Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II, Part 103

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Mississippi > Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II > Part 103

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Alma Eyrich, a native of Mississippi, and daughter of George C. and Virginia Eyrich, but in 1889 was called upon to mourn her untimely demise. He is a member of the Episcopal church.

Ed. J. Rew, planter, Sageville, Lauderdale county, Miss., is a son of Southey Rew, who was born in Currituck county, N. C., about 1780, and was in the second war with Great Britain. His father, Southey Rew, was a patriot of the Revolution and figured in that struggle with distinguished credit. Southey married Mrs. Fannie Rew, of Craven county, N. C., about 1805, and died in December, 1836. Their son, Ed. J. Rew, was born on the banks of the river Neuse, Craven county, N. C., on March 31, 1815. He moved to Alabama in 1837, settled in the cane brake region, and remained there for fifteen years. He came to Lauderdale county, Miss., in 1852, settled in the southern portion, seven miles from Meridian and ten miles from Enterprise, Clarke county, where the weight of his energy and enterprise has been felt in church and state. He served as justice of the peace in his early manhood and sustained himself in that capacity, as only one appeal from his decision was ever made. He was married in 1839 to Miss Eliza J. Hooks, daughter of Charles Hooks, and granddaughter of Hon. Charles Hooks, of North Carolina, but afterward a citizen of Montgomery county, Ala. Mrs. Rew was educated at the Presbyterian institute at Tusca- loosa Ala. She is related to the celebrated Whitfield and Haywood families of North Carolina. Mr. Rew followed the trade of a mechanic in Alabama and was forward in devel- oping the resources of the country in its pioneer days, He acquired a competency at his trade, but later engaged in agricultural pursuits, and was quite successful in this occupation. In 1860 he was appointed to canvass the county in favor of Bell and Everett. In this canvass he met the supporters of the opposing candidates, and stood boldly for what he con- ceived to be right. At the breaking out of the Civil war, Mr. Rew was successfully operating an extensive farm, tannery, mills, etc. One of Mr. Rew's exploits during the war is worthy of mention: When General Johnston was maneuvering to keep General Grant from Vicks- burg, Major Young, quartermaster, stood in great need of mules. He therefore dispatched over twenty men to different sections to secure the needed supply; Mr. Rew was among the number. Of the three hundred and fifty mules secured, three hundred and thirty were due to the energy and enterprise of Mr. Rew, who was materially aided by Hon. Frank Lyon, Alfred Hatch, Captain Curry, quartermaster, and many others of Marengo county, Ala. The first named was a fine lawyer, the next a vast planter, and the others are first-class men in their professions. Toward the close of the war Mr. Rew was in the service of the state and Confederate departments. His position as a disunionist rendered him a conspicuous ob- ject for the wrath of Sherman's men, and accordingly his entire premises, dwelling house excepted, were burned and sacked. Among the losses he felt most bitterly were some of his most valuable agricultural records, etc. But for his Masonic allegiance and a sign accordingly from his wife, Mr. Rew would not have been left a single article. After the war he re-commenced farming and milling, and followed this with success. In 1872 Mr. Rew says the per-capita circulation was $52 and times flush, and accordingly, in the light of suc- ceeding events, he attributes the recent stringency to the contraction of the currency. Mr. Rew has had an eventful history as the foregoing sketch discloses, but one laden with honor to himself and conformity to truth and sound principle, as reason enabled him to see, disdaining at all times a compromise with his convictions of right. Mr. Rew is the father of the following children: Fannie, Hattie B., Edward, Henrietta, Bettie, Charles H., George, and Comb; six are now living. The first Grange of Lauderdale county was or- ganized in Mr. Rew's parlor by Major Wall, of Jackson, and Colonel Dennet, of New

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Orleans. Mr. Rew has been long identified with the mechanical and agricultural interests of the county, such as fairs, organizations, etc., and is an uncompromising Alliance and sub- treasury man. He corresponds with the agricultural department and also with North- west scientists. Mr. Rew is scientifically inclined, and has a splendid collection of marl, mineral and fossils. Mr. Rew is a Methodist in his religion and has been from childhood, and is identified with the church's best interests. His daughter, Miss Mary Fannie Rew, is the promoter of an enterprise, already chartered, for the education of orphan children, and she now has in care two widows and five children. Mr. Rew, by keeping abreast of the times, has been foremost in labors for the Agricultural and Mechanical college, takes great interest in all educational matters, and is prominently identified with other colleges, and in the development of a port of entry at Gulf Port, with its railroad contingencies. Mr. Rew is now in his seventy-sixth year, in robust health of body and mind, and as much interested in the public weal as ever.

