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 171

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 171

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a superintendent. He was appointed by President Cleveland to compile the commercial and agricultural statistics of the state of Mississippi. He has held the office of chief magistrate of district No. 4 for a period of twelve years, his election being unanimous. The black peo- ple in this district outnumber the whites ten to one, and Captain Wynn has always been their choice. In his official capacity he has always discharged his duties with a rare fidelity, and with an ability quite out of the ordinary. He has won for himself a host of friends and admirers, and made a reputation second to none in the state.

Judge James Harper Wynn. This gentleman is one of the most brilliant and talented lawyers in the state of Mississippi. He is a man of advanced ideas, liberal and progressive, and while pursuing the practice of his profession takes an active interest in every move forthe development of his state. He was born in Tallahatchie county, Miss., to William T. Wynn and wife, the former having come from his native state of Virginia to Mississippi when a young man, locating in Jackson, where he became connected with some of the leading banks. He was very successful as a business man, became possessed of considerable wealth, and at his death, which occurred in his native state in 1855, he was in good circumstances. He was married to Coralie, daughter of Maj. J. N. Harper, who is still a resident of Tallahatchie county, although born in the state of Georgia. The latter's wife was a Miss Jones, of Georgia, and her father, Col. William Jones, won his title in the Revolutionary war, and was a native Georgian. Judge James Harper Wynn attained manhood in Tallahatchie county, but was educated in the University of Mississippi at Oxford. In 1873 he began teaching school, and after following this occupation for two years, and in the meantime studying law, he began practicing the latter calling in Charleston, Miss. Two years later he moved to Friar's Point, Miss., at which he continued his practice until 1886, when he was appointed judge of the circuit court of the delta district, a position he filled until 1889, proving himself a most eminent jurist. Being full of charity and generosity, he rarely suspected others of sordid motives, and his criticisms, when provoked, were tempered with mildness and forbearance. Since 1889 he has been a practitioner of Greenville, and as he gives every attention to his business, he never permits the interests of his clients to suffer. He was elected mayor of Greenville in 1889, and has discharged the duties of this position very creditably up to the present time. He was married in June, 1880, to Miss Mattie Kin- man, a native of Memphis, Tenn., but a resident of Newport, Ark., being a daughter of Captain Riley and Mattie (Hooker) Kinman, the former a planter and the latter a native of Nashville, Tenn. To Judge and Mrs. Wynn three children have been born: Robert Harper, Mattie Kinman and William Thomas. Judge Wynn is the owner of one thousand acres of land. In 1888 he erected him a residence in Greenville at a cost of $5,000, which is a handsome, commodious, substantial and very pleasant residence. He has the satisfac- tion of knowing that he is not beholden to any man for the property of which he is now the owner, for he began life with limited means and has earned it all by his own efforts. He inherits English and French blood of his parents, and in his religious views is a Presbyterian, his wife being an earnest member of the Catholic church. Socially he belongs to the K. of P., the K. of H. and the American Legion of Honor. He is one of the ablest lawyers in the Yazoo delta, if not in the state, is intelligent, highly educated, and bears an enviable reputation as a citizen and jurist. Since becoming mayor of Greenville he has been diligent in his efforts to rid the city of the moral vampires that have infested it, and has done much to raise the standard of morality in this section. He has at all times manifested a spirit in keeping with Christian principles, and as he possesses very superior natural endowments, strengthened and enriched by the highest culture, he is eminently

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capable of filling any position within the gift of the people. In social life he is highly esteemed for his conversational powers, and for the ease, grace and dignity of his manners, and in the domestic circle he is a model husband and father, making the happiness and com- fort of his family his chief aim and object in life. His many admirable qualities of head and heart have won him many warm friends, and when once won they are rarely lost. He has achieved an excellent reputation, both professionally, socially and as a citizen, and it may with truth be said that no one has gained more fully the confidence of the people, and cer- tainly no one has been truer or more loyal to public trusts.

CHAPTER XXIV.

CONCLUDING INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY NOTICES, Y.

