USA > Arkansas > Historical review of Arkansas : its commerce, industry and modern affairs > Part 64
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In March, 1905, Mr. MeIlroy was united in marriage to Miss Frankie Ritchie, the ceremony having been performed at Paris. Texas. Mrs. Mc- Ilroy is a daughter of Joel Ritchie, whose ancestors came from Virginia and Kentucky. She was born in Lamar county, Texas, and in the Lone Star state was reared and educated. No children have been born to this union.
Politically, Mr. MeIlroy is a staunch Democrat and he has ever man- ifested a good citizen's interest in local and other political movements. Although kindly disposed toward fraternal organizations he is not affiliated with any social order but devotes his entire time and attention to his business affairs. He and his wife are members of the Episcopal church.
ABSALOM T. HUDSPETIT. A representative young citizen, popular. progressive and useful, is Absalom T. Hudspeth, cashier of that substantial Vol. III-28
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and well-established institution, the Marshall Bank. A native of the state he has elected to spend his life thus far within its borders and has evinced his loyalty to its interests in every possible way. Ile is a native of Marion county, where he was born January 15, 1881. During his infancy his parents came to Searcy county and he was reared upon a farm in the vicinity of St. Joe, and for his education is indebted to the advantages afforded by the district school and the Marshall high school. When about twenty-three years of age he came to the conclusion that he was not adapted to an agricultural life and he accepted a position as a clerk in a mercantile establishment at St. Joe, remaining thus associated until he came to Mar- shall in 1907 and assumed his present responsible position with the Mar- shall Bank.
The Marshall Bank was organized in June, 1901, with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars, which capital has since been increased to twenty-five thousand dollars. Its officers include Dr. Sam G. Daniel, president ; Dan Harrison, vice-president ; and A. T. Hudspeth, cashier. The board of directors comprise V. C. Bratton, S. E. Hollabaugh, J. A. JIenley, of St. Joe, and the president and cashier of the bank.
Absalom T. Hudspeth is the son of George T. Hudspeth, of St. Joe, Arkansas. The elder gentleman was reared in Marion county, where the family was founded in pioneer days. He was born in 1852 and was a son of James Hudspeth, who, like himself, also grew up in Marion county. James Hudspeth's father came to Arkansas from Tennessee. The sub- ject's grandfather believed in the supreme right of the states to sever their union with the national government and gave service as a soldier of the Confederacy during the war of the Rebellion. He followed the honorable calling of a farmer and his demise occurred on his homestead in Marion county. The maiden name of the mother of the subject was Didama Petty, and she was a danghter of Robert Petty. an Arkansas pioneer. A quartet of sons blessed this union, they being Murphy, Robert, Thomas, of St. Joe, and Absalom T., the immediate subject of this review.
Mr. Hudspeth became a recruit to the ranks of the Benedicts when on the 6th day of October, 1904, he was united in marriage to Miss Blaine Henley in Searcy county. Mrs. Hudspeth is a daughter of B. F. Henley, a merchant of St. Joe. where the family was reared. A promising young son and daughter are sheltered beneath their roof-tree, their names being William and Constance.
In their political affiliation the Hudspeth family are Democratic, various of the members having for a good many years subscribed to the articles of faith of the party. While the subject takes in politics the in- terest of the intelligent voter he has never been bitten by the tarantula of political aspiration. He is one of the stockholders of the Farmers' Bank of Leslie, Arkansas, and fraternally holds membership with the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. and Mrs. Hudspeth are popular young people and their home is one of the attractive ahodes of the town.
MATTHEW M. DUFFIE. The late Colonel Matthew MeClintock Duffie, during his life time, contributed mueh to the furthering of the best social and material interests of the state of Arkansas, which commonwealth was his home for fully half a century and which was the theater of his able and sneeessful efforts as a business man and lawyer of marked ability. He was a distinguished officer in the war of the Rebellion and in every possible connection contributed generously of his aid and influence in sup- port of all projects advanced for the general prosperity. He was summoned
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to the life eternal at his home in Malvern, Hot Spring county, on the 12th of September, 1906.
