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 63

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 63

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The individual members of the firm of Martin Bros., merchants, Hardy Station, Miss., are Dr. A. Martin, J. A. Martin and W. F. Martin, who are classed among the prominent business men of the county. They are the sons of James A. Martin and the grandsons of Aurelius Martin, after whom Dr. A. Martin was named. Grandfather Martin was a native of

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South Carolina and came to Mississippi with his family in the forties, settling in Yalobusha county, where he resided for a number of years. He afterward moved to a place near Cof- feeville, then the county seat of that county, and there his death occurred. He was the father of six children, three sons and three daughters, all of whom lived to be grown and settled in the vicinity of the home place. Only one, Savanah, is now living. She first mar- ried Jesse Hardy and after his death was united in marriage to J. E. Laycook. She now resides on the old home place and in the same house built by her father. The children deceased were : Joseph, John, James A., Elizabeth and Rebecca. Joseph and John died when young, on the home place, and just after completing their education. Elizabeth was the wife of Thomas Atkinson, and after his death was married to J. W. Harris, now of Hardy Station. Rebecca married Col. Richard Stokes, and .both are now deceased, she dying in 1881 at the age of forty-seven years. Their sons are prominent merchants of Hardy Sta- tion. James A. Martin was born in Edgefield district, S. C., on the 11th of October, 1831, and there received his education. He was married to Miss Marthy Hill, daughter of Joel Hill, of South Carolina, who afterward moved to Mississippi and became one of the foremost planters. She was educated at Grenada and afterward taught school in the academy for a number of years. She was a member of the Baptist church and was a good and noble woman. She died when her youngest child was eight months, leaving three children, who now compose the above mentioned firm. The father was married the second time to Miss Frances Griffis, daughter of Jesse Griffis (see sketch of John W. Griffis) and by her became the father of three children : Jannie, a graduate at the school at Columbus, Miss., and who is now completing a musical course at Iuka, of this state. Blanche is attending school at Columbus, and John E. is a bright little fellow of eleven years. In 1862 Mr. Martin settled in Hardy Station, commenced merchandising and continued this until his death, on the 9th of December, 1889. He had won the reputation of a good, law-abiding citizen, a kind neighbor, a generous friend, an honest merchant and a successful farmer. His house was so emphatically the home of hospitality that strangers as well as friends nat. urally gravitated to it for its generous kindness. Mr. Martin was intelligent, genial, and warmhearted in all his social relations and was a kind, loving and devoted husband and father. He took a very active part in politics and was one of the foremost democrats of the county. He was a member of the Baptist church in early life. He was a member of the A. F. & A. M., Grenada lodge No. 31, and was buried by the beautiful ritual of the Masonic order. Dr. A. Martin, the senior member of the firm of Martin Bros., is a graduate of the University Medical college at Louisville, Ky., and commenced his practice at Hardy Station in partnership with Dr. Barksdale, of that place. He has not married. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., Ivanhoe lodge No. 8, at Grenada. James A. Martin was educated in the vicinity of Hardy Station and was married to Miss May Smith of that place, she being a daughter of Joseph and L. A. Smith. James A. is a member of the grand lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 6, is a Knight Templar in the Masonic fraternity and is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Honor. He first engaged in merchandising at Hardy Station about five years before the death of his father, and after the above firm was established they succeeded the latter in the mercantile business. William F. Martin, the junior member of the firm, was educated at Oxford, Miss., and is now depot and express agent, also postmaster at Hardy Station. The brothers, like their father, are all stanch democrats and take a lively interest in politics. They are the owners of large tracts of lands in Yalobusha and Talla- hatchie counties and with several hundred acres under cultivation. They handle about three hundred and fifty bales of cotton every year and are live, energetic business men.

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Tral Jour & B Seal

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MEMOIRS OF MISSISSIPPI.

