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 124

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 124

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was then known as Barnes hotel, Mississippi City. He has converted it into an elegant hos- telry where there is at all seasons of the year a welcome to the invalid, the pleasure seeker, the sportsman, and the stranger. The house has been rechristened Gulf View, and is largely patronized by the wealthiest classes of merchants, professional people and planters. General Smedes takes a just pride in his military career. At the battle of Monterey he was promoted from the ranks to the office of captain, and was placed upon the staff of Gen. John A. Quit- man. He was a gallant, faithful soldier, and fully deserving of the honors conferred upon him.

Dr. A. H. Smith is a retired physician. He was born in Charlotte county, Va., in the year 1815, a son of John and Elizabeth (Elam) Smith, who were also natives of the Old Dominion. The father of Dr. Smith, at an early age (about fourteen years), enlisted in the cause of American freedom, and fought as a soldier in the army of the Revolution. He was a farmer by vocation, and after the war resumed his previous life, and died in Tennessee. He was the father of nineteen sons and daughters, born of two mother -. Dr. Smith was reared on a farm in Wilson county, Tenn., receiving an academic education at Laguardo academy, in the immediate neighborhood. He began to study medicine when eighteen years old, and graduated in the year 1837, in the medical department of Transylvania university, Lexing- ton, Ky. He began the practice of his profession at Sumterville, Ala., where he remained (except six years spent at Gainesville, a neighboring town), till 1868, when he came to Meridian, Miss., and has made his home in this city ever since. On account of infirm health, Dr. Smith has not engaged actively in the practice of his profession for the last thirty years, and in 1887 was paralyzed in the right arm and leg, which has incapacitated him for walking ever since. He was elected to the legislature from Lauderdale county in 1870, and by contest was turned out after six weeks by the radicals. Dr. Smith was married in 1841 to Miss Louisa David- son, who became the mother of three children, only one of whom, a daughter, Emma, is living. She is the wife of John D. McInnes, of Meridian. The Doctor married a second time, in the year 1858, a Miss Jane Moors. Dr. Smith is a member of the Baptist church, while his wife is a Presbyterian. He is a Mason, also a member of the I. O. O. F.

The family to which Addison B. Smith belongs was among the earliest settlers of Missis- sippi, and the grandfather, Judge Edmond Smith, was born in the state and was one of the early residents of old Sunflower county, in which he became a prominent and leading man in county affairs. He was an active politician, and so greatly was he admired, and so popular did he become, that he was chosen to represent the county in the state legislature, where his knowledge of law and the soundness of his propositions received immediate recognition. He also admirably filled the position of probate judge and held other offices of trust and honor to the satisfaction of all concerned. James H. Smith, his son and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in the Yazoo delta in 1826, and there attained manhood. He was married to Miss Fannie Stubblefield, a native of Georgia and a danghter of Squire Stubble- field, one of the pioneers of Yazoo county, and there followed merchandising for a number of years, being a practical pharmacist. During the Civil war he served in the medical depart- ment of the Confederate army for about two years, but when just in the prime of life in 1863 he was called from life. He was a man of liberal, generous and high minded impulses, and manifested the instincts and training of a true gentleman in his daily walk and conversation. He was a Royal Arch Mason and throughout life was a warm admirer of that order. His widow survived him until 1885, when she was called from life. Addison B. Smith is the youngest of three sons, and although his advantages were limited in early life he has by con- tact with the world and the active interest he has taken in the business affairs of life become

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an exceptionally well informed man. At the age of seventeen years he began clerking in the county in which he is now living, and for several years this occupation received his attention. Here he received a practical business education and training and laid the foundation for future success. In 1883 he embarked in business for himself in a small way, as his capital was exceedingly limited, but so thoroughly did he attend to every detail, so honorable was he in every respect, and so earnestly did he try to please his patrons that in time success crowned his efforts. He increased his stock of goods from time to time, as his purse permitted and his patronage demanded, and now, as a reward for his early labors, he has a large store filled with a select stock of general merchandise, and commands a large trade. He is a man of superior business qualifications, for besides possessing much discernment in the selection of his stock, he takes proper care of it after it has come into his possession. In 1883 he was appointed postmaster of Indianola and since that time has served continuously in this capacity, and has made a faithful and capable official for Uncle Sam. He was married on the 29th of November, 1888, to Miss Beatrice Holt, a daughter of W. J. Holt, and by her is the father of one child, a little daughter named Mary A. Mrs. Smith was born, reared and educated in this state, and is an intelligent, agreeable and social lady. They are now residing in their handsome residence in Indianola, which has lately been erected, it being situated on a beau- tiful building site on the north side of the bayou.

