USA > Arkansas > Historical review of Arkansas : its commerce, industry and modern affairs > Part 62
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William H. Eagle was a brother of the late Governor James P. Eagle and a member of the prominent family of that name who were leaders in the early settlement and development of Lonoke county, Arkansas. He was born in Maury county, Tennessee, on the 3d of April, 1836, and he was a son of James and Charity (Swaim) Eagle, who came to Arkansas in 1839, locating in Pulaski county, twenty-three miles east of Little Rock. In 1844 the family removed to the old Military road, in what is now Lonoke county, and in 1857 the family home was established on what is still known as the Eagle plantation, where was established the post-offiec of Pettus, in the lower central portion of Lonoke county. There the Eagle family lived for a great number of years and there the Eagle boys were reared to maturity. Governor James Philip Eagle was born in Maury. county, Tennessee, on the 10th of August, 1837, and he was the sixteenth governor of Arkansas, being incumbent of that responsible position from 1889 to 1891, previous to which time he had filled many other offices of distinct trust and responsibility.
After receiving a common-school education William H. Eagle turned his attention to agricultural pursuits in Lonoke county, where he was an extensive land owner and one of the county's wealthiest and most useful citizens. In his political convictions he was aligned as a stalwart sup- porter of the cause of the Democratic party. He served for three terms as a representative from Lonoke county in the State Legislature. He discharged his responsibilities in connection with that position most credit- ably, serving on various important committees and taking an active part in the deliberations of the floor. He also filled other offices of honor and trust, in all of which he gave most efficient service. He was ever on the alert to do all in his power to advance the general welfare of his home county and no movement projected for progress and development failed of his heartiest co-operation. In his religious faith he was a devout member of the Baptist church, as are his widow and children, and in charitable affairs he was a most liberal contributor. In 1902 Mr. Eagle
L. W. MUNROE
WILLIAM H. EAGLE
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removed with his family to the city of Little Rock, where he had extensive financial interests and where he continued to maintain his home until his death, on the 12th of March, 1906. As previously stated, he received his schooling in the common schools. This as the years passed was supplemented by much research and he became well known as a man of great breadth of knowledge. Moreover, at the time of his demise, he was regarded as one of the foremost men of Arkansas.
In 1883 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Eagle to Miss Ada Mun- roe, who was the first in order of birth in a family of seven children and who was born in Lonoke, Arkansas, the date of her nativity being the 25th of January, 1861. She is a daughter of Major Louis Wellington and Mary (Thompson) Munroe, the former of whom was summoned to eternal rest on the 25th of March, 1911, and the latter of whom still maintains her home at Lonoke, the judicial center of the county of the same name. In succeeding paragraphs will be given a more detailed account of the dis- tinguished Munroe family. Mrs. Eagle is a woman of innate culture and refinement, a woman of noble mind and charitable impulses and one who commands the highest and most cordial confidence and regard of her fellow citizens of Little Rock, where she now resides. To Mr. and Mrs. Eagle were born six children, whose names are here recorded in respective order of birth : Mrs. Bessie Eagle Dunaway, Mrs. Lillian Eagle Borden, William H. Eagle, Bryan Eagle, James P. Eagle and French Eagle.
Concerning the career of the late Major L. W. Munroe the following artiele, which appeared a short time after his death in the Lonoke County News, under date of March 31, 1911, is here reproduced with but slight paraphrase.
"Major L. W. Munroe, one of the oldest citizens in point of residence and age in the county, as well as one of the best known and wealthiest citi- zens of this section of the country, departed this life Saturday night, March the 25th, about 1 o'clock. Upon his passing away there was obliterated one more of the few remaining sterling landmarks of this country who in the vigor and strength of young manhood east their lots and fortunes among the virgin forests, the fallow and upturned aeres and the wild and sparsely settled regions of a new state; who helped to hew out of this vast natural chaos homes, farms, cities and to erect everlasting monuments to eiviliza- tion ; who saw the state in the bloody throes of war and the still more bloody and insufferable days of reconstruction, yet with strong and manly shoulders bore up the tottering strneture to a glorious remodeling.
