces on the bat- tlefields of Franklin and Nashville. Passing through the ordeal of war without bodily injury save such as the "wear and tear" of hard work and exposure would necessarily entail, he was mustered out at Wilmington, North Carolina, at the end of the conflict. He began life for himself as a tiller of the soil, but subsequently established himself in business at Spring- dale, Arkansas, where his death occurred in April, 1907. He was active in local affairs, and for ten years or more was well known as proprietor of the "Arcade Hotel," the traveling men's home in this city. An ardent Repub- lican in politics, he was made his party's candidate for sheriff while he was yet a resident of Tennessee, and by election and re-election served as sheriff of Cocke county for several years. Coming with his family to Springdale, Arkansas, in 1886, he continued his activity in the political arena, and served in every capacity as a delegate to party conventions, his advice and practical aid adding much to the success of the organization in Washington county.
While a resident of Cocke county, Tennessee, Reuben E. Renner mar- ried Josephine Young, a daughter of Joseph Young. She survives her hus- band and still resides in Springdale. The children born of their union are as follows: Mrs. Ellen Phenice, of Leavenworth county, Kansas; Charles F., of this review ; Retta E., wife of Dr. Dodson, president of the First National Bank of Springdale; Kate, wife of Henry Patterson, of Spring- field, Missouri; Sallie, who married Dr. Kellogg, of Springdale, passed to the higher life in 1910; and Mack C., proprietor of the Arcade Hotel, in Springdale, Arkansas.
Obtaining his elementary education in the public schools of Cocke county, Tennessee, Charles F. Renner afterward continued his studies for a few months in Leavenworth county, Kansas, where the family lived for a short time, and after coming to Washington county, Arkansas, was gradu- ated from the Springdale High School. Entering then the office of the "Springdale News," he worked his way upward from the compositor's room, mastering the printer's trade, taking, is it might be termed, a post-graduate course of learning. Leaving the "News," he was for ten years engaged in the real estate business in Springdale, being quite successful in that line of endeavor. In 1902 he embarked in the insurance business, and although the field was already seemingly well occupied, Mr. Renner has succeeded in mak- ing his firm one of the strongest and most popular of any of the kind in this section of the county. The popularity of a firm engaged in the insurance business is gauged largely by the list of the leading companies whose policies it writes, and when we say that his list includes such prominent companies as the Aetna, Hartford, the Fidelity, Phoenix, the Insurance Company of North America, the Home, the London, the Liverpool and Globe, the New York Underwriters, and the Fire Association, the strength and general pop- ularity is confirmed.
In the upbuilding and material growth of the city in which he resides. Mr. Renner has taken an active part. In company with Dr. Dodson, he erected the fine structure in which the Springdale postoffice is housed, and, alone, he has improved considerable property in the residential district. He is a steadfast Republican in politics, has been an active participant in local
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affairs, serving as a candidate on the Republican ticket for county offices. and in other ways helping to lead a "forlorn hope" through the Democratic highways of Arkansas. Fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias, and relig- iously he and his family are members of the Christian church.
Mr. Renner married, in Springdale, October 30. 1898, Cessna V., daughter of Stephen Claypool, who came to Arkansas from Kentucky, where the birth of Mrs. Renner occurred in May, 1876. Two children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Renner, namely: Maurice and Welton.
WILLIAM H. DUNN is the man who first extends a welcoming hand to the majority of the new comers to Dewitt. As proprietor of the Commercial Hotel he touches in a particularly pleasant fashion the many-sided life of the community and plays his role of "Mine Host" in a satisfactory manner to everybody coneerned. He is a native of the Blue Grass state, his nativity having oceurred in Bowling Green on the 21st day of January, 1849. He was indebted to the public sehools for his early edneational advantages and supplemented this mental discipline with a course in Ceeilian College of Elizabethtown. Kentneky.
The oeeupation of Mr. Dunn while living in Kentucky was that of a dealer in live stock. He became eonvineed of the possibilities pre- sented by this section of Arkansas and in January severed old associa- tions and eame on, loeating in Dewitt. Until 1904 he continued in the line of business to which he had devoted his energies in his former place of residenee, but in that year he made a radical change by purehasing the Parker House, the leading hotel in Dewitt. Hle changed its name to the Commercial Hotel and has since remodeled and refurnished it throughout and it is conducted on the most modern and up-to-date prin- ciples, its reputation among those seeking hospitality being wide and favorable.