Col. Reuben O. Reynolds (deceased) was born in Morgan county, Ga., and died at his home in Aberdeen, Miss., on the morning of Sunday, September 4, 1887. When he was yet a child, his father, Dr. Reynolds, removed with his family to Monroe county, Miss., and made his home a few miles north of Aberdeen. It was here at a school hard by that young Reynolds began his education. He fitted to enter La Grange college in Alabama, whither he went, but did not remain long before proceeding to the University of Georgia, where he graduated, receiving the degree of bachelor of arts. In 1855 he received the degree of bachelor of laws, from the University of Virginia, and returning to Aberdeen he soon wedded Miss Mollie English, who died shortly after. In 1856 he entered upon the practice of law in Aberdeen, and from the start gave promise of the high rank which he after- ward attained. During 1856-7 he was associated in his practice with William G. Hen- derson, afterward chancellor of the Sea Coast district of this state; but in 1858 entered into partnership with Hon. Lock E. Houston, and until just prior to his death, when Judge Houston accepted a place on the circuit bench, the partnership continued unbroken, and at its dissolution was perhaps the oldest law firm in Mississippi. In 1861 Reuben O. Reynolds was among the first in his section to seek the Confederate service. He went to the field as first lieutenant of his company, the Van Dorn reserves, and by promotion successfully won the stars of captain, major and lieutenant colonel of the Eleventh Mississippi regiment. Colonel Reynolds was every inch a soldier, accomplished, gallant and chivalrous. He was twice wounded in battle; once in the leg at Sharpsburg, and later, near the close of the war, at the last engagement of Petersburg, and an empty sleeve ever remained as a reminder of the last wound. Early in 1865 he married Miss Sally B. Young, daughter of the late Col. George H. Young of Waverly, and their union was blessed by six children, who with his devoted wife survive him. In 1866 he was chosen reporter of the supreme court of Mississippi, then designated as the high court of errors and appeals, a position which he filled faithfully and efficiently. In the political revolution of his state, in 1875, Colonel Reynolds was elected to represent his district in the state senate and was a member of that body until his death, three successive terms, during which he was thrice elected president pro tem. of the senate. It was here that his high abilities and great usefulness began to attract general attention in the state. Few men were as ready and effective in debate; fewer still had his great capacity for mental labor, and his eager industry as a legislator, and no man in his time, of like capacity and influence, had fewer selfish purposes to hinder his pursuit of public duty. A co-worker with him through years in the senate, asserts that amid the vast legislative work he was identified with, no man can point to a sin-