"L. W. Munroe was born in Virginia, in 1829, and in his early boyhood came with his father to Tennessee. Upon reaching manhood, following young ambition, he erossed the Father of Waters and settled at Browns- ville, two and a half miles north of here, at that time a thriving village and the county site of Prairie county. There he engaged in the mercantile business and with frugal habits and careful business principles he was awarded with financial prosperity from the beginning. After the war, when the country was in ruins and few men possessed means with which to begin life anew, he assisted many by the loan of money to recoup that of which a ruthless war had deprived them.
"In 1880 he moved with his family to Lonoke and for a number of years was engaged in the mercantile business, being associated with the late W. H. Eagle. About twenty-five years ago he retired from active business life and from then until the time of his death devoted himself to his family, of which no father conld be fonder, and to caring for the fortune his econ- omy, careful management and judicious investments had built up.
"Besides his devoted wife, who has labored with him through the vicis-
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situdes of nearly half a century, he leaves seven daughters, a number of grandchildren and one great-grandchild, a sister and two brothers.
"While his affinence and ostensible station as a child of fortune have at times made him a target at which envy and jealousy have been directed, there are none who may truthfully impugn his honor and his fair and just dealings, for clean and unsullied does his integrity remain to the family and to the world. While strict in business principles, he was lenient and just to his debtors, frequently to his own loss. Many years have elapsed since he professed faith in Christ and united with the Baptist church of Lonoke; and those who were closest to him and knew the real man can testify how truly and well he lived the life whose noblest exemplar was the Lowly Nazarene.
"The News truly sympathizes with the bereaved ones. A cherished memory is an enduring monument more ineffaceable than polished marble or burnished bronze. 'To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.' "
JOHN B. MCCALEB. Among the foremost members of the legal fra- ternity in Batesville, Arkansas, Judge John B. McCaleb holds distinctive prestige and for nearly twelve years he was presiding judge of the Six- teenth Arkansas circuit, having been the first occupant of the bench of that district. Judge McCaleb was born at Evening Shade, Sharp county, Arkansas, the date of his nativity being the 24th of October, 1856. The original progenitor of the MeCaleb family in this state was James Hay- wood McCaleb, father of the Judge, and he came to Arkansas about the voar 1852. He was a native of Roane county, Tennessee, born in 1825, and he was summoned to the life eternal at Evening Shade. His father, James Haywood McCaleb, Sr., passed the closing years of his life at Evening Shade, whither he immigrated at an early day. The late John McCaleb, of Independence county, was also his son. James Haywood McCaleb, Jr., was a farmer by occupation and he was a Confederate sol- dier during the war of the Rebellion. He was with General Price on that noted warrior's raid through Missouri and at the same time, back in Ten- nessee, his brother. Captain Jesse McCaleb, was doing service in the south- ern army as a part of General Forrest's command. Subsequently Captain Jesse went to Idaho, where he joined Mr. Shoup, one of Idaho's first United States senators, in a mining venture. In 1828, however, while commissary at the mining camp, he was killed by a savage band of the Snake Indians. He served with efficiency as the first clerk of his home county in Idaho and at the time of his demise was survived by a family. James McCaleb. Jr., was united in marriage to Mrs. Frances French, a daughter of Wil- liam Jenkins and widow of William French. Her children by her first marriage were: William French, Mrs. Amanda, wife of Captain Jolm M. Wasson, of Evening Shade: and Virginia, who is the wife of Sam H. Davidson. of Evening Shade. To Mr. and Mrs. McCaleb were born three children, namely-John B., the immediate subject of this review : Thomas II .. of Hardy, Arkansas: and James Howard, of Evening Shade. The mother of the above children passed into the great beyond in 1885.