Allen N. Smith, the popular sheriff of Issaquena county, was the elder of two children born to John and Esther (Mills) Smith, natives of Louisiana. The parents were married in their native state, and at an early day emigrated to Madison county, Miss., where Mr. Smith died when Allen N. was but a small boy. The other child, Rufus, died at the age of thirty- eight years. Mrs. Smith was a passenger on the first steamboat that plowed the waters of the Mississippi river. After her husband's death she married J. L. Mitchell, of Kentucky, a school teacher by profession. They became the parents of one child, Joseph, who now resides in Holmes county, and is a planter by pursuit. Mrs. Mitchell died at the age of forty-five. Allen N. Smith, who was born in Madison county, Miss., February 22, 1834, was fairly educated in the common schools of his native county, and at the age of seventeen years started out to follow the occupation to which he had been reared, farming, and this he has continued the principal part of the time since. He has been a resident of Yazoo and LeFlore counties, but came to this in 1887, and in 1889 was elected sheriff and tax collector, the duties of which office he is filling in a manner highly creditable to himself and to the satisfaction of the community at large, and was re-elected July 6, 1891, for the term of four years. He has been inspector of the levee, and is a man of intelligence and influence. He has a fair complexion, is about six feet tall, weighs about two hundred and ten pounds, and, although very gray, is still erect and dignified. In 1866 he was married to Miss Sid- ney Skidmore, daughter of C. S. Skidmore, of Madison county, and the fruits of this union have been four children: Clifton B. (deputy sheriff and a merchant of Mayersville, of this county), Sidney, Allie May and Rosa Lee.

Austin W. Smith, planter of Saragossa plantation, is a native of Natchez, Miss., born on the 22d of May, 1843, and his father, Walton Pembroke Smith, was born in Madison county, Va., on the 7th of August, 1810. The elder Smith was educated in Maryland and Middleton, Conn., and when a young man came with some of his people to Adams county, Miss., where he was married to Miss Anna Elizabeth Williams. He became the owner of large landed estates in Adams county, Miss., Louisiana, Missouri and Virginia, and held various minor offices in Louisiana. He was a stanch union man and at one time during the war, while at home sick, and with no one present but his wife and one or two small children,

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his house was surrounded by about twenty-seven Federal soldiers who commenced an assault upon it. This frightened all the inmates very much except Mr. Smith, who told the others to secret themselves as best they could while hetook up his trusty gun and prepared to defend his home. He fired upon them and killed two, after which the others fled. The house was riddled with bullets. He was at one time president of the police jury in Concordia parish, La., and was also a tutor of John Perkins, who became a very prominent man in the Con- federate congress. Mr. Smith died in August, 1866, while in Missouri. His father, William Haslett Smith, was born in Maryland on the 9th of June, 1777, and was an educated and well informed gentleman. He was a very extensive planter but was formerly a wine mer- chant and importer in Baltimore. His wife, Mary Bell Madison was a daughter of Francis Madison who was a brother of President James Madison. She was born in the Old Dominion in 1773 and died in 1812. Mr. Smith died on the 15th of July, 1829. Their family consisted of three children, two sons and a daughter, Walton Pembroke Smith being the second in order of birth. In 1815, Mr. Smith took for his second wife Miss Hannah Level, a native of Kentucky, who died in 1819. He had extensive planting interests in Louisiana and Virginia, and was a man of great resources. His father, David Smith, was born in Cecil county, Md., on the 27th of August, 1739, and was a graduate of Princeton college. He was married on the 6th of December, 1768, to Miss Martha Haslett, and they became the parents of three sons and one daughter. David Smith was sheriff under George III of Cecil county a number of years and spent all his life there. He was tutor of Rutledge, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His father, John Smith, was born near Londonderry, Ireland, in 1701 and died September 9th, 1772. He came to America in the early part of the eighteenth century with his father, John Smith, (of Scotch-Irish decent) who settled in Penn- sylvania on the Susquehanna river. John Smith, Jr., younger brother of James Smith was a prominent lawyer in York, Pa., was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and was one of the committee who called that body together. He was a colonel in the Revo- lutionary war and a member of the Continental congress. Austin Williams, the maternal grandfather of Austin W. Smith (our subject), was born in Jessamine county, Ky., on the 24th of June, 1780, and died on the 19th of October, 1846. When a young man he came to Adams county, Miss., and was there married to Miss Caroline Matilda Routh. They spent the balance of their days there, Mr. Williams becoming quite wealthy as a planter. He was a captain at the battle of New Orleans, U. S. A. His father, Charles Pierce Williams, was born near Petersburg, Va. but moved from that state to Kentucky, where his death occurred. He married Miss Elizabeth Redd, a daughter of Mordica Redd and granddaughter of Col. John Minor of Revolutionary fame. Charles P. Williams was the son of Barney Williams, who came from Wales to Virginia in 1700. Job Routh, the father of Mrs. Williams was a very early settler of Adams county and became one of the largest land holders and planters, being the owner of forty thousand acres in Louisiana. He left a large family of well known sons and daughters.