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gle act he ever engineered for his own aggrandizement, or point to a private ax he ground for his own benefit. He was free from demagogical display and ostentatious service of the people, although always on the alert to oppose a fraud upon the state or to defeat the per- sonal aim of a crooked bill. Through those twelve years of senatorial life, while he largely influenced the choice of governors, judges and United States senatore no man can justly charge him with pipe laying to achieve any of these fine positions for himself, although his influence was so potent that it required, perhaps, only self assertion and political barter to have brought any of these places within his grasp. As a lawyer, Colonel Reynolds ranked among the ablest and most efficient in the state. He pursued his profession with pride; was devoted to the elevation of its standards and kept abreast with its progress and reforms. He was a member of the American Bar association and one of the founders and chief promoters of the Bar association of Mississippi. His practice in the courts, both state and Federal, was for many years large and lucrative, and his great ability made it easy for him, unconsciously, to lead associates in the conduct of cases. He seemed to be a tireless mental laborer. He was equally effective before court and jury, equally efficient in criminal and civil practice. He was adroit and ingenious as a pleader, painstaking and elaborate in the preparation of his cases; skilled, spirited and earnest in presenting his client's side to the jury, and his mental agility surprised his adversary and delivered him from mishaps. In his legal arguments before the courts he was ever clear and concise, seeking to show the golden thread of principle which ran through all and did all unite. He did not seek rhetor- ical finish or oratorical phrasemaking, but spoke with directness and force. His fine clarion voice and knightly hearing, however, often thrilled the hearers with the tremor of genuine eloquence. No client ever had truer or more devoted counsel. He fought with dash and fire every inch of his rights. While quick of temper and impulsive of nature, in heated controversy, he never lost self-control, and was ever courteous, considerate and genial, and one of the pleasantest of legal adversaries. In private life, as citizen, friend, husband, father, it would be difficult to find a better example. He was a genuine patriot, and loved his country, his state and his town. While the state has experienced a great loss in his withdrawal from the legislative balls, Aberdeen has sustained a loss that for years will not be reparable, and which she sadly mourns. Mr. Reynolds was active in all her public enter- prises, and gave without stint of purse, time or talent, to everything tending to secure her advancement or prosperity. He was frank, affable and sincere, independent in thought and action; free in the expression of his opinion, courageous, quick to resent and repel an insult and injury, but equally free and prompt to forgive. His nature was sympathetic and noble. He was clean of heart and hand, and his uprightness and integrity were unas- sailable. His religious convictions were clear and simple, and though he lived without cant or pretense to great piety, he ever struggled to imitate the example and obey the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, and died a member of the Presbyterian church of his town, to which he had given much of his time and substance. The eminent juror, the honored legislator, the beloved husband and father, had been called to a higher sphere, and the sorrow of a great loss rests upon the state. There was little in his character to condemn, much to admire, and more to imitate and cherish. In the sanctity of the tomb he sleeps beneath the quiet of the stars in the land his genius defended.

Dr. John Henry Rhodes needs no introduction to the inhabitants of Hinds county, Miss., for in his professional capacity, as well as socially, he is well and favorably known, his skill and talent as a physician and his kindly and courtly manners in social circles winning him many warm friends. He was born in Rankin county, Miss., August 7, 1859, the third of four

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children born to Samuel D. and Jane (Ormand) Rhodes, natives of Mississippi and Alabama, respectively, the former's birth occurring in Rankin county in 1837. He was reared in the county of his birth and has been engaged in various industrial pursuits, and at present is engaged in farming. He has been sheriff of his county, is a member of the board of super- visors, and served through the Civil war with the Thirty-ninth Mississippi regiment. He was captured at Port Hudson and was imprisoned for twelve months. His parents, Henry and Katie (Crook) Rhodes, were native South Carolinians and were among the first settlers of Rankin county, where they were engaged in planting. Dr. John Henry Rhodes was reared in the county of his birth and was educated in the University of Mississippi, at Oxford, where his record as a student was very creditable and promising. He was editor of the university magazine while in college, and under his management it was a bright and newsy sheet. He afterward entered and graduated from the Louisville Medical college, and was valedictorian, completing his course in 1882, after which he immediately began practicing in Learned, Hinds county, Miss., where he has since remained, doing a large and constantly increasing practice. He has been chief health officer of the county for some time, and although a young man, has gained and sustained a reputation as a physician which many far older practi- tioners might well envy. He is not only a fine physician, but is a good business man as well, and is the owner of about eight hundred acres of land, and an excellent and well-appointed drug store in Learned. His life thus far has been crowned with success, and his future is bright with promise. He was married in 1887 to Miss Ella Sivley, a native of Mississippi and a daughter of William R. and Josephine (Stokes) Sively, both of whom were born in the state of Mississippi, and to this union one child has been born-John Sively. Mrs. Rhodes is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the Doctor is a member of the A. F. & A. M. He is prepossessing in personal appearance and possesses many excellent traits of character. His fine intellect and thorough knowledge of his profession place him among the leading members of the medical fraternity, and he is a member of the Mississippi State Med- ical association.