Judge John B. McCaleb passed his hoyhood and youth amid the scenes and duties connected with the operation of the old homestead farm and he received his preliminary educational training in the country sehools of his native place. Subsequently he attended the academy at Evening Shade and he left that institution prepared to assume the responsibilities of a country school teacher. He early decided upon the law as his life work and while engaged in the pedagogie profession he familiarized him- self with the principles expounded in Blackstone and other elementary law books, preparatory to admission to the bar. In due time he entered
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upon a more thorough study of law in the office of Sam H. Davidson, under whose able preceptorship he made such rapid progress in the ab- sorption and assimilation of the science of jurisprudence that he was ad- mitted to the Arkansas bar at Evening Shade, in the year 1881, at which time Judge Powell was presiding on the beneh. Judge McCaleb imme- diately entered upon the active practice of his profession, forming a part- nership with Mr. Davidson, this mutually agreeable alliance continuing for a period of seven years. In 1891 the Arkansas legislature ereated the Sixteenth Judicial district and in a contest for the honor of being the first occupant of the new bench, Judge McCaleb won out. He was twice re-elected to that position and lacked only a few months of holding the same for a period of twelve years. In 1902, however, he retired from the bench and resumed the general practice of law at Evening Shade. The distriet first embraced the counties of Fulton, Izard, Sharp and Ran- dolph, but later Baxter county was also included within its confines. In May, 1906, Judge McCaleb severed his business and professional connec- tions in his old home place and removed to Batesville, where he has resided during the intervening years to the present time and where he is recog- nized as one of the leading attorneys of Independence county. Shortly after locating at Batesville he formed a partnership with Mr. Lyman F. Reeder, the firm becoming that of McCaleb & Reeder. They constitute one of the leading law firms in northeast Arkansas and their presence graces the sessions of the various state courts and those of the supreme and federal courts, in which they have figured prominently in a number of important litigations.
In his political convictions Judge McCaleb is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Democratic party, in connection with the affairs of which organization he has frequented a number of state conventions and been an active factor in behalf of friends in primary campaigns upon the stump. In 1904, through appointment by the legislature, he was made a member of the capitol commission and when that body was organized he was chosen chairman of the board. The primary object of the commission was to erect the new State House and when this commission began its work the foundation for the structure was about finished. During the ensuing five years the walls of the building were practically completed and the affairs of the commission were then turned over to the new commission, in 1909. In company with John R. Metcalf, Judge McCalch ereeted the roller mills of Evening Shade and that plant was operated by them for a time. In addition to his other business ventures Judge McCaleb is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Batesville.
At Evening Shade, on the 10th of March, 1881, was recorded the marriage of Judge McCaleb, to Miss Allie Abernathy, a daughter of Joe L. Abernathy, who immigrated to Arkansas from Rhea Springs, in eastern Tennessee, about the year 1873. The mother of Mrs. McCaleb was Miss Johnson prior to her marriage and she was the mother of two children: Mrs. McCaleb and Ethel. who first married Robert E. Huddleston and who is now the widow of W. O. Sims, her home being at Ashdown, Ar- kansas. Concerning the children born to Judge and Mrs. McCaleb, the following brief data are here incorporated. James A. is a wholesale grocer at Purcell, Oklahoma ; Ethel is an expert stenographer and is in the employ of the Barnett Mereantile Company, of Batesville: Annie Vernon is deceased ; and Lillie. Jo, Jean, Thomas Lowdon and "Bill" all remain at the parental home, being students in the publie schools and Arkansas College, of this city.
In the domain of fraternities Judge MeCaleb is past master of Blue Lodge, at Evening Shade, and is past high priest of Rural Chapter. No.
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50. Royal Arch Masons. As a delegate to the grand Masonic lodge of the state, Judge McCaleb has served on several important committees, includ- ing the one of correspondence, of which he was chairman for one term. Although not enrolled as an orthodox member of any religious organiza- tion, Judge McCaleb attends and gives his support to the Presbyterian church. As a citizen he is ever ready to do all in his power to advance the best interests of the city in which he resides and of the state at large and as a jurist he early evinced the highest capacity for original investi- gation and interpretation of the law. llis mind is clearly skilled in logical reasoning, which enables him to solve a legal complexity as easily as an ordinary business problem. As a lawyer he does not rely upon antecedent cases, but goes down to the fundamental principles and applies them to the case in hand, whether similar questions have been adjudicated adversely or not.
RUFUS S. RICE, M. D. In no profession have the march of progress and the discoveries of science effected greater changes of method and prac- tical application than in that of medicine, and he who would be fully in accord with the spirit of the age must be a close student, possessed of a keen and discriminating mind, capable of determining what is best in the new theories and truths constantly advanced, and then apply them to the needs of the profession whose noble object is the alleviation of human suffering. In this regard Dr. Rufus S. Rice is at the forefront, and his knowledge, skill and ability have gained him prestige among the praeti- tioners of Rogers and Benton counties.
