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 168

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 168

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MEMOIRS OF MISSISSIPPI.

child." Henry Clay smiled and said: "He is very particular to say eldest; he doesn't want to be thought old." Margaret L. C. married W. P. Dickson, of Tennessee, but reared in Missis- sippi; by this union were born six children, three of whom are deceased. W. P. Winans was a lawyer of prominence in Louisiana, and married Jane Harper, by whom he had four daughters, all in Columbia, Mo. His widow became the wife of Dr. G. W. Riggins. W. P. Winans was killed at Missionary Ridge, Tenn., November 23, 1863, and at the time of his death held the commission of colonel in the Nineteenth Louisiana regiment; he was a man of fine ability and education. The fourth child born to Dr. Winans is Annie E., born in 1828. She was reared in this county, and finished her education in Shelbyville, Ky., and is a woman of fine attainments, hospitable and kind. She and her sister, Mrs. Wall, are the only surviv- ors of Dr. Winans' family. She was married, January 4, 1849, to Nolan S. Dickson, a native of Tennessee, by whom were born three children: Mary L., who died at fourteen years of age; Lucy W., at home, and William A., the present representative of this county, born and reared on the home place, and educated at Centenary college and at Vanderbilt university, Nashville, Tenn. He was married to Lucy B. Hampton, of Tennessee, where she was born and reared and educated at Hopkinsville. By this union they have one son, Stewart H. Mr. Dickson is one of the county's most enterprising young men. He was elected to the legislat- ure in 1888, which office he still holds, having succeeded himself for the second time. Mr. and Mrs. Dickson resided on the home place, where they kindly cared for Dr. Winans dur- ing his last feeble years, and until his death, August 31, 1857. Nolan S. Dickson died June 9, 1870, and was one of the county's representative planters. Mrs. Dickson is one of the county's most noble women, a Christian mother and a faithful worker of the Methodist Episcopal church. She has a son of her niece-in-law Anna Dickson, Wall Henry, whom she has reared from an infant since the death of his mother, a bright lad of twelve summers. The New Orleans Christian Advocate, speaking of the death of William Winans, D. D., said: "Dr. Winans is dead! We are slow to realize the fact with its announcement. The church mourns, not as for a servant, but a father, and the county for one of its greatest citizens.

"Servant of God, well done! Rest from thy loved employ, The battle fought, the victory won, Enter thy Master's joy."

J. W. Winborn, sheriff of Benton county, was born in what was at the time Marshall county, in 1840. His parents were Richard W. and Rebecca (Floyd) Winborn, natives of North Carolina. His father was born in 1806, and grew to maturity in the state of his birth, moving to Marshall county, Miss., in 1836, and locating twelve miles east of Holly Springs, where he lived for many years, and reared a family of eight sons and two daughters, only five of whom are living at the present time, all within the boundaries of Carroll, Holmes and Benton counties. He died in 1888 Sheriff Winborn was reared in this county. and received as good an education as the public schools afforded. In the beginning of the war he enlisted in company K, of the Thirty-fourth Mississippi volunteers, under Capt. D. B. Wright, and served until the close of hostilities, taking part in the engagements at Farmington, Prairieville, Chickamauga, Resaca and Atlanta, receiving a wound in the latter engagement which necessitated his being placed in the hospital, but he had no sooner recovered than he again reported for active duty. He was married in 1860 to Cornelia M. Hoover, an estimable lady, who has borne him nine children, eight of whom are living. On the 1st of January, 1892, he will have held the office of sheriff for fourteen years,

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having been re-elected at election after election, which indicates more clearly than any- thing else could do the fidelity with which he has discharged the trust reposed in him by his fellow-citizens, and he has been nominated for another term of four years. He has been a Mason since 1875, and all of his friends who are Masons testify that he is a Mason in principle as well as in name. The career of Mr. Winborn shows what may be achieved by an intelli- gent, honest, industrious and ambitious young man, not only in Mississippi, but in any other of the states of our glorious Union.

