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 79

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 79

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Rev. James Milton Nicholson, one of the leading ministers of Kemper county, Miss., was born in Clarke county, Ala., February 12, 1830, and is a son of Theophilus and Rebecca S. (Goode) Nicholson. Theophilus Nicholson was a native of North Carolina and a son of Josiah Nicholson. He was married in Clarke county, Ala., having removed to that point from South Carolina in 1818. He was a farmer and was in good circumstances. In his politics he was a democrat. He died in 1844 and was buried on his plantation, which is now owned by the subject of this notice. He reared to mature years three of the seven children born to him and his estimable wife: Theodore L. (deceased), Josiah J. and James M. The mother of these children was born in Georgia in 1803, and was the daughter of William and Sarah (James) Goode. Her family were from Virginia, where they were well and favorably known. The maternal grandfather of our subject was a first cousin to Thomas Jefferson.

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The mother died in Clarke county, Ala., in 1839. James M. spent his early life in this county, to which he removed with his father in 1839. His father purchased a large tract of land in Kemper county, and at the time of his death owned fourteen hundred acres. He received his education in his native state, principally at Howard college, Marion, Ala. In 1858 he entered the ministry and took charge of the old Wahalak Baptist church, of which he was pastor until 1866. The two years following he was at Meridian, Miss., and at the end of that time he came back to his plantation. He owns about fifteen hundred acres of land, which he has improved and brought to a high state of cultivation. Mr. Nicholson was married in 1856 to Miss Sallie E. Gordon, a daughter of James and Mary (Marsh) Gordon, natives of North Carolina. Mrs. Nicholson was born in Clarke county, Ala., in 1833. She died in 1880, and was buried in Sumter county, Ala. Two children were born to this nnion: James Milton, Jr., and Mary R., who died in childhood. James M., Jr., lived to be thirty- one years of age. He was born in Kemper county in 1857, and was educated at Meridian and at Howard college, Marion, Ala. He was married in 1884 to Miss Middleton E. Wig- gins, a daughter of Thomas P. Wiggins. Four children were born to them, two of whom are living: Thomas Howard and James Milton, Jr., who reside with their grandfather. Mr. Nicholson, the son of our subject, was democratic in his political views. He belonged to the Grange in its palmy days. The Rev. Mr. Nicholson has for fifteen years been prominently connected with the ministerial work of this community. He has assisted in organizing a number of churches, and was the founder of the Baptist church at Binnsville, Kemper county. He has done a great amount of pioneer work in the church, and has been faithful and conscientious in the discharge of his duties.

Dr. J. E. Noble has devoted the greater part of his life to relieving the pains and ailments to which the human body is heir, and to his skill and talent the gratitude of hundreds is due. He is a native of Smith county, Miss., and was born in 1847 to Dr. Ezekiel and M. A. L. (Gammage) Noble, the former of whom was born in South Carolina and the latter in Alabama. The father was a graduate of the University of South Carolina and also of the Charleston Medical college, in which institution Prof. Samnel H. Dixon was a member of the faculty, occupying the same position thirty years later in Jefferson college, Philadelphia, of which noted institution of learning Dr. J. E. Noble was also a graduate. Dr. Ezekiel Noble removed to Smith county, Miss., in early manhood, where he became quite an extensive planter and popular and successful medical practitioner. His brother, Maj. Samuel Noble, represented Smith county, Miss., in the state legislature before the war. Dr. J. E. Noble received his initiatory training in the best schools in the section of the state in which he lived and later took a literary course in the State university at Oxford. Upon leaving college he taught school for a short time in Jasper county, and in the autumn of 1868 he entered the medical department of the University of Virginia, where he took one course of lectures. The following year he entered the Jefferson Medical college of Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1870. He began the practice of his profession in Jasper county, Miss., and was there married in 1871 to Miss Florence R. Bender, a daughter of G. M. Bender, of that county. Succeeding this Dr. Noble practiced for a short time in Brandon, but in January, 1872, located at Fannin, near his mother, whose health was very bad, where he gave his exclusive attention to his profession for many years. He is a member of the Mississippi State Medical association. In the fall of 1880 he began merchandising, but the business grew so rapidly that it required the most of his attention, and he gradually retired from his professional duties, and for the past two years he has given his almost exclusive attention to his mercantile interests. He has a large interest in the Jackson Grocery company, of which

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he is vice president, and also owns a large amount of land and stock. He has always been interested in local and state politics, and although he has never sought office he has often represented his section in state and other conventions. He has been solicited through the local papers as well as by prominent citizens to become a candidate for the state senate, but has never yet accepted. He is an active member of the Baptist church, in which he is a deacon, and superintendent of the Sunday-school.