Dr. Rice represents one of the pioneer families of Benton county-a family, some of the members of which have become leading professional men, while others have kept to the vocation of their ancestors, that of agri- culture, and all of them, no matter to what field they have devoted their energies, have contributed a royal citizenship to the commonwealth in which they were reared. The subject was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, April 5, 1863, his parents having removed to that place during the war of the Rebellion. The father, although Southern in sympathy and conviction, acted as storekeeper for the Federal commissary for a time during the progress of the war. When Rufus S. was but a child, his parents returned to their first home on Pea Ridge and there all their large family of children was reared.
The farm on Pea Ridge came into the hands of Charles W. Rice, father of him whose name initiates this review, in 1859, at which date he brought his family from McMinn county, Tennessee. This certain section was destined to acquire a pathetic and historie interest. for within three years after Mr. Rice acquired the farm it became the scene of one of the chief battles of the Civil war, namely the battle of Elkhorn, or Pea Ridge, and since that time the locality has remained a point of historic interest. Upon that spot and amid the memories which fired the blood of the high- spirited youth, Rufus S. Rice reached the years of young manhood. The fulfillment of the various duties of the farm gave him breadth of frame and vigor of constitution and the academy at Pea Ridge afforded him his literary training. Like so many men who have eventually entered the professions he began his career as a wage-earner in the honorable capacity of a school teacher, serving thus for a short time. In 1883 a resolution as to his future life work materialized and he took up the study of medi- cine in the Missouri Medical College, but before he finished the course, which was the goal of his ambitions, he engaged in medical practice at Brightwater, Arkansas, near his home. Hungering for all available knowl- edge in his particular field, as soon as possible he returned to its pursnit,
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and entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at St. Louis, Mis- souri, from which institution he was graduated in the year 1901. Shortly thereafter Dr. Rice came to Rogers, his identification with the place dating from 1890, and in the ensuing decade this has been the scene of his prac- tice. His connection with various important societies of a professional na- ture and the various public offices which have been entrusted to him are in eloquent testimony of the high regard in which he is held by the com- munity. He is a member of the Benton County and the Arkansas State Medical Societies; he is a member of the United States Pension Examin- ing Board for Benton county, having also served in the same capacity dur- ing the Cleveland administrations; for several years he was one of the medical examiners for Benton county and he is at the present time presi- dent of the Rogers Board of Health and of the Benton County Board of Health.
Dr. Rice comes from a family of tried and true Democrats and is himself imbued strongly with devotion to the principles of that faith. He has no interest in polities for himself, but his desire for the success of personal friends whom he believes capable of good publie service often draws him into the conflict. He is orthodox in his religion and a member of the Southern Methodist Episcopal church. His Masonie connection is one of the big things in his life and ineludes membership in the Pea Ridge Blue Lodge and the Bethany Commandery, of Bentonville. He is also a Woodman of the World and a Maccabee.
On December 15, 1882. Dr. Rice was united in marriage to Miss Dorinda Puckett. a daughter of A. Puckett, who came from Tennessee to Benton county before the war. Mrs. Rice was born here, received her education in the Rogers Academy and was a teacher previous to her mar- riage. This worthy woman passed away August 31. 1904, the mother of two daughters-the Misses Pearl and Grace Rice. On April 29, 1911, Dr. Riec was again married, Miss Katherine Carr, a native of Mississippi, he- coming his wife.
It cannot but prove both profitable and interesting to give further attention to the history of the Rice family. As previously stated, the Rice family in Arkansas first settled stakes near Elkhorn tavern, which over- looked the contest between the Union and Confederate forces on March 6 to 8. 1862. The subject's father, Charles W .. the first of the family in the Bear state, followed various occupations, being at different times a miller, a merchant and a farmer, and he was summoned to the Great Bevond in 1893 when his years numbered seventy-six. He was born in Roane county, Tennessee, where his father, Isaac Rice, settled as a pioneer from Virginia, and where the latter reared his six sons, Isaac, John, Tandy. Miller, Henry, and Charles W .. and a daughter. Elizabeth, who married a Mr. Hailey.