W. D. Windham is a native of Jasper county, Miss., and was born September 15, 1839. His father was James Windham and his mother was Christiana McLeod, the former being a native of Georgia and the latter of North Carolina. They moved with their respective fami- lies to Mississippi at an early day. They were married in Perry county, Miss., coming thence to Jasper county about the year 1833. Mr. Windham was a man of considerable prominence in his day, especially in connection with the old state militia. He died at Columbus, Miss. His wife still lives, residing in Jasper county. They were the parents of ten children: Murdock, William D., Jared C., James S., George, Susan, Effa, Elizabeth, Caroline and one daughter who died very young. W. D. Windham was educated at the public schools of Jas- per county. He began life for himself at the age of eighteen years, but was able to get only a fair start before the war, being obliged after the war to start anew. In May, 1862, he enlisted in company A, of the Fortieth Mississippi infantry, in which he served until near the close of the struggle. Returning to Jasper county he interested himself in agriculture. In August, 1869, he was married to Miss Colen V., daughter of William and Elizabeth (Moss) Hossey. Shortly after they located upon the plantation which they now occupy, and which Mr. Windham has operated successfully ever since that time. He owns in all about six hun- dred and forty acres of land, of which nearly one-half is in the highest state of cultivation. Mr. and Mrs. Windham are members of the Baptist church, and Mr. Windham is a useful and in every way a highly respected citizen, who commands the esteem of the entire com- munity.

Col. William Winston, a hardware merchant of Columbus, Miss., was born in Boone county, Ky. (near Cincinnati, Ohio), June 20, 1839, a son of Robert P. and Rebecca (Pollard) Winston, both of whom were born in Hanover county, Va., and relatives of Patrick Henry. The paternal grandfather, William Winston, was in the War of 1812 and by occupation was a planter, following this calling the latter part of his life in Kentucky. Robert P. Winston was likewise a planter, and at the time of his death, which occurred of cholera in Louisville, Ky., in 1849, he was an extensive coal merchant and owned what is now known as the Mul- ford mines, which he purchased from ex-President Tyler. His wife also died in Louis- ville and was buried at Cave Hill. Of four children born to them, the subject of this sketch is the only survivor. He was reared principally in the Old Dominion, being an attendant of Hampton-Sidney college, in which institution he completed his studies. His health was very poor at this time, but with the determination that has ever characterized his career lie entered upon the study of law, but his body failed to uphold the burden which the brain imposed upon it, and he was compelled to abandon his legal studies. He then embarked in the hardware business as a clerk in Richmond, Va., but came West before he had attained his majority and entered into business with his brother, Thomas P., continuing with him for some time. In 1861 he enlisted in company D, Third Kentucky regiment, and after serving a short time was made aid-de-camp on General Tillman's staff, but afterward took charge of an independent company between the Cumberland and Ohio rivers, stationed at Princeton, Ky. He was but twenty years of age at this time, and after he had lost all his men at the

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battle of Fort Donelson he went to Virginia, where he was made lieutenant-colonel under General Floyd, who commanded the state line when the state troops were turned over to the Confederate service. As Colonel Winston was in very poor health at this time he came West and acted on General Wheeler's staff, notwithstanding the fact that he was exempt from service on account of his health. Upon recovering his health to some extent, however, he enlisted as a private in the Eighth Kentucky regiment, serving about thirty days, when he was put upon the staff of General Lyon, with whom he served until the surrender in 1865 at Columbus, Miss. In the latter part of the same year he opened business in Columbus and has continued the same up to the present time, being now the oldest resident mer- chant of the town. He is well to do, and besides the valuable property which he owns in Columbus he is extensively engaged in the stock business and is interested in an orange grove in Florida and in several other places. In 1865 he was married to Miss Lucy A. Harris, by whom he has two children: William, attending military academy at Huntsville, Ala., and Corinne. In 1887 he was married to his present wife, formerly Miss Virginia S., daughter of Col. Joseph Taylor, of Alabama. Colonel Winston is a member of the A. F. & A. M., and he and his wife are members of the Episcopal church.