ONNECTED with his practice, which he has made a complete success, Dr. A. S. Yar- brough, Como, Miss., is also engaged in farming, and is possessed of those advanced ideas and principles which can not fail to place him in the front ranks as an agri- culturist. He was born in Marshall county, Miss., on the 12th of October, 1840, and is the son of Charles and Sallie B. (Anderson) Yarbrough, the father a native of Frank- lin county, N. C., and the mother of Lunenburg district, Va. The Yarbrough family is of English extraction, and the first immigrants to this country made their appearance here prior to the Revolution. Many descendants now reside in North Carolina. Charles Yarbrough was reared in North Carolina, was married in Tennessee to Miss Anderson, and in 1839 he moved to Marshall county, Miss., where he followed the occupation of a farmer. He became quite wealthy, and died in Marshall county in 1873. The mother is still living, and is seventy-eight years of age. Seven of the eleven children born to this union grew to mature years, and are named as follows: Martha G., wife of James Sims of Holly Springs; Beatrice (deceased), was the wife of the late Dr. W. M. Compton; Charles G., a farmer of Marshall county; Dr. A. S. ; G. W. and J. Henry, both farmers of Marshall county, and John W. (deceased). Dr. A. S. Yarbrough spent his boyhood days on his father's farm in Marshall county, and when eighteen years of age, owing to ill health, he went to Texas, where he spent a year with the cow boys. He then returned to Mississippi, studied medicine under the late Dr. William M. Compton, and took a course of lectures in the medical college at Nashville, Tenn. At the commencement of the late war he entered the Confederate army as a private in company I, First Mississippi infantry, commanded by Captain Milams. Soon after, on making an application to be examined in medicine and surgery, he was appointed surgeon in 1862. He was in the engagement at Fort Donelson, was captured and taken to Mound City, Ill., where he was left with the wounded of his command. Subsequently, fearing that he should be taken farther north, Dr. Yarbrough made his escape, crossing the Ohio river when it was eight miles in width, (this was before it was agreed upon that PPP

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physicians should not be considered prisoners of war), and then reported to his colonel, who was at Shannon, Miss. He was granted a furlough. He joined his regiment as soon it was enchanged, was a participant of the siege of Port Hudson, and was again captured. Upon being released he reported to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who was near Jackson, Miss. His regiment was soon exchanged, and his command joined the army of Tennessee, taking part in all the fights around Atlanta, Ga., and being with Hood in the Tennessee campaign. He was in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, and after retreating from the latter place to Vernon, Miss., he was given a furlough. He was on the way to join his command when he met Jefferson Davis on his retreat from Richmond, near Washington, Ga. Dr. Yarbrough was then paroled, and returned to the peaceful pursuits of farm life. In 1865 he wedded Miss Texana J. Wilbourn, daughter of Elijah and Eliza Wilbonrn, and to them were born three children, all daughters: Mattie B., wife of J. B. Davis, of Nashville, Tenn .; May B., wife of J. B. Wardlaw, of Como, Miss .; Minnie L., at home, single. Dr. Yarbrough lost his estimable wife in 1873. His second marriage was to Miss Emma McGee, daughter of Edward and Sarah (McGee) McGee, a very prominent pioneer family of Panola county. By his last union the Doctor became the father of one son, Archie. Dr. Yarbrough has been a resident of Panola county since 1865, and of his farm for about ten years. He was elected to the state legislature by the democratic party in 1889. He has one of the largest and best improved plantations in the county-two thousand three hundred acres, with one thousand five hundred acres under cultivation, and has all the latest improved machinery for conduct- ing the same. He stands high in the estimation of all who know him.

Daniel T. Yates was born in Hinds county, Miss., January 14, 1838, the youngest of nine children born to Daniel and Mary (Dyson) Yates, natives of the Old North state. The father was born in 1795, and was reared in the state of his birth, there receiving only such advantages as the common schools afforded. He was a man of great will power, and engaging in agricultural pursuits, by industry and good management he accumulated, prior to the war, a fortune of $150,000 in slaves, land, stock, etc., most of which was swept away during the terrible struggle between the North and the South. He was not a political aspirant, and lived a quiet and uneventful life upon his plantation. Upon his removal to Mississippi, in 1816, he located in Covington county, but afterward removed to Hinds county, where he spent the rest of his days, dying in 1875. He was a son of Luke and Helen (Flowers) Yates, of North Carolina, the Yates family being of English ancestry. He gave all his sons a collegiate education. He and his wife belonged to the Christian church. Daniel T. Yates was reared in Hinds county, and was educated in Bethany college, of Bethany, Va., graduating from this institution in 1858, following which he clerked in a general mercantile store for about one year. In 1861, at the beginning of the war, he enlisted in the Confederate army, attaching himself to company A, of the Twelfth Mississippi regiment-Raymond fencibles-and served until the close of the war, participat- ing in the battles of Spottsylvania, the seven days' fight before Richmond, Chancellorsville, Seven Pines, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Sharpsburg, the second Manassas and Peters- burg. He was wounded in the head at Gettysburg, and in the side at Seven Pines, but not dangerously either time, and in the seven days' fight near Richmond he lost a finger. He surrendered at Meridian, Miss., and returned home in April, 1865, where he almost imme- diately began planting and merchandising, notwithstanding the fact that the conntry was desolated by the war. He began anew with the same courage that had upheld him in many battles and throughout the long period of the war, and by undeviating effort he soon began to accumulate means, and in time his broken fortunes were mended. Through his own busi-