Austin W. Smith was the second in order of birth of the following children: Dr. John Davidson (deceased) was a man of fine education. He was lieutenant in a Louisiana com- pany of cavalry under General Taylor in the Confederate army, and was a physician at Natchez. His death occurred in 1885; William Madison was killed in a steamgin in Con- cordia parish, La. He was a courier for Gen. Majors in the Confederate army; Haller Routh was killed in February, 1867, by the accidental discharge of a gun at Saragossa; Austin W. Smith was educated under private tutors, among them Frank Waterhouse, president now of the high school of the city of Boston, Mass., and later attended Oakland and Jeffer-

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son colleges, also Fredericksburg, Va. In 1861 when not eighteen years of age, he joined company E, Fourth Louisiana battalion, Confederate States army, and served as corporal and sergeant. At Atlanta he was promoted to ensign and afterward served in that capacity in the Pelican regiment. He fought in the campaigns in West Virginia and in the fall of 1861 he was sent to Savannah, Ga., operating in the extreme south until 1863. After this he was around Vicksburg, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Missionary ridge and at Resaca. He was wounded at the last named place and afterward joined his command at Atlanta. He then went back with Hood to Tennessee, was ou detached service, went from there to Mobile, thence to Meridian, Miss., and started to join Johnston with his company, but was soon ordered back to Meridian to surrender. He is now the only ensign living of the fifteen in his brigade. After the war he returned to planting and in May, 1867, he married Clara Ann Montgomery, a native of Jefferson county, Miss., and the daughter of Prosper K. and Mariah L. (Darden) Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery was born in Adams county, in 1808, and was married in Jefferson county, to Miss Darden, a native of the last named county. Her death occurred in that county, in 1864, and Mr. Montgomery's death followed in 1886. Mrs. Montgomery was a daughter of Buckner Darden. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith were born, three living children. Since 1868, Mr. Smith has lived on his present property, and the house, an old Spanish building, was formerly surrounded by a brick wall, probably for protection against the Indians. The plantation consists of eighteen hundred acres, and Mr. Smith owns four hundred acres in Louisiana. He is a member of the Veteran association and his wife is a member of the Presbyterian church. He is a descendant of a very old, intellligent and aristo- cratic family and one of which he may well be proud ..

Isaac C. Smith, a prominent farmer of Lincoln county, living three miles northeast of Brookhaven, was born in December, 1848, in the house in which he now lives. He was a son of Leonard and Lenora (Maxwell) Smith. Her mother was a daughter of Maj. Jesse Max. well and Priscilla (Kees) Maxwell. The Maxwells had a large family of children, three sons and three daughters of which are now living. Of these, Carroll resides on Pearl river, near Monticello; Thomas K., lives near him; Joel P., is married and lives in Lincoln county, near his father's old homestead; Amanda P., is the wife of Mr. A. Price, and lives on a plantation near Bogue Chitto; Lenora, the mother of our subject, is a member of his family, having made her home with her children since the death of her husband in 1854; Pernecia is the wife of John Ray, and lives on a plantation in Lincoln county; Conway died, leaving a family of three children; Louis W. died at Grenada, leaving two daughters; Martha M. bore her husband, Fleet Cooper, two daughters, and she and her husband are now deceased; Sallie married Ambrose Bull, and both died in Arkansas, leaving four children. Carroll, Thomas K. and Amanda P. all had large families. Leonard Smith, the father of our subject, was the fifth son in order of birth of his parents' children, named as follows: Isaac, who died when young; Isham, also deceased; Lott (deceased) and leaving a large family; William, who died leaving four children; Leonard, the father of our subject, who left three sons and a daughter; Everett (deceased), who left three children; Martin, who was killed by a train while riding on a hand car, and who left one son; Sallie, who married Ambrose Bull, died leav- ing four children; Nancy (deceased) was the wife of Richard Coke, who is also dead; Emily J. married Anslom H. Jayne, and both are deceased, leaving one daughter; Mary (deceased) was the wife of Solomon Carpenter, who is also deceased, and left a large family; Jane is the widow of John Hart, and lives in Yazoo county, having reared a large family. Leon- ard Smith was born in 1808 in Georgia, and located with his parents where his son, Isaac Smith, now lives. There he made his home until his death in 1854, as above mentioned,