Within the limits of Jefferson county, Miss., there is not a man of greater personal pop- ularity than Hiram L. Winters, a man of recognized worth and substantial and progressive spirit. He was born in Ohio county, Ind., May 4, 1823, but his father, Levi Winters, was born in the Keystone state, where he also grew to manhood. After reaching manhood he went to Vermont and in that state was married to Miss Phoebe Clark, and afterward removed with his bride to what was then the wilds of Indiana, and became one of the pioneers of Ohio county. There he was called from life in 1827, his widow surviving him several years. Hiram L. Winters, their son, spent his youth at Rising Sun, Ind., and at that place began learning the tinner's trade, and as his employer and instructor was engaged in running a flat- boat on the Ohio river and down the Mississippi river to New Orleans, selling his wares, Mr. Winters may be said to have learned his trade on these rivers, several years of his life being spent at this work and in this manner. In 1853 he located at Grand Gulf, Claiborne county, Miss., with the purpose of following his trade, but the first year was taken with yellow fever, and although very ill, his time had not yet come and he gradually recovered and once more took up the burden of life. He was one of a very few that survived that dreaded scourge, for in the little village of Grand Gulf there were sixty-four deaths. In 1857 Mr. Winters removed to Rodney, then a thrifty little town of five hundred souls, and there commenced business with a very small capital, but pushed his venture to a successful issue and accumu- lated property very rapidly. Unfortunately he lost the most of it during the turbulent times of the war, and in 1864 removed with his family to Indiana, two years being spent in his native state. In 1866 he returned to Rodney to once more engage in the tin business, and although he has met with severe loss by fire on three different occasions and has been, each time, left in reduced circumstances, he has, with undaunted determination, resumed business each time and has succeeded in bending circumstances to his will. By shrewd management and devotion to his business he has recovered his losses, and with renewed strength and courage looks forward to a prosperous future. In 1875 he put in a small stock of general merchan - dise in his hardware establishment, and this has increased from time to time, he now being a prosperous general merchant with a bright outlook for the future. He was first married in Indiana, July 21, 1850, to Miss Elizabeth Schofield, a native of England, who came to the United States with her parents when a child of ten years, meeting and afterward marrying Mr. Winters. She died in 1880, having borne a family of eleven children; six are still living:

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Arabella P., wife of John Mackey; Henry L., married, and a merchant of Rodney; Rosa W., wife of Samuel J. Schofield, of Madison, Ind .; William S., married, and a prosperous mer- chant of Alabama; Joe S., a successful physician of Rodney; and Hannah L., who is at this writing (spring, 1891) attending school in Madison, Ind. Mr. Winters married his pres- ent wife, Miss Victoria Harper, in May, 1888. She was born in Mississippi to Rev. Miles Harper and wife, the former being a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Win- ters is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which order he has held a number of important offices, and he also belongs to the I. O. O. F. and has represented his lodge in the grand lodge of the state. He and Mrs. Winters are members of the Presbyterian church, and although he has reached his sixty-eighth year he is yet in the enjoyment of good health. He has made his way through life by his native talents and deserves much credit and honor for the position he has attained, for it is truly an enviable one.

John Wise, from 1840 to 1856, sixteen years, justice of the peace at Quincy, Mon- roe county, Miss., and one of the prominent planters of this section, was born in Bed- ford county, Tenn., June, 1811, the son of William and Katherine Wise, and came to Monroe county with his father's family in 1818, when only five years of age, his father being one of the first white men to locate permanently on the present site of Quincy, and, in fact, one of the earliest settlers thereabouts. His location was then covered with dense forests, and very little was in a fit state for cultivation, and in the end of the year following his arrival there provisions became so scarce that he was compelled to make the journey back to Tennessee after corn and other necessaries. Before lie completed the journey, he was killed and robbed, his assailants supposed to have been Indians. The burden of the family's sup- port fell upon his widow and children. Our subject remained with his mother until he was twenty-five years of age, helping to rear and educate his younger brothers and sisters. In 1836 he married Margaret, daughter of John and Margaret Tucker, and has since been engaged for the most of the time in planting on his own account. In 1861 he was com- missioned by the government officers to take care of the women and children residing within the boundaries of the county during the war, a position he filled during all that event- ful period from that date to 1865, discharging his duties in a manner that commanded the admiration of all classes of citizens. Mrs. Wise died in 1870, having borne him three children, as follows: Laura (deceased), Catherine, and Martha E. (deceased). In 1872 Mr. Wise was again married, to Elizabeth Dillingham. She is a daughter of James and Mary Dillingham. Politically Mr. Wise is a democrat. He is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church, and contributes liberally to its support. He is a kind husband and father, and ranks high as a business man and citizen.

