USA > Arkansas > Historical review of Arkansas : its commerce, industry and modern affairs > Part 8
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At Lonoke, Arkansas, on the 20th of January, 1875, Mr. England was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor M. Chapline, a daughter of George M. Chapline and a sister of Judge Chapline, of Lonoke. Mr. and Mrs. England are the parents of five children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth .- Wilhelmina, Nellie, John R., Gladys and Louise, the last three of whom remain at the parental home. John R. England is engaged in the management of his father's business at Eng- land, Arkansas, and Wilhelmina is the wife of Thomas W. Barron, her home being in St. Louis.
In politics Mr. England accords an uncompromising allegiance to the principles and policies promulgated by the Democratic party, and while he has never manifested aught of ambition for the honors or emoluments of public office of any description, he is decidedly in sympathy with all measures and enterprises advanced for the general welfare of both Arkan- sas and of his present home. By reason of the great amount of good he accomplished while a citizen of Arkansas Mr. England is well deserving of mention in this compilation devoted to the careers of representative Arkansans. He is affiliated with a number of professional and fraternal Vol. III-4
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organizations of representative character and in their religious faith the England family are consistent members of the Baptist church, to whose good works they are liberal contributors of their time and means.
EUGENE WILLIAMS. Among the representative citizens and business men of Forrest City, St. Francis county, Arkansas, whose contributions to progress and good government have been of the most insistent order, is Eugene Williams, an influential banker in eastern Arkansas and at the present time, in 1911, treasurer of the St. Francis Levee Board.
Mr. Williams is a native son of Forrest City and the date of his nativity was December 23, 1882. His parents, W. E. and Eddie Cham- bliss (Mallory) Williams, are both living, and concerning the career of the father further data appears elsewhere in this volume in the sketch dedicated to him. He served as sheriff of St. Francis county for a period of sixteen years and is a man of power in the political world in this section of the state. After completing the curriculum of the public schools of Forrest City Engene Williams, the immediate subject of this review, attended a male academy at West Point, Mississippi, for one year. When sixteen years of age he returned to his home city, where he as- snmed the responsibilities of deputy elerk in the office of his father, who was then sheriff of the county. In 1902, at the age of twenty years, he promoted and organized the Bank of Forrest City, of which he is man- ager and cashier. This stable monetary institution has a capital, surplus and undivided profits amounting to eighty-three thousand dollars and it is an important factor in the financial affairs of eastern Arkansas.
In polities Mr. Williams is aligned as a loyal supporter of the cause of the Democratic party and he has ever done all in his power to advance the general welfare of the community. He is treasurer of the St. Francis Levee Board and it may be said here that this organization has been one of the most potent influences in the development of this section of Arkansas, where it has been the means of enriching the planting in- terests to a point never dreamed of in the earlier days. This board is notable also for being the strongest single force in the political affairs of the entire state. In the most significant sense of the word Mr. Will- iams is a resourceful, publie-spirited and eminently useful citizen. In a fraternal way he is connected with the Masonic order, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and other representative organizations.
In the year 1901 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Williams to Miss Sadie Moseley, of West Point, Mississippi. They have two children, Eugene, Jr., and Mortimer. In their religions faith Mr. and Mrs. Will- iams are stanch adherents of the teachings of the Methodist church and they are prominent factors in connection with the best social activities of the younger generation in this city.
SILAS D. CAMPBELL. It is with distinctive satisfaction that the biographer directs attention to the life history of him to whom this sketch is dedicated, for not only is the lesson of personal worth and accomplish- ment such as bears its lesson, but in the tracing of his ancestral history there issue many points of interest,-a narrative that tells of honest and industrions sons of the American Republic, that gives evidence of the deeds of loyal men and soldiers of a lost cause, who nevertheless distin- guished themselves for faithfulness and personal bravery.