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ness ability he has become the owner of thirteen hundred acres of land, of which about six hundred acres are under cultivation, devoted to the raising of the usual Southern products. This plantation is admirably conducted, and everything about it indicates that a man of thrift, intelligence and enterprise is at the helm. Added to all the advantages of a college education, Mr. Yates' experience as a soldier, and his subsequent contact with the world, were excellent teachers, and had their uses, for they taught him to think and act for himself. He is a refined and intelligent gentleman, a pleasant and instructive companion, and a fluent and interesting conversationalist. He is a member of the Knights of Honor, and is insured in the New York Life Insurance company, also in the New York Mutual Life Insurance company, and he and his wife and children worship in the Christian church. In December, 1866, Mr. Yates was married to Miss Maggie Murchison, a native of Mississippi and a daughter of John and Catherine (Evans) Murchison, the former a Virginian, and the latter a native of Mississippi and a graduate of Brashear academy, Mississippi. To Mr. and Mrs. Yates the following children have been born: Alexander, a teacher; Katie, a grad- uate of Wood's seminary, Nashville, Tenn. ; Daniel T., Jr., a commercial traveler; John R., a teacher; Mary H., at the Convent of Mercy, Vicksburg, Miss. ; Simon M .; Dan Voorhees, and Alonzo Lewis. Simon M., Dan Voorhees and Alonzo Lewis are at home attending school. The Yates family stand socially among the best people of the county.

Rucks Yerger, attorney, Friar's Point, Miss., was born in Bolivar county, Miss., Novem- ber 22, 1859, and was the youngest child that reached maturity born to Alexander and Eliza- beth B. (Rucks) Yerger, the father a native of Tennessee, and the mother of Mississippi. Alexander Yerger was a man of thorough education, and was very prominent in the politics of Mississippi. Many members of the Yerger family, an old and prominent one, have been eminent attorneys, and have held high legal offices in the states of Mississippi and Tennessee. Mrs. Yerger was a native of Washington county, Miss., her father being the owner of the plantation on which the town of Leland now stands. Rucks Yerger, who was named after his grandfather, Judge James Rucks, was mainly educated at home, and for a time was clerk in the law office of Charles Scott, of Rosedale, Miss. In June, 1882, he graduated in law from the University of Mississippi, graduating second in his class. He soon formed a partner- ship with W. S. Farish, locating at Mayersville, Miss. Two years later he took a summer course at the University of Virginia, and in July, 1884, located at Friar's Point, where he has since resided. Mr. Yerger is one of the most prominent legal lights of Coahoma county, and for soundness of views and clearness of intellect he stands second to none. In 1886 he formed a partnership with George Winston. This continued under the firm name of Winston & Yerger until 1889, when Mr. Winston was appointed circuit judge. Mr. Yerger is a stock- holder in the bank of Friar's Point, and in the Friar's Point Box and Woodwork factory. He is attorney for the Friar's Point Building and Loan associatiou, treasurer of the Friar's Point Land, Loan and Improvement company and president of the Friar's Point Packing company. He was married November 13, 1889, to Miss Hyacinth W. McGuire, a native of Mississippi, and daughter of Charles L. and Hyacinth McGuire. Mrs. Yerger was principally reared in New York. From there she moved to New Orleans, where she resided at the time of her marriage. One child, Charles Alexander, has been born to this union. Mr. Yerger owns a large quantity of wild lands in Coahoma county, and is a firm believer in the future of the Mississippi delta. He is a member of the K. of P., Coahoma lodge No. 49. The family are members of the Episcopal church.