Capt. Albert Q. Withers, farmer, Victoria, Miss., is a member of a well- known and highly esteemed pioneer family of Marshall county, Miss., was born in Sussex county, Va., April 6, 1819, and his parents, Sterling and Elizabeth (Moyler) Withers, were also natives of the Old Dominion. The paternal grandfather came over from England with Governor Dinwiddie, colonial governor of Virginia, and was his private secretary. The maternal grandparents were of French descent. The parents of our subject were married in their native state and remained there until all their children, four in number, were born. They were named in the order of their births as follows: Albert Q .; Emily (deceased), was the wife of Jesse M. Tate; Mary E., wife of C. C. White, and Sterling A., deceased. The parents removed from Virginia to Alabama in 1835, remained there one year engaged in farming, and then, in 1837, removed to Marshall county, Miss. The father bought land, erected houses and he and his two sons opened up a large estate. He was an honest, upright citizen, and was noted for his

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hospitality, that being a predominant characteristic of the Withers family. He and Mrs. Withers were members of the Methodist church. She died in 1846 and he in 1862. There are now only two of the family living, one besides our subject, Mrs. White. Capt. Albert Q. Withers received his literary training in the state of Virginia, and when nineteen years of age engaged in merchandising at Raleigh, Tenn., continning in business there for five years. He returned to Mississippi in 1843, located on the farm where he now lives, and was married the same year to Miss Matilda Caroline Jones, daughter of William and Phalba C. (Howard) Jones. The Howard family were from the same county in Virginia that the Withers family hailed from, and they were old acquaintances. To Captain and Mrs. Withers were born seven children: Emile Q., William L., Elizabeth P., Mary H. (deceased), Luln T., (wife of William H. Cannon), Sallie M. and Cora M. Captain Withers owns nine hundred and sixty acres of land and has six hundred acres under cultivation. He was elected a member of the legislature from Marshall county in 1859, and re-elected again in 1861, making four years' service in that capacity. He was a member of that honorable body when the ordinance of seces- sion was passed and strongly opposed that measure. However, he acquiesced and bent his energies in support of the cause of the South, enlisting in the service in 1863. He raised a company of cavalry, was elected captain of the company, and was on detached duty mostly in the state of Mississippi, under General Wright. He remained in the service until the close and was paroled at Grenada, Miss. Returning to Marshall county he removed his family to Holly Springs, for his houses, fencing, etc., were destroyed by the armies, and his loss was at least $150,000 worth of property. At the breaking out of the war he had one hundred slaves, and was reputed to be worth at that time $300,000, having an annual income of $12,000 besides the ordinary increase in property. While a resident of Holly Springs he engaged in merchandising, remained there until 1878 (the time of the yellow fever scourge), and then returned to his farm, where he has since resided. His estimable wife and family are members of the Presbyterian church, and move in the best circles of society. The Captain is well known throughout the county as one of its very best citizens, and is noted for his hospitality and marked individuality. He educated his children in the best schools of the country. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for many years, and has taken all the degrees in that order. He was largely instrumental in inducing the building of railroads in the state. The Mississippi river bottom and other abandoned lands were allowed to be redeemed, and the same held free of taxation for fourteen years; and he drew up the bill that passed both houses of the legislature, and became a law, allowing this bonus and at the same time replenishing the treasury.