Silas Davis Campbell is assistant attorney for the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company and is a member of the well known law firm of Campbell & Suits, of Newport, Jackson county, Ar- kansas. Mr. Campbell was born in Russellville, Kentucky, the date of
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his birth being January 3, 1867, and he is a son of Rev. John W. Campbell, a preacher and teacher of the Presbyterian faith, the scene of much of his endeavors having been Lawrence and Sharp counties, Arkansas. He was a native of Todd county, Kentucky, born in 1840, and he met with death in a team-run-a-way accident while living in Sidney, Arkansas, in the year 1880, at the comparatively young age of forty years. Rev. Campbell early manifested a studious turn of mind and after availing himself of the advantages afforded in the public schools of his native place he attended and was graduated in Bethel College, in Bath county, Kentucky. His father's people were from North Carolina, where the family settled in an early day, the original progenitor of the name in America having come hither from Scotland. The Campbells were ardent sympathizers with the cause of the Confederacy during the strenuous period of the Civil war and a number of Rev. Campbell's brothers were Southern soldiers.
In 1866 was solemnized the marriage of Rev. Campbell to Miss Charlene K. Davis, a daughter of Rev. Silas N. Davis, a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, who passed the major portion of his life in the old Blue Grass commonwealth. Mrs. Campbell was one of a number of chil- dren and was born in December, 1843. She was graduated in the Green- ville, Kentucky, Academy, and was a popular and successful teacher in that institution until the "Lincoln Oath" was made a test of fitness for a member of the faculty, when she was denied the further privilege of teach- ing there, coming soon afterward to Arkansas. The "Lincoln Oath" was' one administered to persons suspected of disloyalty and as Mrs. Campbell could not swear that she had not sympathized with the Confederate cause and given it some aid or comfort, she was disqualified for further useful- ness to her alma mater. After their arrival in Arkansas Mrs. Campbell was a valuable aid to her husband in his religious and educational work. She taught in Sharp, Lawrence and Independence counties, and after the death of her honored husband she became a member of her son's house- hold, at Newport, where she resided until her death. In August, 1908, she stumbled and fell over a foot stool, from the effects of which accident she died on the 6th of the same month. She is survived by two sons,- Silas Davis, of Newport, the subject of this review; and Dr. H. G. Campbell, of Asher, Oklahoma,
Mr. Campbell, of this article, was a child of but one year of age at the time of is parents' immigration to Arkansas. He attained to years of maturity in Lawrence and Sharp counties, and his chief work as a student was executed in the Arkansas College, at Batesville, in which insti- tution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1891, this being the last class to go out of that college under Dr. Isaac Long, its founder and a leading educator in the state. In the same institution he pursued post- graduate work and in 1905 received the degree of Master of Arts. Thus equipped with a liberal education, Mr. Campbell entered upon the pro- fession of teaching and during the years 1893 and 1894 he was principal of the public schools of Batesville. Believing, however, in the greater possibilities for advancement in the profession of law he abandoned the school room and read law. He studied the texts under the direction of Judge Yancey and Judge Fulkerson, both prominent attorneys at Bates- ville. Mr. Campbell made rapid progress in the absorption and assimi- lation of the science of jurisprudence and he was admitted to the bar of the state in 1894, being admitted to practice before the supreme court of Arkansas in 1897. In 1895 Mr. Campbell established his home at Newport and in 1898 he became involved in politics as a candidate for the office of prosecuting attorney for the Third Arkansas District. He won
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the nomination and in the ensuing election was successful at the polls. After two years of most efficient service in this capacity he was chosen as his own successor in the office, continuing incumbent thereof until 1902. In 1904 he was appointed as one of the attorneys for the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Company, whereupon he dissolved his relations as a partner in the firm of Phillips & Campbell, formed in 1895. In 1906 Mr. Campbell entered into a partnership alliance with Fred R. Suits, under the firm name of Campbell & Suits. In connection with his practice Mr. Campbell represents the Arkansas Bank & Trust Company, of Newport, and is retained by several business firms. As attorney for the Iron Mountain railroad he has nine counties of the north- eastern part of the state under his jurisdiction. In addition to his legal work he is a director and a member of the executive committee of the Arkansas Bank & Trust Company. Mr. Campbell is possessed of a bril- liant mind, is alert and diligent in discharging the business at hand and all his undertakings are characterized by that persistency of purpose and laudable ambition which lead to success.