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his wife surviving him. To them were born four children, three sons and one daughter: Louisa J., who was never married, lives on the old homestead with her brother; she is a member of the Baptist church. Jesse M., who was born December 28, 1850, married Miss Julia Tyler, a native of Lawrence county, Miss., being a daughter of Marvin and Frances (Hardy) Tyler. Her father was a native of New York, and her mother of Alabama. Their children were: Julius, Martha, Julia, Emma and Thomas, the latter being deceased. Jesse M. and his wife are both members of the Baptist church. They have had three children: Ernest (deceased), Alva and Herbert. Joel I., another son of Leonard Smith, was born March 1, 1853. He received his education at the common schools of Lincoln county. He has lived with his brother Isaac, and has assisted him in planting. He cast his first presi- dential vote for S. J. Tilden. He is a member of the Baptist church. Isaac, the first son and the second child in order of birth in his father's family, received a limited education at the common schools, in consequence of the death of his father, which left a portion of the family support on him, and was prevented from pursuing his studies further. He was married December 21, 1876, to Miss Cornelia E. Ross, who was born in Lawrence county in 1856. She is a daughter of Simeon and Margaret (Wiley) Ross, both natives of Lawrence county. Mr. and Mrs. Ross have had three children, two daughters and one son, named as follows: John W., Susana and Cornelia. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith was born one child, Estus C., who was born November 14, 1877. His mother died December 28, of the same year. Mr. Smith is a democrat, politically, and cast his first vote for Horace Greeley. He is a member of the board of supervisors of Lincoln county, and he and his brother, Jesse M., are members of the Farmers' Alliance. He is a Baptist, and a strong advocate of the temperance cause. He contributes liberally to churches, schools and all enterprises, believ- ing thoroughly in everything that he thinks has a tendency toward the good of the people, and the upbuilding of the cause of Christ. He has landed property, comprising in area about twelve hundred acres, and he is the owner of a steam gristmill, canemill and cotton- mill combined.

James C. Smith, general merchant and vice president of the Crystal Springs bank, was born in Edgefield district, S. C., in 1830, a son of James and Nancy (Clement) Smith, natives of North Carolina, who were married in South Carolina, in Edgefield district, and lived there until about 1838. At that time they came to Copiah county, settling four miles north of Crystal Springs, amidst a wide extent of forest, this part of the state being at that time much of it in a primitive condition. Mr. Smith cleared and improved a farm, upon which he lived until his death, which occurred in 1858, at the age of sixty-one, his widow surviving him till 1870, when she died at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. Smith was of English descent, and his family were not numerous, his sister, Mrs. Wood, who lived near Aberdeen, having been his only relative in Mississippi. He was an honest, indus- trious man, modest and retiring in disposition, a good citizen and successful planter. The subject of this sketch was the second of six children born to his parents, three of whom are still living: John, who was a member of the Sixteenth and afterward of the Thirty-sixth Mississippi infantry, and died at the old homestead; William J. served in company C, of the Sixteenth Mississippi infantry all through the war; Isaac served during most of the period of the war in the Thirty-sixth Mississippi infantry; Sarah Ann (deceased), who became the wife of Jack Young; Elizabeth (deceased) married William Clark. Our subject passed his boyhood days on the plantation, receiving a common-school education. At the age of twenty he began planting on his own account, which he continued for two years. He then engaged in the mercantile business near his old home, which he continued until the railroad