A native son of South Carolina, Colonel Duffie was born at Black- stock, Chester district, the state, on the 11th of March, 1833. He was a son of Reuben L. and Annie ( MeClintock) Duffie, the former of whom traced his ancestry to Scotch-Irish origin and the latter of whom was of Scotch extraction. Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Duffie had eleven children and of the number the Colonel was the second in order of birth. Of those liv- ing, in 1911, the distinguished Judge Alexander M. Duffie is now a resi- dent of Malvern, Arkansas, and concerning his career more specific data appears in a sketch dedicated to him on other pages of this work. Colonel Duffie was indebted to the public schools of his native place for his early educational advantages and after being graduated in Erskine College, at Due West, South Carolina, as a member of the class of 1856, he immigrated to Arkansas, which state represented his home during most of the remainder of his life. He first located at Princeton, the county seat of Dallas county's where he began to read law under the able preceptorship of Freeman W. Compton and where he was admitted to the bar in 1858. Subsequently he was licensed to practice in the state supreme and United States supreme courts.
When the dark cloud of Civil war obscured the national horizon, Colonel Duffie gave evidence of intrinsie loyalty to the south by enlisting for service in the Confederate army. He raised a company of one hundred men in Dallas county and in May, 1861, this company, of which he was made first lieutenant, joined the Sixth Arkansas Infantry, the same being assigned to duty in the Army of Tennessee. He was raised by various promotions to the rank of lieutenant colonel and he made a distinguished record as a brave and gallant soldier. He participated in many of the important conflicts marking the progress of the war and was severely wounded in the battle of Chickamauga. At the close of the war he was in South Carolina but did not surrender until some time after the general close of the conflict. In the face of considerable danger he remained in charge of the stores, provisions, etc., at Union City. South Carolina, where he engaged in a determined and successful effort to supply those stores to needy and impoverished Confederate soldiers on the way to their respective homes, instead of allowing them to be confiscated by the opposing forces.
In the summer of 1865, Colonel Duffie returned to Arkansas and re- sumed the practice of law at Princeton. In the ante-bellum days, in fact in the year 1858, he had served one term as representative from his county in the state legislature. In 1874. the first regular session following the reconstruction period, he was again elected to membership in that body. In. 1877 he was further honored by his fellow citizens in that he was then elected state senator, of which august body he was made president. in 1879. In 1893 he was appointed consul to Winnipeg, province of Man- itoba, Canada, and he served in that capacity during the second term of the Cleveland administration and for one year in the ensuing Republican regime. In 1897 he returned to Arkansas and, locating at Malvern, where he had previously established his residence, he resumed the active practice of law, which he continued with eminent success until his death, some nine years later.
In 1866 was celebrated the marriage of Colonel Duffie to Miss Hannah Cooksey. a native of Princeton, Dallas county. Arkansas, and to this union were born six children, all of whom are now living except one who died in infaney. Of this number, the youngest, William R. Duffie, is a lawyer by profession, having been admitted to the bar at Malvern, in 1901. Prior to the Colonel's death the son was a law partner of his father and since 1906
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he has been associated in practice with his unele, Judge A. M. Duffie, un- der the firm name of Duffie & Duffie. It is interesting to note here that six of Colonel's Duffie's brothers were gallant and faithful soldiers in the Con- federate army during the war between the states. One of these brothers, Samuel F. Duffie, like the Colonel, was a pioneer and prominent lawyer in Arkansas.
ALEXANDER M. DUFFIE. On the roll of the capable attorneys of the Arkansas bar appears the name of Judge Alexander M. Duffie, who has been identified with the work of his profession at Malvern, the county- seat of Hot Spring county, for fully three decades, during sixteen years of which time he was eireuit judge for the Seventh judicial distriet of the state. The extent and importance of the clientage of Judge Duffie is ample indieation of the confidence reposed in his professional skill and ability. He is now a member of the law firm of Duffie & Duffie, of which the junior partner is his nephew, William R. Duffie.