On the 26th of December, 1899, at Pulaski, Tennessee, was solemn- ized the marriage of Mr. Campbell to Miss Willie Leone Cox, a daughter of William L. Cox. Mr. Cox. who died in 1910, was a mechanic and was largely engaged in the installing of saw mills during his active business career. Ile was a loyal Confederate at the time of the Civil war. He was a native son of Alabama and in 1871 married Miss Elizabeth Tunnell, who now maintains her home at Newport, Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. Cox became the parents of the following children,-Willie L., who is now Mrs. Campbell : Eleanor, who married J. O. Griffith, of Columbia, Ten- nessee ; Jessie and Henry, both of Memphis, Tennessee : Mrs. Annie Owen, of Newport ; and Samuel, who was a volunteer in the Spanish American war and who is still in the service of the United States army. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell have three children .- Norman, born in 1900: Shelby. born in 1902 : and Leone, born in 1908.
In his political allegiance Mr. Campbell is a staunch advocate of the principles and policies promulgated by the Democratic party and when an active participant in political affairs he was frequently called upon by the people of Jackson county to represent their interests as a delegate to various state Democratic conventions. He is well acquainted with many of the leading Democratic politicians in the state and this friend- ship with prominent men is of considerable value to him in connection with his professional work. In a fraternal way he is a valued and appreci- ative member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is past noble grand of the lodge at Newport. He represented Odd Fellow- ship in the Grand Lodge of the state in 1908. and is a member of the finance committee of the organization by appointment of the grand master. Judge Stuckey. He is also affiliated with the time-honored Masonic order and with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. In their religious faith he is a Presbyterian and his wife is an Episcopalian. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are popular factors in connection with the best social activities of their home city and their spacious and beautiful home is the scene of extensive and liberal hospitality.
LANCELOT MINOR. For many years a prominent and prosperous at- torney of Jackson county, Lancelot Minor, familiarly known throughout Newport, his home city, as "Colonel" Minor, has recently become actively identified with the real estate and collecting business, having in a measure retired from his profession. A son of Dr. Charles Minor, he was born June 15. 1846. in Albemarle county, Virginia, of honored ancestry. His paternal
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grandfather, Lancelot Minor, whose home was at "Minor's Folly," Louisa county, Virginia, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was afterwards a planter of note. He married and reared five children, as fol- lows: Professor John B., who held the chair of law at the University of Virginia for fifty-two years; Lancelot, farmer, deceased; Lucien, professor of law in the Williamsburg College for many years; Charles M. D .; and Kittie.
Born in Louisa county, Virginia, in 1818, Charles Minor, M. D., was graduated when young from the University of Virginia, afterward receiv- ing the degree of M. D. at the Baltimore Medical College. He was sub- sequently both physician and educator, being, perhaps, more especially in- terested in educational affairs, having founded the Brookhill Preparatory School for boys, of which he was subsequently the principal until his death, in 1861. Dr. Minor married his cousin, Lucy Walker Minor, a daughter of Peter Minor, and of their thirteen children, twelve grew to years of maturity, their mother, who passed away in 1879, training them to lives of industry and usefulness.
A school boy when the war between the states began, Lancelot was preparing for the University in his father's school. In 1862, finding resist- ance to the call of the Confederacy no longer possible, he enlisted in the Rockbridge Artillery, and under command of "Stonewall" Jackson took part in the Shenandoah Valley campaigns, and participated in the en- gagements at Chantilly, Port Republic, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, the Seven- Days fight around Richmond, the two battles at Cold Harbor, Fredericks- burg, Chancellorsville, and was in the trenches around Richmond until the evacuation of the city. Mr. Minor's last battle was fought at Cumberland church, April 8, 1865, the day before the surrender at Appomattox. In that engagement he was shot through the body, a rifle ball entered in his left side and making its exit at the left shoulder blade. Returning home, he helped gather things together for his mother, with whom he remained until the fall of 1864, when he migrated to Kansas, where, when farming failed to provide for his necessities, he applied himself to other industrial em- ployments.
Coming to Arkansas in December, 1811, Colonel Minor, who had previously farmed near Paola, Kansas, and had tried life in Nebraska, es- tablished himself as a farmer in Jacksonport, from there coming to New- port, where he ran the first milk dairy. Subsequently turning his attention to the study of law, for which he had made some preparation in his Vir- ginia home, he joined his brother in the practice of law, and in 1876 was admitted to the Arkansas bar, at Jacksonport, before Judge Byers. The Colonel was quite successful in his professional career, and continued the practice of law until 1901, in the meantime being for a number of years associated with Hon. Franklin Doswell, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1874, the firm name being Doswell & Minor.