T. Staige Marye, resident of Greenwood, Miss., has for many years been prominently identified with the history of Le Flore county, and is justly entitled to the space allotted him in this record of the leading citizens of the state of Mississippi. He was born at Port Gibson, Claiborne county, Miss., August 12, 1849. James T. Marye, his father, was born in Virginia, about the year 1814, and came to Mississippi when a young man, and settled at Port Gibson. There he married Mary P. Hoopes, a native of the city of Philadelphia, and a daughter of Passmore Hoopes, one of the pioneers of Claiborne county and a leading merchant of Port Gibson for a number of years. He died there about the year 1868, his wife following him three years later, in 1871. Our subject is one of a family of two sons and two daughters who grew to maturity. He spent his youth in Port Gibson, and received his education there. When he started out in life for himself he came to what is now Le Flore county, and engaged in planting on Roebuck lake. In a few years he went to Cali- fornia, but Our Italy failed to chain him to the Pacific coast, and at the end of a year he returned. He then entered the mercantile trade at Greenwood, and did business there for a number of years; he finally removed his store to his plantation, and has carried on a neighborhood and plantation store. He was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the oilmill at Greenwood, in 1890. On the organization of this company he was elected treasurer, secretary and manager. The mill was in running operation in February, 1890, and is doing a fine business; two forces of men are worked, so the mill runs day and night; about sixty tons of seed are used every twenty-four hours. This is a very important institu- tion to Greenwood and the surrounding country. The pay roll amounts to $400 per week, and the industry is one of the most profitable. In addition to his commercial interests Mr. Marye takes an active part in local politics. He is a strong adherent to democratic prin- ciples, and zealously supports all the men and measures of that body. He is one of the county board of supervisors, and has occupied this position for the past ten years. He is president of the present board. He has served as the mayor of Greenwood, carrying out an economical and satisfactory policy. He is vice president of the Delta bank, being elected to this office on the organization of that institution; he is a member of the Yazoo and Mississippi River Delta Levee board, and has belonged to this body since its inception in 1884. Mr. Marye was married in Le Flore county, Miss., in 1870, to Miss Mary Emma Harper, a native of Le Flore county, and a daughter of J. P. Harper. Mrs. Marye was reared in Le Flore county, but received her education in Carroll county. She is the mother of one son, W. S. Marye. Our subject is one of the heaviest landowners in Le Flore county; he has two thousand acres, thirteen hundred of which are under excellent cultivation. About eight hundred bales of cotton are produced annually. This places Mr. Marye among the largest planters of the state, and he is known to be among the most public-spirited and enterprising of her citizens.

Presly Mason, of Meridian, Lauderdale connty, Miss., was born in 1840 in Richmond county. N. C., and, coming to Lauderdale county, Miss., in 1870, settled in the southeastern part. Isaac Mason, his father, was born in Richmond county, N. C., about 1815, and was married about 1837, to Miss Hicks, of North Carolina. He was a soldier in the Confederate states army. Presly Mason also went to the war, enlisting in company D, Capt. A. T. Cole commanding, twenty-third North Carolina regiment, Colonel Hoke's command; was in the battles of Williamsburg, Seven Pines and South mountain, and in the campaign to Maryland; captured at Antietam, and imprisoned at Fort Delaware for one month; exchanged and paroled, he went back with his old regiment; was at Gettysburg, was here slightly wounded and again captured, and imprisoned at Point Lookout, Md. ; remained there eigh- Z

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teen months, during which time he suffered much from cold and hunger, from the effects of which he has never fully recovered. He held some non-commissioned positions during his war service; was appointed orderly sergeant by his captain as a token of merit. After the general surrender of the Confederate forces he engaged in agriculture in North Carolina, and, as indicated above, removed to Mississippi. He owns three hundred acres of land and has been engaged in sawmilling and ginning. Among the branches of his agriculture may be mentioned stockraising, truckfarming, etc. He aims at extensive and intensive farming and has much faith in truckfarming. Mr. Mason was married in 1867 to Miss S. J. Coving- ton, of North Carolina, and has had ten children: John C., Maggie J., Francis I., Corrie M., James D., Sudie M., Sadie F., Ruby, Presly Edwin and Bessie. Eight of these survive. Miss Sue Covington, a sister of Mrs. Mason, resides with the family. Mr. Mason acquired his education in the common schools. His son, Francis I., is a student of the Agricultural and Mechanical college, at Starkville, while his daughter, Miss Maggie J., is a student at the East Mississippi Female college, at Meridian, Miss. Mr. Mason is a friend to education, and the principal founder of the Pleasant Hill high school, an institution of worth and merit, located near his home. Mrs. Mason is a lady of literary turn of mind and presides with dignity over her interesting family. Mr. Mason has affiliated with the Masonic order, is a member of the Alliance, a stanch democrat, and is a Missionary Baptist. He is of a benev- olent disposition, and bestows charity with a liberal hand. December 10, 1884, his oldest son, John C., was killed by a boiler explosion on the premises. He was a young man of promise and his death threw a gloom over the family which can never be wholly dispelled. How true it seems, in this instance, that death loves a shining mark. Little Bessie, a tender flower, was transplanted to unfold its loveliness in a fairer world. Mr. Mason is deservedly popular with his people, being a man of prudent, conservative ideas as regards the financial and political condition of the country. He has been solicited to represent them in the legis- lature, though he prefers the quiet walks of life.