Hon. William Gwin Yerger, senior member of the well-known firm of Yerger & Percy, lawyers of Greenville, Miss., was born in Vicksburg on the 22d of July, 1840, and was the

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fourth in a family of nine children born to Judge Jacob Shall and Mary H. (Bowen) Yerger, the father a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Tennessee. Judge Yerger was one of the most prominent men of Mississippi, and so great was his popularity that he could have been elected to any office to which he aspired. The following is taken from the Bench and Bar of Mississippi: "Judge Jacob Yerger was born in the town of Greensburg, Penn., on the 11th of January, 1816, and removed with his parents to Lebanon, Tenn., where he was reared and educated. He was one of eleven children, and in consequence of the poverty of his father his educational advantages were sparse and limited. Full, however, of the work- ings of an innate genius and the ambition of conscious talents, on attaining his majority he selected the profession of law, and began its study in the office of his brother, George S. Yerger. Having, after a thorough preparation, obtained his license to practice, he located in the city of Nashville and entered at once upon his prosperous and brilliant career. In spite of the most flattering prospects he removed to Vicksburg in the winter of 1837, and there, among some of the brightest legal lights of the state, he was soon recognized as fully equal to the task before him, and the expectations which his reputation engendered. He was one of the most profonnd lawyers at the bar of Mississippi, and practiced in the Federal courts, in the high court of errors and appeals, and in the superior court of chancery, being perhaps the largest and most lucrative in the state and which he retained until his election to the circuit bench in 1855. As a judge, he was a wise and faithful expositor of the law, a stern and unswerving vindicator of justice, and upright arbiter before whom the weak and oppressed found an ample and sure redress of their wrongs. He possessed the unbounded confidence of the bar and the people, and his decisions were received as emanations from the fountain of wisdom and justice. His addresses to the grand jury were models of legal expositions and moral commentary and the dignity and decorum which he maintained in his courts were elevating to the bar, admonishing to the people, and an honor to judicature. At the expiration of his first term as circuit judge of the then third judicial district of Mis- sissippi, he was re-elected and continued in that office until his death, on the 14th of July, 1867. In every sphere of life, Judge Yerger maintained the same high character which embellished his career on the bench. He was a true patriot, and though widely differing from a majority of his fellow-citizens on many vital issues of his day, so lofty was his integrity, so firm were his convictions and so sincere were his motives that they commanded respect from the fiercest opposition. In politics he was a whig, and his services to that party both in Tennessee and Mississippi were great and lasting. He was twice elected to represent the city of Vicksburg in the legislature of the state, and while a member of that body, in 1841, he moved to reject the measure of Governor McNutt, which suggested the policy.of repudiation. He was convinced that the payment of the bonds of the Union and Planters' bank was legally binding on the state, and advocated the payment. At this same session he introduced a bill for funding the indebtedness of the state, the wisdom of which was exem- plified in the gradual recall of a large amount of outstanding warrants from a depucelate circulation and consequently to a speedy restoral of the credit of the state.

"In 1845 Judge Yerger removed to Washington county, Miss., and was soon restored to the legislature. In 1852 he was sent as a delegate to the whig convention at Baltimore, Md., and on his return was made one of the electors-at-large from the state. In the canvass which followed, his vigor and eloquence added greatly to the strength of his party and increased his reputation for consummate ability. On taking his seat on the bench Judge Yerger dis- carded all his party enthusiasm and carefully avoided all participation in politics, but when the question of secession began, in 1860, to assume a serious aspect, he used all his ability