One of the progressive citizens of Newport, Colonel Minor assisted in the organization of the First National Bank, of the Arkansas Bank and Trust Company of Newport, and of the ill-fated Bank of Newport, holding stock in each. He was also one of the original stockholders of the Jackson County Telephone Company, now the Newport Telephone Company, and took a financial interest in the Farmers' Telephone Company.
One of the leading members of the Democratic party, the Colonel has frequently served as a delegate to state conventions, and at the Democratic National Convention of 1884 helped nominate Grover Cleveland for the presidency of the United States. lle was also an alternate to one of the Saint Louis Democratic National Conventions. Having never swerved from the religious faith in which he was born and bred, Colonel Minor is a
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valued member of the Episcopal church, in which he has been a warden for twenty years, and is now a vestryman. He is a member and past master of Jackson Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; a member and past high priest of Jackson Chapter, R. A. M .; and for a year was junior warden of the Grand Lodge of Arkansas.
In 1866 Colonel Minor was united in marriage with Emma Minor, a daughter of Franklin Minor, a relative. She died in 1885, leaving one daughter, Louisa. The Colonel married in July, 1884, Theodosia Ferguson, of Augusta, Arkansas, and to them five children have been born, namely : Minnie, Mildred, Willie Overton, Alcorn and Lancelot.
WILLIAM D. MCLAIN is numbered among the conspicuous citizens of Newport, Jackson county, Arkansas, where he has been eminently succes- ful in his various business enterprises and where he has been a prominent and influential factor in the material upbuilding of the city. His lines have been cast here almost from the time of his entry into the business world and his career discloses a phenomenal rise from penury to a position of affluence among the best citizens of Newport. He was born in Lawrence county, Arkansas, on the 21st of November, 1859, and is a son of John H. McLain, who came to this state from Tennessee in the ante-bellum days. John H. MeLain was born in 1835 and was a loval and faithful soldier in the Confederate army during the strenuous period of the Civil war. After his arrival in Arkansas he settled in Lawrence county, where was solemnized his marriage to Miss Sarah C. Agee, a daughter of William H. Agce. The subject of this review is the oldest in a family of eight children and is the only child, save one, to raise a family. The exception was his brother John M., who passed away as a mill man in 1907, leaving one son, John D., who is a member of William D. McLain's household. The grandfather of him to whom this sketch is dedicated was Charles MeLain, who was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Lawrence county, Arkansas. at the time of his death, in about the year 1870. He became the father of the following children : John H. and Squire, both Confederate soldiers; Will- iam C., of Newport, Arkansas; and Mrs. Christina Smith, who died in Lawrence county.
On the old home farm in Lawrence county, Arkansas, William D. Mc- Lain was reared to maturity. His early education, hardly worth the name, was gleaned within the sacred precincts of the country school. For two years prior to attaining his majority Mr. Mclain was a temporary resident of Indiana, engaged in "Roving," as he accounts for his absence from home, and while there he met and married his wife. Becoming the head of a household before he was of age, he found it important to adopt industrious habits and his attention was drawn to saw-milling as offering an opening to an ambitious youth. He secured employment with the mill firm of Gunn & Black, at Brinkley, Arkansas, and from a common laborer he rose to the position of head sawyer of that concern. In 1884 he came to Newport, Jackson county, Arkansas, where he assumed the responsibilities of the position of head sawyer of the Rudolph Stecker Coopcrage Company, sub- sequently becoming general manager of that firm and finally purchasing the plant, which he removed to Woodruff county, where he operated it for a period of four years under his own name. Moving the mill again, he located it at MeLain's Switch, a short distance below Newport, on the Rock Island Railroad. He continued to be identified with that line of enterprise until 1906, in which year he disposed of the business. With the sale of his mill Mr. McLain abandoned saw milling and turned his attention to the lumber and land business. He was an instrumental factor in the organiza- tion of the McLain & Holden Land & Lumber Company, in 1906, and is
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now secretary of that important concern. It was incorporated with a cap- ital stock of thirty thousand dollars and it deals in farm and timber lands, owning the chief lumber yard at Newport, in addition to which building supplies are handled. The company laid out the addition called "East New- port" upon two hundred acres of its own land and it is now exploiting the sale of lots and encouraging the improvement of them with cottage homes.