Judge Alexander M. Duffie was born at Blackstock, Chester distriet, South Carolina, on the 28th of October, 1851, and he is a son of Reuben L. and Annie (McClintoek) Duffie. The Duffie family is one of long standing in Chester distriet, South Carolina, the original progenitor of the name in America having been of Scotch-Irish deseent. The maternal ancestors of the Judge trace their lineage back to the staunch Seoteh extrae- tion. The father of him to whom this sketch is dedicated was engaged in farming during the greater part of his aetive career and he passed into eternity in 1874. the devoted wife and mother having been summoned to eternal rest in 1851. To Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Duffie were born eleven chil- dren and of the number three are living in 1911.
After completing the curriculum of the public schools of his native place Judge Alexander M. Duffie was matriculated in Erskine College, at Due West, South Carolina, in which excellent institution he was grad- nated in 1874. Thereafter he was a student in the law department of the University of Virginia. at Charlottesville, in which he was graduated as a member of the elass of 1879, duly receiving the decree of Bachelor of Laws. Immediately after graduation Judge Duffie immigrated westward to Arkansas, location being made at Malvern. where he rapidly gained prestige as a skilled lawyer and well fortified counselor. In 1890 Judge Duffie was elected eirenit judge for the Seventh judicial distriet of Ar- kansas which at that time comprised the counties of Perry, Saline. Hot Spring, Garland and Grant. Subsequently Perry county was detached from district. Judge Duffie served in the capacity of judge with such ability and efficiency that he was re-elected four (4) times successively. serving on the bench for sixteen consecutive years, only retiring, in 1906. in which year he resumed the practice of his profession at Malvern.
An evidence of Judge Duffie's efficieney was shown in the year 1895 when he saved the state of Arkansas from the notoriety and disgraee which would have been heaped upon it had the ~~ att-Fitzsimmons fight been allowed at Hot Springs, when nearly every other state in the Union had refused to allow it to take place. This fight was scheduled for Hot Springs October 25th, of that year, at which time Judge Duffie was holding court there as judge of the Seventh judicial district and he had more to do with the prevention of the fight than any other official in the state. The mayor of Hot Springs had made arrangements with the promoters to have the fight pulled off in Hot Springs at the time stated. As soon as he telegraphed the result of his negotiations, the saloons and other sporting places in the city were placarded with notices that the "Big Mill" would certainly take place on October 25th.
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On the following morning when Judge Duffie opened court he called Sheriff R. E. B. Houpt to the judge's stand and told him publicly that it was his sworn duty to prevent the fight ; that he should at once take active steps in that direction ; that he had the power to call to his assistance every able-bodied man in the county to assist him; that he (Judge Duffie) as judge of the district intended to use all his power to prevent it; that it would be a disgrace to the court to have such a thing take place in the very shadow of the court house. On the same day, Judge Duffie addressed a letter to J. P. Clark, then governor of the state, stating that the fight between Corbett and Fitzsimmons was advertised throughout the city to take place October 25th, and called upon him for assistance to stop it. Governor Clark replied that he would render all the assistance that was in his power and wrote a letter to each of the prize fighters stating that it was a violation of law and that they could not enter the state to engage in a fight. No replies were received to these letters, and the metropolitan papers throughout the country stated that both Corbett and Fitzsimmons positively asserted that the fight would be pulled off on regular schedule time.
