USA > Arkansas > Pulaski County > Little Rock > The annals of Christ church parish of Little Rock, Arkansas, from A. D. 1839 to A. D. 1899 > Part 23
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Dr. Cantrell graduated at this University, March 6, 1847. The year following he spent at New York, where he received the appointment of assistant physician in Bellevue
#This sketch is copied from "Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Central Arkansas. published by the Goodspeed Publishing Co., at Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis in 1889.
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Hospital. He was then appointed to relieve Dr. Winter- bottom, as physician of the Nursery Hospital at Blackwell's Island, and remained there during the summer of 1848. In the following year he went to New Orleans, La., where, feel- ing qualified, he proposed to enter upon his life work.
The solitary condition of his father, however, impelled him to abandon his purpose. After one winter of medi- cal experience at New Orleans, where he treated yellow fever, in epidemic form, he established himself at Pine Bluff, Ark., in the vicinity of which his father resided as a cotton planter, and later at Little Rock. Here, in 1849, he met his future wife, Miss Ellen Maria Harrell, who had lately arrived with her family, from Nashville, Tenn., fleeing from the cholera, then decimating the city of Nashville. On February 13, 1852, Dr. Cantrell and Miss Harrell were married in Little Rock by the Rev. A. R. Winfield. During what proved to be the last year of his father's life, Dr. Cantrell took his family to live on an adjoining plantation, and was with him at the time of his death, September 5, 1854. Afterward he resumed his practice in Little Rock, where he rapidly built up a solid reputation as a practitioner.
Dr. Cantrell has filled, successively and honorably, the positions of city physician, county physician, president of the State Board of Medical Examiners, president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, delegate to the Medical Associa- tion, at Nashville, Tenn., besides attending to a heavy prac- tiee. He is the only surviving member of the first medical association in Little Rock, which he helped to organize. The managing board included R. A. Watkins, M. D., president ; Wm. A. Cantrell, M. D., secretary; A. W. Webb, M. D .; Craven Peyton, M. D .; George Sizer, M. D., and Corydon MeAlmont, M. D. On May 23, 1861, the president of the
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Confederate States of America, at Montgomery, Ala., ap- pointed him surgeon of "First Arkansas Mounted Volun- teers," Colonel T. J. Churchill, commander, in the Second Arkansas Regiment of the Provisional Army of the Confed- erate States. In this capacity he served in several engage- ments.
After Lee's surrender he was solicited to take charge of the United States Post Hospital, at the Little Rock gar- rison. He accepted and held this position of acting assistant surgeon during the command of Brevet Major-General Arnold, captain Light Battery G, Fifth Artillery, and that of Colonel C. H. Smith, Twenty-eighth Infantry, a period of five years. His record as a physician at this hospital added much to the reputation for sagacity and skill, already earned. Very lately he has had charge of the medical department at the School for the Blind, in this city, and was appointed trustee of that institution by Governor S. P. Hughes .*
In 1855 Dr. Cantrell became a confirmed member of Christ Church (Episcopal) under the hands of Rt. Rev. George W. Freeman, who was his constant friend until death. He served as a member of the Vestry of Christ Church during the incumbency of Rev. Andrew F. Freeman : of Rt. Rev. Henry C. Lay, Bishop of the Diocese of Arkansas, and Ree- tor of Christ Church; of Rev. J. T. Wheat, and Rev. P. G. Robert; was Junior, and, later, Senior Warden with Rev. Wallace Carnahan ; Senior Warden with Rev. John Gass, and Senior Warden with Rev. G. Gordon Smeade.
While the social amenity of his disposition and grace of manner have caused him to be sought by the most
*He is now (A. D. 1900) President of the County Board of Medical Examiners.
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polished circles, the earnest simplicity and sympathy of his nature have endeared him to the most humble in rank. Like a full river, bravely bearing its own burdens to the sea, yet dispensing life and refreshment on each side, his course has shown a long succession of private and public services, which prove that the prominent desire of his soul has been to be useful.
Mrs. Cantrell is the daughter of Rev. Samuel Harrell and Ellen Catherine Collins, his wife.