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and influence in opposition to that measure. He considered it unnecessary, impolitic and ruinous, and in the March convention of 1861 he stemmed almost alone the revolutionary tide that swept over that body. While he deeply felt the wrongs of his people, he loved the Union and was willing to rest satisfied with the obtaining of further constitutional guarantees of equality within its folds. But when the die was cast and the fatal consequence thrust upon the country, he sent three of his sons to answer the call for troops of his state, in 1861, and afterward, as soon as he became of proper age, he buckled on the armor of a fourth son who was killed in battle in 1864. In 1865 Judge Yerger was unanimously elected as a del- egate from his county to the convention for reorganizing the state government, and was chosen president of that body, over which he presided in a manner dignified and satisfactory. In private life his conversation was enlivening and entertaining, his manner attractive, and he possessed a rich vein of humor. He was popular among all classes of people, and to such an extent that at his re-election to the bench, in 1861, he is said to have lacked but one vote of being the unanimous choice of the district, and that one vote was not cast against him. He was the friend of the widow and orphan, and his charity was large and open handed. The Judge was married in 1833 to Miss Mary H. Bowen of Smith county, Tenn., and to them were born nine children. He died of congestion of the brain while holding court in Vicks- burg." Hon. William G. Yerger was reared in Washington county, Miss., and received his literary education at Lebanon, Tenn., and Princeton, N. J. He began the study of law before the war, and in April, 1861, he entered the Confederate army as aid-de-camp to General Alcorn. He subsequently resigned and went to Virginia, where he enlisted in company K, Eighteenth Mississippi infautry, as a private, and served in that capacity until after the battle of Manassas, when he was elected second lieutenant, mainly commanding the company for a year. He then came to Mississippi and enlisted in Washington cavalry, company D, as a private, but was elected lieutenant. He surrendered with General Forrest on the 12th of May, 1865. While in Virginia he was in the battles of Bull Run, Manassas, Leesburg and Will- iamsburg, and in the West he was in the battles around Atlanta. He then returned home, was admitted to the bar at Greenville in 1865 and at once began practicing in this county. In 1865 he located at Greenville, and here he has since resided. He was in partnership with W. L. Nugent for six years, and then with Colonel Percy for sixteen years. At the latter's death he continued the firm with his son as Yerger & Percy. Mr. Yerger was mayor of Greenville at an early day; was elected state senator of Washington county in 1886, being the first separate senator that said county had; was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1890. The firm of Yerger & Percy are counsel for the board of levee commis- sioners, general counsel for the Louisville, New Orleans & Texas Railroad company, and counsel in the western part of Mississippi for the Georgia Pacific Railroad company. Mr. Yerger was married on the 6th of December, 1866, to Miss Jennie Hunter, a native of this state, and daughter of Ambrose and Jane Hunter, of Aberdeen, Miss. The fruits of this union were five children, two sons and two daughters living: Mary Louise, William Nugent, James Allen and Jennie. Annie died in infancy. The family are members of the Episcopal church. Mr. Yerger is a member of the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Knights of Honor fraternities. He is a selfmade man, having started with nothing after the war; he has risen to the front ranks in his profession, and is held in high estimation by all.

A. F. Young, planter, Sessumsville, Miss., was born in Columbus, Miss., on the 4th of July, 1846, receiving the principal part of his education in that city, and then spent one year in the University of Alabama. When in his eighteenth year he was adjutant of a post at Meridian, Ala., and served in that capacity for eleven months, or until the close of the

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war. Afterward Mr. Young followed farming for a year, and then he attended Washing- ton college, at Lexington, Va. (now Washington and Lee university), where he took one course. Returning then to Lowndes county he again began farming, and this has continued to be his chosen occupation since. He was married on the 15th of November, 1877, to Miss Emily M. Fox, a native of Monroe county, Miss., born in 1846, and the daughter of Henry A. and Emily M. (Gay) Fox, early settlers of Mississippi. Both are now deceased. In August, 1878, Mr. Young removed to Oktibbeha county, Miss., to his wife's homestead and is engaged in general farming. He also raises a good grade of livestock. His marriage

resulted in the birth of one child, Hampton Gay, who is now attending school at Artesia, and is eleven years of age. Mr. Young is a member of the Farmers' Alliance, is president of the sub-alliance and also of the county alliance. He is chairman of the dem- ocratic executive committee and is captain of Oktibbeha rangers. He has never united with any church, although a strong believer of the Presbyterian doctrine. In all his ideas and tendencies Mr. Young is progressive and enterprising, a useful member of society, personally and in business circles. His parents, A. F. and E. L. (Davis) Young, were natives respectively, of Tennessee and South Carolina, the former born on the 27th of March, 1809, and the latter on the 5th of May, 1817. A. F. Young, Sr., was reared in his native state, and when grown came to Mississippi. He received merely a common education, for he was left an orphan when quite young, and although he was a lawyer by profession he followed the occupation of a planter. He met and married Miss E. L. Davis, a daughter of John Davis, who was one of the earliest settlers of Columbus, and who built the first brick house in that city on the 7th of March, 1835. A. F. Young, Sr., purchased a large tract of land (two thousand acres), in the southwest portion of Lowndes county, and after engaging in farming he abandoned his law practice. This he continued until his death, on the 31st of August, 1862. His wife only survived him six months, dying February 7, 1863. To his marriage were born three daughters and two sons, who are named in the order of their births as follows: Ella Wright, wife of E. J. McGavock, of Nashville; Lelia A., wife of J. H. Sykes; Laura V. , wife of Henry B. Whitfield, of Columbus; Alexander Frank (subject), and John Davis (deceased). The father of these children was a prosperous farmer and amassed a considerable fortune in land and negroes. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and still takes a deep interest in the workings of the order. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian church.

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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 171

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