The citizens then invited Governor Clark to come to the city and he came from Little Rock and met them at the Arlington Hotel. Judge Duffie was present at the request of the Governor. The chairman of the meeting told the governor that no blood would be shed; that the proposed fight was merely a boxing contest for points; he assured him that both the fighters were gentlemen and that no one would he injured physically in the slightest degree and requested the governor not to interfere. Judge Duffie was publicly criticized for taking such an active part against the proposed fight and was told that he should be occupying the bench and that his place was on the bench to decide questions after they were brought before him and not heforc. The governor replied that Judge Duffie was present at the meeting at his special request and had already called on him for his assistance to prevent the fight ; that the fight was proposed to take place within Judge Duffie's jurisdiction and that he ( the governor) would stand by him in whatever steps he might take. After the meeting adjourned the governor and Judge Duffie discussed the whole matter, and he suggested that the judge issue a warrant for the arrest of Corbett (who was then in the state) and require a $5,000 bond to keep the peace. To this the judge objected, as it was the very thing that the citizens of Hot Springs wanted him to do, and as the largest bond could be fixed at only $5,000 this would be broken and the money forfeited to the state for the privilege of engaging in the fight.
Judge Duffie suggested that Fitzsimmons (who at this time had not entered the state) he arrested as soon as he crossed from Texas into Ar- kansas and he carried before the courts at Little Rock and that two or three weeks could easily be consumed in hearing the evidence : that one hundred witnesses could be furnished from the city of Hot Springs and five or six examined each day and by that time the fight would he abandoned. This was done. Fitzsimmons was arrested as soon as he crossed the state line and carried hefore Chancellor Thomas B. Martin, of Little Rock, who had jurisdiction throughout the state. When he found himself in the meshes of the law Fitzsimmons publicly declared that he would abandon any fur- ther efforts to meet Corbett if released. He was then released and this ended the possibility of the celebrated fight being pulled off in Arkansas. Judge Duffie received many threatening and anonymous letters in the hope that he would be deterred from the plain path of duty.
In his political convictions Judge Duffie endorses the cause of the Democratic party, and while he has never held political office other than that of eirenit judge he has ever manifested a deep and sincere interest
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in community affairs. Ile is affiliated with various professional and fra- ternal organizations and religiously he is a zealous member of the Pres- byterian church. His reputation in the line of his profession has gone abroad throughout the state and he is accorded a foremost position in the ranks of the brilliant and distinguished legists and jurists of Arkansas.
THE REICHARDT FAMILY. Of the well-known Reichardt family of Little Rock, John A. Reichardt, Jr., was the first of this large family to come to America from the ancestral home of the Reichardts, in the city of Asch, Province of Boehm, Austria. He reached Little Rock, Arkansas, in the year 1848. After living here a few years he moved to Missouri, but stayed there only a short time, returning to Little Rock, where he died in March, 1884. He was survived by five children: August and Fred Reic- hardt, Mrs. Lydia Hoelizel, Sallie Sailor and Lena Gramling.
In 1850, Christopher and George Reichardt, brothers of John Reichardt, Jr., arrived in Little Rock. Christopher settled just south of the city of Little Rock at what is now known as Granite Mountain Springs, where he began in pioneer style the work of making a farm. He was young and had just married before leaving for America, his wife being a member of the Penzel family, which afterward located at Granite Mountain. He continued to live as a farmer and died in 1881, leaving eight children : Edward and Louis Reichardt, Mollie Kupferler, Annie Elkins, Lena Peil and Mattie Webber, all of Little Rock, and Robert Reichardt, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, and George Reichardt, of Fort Worth, Texas. In 1852, John M. Reichardt, Sr., father of John, Jr., Christopher and George Reichardt, with his wife and youngest son, Edward, and three daughters, Mrs. Fred Kramer, Louisa Wunderlich, and H. H. Rottakin, came to Little Rock.