She was born at Princess Anne Courthouse, in Princess Anne County, Va., where her father was located, being a mem- ber of the Virginia Methodist Conference. He died at Mead- ville, Va., during her infancy, and is buried near MeKendree Church, where he preached. Mrs. Cantrell is the grand- daughter of Rev. Asa Harrell and Rachel Beeman, his wife, of Gatesville, in Gates County, N. C., formerly of Harrells- ville, Hertford County, N. C., which town, now in decay, was orginally in Chowan County, from which Hertford was formed in 1759. Asa Harrell served in the War of the Revo- lution under General Horatio Gates, in 1780-81. He was ordained Deacon in the Methodist Church by Bishop Asbury, Gates County, N. C., and was ordained Elder by Bishop Mc- Candery at Somerton, Nansemond County, Va., on the 20th of November, 1820. He was the son of Jesse Harrell and Elishua Savage, his wife, and died at 80 years of age, leaving a numerous posterity.
Mrs. Cantrell accompanied her widowed mother, brother and sister to Nashville, Tenn., where she was educated under the direction of her mother-a woman of unusual talent, superior education and varied accomplishments, which she employed in the support of her family, as principal of a semi- nary for young ladies, situated on Vine street, near Union,
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Nashville. Later the family came to Little Rock, in the spring of 1849, and finally settled on a farm on the Arkansas river. Mrs. Cantrell is a graduate of the Nashville Female Academy, Dr. C. D. Elliott and R. A. Lapsley, principals, also of the French Academy, M. Audigier, principal, and is a proficient in music. She has been a writer for magazines and newspapers-her earliest contributions at 16 years of age, having appeared in Godey's Lady's Book. She repre- sented the State as essayist in the Woman's Congress at the World's Exposition at Chicago, also at the Exposition of Nashville, Tenn., and has served as State Regent in the Na- tional Society of Daughters of the American Revolution. She was confirmed in the first Christ Church in 1855 by the Rt. Rev. George W. Freeman. She is now the secretary of the Diocese in the Woman's Auxiliary to the Board of Missions.
The children of Dr. and Mrs. W. A. Cantrell, all natives of Little Rock and vicinity, each of whom has received a classical education, are :
1. Lillian-Mrs. Joseph Lovell Bay, of St. Louis, Mo.
2. Ellen May-Mrs. Decatur Axtell, of Richmond, Va. At Hot Springs, Va., their summer residence, Mr. and Mrs. Axtell have been the chief inspirers and contributors in the building of a Church, which was opened for service on Good Friday, April 1, and consecrated October 14, 1899, by Bishop Arthur McGill Randolph, of South Virginia.
3. Daisy-Mrs. Lucius J. Polk, of Galveston, Texas.
4. Wendel-Who died, aged 11 months.
5. Isadore-Mrs. Philo H. Goodwyn, of Galveston, Texas.
6. Bessie-For some years secretary of "The Little Rock Memorial Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy."
ST. ALKMUND'S CHURCH, DERBY, ENGLAND.
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7. Deaderick Harrell-Of Little Rock, lawyer.
8. William Armour, Jr .- Of Fort Worth, Texas, rail- road agent.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bay are Lillian, Mansfield Cantrell, Amy Axtell (Mrs. Robert Tyler Sturgeon, of St. Louis, Mo.), Lovell, Ellen Virginia, who died in infancy, and Margaret Wendel.
The children of Colonel and Mrs. Polk are Armour Cantrell, Anne Leroy, Lucius Junius, Jr., Margaret Wendel,. Daisy Cantrell, and Ellen Harrell, who died in infancy.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Goodwyn are Philo Hiram, Jr., and William Cantrell.
HON. WM. W. SMITH.
Hon. Wm. W. Smith was Associate Junior Warden of Christ Church with Major John D. Adams.
A. D. 1838-1888. Hon. Wm. W. Smith, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Arkansas, was born in Cokes- burg, Abbeville County, S. C., October 12, 1838. He was a graduate of South Carolina College, Columbia, S. C., and married Emma Connor, August 9, 1865. He came to Arkan- sas in 1866, was admitted to the bar in 1867, and entered into partnership with ex-Governor Simon P. Hughes (at present Associate Justice of Supreme Court) in the practice of law in the same year at Clarendon, Monroe County. He served at the bar till 1882, when he was elected one of the Associate Judges of the Supreme Court. He died December 18, 1888. His widow survives. The children of Judge Smith and Emma Connor, his wife, were Julia, Emma, Dennie, Frances,
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Annie, and an infant son, William Wright Smith. Only two lived to be grown. Dennie was married February 24, 1892, to Harry B. Carter, and died August 18, 1895, leaving one child, Albert Carter. Judge Smith was an active and faith- ful member of the Episcopal Church. He served as Vestry- man and Superintendent of the Sunday School of the Church at Helena, Ark., where he lived in 1877, and, during his resi- dence in Little Rock, served as Vestryman and Junior Warden in Christ Church. As a staunch friend and counselor, he was inexpressibly prized by his Rector, Rev. Wallace Carna- han, who, in a time of parochial distress, was indebted to him for moral support and affectionate sympathy. His name adorns these annals as a beloved and honored Warden.