John P. Withers, Blythe, Miss. In the early settlement of the state of Mississippi members of the Withers family settled within its borders, and with that bravery and courage characteristic of the pioneer, made homes in Marshall county, in the midst of the wilderness. From these good people is descended the subject of this biography, John P. Withers. He was born in Marshall county, Miss., July 25, 1850, and is one of a family of four children. His parents, Sterling A. and Emily C. (Caruthers) Withers, were natives of Virginia. The father, the son of Sterling Withers, was a planter, and one of the early set- tlers of De Soto county. He died in Marshall county in 1852, when John P. was two years old. The maternal grandparents of John P. were John P. and Ann C. Caruthers, natives of Virginia; they were also early settlers of Mississippi. John P. Withers was brought up in De Soto county and received a good education in the private schools of the neighborhood. When he had reached man's estate he left his mother's home, and started out in life for him- self. He had a small amount of capital to sow for the future, and an unusual amount of 000

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native energy and pluck. He is now farming on his mother's place. He was married in 1874 to Miss Adda B. Thompson, of Mississippi, a daughter of Benjamin F. and Camilla J. Thompson, natives of Tennessee. Six children have been born of this union: Camilla G., Sterling A., Frank T., Emily C., deceased, Ada B. and John P. Mr. Withers is a member of the K. H. S. In 1888 he was appointed a member of the Yazoo Mississippi levee board, and still holds that position. He has been president of the board of supervisors of De Soto county for one year and a member of said board for four years. He has always been actively interested in politics as a democrat, and has given much attention to the issues which have most affected the welfare of the people. His broad, public spirit and his generous support of all philanthropic measures have won for him the respect and honor of the entire commu- nity.

R. S. Withers, a prominent Mississippian, was born in Jackson, May 27, 1857, a son of William T. Withers, and the fourth of his family of ten children. His father, a native of Kentucky, came to Mississippi about 1848, and being a talented attorney, he became a part- ner of Judge Wiley P. Harrison, with whom he remained associated for about seven years, after which he returned to Lexington, Ky. He then abandoned the profession of law to engage in the raising of blooded horses, and his fine stock farm near the city of Lexington he named Fairlawn. Although he began on a small scale, he had an aptitude for the work and did it well, being at one time the owner of Almont and Happy Medium, paying for the former $15,000, and for the latter $20,000. Some of his finest animals were sold to King Humbert, of Italy, to the king of the Sandwich islands and to the khedive of Egypt. When Mr. Withers came with his wife to Mississippi they were among the first settlers of the old town of Grand Gulf. R. S. Withers first attended the common schools, but finished his education in the academic department of the University of Kentucky, but left this institution in 1874, and spent two years in California. He then returned to Kentucky, but being of an adventurous disposition, he was not yet disposed to settle down, so made a trip to the Sand- wich islands, taking with him some of his father's finest horses, which he disposed of to the king, whose guest he was for one year. The latter gave him a sinecure on board an emi- grant ship, whereby he secured a good fee, although he had nothing to do, and visited many of the most important islands in the Pacific ocean. When King Kalakaua was on a visit to this country he visited the Kentucky home of William T. Withers. R. S. Withers has also traveled throughout Mexico and the Central American states. When his desire for travel had become somewhat satisfied he returned to his home in Kentucky, where he remained until 1886, when he launched his canoe and drifted down the rivers to Vicksburg, Miss. In this state he has since made his home, and is now the owner of five thousand acres of land, about two thousand of which are under cultivation, which he devotes to the raising of cotton and corn, exclusively. He has four hundred and ninety acres in a stock farm, which he stocked with horses he brought from his Kentucky home, they being of the Hambletonian and Mambrino breed. In 1890 he opened a large general mercantile store on his planta- tion, in order to simply supply his own tenants, and from his $8,000 stock of goods, which he keeps constantly on hand, his annual sales amount to $75,000. In June, 1890, he was married to Miss Minnie Robb, a daughter of R. B. Robb, a native of Ireland. Mr. Withers is a wideawake, pushing and enterprising man, and expects soon to drop planting altogether and devote his time and attention to the raising of stock, and should he do so he will no doubt be remarkably successful, for he has been brought up to the business. He has some valuable papers in his possession which were written by General Johnston to his father dur- ing war times, asking for a statement of facts concerning the battle of Baker's Creek.

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William T. Withers enlisted in the Confederate army at the opening of the war, enlisting in the First regiment of Mississippi light artillery, with which he remained until the surrender of Vicksburg. He was then paroled and stationed at Blakely, Ala., on Mobile bay, until the war closed. He was on Pemberton's staff, and participated in all the battles in and about Vicksburg. After the war he opened a law office in Jackson, as above stated.

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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 168

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