The Commercial Hotel has been in existenee about thirty years, and its name at the time of its opening was the "Orto." In 1896 it was de- stroyed by fire, but was subsequently rebuilt. It is now enjoying its best days, under Mr. Dunn's management being liberally patronized and accredited the best in the county.
On the Ist day of September, 1889, Mr. Dunn laid the foundation of a happy life companionship by marriage, his chosen lady being Miss Louisa J. Boyle, of Dewitt. She is a daughter of James T. and Mary (Gateley ) Boyle. They have had four children, three sons and a daugh- ter, but all are deceased. In the kindness of their hearts they have adopted three children and afforded them with a good home and exeel- lent advantages. Their names are Luke Reed. Mand Hatfield and Theo- dore Miller. The names of the deceased children are, James Speneer, Louis Erastus, William Jesse and Edith Irene.
The parents of Mr. Dunn were Spencer and Mary ( Wooten ) Dunn. natives of Virginia.
JOHN SIMON MCLEOD. The part that heredity and environment play in determining a man's earthly career are as nothing compared with the influenee that he can himself exert if he stands ready to open the door at opportunity's knock. Alert and enterprising. John S. MeLeod, of Rogers, has evidently made good use of native talents and good old Scotch endow- ments of industry, thrift and sound sense, and is now carrying on a success- ful business as a general insurance agent, and is actively identified with many of the more prominent enterprises of this part of Benton county. . 1 son of John A. MeLeod, he was born April 25, 1822. in Benton county. Arkansas, his birthplace having been about six miles southwest of Rogers.
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Murdock McLeod, the grandfather of John Simon, was born of pure Scotch ancestry, his birth occurring November 10, 1802, near Raleigh, North Carolina. Migrating in early life to Arkansas, he located in Lawrence county, where he was successfully engaged in mixed husbandry until his death, in 1862. He married a bonny Scotch lassie, who was born December 18, 1811, and died, in Lawrence county, Arkansas, December 20, 1888. She reared a number of children, of whom the following named grew to years of maturity, married and reared families: James, of Lawrence county, Arkansas ; John A. ; Simon and William, of Lawrence county ; Alexander. who spent his entire life in Lawrence county ; and Hector, residing in that county.
John A. McLeod was born in 1835, in Lawrence county, Arkansas, and began life for himself as a farmer. At the outbreak of the Civil war he abandoned the plowshare and became a soldier of the Confederacy, enlisting in an Arkansas regiment of infantry, and for four years served as a private in the Trans-Mississippi Department, being three times wounded in battle. Returning home at the close of the conflict, he resumed farming in Benton county, locating southwest of Rogers in 1866. He has met with good suc- cess as a farmer and fruit grower, and is numbered among the substantial and esteemed citizens of his neighborhood. True to the religious faith in which he was reared, he is a member of the Primitive Baptist church. He married Mrs. Lucy (Dodson) Christian, who was born in Tennessee July 24, 1833, and came with her father, Rev. Samuel Dodson, a minister in the Primitive Baptist church, to Arkansas from Warren county, Tennessee, prior to the Civil war. She subsequently married for her first husband a Mr. Christian, who died as a Confederate soldier at Little Rock, Arkansas, leav- ing three children: Dr. D. Christian, of Springdale, Arkansas; Samantha, wife of G. M. Mayes, of Rogers, Arkansas; and J. W. Christian. Of her union with John A. McLeod, one child was born, John S., the special subject of this brief record.
After leaving the public schools of his native district, John S. McLeod attended the University of Arkansas, where he nearly reached the junior year ere interests on the home farm compelled him to return to the parental roof-tree. There he was busily employed until his marriage, when he em- barked in farming on his own account. Giving up the active management of his estate in 1898, Mr. McLeod came to Rogers, where he at first clerked for J. W. Bryant, afterward being similarly employed with the Steele Broth- ers. Subsequently perceiving a favorable opportunity to enter the insur- ance business, Mr. McLeod took advantage of it, and established an office in Rogers, assuming the agency of desirable and reliable companies. Equipping himself for conducting a general insurance business, he is actively identified with fire, accident, health, steam boiler, and plate glass insurance, and also makes bonding business a feature of his work.