Mr. MeLain was one of the organizers of the Arkansas Bank & Trust Company, in which he was a director for a number of years. In 1910 he did a fine service for Newport by erecting the MeLain Hotel, a metropolitan hotel somewhat in advance of the demands of the time. The building is three stories in height, is built of pressed brick and is equipped throughout with modern furnishings and sanitary appliances, the cost of the same being some thirty-five thousand dollars.
At Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, on the 20th of October, 1879, was cele- brated the marriage of Mr. MeLain to Miss Cordelia E. Mosier, of Loogoo- tee, Indiana, a daughter of John C. Mosier, of Daviess county, Indiana. Mrs. McLain was summoned to the life eternal in 1897, and is survived by : Elizabeth, who is the wife of J. R. Holden, of Newport, Arkansas ; and Miss Sarah Elva Mclain, also of Newport. On the 27th of March, 1901, Mr. MeLain was united in marriage to Miss Clara D. Cooper, a daughter of Dill Cooper, who immigrated to Arkansas from Georgia in an early day. To this union have been born five children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth : James E., Audrey, Paul, Leroy and Robert.
Mr. MeLain is one of the vice-presidents of the Newport Board of Trade, has been a member of the school board for the past six years and in his political convictions is a staunch advocate of the cause of the Dem- ocratic party. In fraternal circles he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Woodmen of the World. His religious faith is in harmony with the tenets of the Christian church, in which he is a member of the board of trustees and to whose charities and benevolences he is a most liberal contributor. He is a man of remarkable vitality, un- usual executive ability and in his civic attitude he is ever on the alert to do all in his power to advance the general welfare of the city and state at large.
JUDGE JOHN R. LOFTIN is distinguished for his services as a veteran of the Confederate army, also respected for his worth as a citizen of promi- nence and for his active work in the advancement of the agricultural inter- ests of Jackson county, more especially in the vicinity of Newport. his home. He was born May 1, 1838, in Rutherford county, Tennessee, and came to Jackson county, Arkansas, in 1849, with his father, Eldridge Loftin.
Colonel William Loftin, the Judge's grandfather, emigrated from the British Isles to the United States in Colonial days, and during the Revolu- tionary war served as a soldier, having charge of a company of North Car- olina militia. His importance as an officer is proved by the fact that a re- ward was offered by the British forces for his capture and delivery to the enemy. On coming to this country, Colonel Loftin first settled in Virginia, having received a land grant from the Crown, his land lying near Peters- burg, and, probably, adjacent to and extending over into North Carolina. He married a Miss Dunn, and their children were as follows: Thomas, who as a soldier in the war of 1812 took part in the battle of New Orleans and claimed to have fired the ball that killed General Pakenham, commander- in-chief of the British forces; William; Henry; Isaac; Mrs. Anthony Ken- nard, who died in Texas; Mrs. Lavina Featherstone, who passed her last years in Bentonville, Arkansas; Mrs. Brothers; Mrs. Batton and Eldridge.
Eldridge Loftin was born in Rutherford county, North Carolina, in 1789, the year in which George Washington was inaugurated as the first
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president of the United States. Although his father possessed considerable wealth, being a slave owner and a planter, he had no special educational advantages, having been taught to read, it is said, by his wife after their marriage. Coming with his family to Arkansas in 1849, he located near Jacksonport, Jackson county, and was there engaged in tilling the re- mainder of his days. Ilis wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Moore, was born in Livingston county, Alabama, a daughter of Lodowick Moore, who came of Revolutionary stock, and who had two sons in the battle of New Orleans in the war of 1812. She died in Tennessee, in 1844, leaving ten children, namely: Robert M., who died in Jackson county, Arkansas : Lucy, wife of Robert Dillon, died in the same county; Albert G. died. in 1853, in Thibodaux, Louisiana ; Richard died unmarried; Eldridge died in Crawford county, Arkansas; Lavinia, wife of Charles Garmon, died near Jacksonport : Elizabeth, deccased, married J. D. Mccullough, and spent her last years in Texas; William died in Franklin county, Arkansas; Samuel, of Grubbs, Jackson county, died in 1906 : and John R., the special subject of this sketch.
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