In the fifty-first volume of Arkansas Reports of the Supreme Court the opening pages are set apart and entitled "In Memoriam." Of the beautiful tributes there presented by distinguished orators, two, by those who knew him as a Churchman, are transferred to these pages :
Mr. Justice Smith died on the 18th day of December, 1888. The sad intelligence of his death was announced to the people of the State by the following proclamation :
Again the State of Arkansas mourns the loss of one of her best citizens.
The Hon. W. W. Smith, Associate Justice of the Su- preme Court, departed this life at 11 o'clock p. m. the 18th instant, at his residence in the city of Little Rock. In his death the family has lost a most excellent, kind and affection- ate husband and father; society, one of its most valued and best beloved members; the bar of the State, a modest, earnest, able and upright member ; the judiciary, a just, conscientious and able judge; the State, a citizen of great worth, faitli- ful, patriotic and true in all the relations of life; and the Church, a meek, devout and consistent member. In token of respect for his memory, the flag on the Statehouse will
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. be lowered to halfmast until after his funeral, and the offices of the State government will be closed on Thursday, December 20, after 12 o'clock m., that the State officers and employees may attend the funeral.
SIMON P. HUGHES, Governor of the State of Arkansas.
Immediately after this announcement a meeting of the bar of the Supreme Court was held in the Supreme Court- room. The meeting was called to order by Governor Hughes and upon his motion, Chief Justice Cockrill was requested to act as chairman. On taking the chair, and after making other remarks appropriate to the occasion, Judge Cockrill spoke of Judge Smith as follows :
He came upon the bench six years ago, admirably equipped and prepared for the discharge of the duties of his office. His previous training had been rigid from close and systematic study. Those who knew him had no apprehen- sion as to his career upon the beneh, for they knew that he brought to bear upon its duties an aptitude for labor, and a well-trained mind that was clear and logical and never uncer- tain in its conclusions. They have not been disappointed in the result. His labor was gigantic. Immediately upon his entry upon the bench it was perceptible that business was dispatched more expeditiously, and even the most critical will be compelled to acknowledge that his work was well done. He may have committed errors. He must have been more than mortal not to have done so. In the discharge of his duties he was industrious, unassuming and far seeing.
He had the patience and willingness to hear and to learn, which, it has been said, is, in the assemblage of judicial qualities, perhaps the rarest and most valuable. His lucid and logical manner of statement is apparent to all who have listened to or who have read after him.