George M. Massingale, general merchant and planter, of Quitman, Clarke county, Miss., was born near Goldsboro, N. C., in 1830, a son of George W. and Polly (Cotton) Mas- singale. His father was a native of North Carolina, and was reared on his father's farm, at an early day starting in life as a farmer, an occupation which he followed all his life. He was married in North Carolina, and reared a family of ten children: Young B., Robert B., Allie C., Epsie, Mary A., George M., Curtis B., Julia A., Julian A., Julius M. The family emigrated to Alabama in 1831, and from there to this state in 1846, living a short time in Jasper county and locating permanently in Clarke county. He was a successful planter and became a well to-do citizen. He was a public spirited man, an active member of the Baptist church, and died in this county in 1863. The mother, a native of North Carolina, and a member of the Baptist church, died in Jasper county in 1857. Mr. and Mrs. Massingale were among the early pioneers of this section of the state, and had their share in the troubles and vicissitudes of that period. Four of the brothers of our subject served the Confederate cause during the late war, in which he also did gallant service. Young B., Robert B., Julian A. and Julius M. are all of them now residents of Mississippi except Julius M., who lives in Arkansas. The boyhood and youth of our subject were passed at Quitman, and he was reared to a thorough knowledge of farm and plantation work. At the age of twenty-one he engaged as a clerk in a store of that town, and in September, 1859, he was married to Martha M. McGowan, a daughter of Elbert McGown, a native of Alabama, who became a well known planter of this county. Mrs. Massingale was born in Pickens county, Ala., in 1839. After his marriage Mr. Massingale accepted a position as a book-

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keeper at Shubuta, where he remained till he entered the Confederate service in 1862 in company E, of the Thirty-seventh Mississippi volunteers, in which he was lieutenant, and later became captain. He participated in the battles at Iuka and at Vicksburg, where he was wounded in the left leg by a rifle ball so severely as to disable him for a year and prevent his going into action again. He surrendered in 1865. On returning to Clarke county he was elected probate clerk, a position he held for three years, when he engaged in his pres- ent occupations of farming and merchandising. He does a large mercantile trade, and is the owner of about five thousand acres of land in Clarke county, where he is heavily interested in planting. Mr. and Mrs. Massingale have eight children: Howard, who is in the mercan- tile business at Quitman, and has a family of wife and three children; Estelle, who died at college ; Maud, who married James A. Terral, and is dead; Sallie, wife of Mr. C. B. Weir, an attorney at Heflin, Ala. ; George M., at home; Samuel C., at the State University of Mississippi; Nannie and Earl, at home. He and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he holds the office of steward. He represented his county in the state legislature in 1875 to 1877, and has been president of the county board of super- visors of Clarke county for two years, besides serving his fellow-townsmen in the city council. He is a self-made man in the best sense of that often-abused term, and what he owns he became the possessor of by right of laborious acquisition. He is a democrat in politics, and takes a deep and abiding interest not only in state and county affairs but also in small local matters that promise to benefit the population among whom they have arisen.