Edward Reichardt, father of Colonel W. F. Reichardt, was born in 1844, and came to America in 1852, settling at Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a merchant and cotton buver and in his day was one of Little Rock's most progressive and successful business men. He was a part owner of the Rock Street Railway bridge across the Arkansas river; was part owner of the first street railway and one of the original promoters of the electric light system. He also served as alderman in the city council, rep- resenting the second ward. In 1872 he married Pauline Brandt, who was born in Altenkirchen, Prussia, on June 14, 1850. She was the daughter of Frederick William Brandt and came to America when she was three years of age, coming to Little Rock with her parents in 1865. She was one of Little Rock's most prominent women and did much for charity, having served as a member of the Board of Guardians for the Jane Kellog and Ada Thompson Home up to her death, June 3, 1909. Edward Reichardt died December 20, 1883, leaving five children: Mrs. Emma Hoeltzel, Jeannette Vaughan, Eva Reichardt, Albert E. and Walter F., all of Little Rock.
George Reichardt, son of John Reichardt, Sr., was one of Little Rock's oldest and wealthiest citizens. In the early '50s he made two trips by ox- team to California, but returned to Little Rock, Arkansas, where he mar- ried Miss Dora Hedwig, and became one of the most prominent men of the state. At the time of his death he was president of the Penzel Grocery Company, one of the largest wholesale honses in the state; president of the Little Rock Telephone Company and director of the Exchange National Bank and the German Building and Loan Association. He was one of the leading railroad contracters of the southwest and built many miles of rail- road, having constructed a large part of the Rock Island out of Little
9, 6 Barrin
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Rock. He died June 14, 1910, leaving two sons, John and George Reichardt, both residents of Little Rock.
Colonel Walter F. Reichardt was born and reared in the eity of Little Rock, and resides at the old Reichardt homestead, 1201 Weleh street, where he was born. He was educated in the Little Rock public schools and the University of Arkansas, taking a course in civil engineering at the latter institution. Colonel Reichardt is following his profession and has eon- sulting engineering offices in the Riegler building, of this eity. He is chief of engineers of the Arkansas National Guards and has done much work for the upbuilding of that organization. He surveyed and planned the National Guard Camp and Rifle Range at Beebe, Arkansas, and also did work on the Range at Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Besides his engineering abil- ity in the Guard, he is also an excellent shot with the rifle and is one of the few expert riflemen of the state. He has served two years as an officer of the Camp Perry rifle team of the state of Arkansas and has made a study of the construction of rifle ranges. Colonel Reichardt is well known throughout the country in his profession, being an associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Western Society of Engineers. He was also a member of the American Society of Munici- pal Improvements and presented a paper at the convention of this society at the World's Fair at St. Louis, 1904 on "The Sewerage System of Little Rock," and at Birmingham, Alabama, in 1906, on "Paving Materials of the Southwest." He was also a member of the International Engineering Con- gress held at St. Louis, in 1904. Colonel Reiehardt has mueh experience in his line, having served as assistant city engineer of Little Rock, city en- gineer of Pittsburg, Kansas, and consulting engineer on many important paving jobs in Oklahoma. He was also supervising engineer of buildings for the Southwestern Telephone and Telegraph Company, of Arkansas and Texas, and was likewise assistant engineer on the construction of the Iron Mountain Railway shops, at Baring Cross, Arkansas.
The Arkansas Roek Asphalt Company seeured his services as en- gineer during the paving of west Third street and west Eighteenth street. both of which were constructed of Arkansas roek asphalt and are in excel- lent condition now, no money having been expended in their repair.
Colonel Reichardt is well known in polities and has served as a miem- ber of the County Central Committee for the past eight years. He was secretary of the Confederate Reunion Encampment Committee of this eity and planned Camp Shaver, personally supervising the erection of more than one thousand tents and designing the sanitary system for this eamp, which was considered by many to be the most sanitary eamp in the United States. This camp accommodated more than ten thousand old veterans. Besides his profession of civil engineering, Colonel Reichardt has large real estate holdings in the city and is an excellent "booster" for Little Rock and Ar- kansas. He is secretary of the University Club, and the Board of Trade University Reunion Committee ; is a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fra- ternity and is now president of the Arkansas Alumni Association of that fraternity. He has served as delegate to the national conventions of this fraternity at Memphis and Atlanta, Georgia.