Charles W. Rice married Juliet Cobb, daughter of John Cobb, of Sonth Carolina, the Cohbs being a family of no small prominence in the Palmetto state. Mrs. Rice lived to enjoy a long and eventful life, dying in December. 1910, at the age of eighty-four years. The issue of their union were James A., a leading lawyer of northwestern Arkansas, who died at Bentonville, in December. 1910, leaving a family of four children : Wilford C., of Madison county, a farmer ; Timothy S., a Benton county agriculturist : Dr. Thomas M., of Avoca, Arkansas : Dr. Rufus S., the sub- ject of this notice: Charles M., at attorney-at-law at Bentonville: Dr. Clinton A., of Gentry, Arkansas ; and Roland M., a farmer near Elkhorn. the district of his nativity and rearing.
During the period of the Civil war the senior Rice took sides with the Confederaey, but was a non-combatant and he resided at Fayetteville while
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the war was in progress. He lived and died a Democrat and his sons were likewise affiliated with the party in an active manner. James A., the eldest son and brother of our subject, entered politics as a young lawyer and achieved no small amount of distinction at home and at Little Rock, where his legislative battles were fought. He left the farm at the age of eighteen and completed his education in Cane Hill Academy, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1872. While there he was directly under the influence of Rev. F. R. Earl and Captain James Mitchell, afterwards of the Little Rock Gazette.
When ready for the serious affairs of life James A. Rice became a teacher in the public schools. Determined to pursue the law he read under the late Senator J. D. Walker. of Fayetteville, and was admitted to the bar at Bentonville, in September, 1826, before Judge J. M. Pittman. There he began practice and there maintained his home until his death. He grew into the confidence of his fellow townsmen and obtained a large clientele, becoming to a marked degree successful. He was always a stu- dent and when he tried a case he exhausted every resource in behalf of his client within the realm of honorable and legitimate practice. Some of his cases were of such note as to be well remembered yet, notably his defense of Dr. J. M. Smith for the murder of Dr. Baker, of Benton county; that of a Mr. Butler for the murder of his daughter and his defense of a mother and children for the killing and burning of the father. He was connected with the litigation of the Southern Fruit Products Company receivership suit, involving large interests and of much consequence to many people in Benton county. He was counsel on one side in the receivership suit of the Bentonville Cold Storage & Ice Company ; was attorney for the Arkansas & Oklahoma Railway Company during its construction and operation from Rogers west through Bentonville and represented the corporation in a suit in the Federal court at Ft. Smith with the Frisco Railway Company, in- volving many thousands of dollars. Judge Rice also represented the family in politics and as a public official. He was a member of the state legisla- ture in 1874-5 and again in 1885-6. He was sent there solely, as he de- elared, to secure the United States weather bureau for Bentonville and as a result of his endeavors Congress was induced to locate the station and to provide for its construction and maintenance. He was of the convention that nominated Governor Eagle for chief executive of Arkansas and was selected as the leader of the Eagle caucus, winning the nomination for the old soldier.
November 22. 1817, Mr. Rice married Lucy A. Winton, whose father. James Winton. came to Benton county from Missouri, although he was a Tennesseean. The issue of their union are Agnes, who married Milo Mat- thows, of Sherman, Texas: Hon. Richard Lee, of Bentonville: Alonzo and Martha.
WILLIAM J. ERWIN. A leading citizen of Batesville, and one of its foremost business men, William J. Erwin, living partly retired from active pursuits, is distinguished as a successful financier and agriculturist, and is well known throughout Independence county for his many interests, being a large landholder. He was born, October 22, 1833. in Tennessee, a son of Alexander K. Erwin.
Ilis paternal grandfather, Alexander Erwin, was born and brod in North Carolina, but as a young man migrated to Murray county. Tennes- sce, where he resided until his death, in 1843. To him and his wife nine children were born, as follows: James: Theodore: William: Brown ; Alexander K. : Priscilla, who married John Erwin ; Dorcas married Simp- son Patton : Mrs. Bettie Webb, deceased ; and Clara, wife of George Lips- comb.
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