Dr. Arthur H. Rice, physician and planter, Oktoc, Oktibbeha county, Miss., was born in Talladega, Ala., August 21, 1852, and comes of prominent and distinguished families on both sides of the house. His parents, John W. and Augusta (Hopkins) Rice, were natives, respec- tively, of South Carolina and Alabama, the father born in Chester district in 1815. The latter was educated at the University of Columbia, was a lawyer by profession, and when still a young man and after serving one term in the legislature, removed with his parents to Alabama. There he followed agricultural pursuits until the breaking out of the Mexican war, when he raised one of three companies in Alabama and soon was commissioned captain of Company I, Thirteenth United States infantry, and commanded this one year. Then on account of his father's death he resigned his commission to look after his father's estate, which was partly in Alabama and partly in Mississippi. His share of the property was in Mississippi, and he removed to Oktibbeha county and there followed the occupation of a planter. He was elected on the democratic ticket to represent Oktibbeha and Chickasaw counties in the state senate, holding that position at the time of his death, in 1857. He was first cousin of Governor and Senator Albert G. Brown, of Mississippi, first cousin of Judge William H. Foote, of Macon, and double first cousin of Samuel F. Rice, chief justice of Alabama. Mr. Rice was married in 1851 to Miss Augusta Hopkins, a native of Huntsville, Ala, born in 1831, and reared in Mobile. She was the daughter of Arthur F. Hopkins, who, although a whig, was elected justice of the Supreme court of Alabama by a democratic legis- lature and was made chief justice by his associates. Judge Hopkins was one of three

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commissioners sent by Alabama to Virginia to induce that state to secede from the Union. He was several times whig candidate for the United States senate and several times elector at large. He was also president of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad company. To John W. Rice's marriage were born two children-Arthur H. (subject) and Nannie H., wife of J. Simpson Walker, a civil engineer, now of Birmingham, and a son of Judge Richard W. Walker, of Alabama. Mrs. John W. Rice is still living, and makes her home first with one of her children and then with the other. She is a member of the Presbyterian church. John W. Rice's parents, John Sanders and Nancy Herndon Rice, were natives of Virginia and North Carolina, respectively, and the father was a public-spirited, enterprising citizen, who accumulated a considerable property. Dr. Arthur H. Rice was reared in Mobile, Ala., but spent a portion of each summer on the plantation in Oktibbeha county. He was educated in the private and public schools of Mobile, and when fourteen years of age went to Europe, spending three years in the schools of France and two years in the schools of Germany. Upon returning to the United States he began the study of medicine in Mobile Medical col- lege, graduated in the class of 1873, and in the fall of that year went to New York, after practicing that summer in the county, and in the spring of 1874 graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, taking an ad eundem degree. He subsequently spent six months in hospital service in the Orthopedic Dispensary and Presbyterian hospital, and then went to St. Louis, Mo., where he practiced one year and was assistant to the clinic for women and children at the Sisters' hospital. In the winter of 1875, on account of failing health, he returned to this county and engaged in planting, in connection with his practice, until 1885, when he went to Mobile, practicing there during that and the following year. While in Mobile he served as visiting physician to the city hospital for one year, and then returned to Oktibbeha county, where he has since resided engaged in practicing medicine, planting and stockraising. He is the owner of one thousand seven hundred and sixty acres and has about eight hundred acres under the plow. He raises principally corn and cotton, and his stock- raising is confined to trotting and pacing horses and Jersey cattle. In 1879 Dr. Rice was married to Fannie M. Smith, a native of Charlestown, Mass., and the daughter of Joseph H. and Harriet (McGarland) Smith, the father of Vermont and the mother of Massachusetts. Mr. Smith came to Mobile when a young man, engaged as clerk and was in the Confederate service. After the war he embarked in the railroad business; was at one time division superintendent of the Mexican Central railroad, and was afterward in charge of the railroad hotel system of the Southern Pacific. He is a first cousin of Senator Justin Morrill, of Ver- mont. To Dr. and Mrs. Rice have been born five interesting children: Augusta, Arthur, Frances, Nannie and Joseph. The subject has just been nominated by the democratic pri- maries for representative of Oktibbeha county in the state legislature.