His judicial style is simple and direct. It was never diffuse and rarely ambiguous. It was in these respects but
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the reflex of his character, for he was ingenuous, frank and direct to a greater degree than any man I have ever known. These qualities, aided by his clear perception and power of mental concentration, enabled him quickly to detect nonessen- tials in a cause, and penetrate at once into the very heart of a controversy-rarely being led off from the controlling points by any wavering desire to follow up useless investiga- tions. The duties of his office circumscribed the limits of his ambition, and he delighted in their performance-not from any sense of pride of place or power, for he was of a sturdy mould that despised ostentation, and recognized more and more as the swift years went by, that officeholding is among the least of the pleasures or personal benefits of life. His ambition was to be useful to his fellow-men by the faith- ful performance of a sacred trust. No standard of honor was higher or sense of justice more robust than his. He recognized that the importance of an upright and capable judiciary cannot be overestimated in its value to the State. His aim was to lend his aid in perfecting it as far as in him lay. His effort was not without its fruits; but what he accomplished was not by the exercise of the qualities I have mentioned alone. It avails nothing that a judge is only patient, laborious and able. There is another quality, with- out which these are useless. It is courage. I do not refer to personal courage, though Judge Smith was endued, as I am informed by his war comrades, with as tried a courage as ever marched up to the roaring throats of a deep ranged artil- lery-but I refer to a bravery of a higher and a rarer kind- bravery which could be steadfast under the criticism of friends and against the assaults of enemies. In this, no man. I believe, in modern or in ancient times, excelled him. No popular prejudice or partisan clamor could move him. He was zealously devoted to duty and became a martyr to his devotion. He has as certainly sacrificed his life upon the altar of public service as did ever a soldier who, at his coun- try's bidding, meet death upon the field of battle. Weary and worn with the travail of his office. he has dragged ont the past vear, bravely battling to regain the strength he had lost in the
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service of his people. He is no longer trammeled. He is delivered out of bondage. Though dead he speaks. His voice, through his decisions, will still find audience among those to come after us. His impress is upon the bar and the judiciary, and through them upon the people. His influ- ence was always for good; with him there was no retrograde movement. He despised hypocrisy and detested wrong. While the hands of all who knew him are raised to do him reverence, would that mine had the cunning to bring the sweetest rose of all the field to deck his name, for none deserved it more. I trust that better words than I can speak will tell how his loss will be mourned and felt. I do not think it the exaggeration of praise to say that now, when he has just reached the midday of his usefulness, the State could have better spared any other of her best and most loyal citizens. In reverent gratitude I do thank God that he has blessed this land with the birth of such a man, and made it my privilege to know him.
Mr. W. S. McCain was appointed secretary of the meet- ing. Upon motion, the chair appointed a committee on reso- lutions, consisting of Messrs. Sol F. Clark, U. M. Rose, E. W. Kimball, John Fletcher, J. W. Blackwood.
The chair appointed Judge Rose to present them to the United States Court; Mr. George W. Caruth to present them to the Supreme Court; Mr. W. C. Ratcliffe to present them to the Pulaski Chancery Court, and Mr. E. W. Kimball to present them to the Pulaski Circuit Court.
The resolutions were presented to the Supreme Court by George W. Caruth, late United States Minister to Spain, him- self a faithful Churchman, in the form here quoted :
Supreme Court of Arkansas, Saturday, May 18, 1889.
Present : Sterling R. Cockrill, Chief Justice; Burrill B. Battle, Monti H. Sandels, Wilson E. Hemingway, and Simon P. Hughes, Associate Justices.
-22-
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Mr. George W. Caruth addressed the court as follows : MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONORS :
W. W. Smith, the Senior Associate Justice of this court, departed this life, after a long illness, on the 18th day of December, 1888.
On that day his professional brethren, keenly alive to the great calamity which had befallen both them and the State, took order touching his death, adopted a series of resolutions, feebly expressive of their feeling of admiration, love and respect for their deceased friend, and deputed me to present them in this tribunal, that they may be writ upon your honors' records, there to remain as long as those records themselves remain, as an earnest, heartfelt, but inadequate tribute to
that upright judge. As I speak these words I am painfully impressed with the frequency with which death has flung its awful shadow over and about this chamber. When I came here, but a few years ago, to be enrolled at this bar-and oh, how short and swift have been those years-there sat on the bench, English, whose kindly features look down on us from yonder speaking likeness; Walker, whose strong, rugged personality made him so great a figure in our jurisprudence, and Har- rison. English and Walker, after serving their country with fidelity and ability, now sleep with their fathers. Harrison alone, is left. Then came the courtly and learned Eakin, who soon wearied of the struggle and went to join the wife of his youth, who had preceded him to the great hereafter. There at the clerk's desk sat Luke E. Barber, whose presence here was a benediction for so many years, and by his side, his deputy, his brother, Gwyn ; both are gone. Following fast and quick after these distinguished dead, came our lamented friend, and another judge of this court ceased from his labors. In deliver- ing addresses of this character, one is naturally apprehensive, lest, following the admirable maxim, de mortius nil nesi bonum, exaggerated phrases and extravagant eulogiums would find a place. But in this instance it is but the plain truth when I say my apprehension is not that I will say too much, but too little; in a word, that I will not be able to do simple
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justice to the exalted character, great abilities and lovable qualities of him of whom I now speak. No language I could employ would be too strong in expressing my own estimate of the man and the judge.