Public-spirited and far-seeing, Mr. McLeod has taken an intelligent in- terest in the development of Rogers, and, in company with others, platted the Blackman addition to Rogers, it being a part of the original Fair Grounds addition. It is one of the choice locations of the city, and in a short time after it was put upon the market more than forty houses, some of them being the best and most attractive of any in Rogers, went up as if by magic. Mr. McLeod is a stockholder and a director in the Kansas City & Memphis Railway Company, which is now extending its line southeast from Rogers through the scenie region of Monte Ne and opening up a new country tributary to Rogers in that direction. He is likewise a stockholder in the Ozark Lumber and Land Company, and has a large and valable orchard upon his farm near Rogers. Mr. McLeod is affiliated with the Dem- ocratie party, but is not active in politics. He is a member, fraternally, of
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the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; of the Knights of Pythias ; of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
On August 30, 1891, Mr. MeLeod married, in Benton county, Callie D. Oakley, who was born in Benton county, Arkansas, February 8, 1872, and has one brother, Newton A. Oakley, of Enid, Oklahoma. Her parents, Ben- jamin F. and Mary ( Hart) Oakley, came to Arkansas from Tennessee in pioneer days, the team with which they made the overland trip being com- posed of a horse and an ox on either side of the wagon tongue, this method of traveling indicating the humble condition of some of the settlers of that time. They took up land in Benton county, and have since been farmers in that locality. Mr. and Mrs. McLeod have three children, Minnie M., Floyd and Lillian.
JOHN HARRIS FLETCHER. Standing prominent among the leading citi- zens of Springdale, Arkansas, is John Harris Fletcher, who is distinguished not only as the principal merchant of that city, but for his honored pioneer ancestry, his grandfather, Robert Fletcher, having located in Washington county in territorial days. He was born near Harris, Washington county, Arkansas, September 9, 1855, a son of Andrew Fletcher.
Robert Fletcher was born in Georgia in 1:44, and was there reared and married. In 1824, accompanied by his little family, he migrated to Wash- ington county, Arkansas, making the dangerous journey through the track- less woods, over bleak mountains and across rivers, with teams, bravely bat- tling with the elements that ever offer resistance to the hardy pioneer. It was during the last year of President Monroe's administration that he took the eventful trip across the country, courageously daring all the hardships and privations incidental to frontier life in order to pave the way for those that followed, and to establish a home where his children and their de- scendants might enjoy the comfort, and even the luxuries, of life without the labor and toil in which his years were spent. Locating six miles east of Fayetteville, near Harris, he began the pioneer task of hewing a farm from the forest, and on the homestead which he improved he spent the remainder of his days, dying in 1856, a venerable and esteemed citizen. Ile married Polly Wilson, a sister of Hon. Thomas Wilson, a member of the first legisla- ture of Arkansas and a man of distinction in his day. Seven children were born to them. namely: John, James, Jesse, Andrew, Job, Timothy, and Mrs. John Fletcher, who spent the larger part of her life in Sangamon county, Illinois.
Andrew Fletcher, born near Harris, Arkansas, in 1824, soon after the arrival of the family in Washington county, succeeded to the occupation of his ancestors, and until his death, in 1861, was engaged in agricultural pur- suits in the community in which his birth occurred. He married Mahala Rogers, a daughter of Levi Rogers, who came to this state from Alabama. She died in 1864, leaving three children, as follows: John Harris, of whom we write ; Robert, of Leslie, Arkansas ; and Annie, wife of George Cline, of Joplin, Missouri.
Born within a half a mile of the farm on which his grandfather located, John Ilarris Fletcher grew to manhood in a rural community, gleaning his early education in the typical pioneer log schoolhouse during its one yearly term of three months of school. Not content with a farmer's life, he left home on attaining his majority, going to Saint Louis to learn the ma- chinist's trade. After serving an apprenticeship with the firm of Bushy & Company, he returned to Washington county, Arkansas, and began life as a wage earner in Fayetteville, becoming an employe of James Ferguson. He followed his trade until 1895, when he made a change of occupation, estab-
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