E. P. Richards was born in Columbus, Miss., and save for a few years, has been a resi- dent of the city from that time. He was at the University of Virginia at the inception of the war and returning home, joined company A, Blythe's battalion Mississippi troops. He was with his command continually and participated in the battles of Belmont, Shiloh, Mun- fordville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary ridge and the battles of the Georgia cam- paign until he was wounded at Atlanta in the engagement of July 22, 1864, and saw no more active service. He entered the sheriff's office as deputy in 1880, and filled these duties until his election as chancery clerk in November, 1883, which office he has held continuously since.

Col. W. C. Richards, president of the First National bank of Columbus, Miss., was born to David C. and Elizabeth S. (Parrish) Richards in the year 1828, in Shelby county, Ala. His parents moved to Columbus, Lowndes county, in the year 1833, where he was reared and

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educated. He enlisted in the Confederate service March 27, 1861, going out as second lieu- tenant in Capt. W. B. Wade's company, the Southrons. In June, 1862, he was appointed major commanding the Ninth Mississippi battalion of sharpshooters, and was mustered out of the service as colonel of the Ninth Mississippi regiment, at Greensboro, N. C., upon the surrender of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to General Sherman. He took part in almost all the battles in which the army of Tennessee was engaged and was twice severely wounded. After the surrender he returned to Columbus, took an active part in public affairs and became interested in most of the business enterprises of this prosperous little city. In 1870 he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah F. Evans, of Columbus, Miss., by whom he has had four children: William, Frank, Anna and John.

Edmund Richardson. There is, in the intensified energy of the business man, fighting the every day battle of life, but little to attract the attention of the idle observer or reader in search of a sensational chapter; but to the mind fully awake to the reality and meaning of human existence there are noble and immortal lessons in the life of the man who, without other means than a clear head, a strong arm and a true heart, conquers adversity, and wlio, toiling on through the workaday years of a long and arduous career, closes the evening of his life with an honorable competence and a good name; and it is to those who appreciate the value and would emulate the excellence of such lives that these pages are addressed. The history of the great commonwealths of the South contain many characters whose elements compose the great worth and excellence of American liberty and progression. The South has furnished its full quota of the men who have conserved and enriched the grand principles of our noblest of governments, men who have furnished practical illustrations of the value to society of the cardinal virtues of business life. The history of a country is best shown in the lives of the men who aid in making it great, and the record of the people of a state is the only true basis upon which to form judgment of the right of that state to the fullest enjoy- ment of the broad privileges accorded by the constitution that governs the whole. So true is this that the writers of human achievements stop to portray individual character before at- tempting to philosophize on civilization. The history of individuals, and not of events, has been the fundamental and the most popular theme from the beginning of the world, and the custom of recording their life accomplishments has descended, hoary with antique and solemn associations, to the present day. Men who live in the eye of the public, as incumbents of office conferred by the suffrage of the people, attain places in history by the force of circum- stances, as well as by personal worth and the faithful employment of great abilities for the good of the nation. Men in business life can rise into prominence, and become objects of high consideration in public estimation, only by the development of the noblest attributes of man- hood in enterprises that largely affect the well being of communities. The accidents of birth and fortune, and the adventitious aids of chance and circumstance, can do little to give these men position in history whose resources are within the limits of their brains and hands. The record of the life of Colonel Richardson finds easy and graceful place in history, not alone of his state, but in the records of the great commercial centers of America. It stands out pre- eminent, among the truly great men of his time, as a noble character whose force, whose sterling integrity, whose fortitude amid deep discouragements, whose good sense in the gov- ernment of complicated affairs, whose control of agencies and circumstances, and whose marked success in establishing large industries and bringing to completion great schemes of trade and profit, have contributed more than any other to the development of the vast re- sources of two great commonwealths. In person he was of commanding presence; over six feet in hight he was stout in proportion, and in his younger days must have been a type of

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Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, embracing an authentic and comprehensive account of the chief events in the history of the state and a record of the lives of many of the most worthy and illustrious families and individuals, Vol. II, Part 103

Author: Goodspeed Brothers Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed
Number of Pages: 1314