Edwin Mathis, of Energy, Clarke county, Miss., is a son of Frederick Mathis. The latter was born in South Carolina and lived successively in South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas, and died in the latter state in 1862. He married Miss Sarah Waites, of Georgia. Edwin Mathis was born in Henry county, Ga., in October, 1825, and came to Mississippi in 1844 and settled in Lauderdale county. He received an ordinary education in the schools of the period and locality. At the age of twenty-one years he began farming for himself. He was married in 1851 to Miss Caroline Bontwell, of Choctaw county, Ala., and has eleven children: Sarah Levisa, George W., John C., James Buchanan, Amelia, William Breckinridge, Mary Ellen, Louvenia Caroline, Edwin Jones, Mattie Ann, and Ann Eliza. He purchased land in 1847 and by additional purchases now owns a great deal of average Clarke county land. His usual crop of cotton is fifteen bales, and his average yield of corn is twenty or twenty-five bushels per acre. He also produces oats, sugarcane and potatoes. He uses commercial fertilizer and home compost. A part of his land is covered with fine, longleaf pine timber and hard woods. In 1863 he enlisted in the Eighth Mississippi regiment, Col. Wilkinson commanding, and was in the battle of Missionary ridge, falling back to Dalton and taking part in the defense of Atlanta. He was wounded at the battle of Kenesaw mountain, and went into Marietta hospital. After remaining there for a short time he went to Atlanta, La Grange and Columbus, successively, and was in the battle of Jonesboro. He returned to his command at Atlanta and was present at the evacuation of that place. He then went with Hood to Tennessee and took part in the battle of Franklin, as a member of Claiborne's division, of Lowrey's brigade in Lashly's company of Tyson's regiment. There Captain Lashly was killed and Mr. Mathis was wounded and went into the hospital at Columbia. He rejoined his command at Corinth and came home on a furlough, and then became sick and had not recovered at the time of Lee's surrender. Mr. Mathis re-engaged in farming with much energy and stands to-day as the most successful representative of agriculture in all his section of the country. He was once elected justice of the peace of his district. In 1874 he

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was chosen a member of the board of supervisors of his county, and served two years. Mr. Mathis is a Mason; is a member of the Methodist church of forty-three years' standing; Mrs. Mathis is also a Methodist. Their children are highly respected and most of them are mem- bers of the Methodist church. All of his children survive except William Breckinridge, who mysteriously disappeared years ago in Texas, whither he had gone to try his fortune. The supposition is that he perished at the hands of an assassin. E. J. Mathis is a prac- titioner of medicine in Louisiana. He graduated from Mobile medical college in 1890. Prior to this he graduated from the Bowling Green, Ky., business college, and is one of the leading men, financially, in his county, having a standing second to none.

An old and highly respected citizen of Covington county, Miss., Neill Mathison, was born in Twiggs county, Ga., in 1818, and is a son of James Mathison, a native of South Carolina. His father came to Mississippi when he was an infant seven months old, and lived in Jackson county during the first three years of his residence here. He then went to Perry county and lived there four years. He finally settled in Covington county, where our subject grew to manhood. During his youth he became initiated into the mysteries of agri- culture, and for a short time during the winter season attended the common schools; his advantages in this direction, however, were extremely limited, as the public-school system of that day had not reached a point when it could be called a system. In 1860 Mr. Mathison was married to Miss Damie, a daughter of Wesley Gray. Her father was a substantial planter, owning a considerable amount of property before the war. Mr. and Mr. Mathison are the parents of nine children, six of whom grew to maturity. The eldest son, Louis, was a promising young man, possessed of an excellent education; he died at the age of twenty-five years, when he was sheriff of the county. Mr. Mathison has been prominently connected with much of the history of Covington county, and is a representative man. For two terms he was a member of the state legislature, serving with much credit to himself and the entire satisfaction of his constituency. He is a member of the Masonic order, belonging both to the Blue lodge and chapter. He is an active member of the Presbyterian church. He is living quietly on his plantation a few miles southeast from Mount Carmel, where he is enjoying the fruits of his earlier days of toil and industry.

Ex-Governor Joseplı Matthews, who was well known throughout the length and breadth of Mississippi, first made his entrance in this state as a government surveyor. He made a permanent settlement near Salem, engaged in planting, and this was his principal occupation through life. He became very prominent as a politician, and was frequently a member of both branches of the state legislature. In 1850 he was elected governor of Mississippi, and served in that honorable position one term. He was one of the first stump speakers in the state, was original and peculiar, and wielded a great influence both socially and politically. He was a man of rigid economical habits and lived quite plainly. His death occurred in 1863 or 1864. during the war. He reared several children, all of whom became honorable and useful citizens.