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was built in 1858, when he saw a more advantageous position near Crystal Springs; and removing to that point, became the first merchant there. His career since that time has been one of most gratifying success. He not only enjoys the distinction of being the pio- neer merchant of that section, but one of the leading merchants as well. His operations before the war were so extensive that some years he did as much as $75,000 in trade, and his business now aggregates about $35,000. During the last year of the war Mr. Smith served in Mississippi in Major Roberts' cavalry. He was married, in 1851, to Matilda, a daughter of Calvin and Martha Cox, natives of South Carolina, whence they came to Ala- bama at an early day, removing from there to Copiah county, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Her father, who was a well-known planter, died soon after the war. Mrs. Smith was a native of Alabama. She has borne her husband nine children, seven of whom are still living: William Robert, James C., Jr., Wiley T., Augustus, Andrew, Mattie and Anna. Mr. Smith was the first president of the Crystal Springs bank, which position he held for two years, and has since been its vice president. His familiarity with the mercantile business was extensive, and his acquaintance extends through all parts of the state. Mrs. Smith died in 1889, having for many years been a member of the Baptist church, and is remembered as a most estimable lady, devoted to her children, of a charitable disposition and most pleasing manners. Mr. Smith is a consistent and helpful member of the Baptist church. In person Mr. Smith is rather tall and spare built, is courteous, affable and friendly, and has the faculty of drawing to him and retaining many friends. He has led a quiet, but in a certain sense, a very active life. He has made a great financial success. He exercises the right of suffrage for the good of the community at large, but does not neglect his business for politics. He has given much attention to the education of his children, all of whom are worthy members of society, and several of his sons are con- nected with his business in different capacities.

Murray F. Smith is an attorney of the firm of Miller, Smith & Hirsch, and for the past seventeen years has been a resident of Vicksburg, Miss., and one of its most eminent and successful lawyers. He was born in Milton, Caswell county, N. C., in 1850, the youngest of seven children that grew to maturity born to George A. and Adaline (McGehee) Smith, who were born in Virginia and North Carolina, respectively. The father was a merchant and a prosperous tobacco manufacturer. He died in 1860 and his wife in 1858, both having been earnest and consistent members of the Presbyterian church. The paternal ancestors for many years back were residents of Virginia, the mother's people being wealthy and influen- tial residents of the Old North state. Murray F. Smith was educated in the state of his birth, having been an attendant of Bingham school, a noted educational institution of North Carolina, and later graduated from the Washington and Lee University of Lexington, Va., in 1870. Immediately upon leaving this institution he began the study of law in Judge Pear- son's law school at Richmond Hill, Yadkin county, N. C., and graduated therefrom in Janu- ary, 1872, being admitted to the bar by the supreme court of that state in 1872. He at once began practicing in Greensboro, N. C., continuing there until April, 1874, when he came to Vicksburg, Miss. He was married the same year to Miss Kate Wilson, of Vicksburg, a daughter of Victor F. Wilson, a merchant for many years of this city, who died about 1865. In the fall of 1874 he became a regular practitioner of Vicksburg, and in 1878 formed a partnership with John A. Klein, which continued for one year. In 1880 he became associ- ated with A. B. and W. B. Pitman, the firm being Pitman, Pitman & Smith until 1883, but since January, 1884, has been associated with his present partners, they being now the at- torneys for the Louisville, New Orleans & Texas railroad, the Delta Trust and Banking com-

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pany, the St. Louis & New Orleans Anchor Line Steamboat company, the Yazoo & Talla- hatchie Transportation company, the Refuge Oil Mill company and the Vicksburg Street Railway company. This firm have a very large private court practice and handle in a mas- terly manner the many large and important suits entrusted to them. Mr. Smith has been quite an active politician, has attended many conventions, and every state convention since 1880. In 1887 he was elected to the lower house of the state legislature for the session of 1888, and served on several important committees. He was a member of the state constitu- tional convention in 1890, and in every official position in which he has served he has added luster to his name and has shown that he is possessed of mental qualities of no ordinary merit. He is active in the affairs of the city and is in all ways an exemplary citizen. He has always been a careful and painstaking student and gives the most devoted attention to his cases. He is a member of Vicksburg lodge of the A. F. & A. M., Lee lodge of the K. of P., is an Elk, and K. of H., and also belongs to the American Legion of Honor. He is a good financier and has erected a handsome residence on Prince street, besides having an interest in a plantation in this county. He and his wife are members of the Episcopal church and are the parents of four interesting children: Victor Conway, Murray Forbes, Jr., Ada McGehee and Clarence Carroll. Mr. Smith is a director of the D. W. Froweree Ice company and has manifested much interest in other worthy enterprises.

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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 124

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