JUDGE JOHN C. BARROW is one of the leading and most honored members of the bar of Little Roek, where he has been engaged in the praetiee of his profession since 1883. He came to Arkansas as a young man, represented the state as a valiant soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, has been a member of the Arkansas bar for fully half a century, has been incumbent of public offiees of trust, and as a
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citizen and lawyer has ever maintained an unblemished escutcheon, thus meriting the unqualified esteem in which he is held.
Judge John Council Barrow was born in Autauga county, Alabama, March 31, 1836, a son of James Barrow, a farmer and a native of Onslow county, North Carolina, where he married Miss Parmelia Willie, daughter of John Willie, in 1816. Mr. and Mrs. James Barrow moved to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1833, and to Drew county, Arkansas, in 1821, where Mrs. Barrow died September 6, 1879, at the age of seventy-six years. James Barrow survived her, living to be ninety-eight years of age, dying at the home of Judge J. C. Barrow in Little Rock, January 16, 1888.
The Barrows of the United States sprang from three brothers, who came from England and settled, two in North Carolina, near together, and one in Virginia. The census of 1290, the first census ever taken in the United States, contains the names of thirty-eight Barrows of North Carolina, that of Abram Barrow, grandfather of Judge J. C. Barrow, being among the number. Washington Barrow was a Congressman from Tennessee, and several of the Barrows were wealthy planters in Louisiana. Many of them graduated from colleges, but few adopted professions; they have been chiefly farmers. Judge J. C. Barrow's mother was a cousin of Hon. William R. King, of Alabama, vice-president of the United States 1853-1857 during the administration of President Franklin Pierce. Mr. and Mrs. James Barrow left four children, Judge J. C. Barrow being the only one now surviving. Judge Barrow's education was acquired in the common schools of Alabama, and in his brother's (Professor James Barrow) Academy at Monticello, Arkansas. At the age of sixteen he accepted a position in a store at Wetumpka, Alabama; in 1852 he went to Montgomery, Alabama, accepting a similar position; in 1856 he went to New Orleans, but fell ill soon after his arrival and later returned to Alabama, where he again entered mercantile life, studying law at the same time. In 1858 he moved to Monticello, Arkansas, where he entered his brother's school, as before mentioned. Later, Judge Barrow took charge of the Hopeville (Calhoun county) Male and Female Academy, with great success. During this time he borrowed law books from Judge Rob- ert S. Fuller, of Princeton, and read law at all times when at leisure. Later, he entered the law office of Hon. J. B. McColloch, then state sen- ator and afterwards a Colonel in the Confederate army, at Hampton, Cal- houn county. After reading law in McColloch's office a year, Judge Barrow was admitted to the bar at Hampton by Hon. John C. Murray, circuit judge, and at once commenced the practice at that town with fair success until the war broke out, when he entered the army as First Lieutenant of Company A, Fourth Arkansas Infantry, under Captain J. B. McColloch. The company marched to Fayetteville, some four hun- dred miles, where Judge Barrow was re-elected First Lieutenant, but was never sworn in, as his health broke down, compelling him to return home, till February, 1862, when he again entered the army as a private in the same company. He fought in the Battle of Elk Horn and after- wards, there being a vacancy, he was put into the quartermaster's depart- ment. Judge Barrow also fought in the Battle of Chickamauga and at Resaca, and also in other engagements. Just before the Battle of Corinth, Brigadier General McNair ordered him to go with the money, about seventy-nine thousand dollars, and the papers belonging to the regiment, wherever he might deem safe, and there report for further orders, which he did, a singular proof of the confidence his superior officers placed in his integrity, honor and loyalty to the Southern cause. In the Battle of Elk Horn he was wounded by a bullet in the right shoulder ; he was twice captured and twice made his escape. At Franklin, Tennessee, he was
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