R. F. Matthews, M. D., although born in Huntsville, Ala., has been a resident of Lowndes county, Miss., since about 1844, at which time be removed thither with his mother, who was widowed. His parents, Thomas and Kittie (Hughes) Matthews, were born in the Old Dominion, but were among the early settlers of the state of Alabama. The father was a planter, but while in the meridian of life was cut down by death. His widow died in 1862, having borne a family of five children, two of whom are living: Dr. R. F., and Samuel, of Louisiana. Dr. R. F. Matthews spent a considerable portion of the early part of his life in the state of his birth, and was given a public school education, afterward attending school

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in Tuscaloosa. He was quite a youth when he entered upon the study of medicine, and after becoming sufficiently fitted he entered the medical college at Transylvania, Ky. (which was merged with the Louisville school in 1845), and after graduating immediately came to Columbus, Miss., of which place he has since been a resident and an active practitioner. He was post surgeon at Macon, Miss., during the war, and was also a member of the board of surgeons at Columbus. Dr. Matthews is undoubtedly a skilled physician, and during his many years of practice in this county his success has been phenomenal. Being of a cheerful and happy disposition, his very presence in the sickroom does much toward inspiring his patients with hope and confidence, and therefore greatly augments their recovery. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and he and his worthy and amiable wife are members of the Presbyterian church. In 1846 he was married to Miss Amanda Barry, a sister of Col. W. S. Barry, a member of congress from this district. They have one child living: Mary S., wife of T. B. Bradford.

Capt. S. A. Matthews, one of Pike county's oldest settlers, was born in Brook county, Va., June 27th, 1822, and while an infant his parents removed to Jefferson county, Obio, locating at Smithfield, where his father engaged in mercantile pursuits. His father, Wil- liam Matthews, was a Virginian by birth, and married Mary Pennel, a native of Lancaster county, Penn. The father of Mrs. William Matthews, William Pennel, was one of the early pioneers in Brook county, Va., and was a companion of the celebrated Poe brothers. He was a valiant warrior, participating in the Indian wars of that period, and serving in the War of 1812 under Gen. William Henry Harrison. He had also when a mere lad served in the Revolutionary war as a light horseman. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews had five children born to them, three boys and two girls, of whom two only survive, viz .. William Matthews, named after his father, and Capt. S. A. Matthews. The Captain is the oldest child of this worthy couple and spent his early boyhood days in Jefferson county, Ohio, in the primitive days of that section of the state. At about the age of fourteen he entered the Grove academy at Steubenville, Ohio, and remained there for two years. He then entered upon a course of study at Franklin college, New Athens, where he had for a room mate an intimate associate Gen. G. W. McCook. Hon. John A. Bingham, who was afterward elected to the United States sen- ate from Ohio, and was appointed special judge advocate in the trial of the assassins of Presi- dent Lincoln, was also a student at this college and a friend of Captain Matthews. A third associate student was Hon. William Lawrence, who was elected to represent his state in the United States congress. In 1840 Captain Matthews began the study of law at Steubenville, Ohio, under the tutelage of General Stokely, who was then a member of congress from that district. He remained in General Stokely's office until the winter of 1842, when he took a trip through the South with a view to locating in some advantageous portion of the country, and, after visiting New Orleans and various places, settled permanently at Holmesville, Miss. Here the position of teacher in the public schools was tendered him, which he accepted, in the meantime continuing his law studies. In April, 1843, though yet under age, he was admitted to the bar, after passing an examination and being granted a liscense by Hon. Van Tramp Crawford, district judge of Pike county. Captain Matthews at once began to prac- tice law in the village of Homesville, which he continued until 1849, when he was elected to the lower branch of the legislature, and sat during the regular session of 1850 and the extra session of 1851, acting as a member of the committee of military affairs. While he was rep- resentative he cast one ballot for Jefferson Davis as United States senator. He was very active in his efforts to secure the charter for the construction of the Illinois Central railroad through the state, this road at that time being known as the New Orleans & Jackson rail-

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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 63

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