A. D. 1838-1882. Judge Smith was a native of South Carolina, born near Cokesburg, in the year 1838. He had the benefit of a college education, having graduated from the South Carolina College in 1859. The year after his gradua- tion he came to this State and settled in Monroe County. At the commencement of hostilities in the late war he joined the First South Carolina Regiment, commanded by Colonel Gregg. He subsequently served as Captain in the Twenty- third Arkansas, under Colonel Adams. When the war ended, having shown himself a brave soldier and skillful officer, he returned to Clarendon, and in 1867 formed a partnership with Simon P. Hughes, afterwards governor, and now a justice of this court, in the practice of law. Judge Smith continued the practice of his profession at Clarendon until 1877, when he removed to Helena, where he remained until he was elected an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Arkansas in 1882. In the spring of 1888 a pulmonary disorder discov- ered itself, making it necessary for him to seek relief in rest and travel. He made a resolute and manly struggle with his dread antagonist, undertaking weary journeving, striving vigorously
"To hold death awhile
At the arm's end."
Gallant as was his struggle, it was fruitless. To him the end was at hand, and finding himself mortally smitten in a distant State, he came back to his home to die. Surrounded by his family, ministered to by loving hands, without a mur- mur, in full possession of his faculties, fully realizing that the supreme moment had arrived, he calmly bade the world farewell.
Thus passed away a great jurist, and as clear souled and clean handed a man as this age has produced. Great intel- lectually, he was no less great morally and spiritually. My
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acquaintance with him began in 1878. To have known him was a privilege, and to have had his friendship I account one of the most fortunate events of my career.
He was an admirable practitioner, splendidly equipped in the learning of his profession, studious, careful, painstak- ing, and the very soul of honor ; but it was as a judge, in the discharge of judicial functions, that his pre-eminence was so marked. It is said of poets they are born and not made. I sometimes think it might with equal truth be said of judges. The profession knows that to be a good lawyer is one thing and to be a good judge is another. Something more is needed. It is the judicial mind, and Judge Smith had that to perfection. He had patience without limit, and although himself possessed of a quickness of apprehension which enabled him to grasp the situation in a moment, he was always willing to listen to the humblest and dullest of us with a courtly attention which made it an absolute pleasure to appear before him.
As a judge in this court, I am sure I do but speak the unanimous sentiment of the bar when I say, no one could be more thoroughly competent to discharge its high, delicate and always responsible duties.
With great learning ever at hand and ready for the occa- sion, whatever may have been its exigency, he was always most happy and felicitous in its application to the case under consideration.
As for his judicial opinions, from the first to the last they were models. For purity of style, for clearness of thought, for felicity of illustration and vigor of expression they stand among the finest of judicial deliverances. His mind was clear, earnest and powerful, and all his faculties severely disciplined.
His analytical and logical powers were remarkable. There was a delightful directness about all he said. He called things by their right names, and no man had to read twice to ascertain what he meant. There was, in addition, a simplicity of expression which was always charming. He wasted no words, but straightway went to the very core of things. This
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characteristic directness and simplicity was exemplified in one of his last earthly utterances. But a little while before his dissolution he was asked if he was conscious of his condi- tion. His response came clearcut and direct, "Yes, the end is near. I am all right." That was all he said, and why should he not be "all right ?" If this white-souled Christian gentleman, who had been faithful to every trust, had dis- charged every duty, could not afford to die, who could ?
The Psalmist asks: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ?" and on answering seems almost to have had our dead friend in view : "Even he that hath clean hands and a pure heart; and that hath not lift up his mind unto vanity, nor sworn to deceive his neighbor."
He loved the truth for the truth's sake; evenhanded justice was what he sought, and to accomplish that no amount of labor was too great, no extent of research too much. His convictions were always followed, and it never concerned him how his conclusions were received. He neither claimed nor
sought applause. His was indeed a striking and unique judicial personality. All his ambitions were centered on a faithful discharge of his duties. I have, if your honor pleases, no hesitation in saying that nearly as any one I ever knew he filled the measure of a perfect judge. With abilities of a character to have commanded attention at any time or place, he never sought distinction in the political world, nor was he ever induced to seek any of its glittering prizes, because he loved the law.
He was, under all circumstances, a gentleman. No man more scrupulously observed those courtesies and amenities which do so much to soften and beautify life .. No man endeavored more earnestly to fulfill all the duties of society as they came to him, and a truer friend or one more willing to oblige could not be found.
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