William S. Noble, planter, Canton, Miss. Not without justice Mr. Noble is conceded to hold a representative position among the prominent and successful planters of Madison county, and has continued steadily to pursue the even tenor of his way, which, no doubt, accounts for his prosperity. He was born in Madison county, Miss., May 24, 1833, and was the fourth in order of birth of five children born to William and Mary (Stowers) Noble, both natives of Mississippi. The father was a planter, and followed that occupation in his native state until his death in 1835. The mother followed him to the grave two years later. The paternal grandfather was a native of Maryland, and the maternal grandfather was born in Mississippi. William S. Noble became familiar with the duties of the farm at an early age, and secured a good practical education in the private schools of Mississippi. When it became necessary for him to choose some occupation, he very naturally selected that of planting, and this he has continued to pursue up to the present time. He was married in 1859 to Miss Fanny B. Helm, a native of Mississippi, and this union has resulted in the birth of six children: William H., Otway B., Battle, Minnie E., Birdie F. and Fanny. Mr. Noble is a member of the Farmers' Alliance, and in politics affiliates with the democratic party. He extends a liberal and willing hand to all laudable enterprises, and is prominent in all good work. He is a man of good business qualifications and excellent judgment.

Leland Noel, Lexington, Miss. The Noel family are of French descent. Their ances- tors were among the Huguenots who were driven from France by religious persecutions in the latter part of the seventeenth century. They went to London, England. From there Edmond Noel came to Virginia about 1680, and located on the Rappahannock river. He engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits. His son James succeeded him, and was well circumstanced. James Noel had six sons: Edmond, Theodoric, James, William, Leonard and Callis, and two daughters. All of his sons served in the Revolutionary war, Callis being slain in battle. Theodoric was a Baptist minister, and served as chaplain. One of the daughters married Alfred Monroe, a brother of President James Monroe, and the other married Robert Garnett. Edmond Noel had seven daughters, three of whom were never married, and of the other four, Elizabeth was married to a Mr. Purdie, Nancy to George Turner, Niecie to a Mr. Richardson, and Sarah to a Mr. Motley, and after his death to a Mr. Sale. E. F. Noel, his youngest child and only son, was born in Essex county, Va., in 1793. He received a good education. He was married to Elizabeth F. Barton, daughter of Maj. Thomas Barton, and granddaughter of Ross Jones, a man of wealth and prominence. E. F. Noel engaged in farming and accumulated a large estate, including numerous slaves. He represented his native county with distinction in one or more terms of the Virginia legisla- ture. He was a talented writer, and the anthor of several able essays against monopolies and the national banking system. He was one of the pioneers of Mississippi, having pur- chased a large tract of land near Franklin, in Holmes county, in 1835, which he placed in charge of his two oldest sons, Leland and Edmond B. He died in 1871, and his wife at about the same time. He had four sons: Leland, Edmond B., William L. and Henry R., the latter a physician of prominence in Baltimore, and who was one of the youngest surgeons in the Confederate army. E. F. Noel had seven daughters, two of whom, Emily and Julia,

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were never married, and of the other five Frances was married to the Rev. James Henshall, Eliza to Dr. John J. Wright, Rebecca to Dr. D. Sutton, and Louisa to Warring Lewis, who after her death married her sister Susan.

Leland, assisted by Edmond B., managed his father's plantation until 1848, when he purchased one of his own. At the beginning of the war he was in prosperous circum. stances. In 1864 he lost his sight, but has continued to be interested and posted on all current matters. On April 2, 1851, he was married to Margaret, a daughter of Dr. B. W. Sanders. They were the parents of nine children, one of whom died in infancy, and the others are: Thomas D. ; Elizabeth B., who is married to W. B. White; Edmond F., (see sketch); Benjamin S., Mary A., Henry L., Fannie J. and Annie S. Fannie J. was beautiful, amiable and one of the most dutiful and affectionate of daughters. She died October 21, 1890. Leland Noel has ever been an active supporter of the principles of the democratic party. Prior to the war he was a delegate to nearly all of the political conventions, and numbered among his friends many of the most prominent men of this state. With his wife and daughters he moved to Lexington, in 1886, leaving his old plantation in charge of his son Thomas D.

Edmond Favor Noel was born on his father's farm in Holmes county, Miss., on March 4, 1856. His father, Mr. Leland Noel, came from Virginia in 1835, being then about twenty years of age, and settled on a tract of land, a part of which he yet owns and has ever since cultivated. In 1835 his mother, Margaret Sanders, then but a few years old, was brought by her father, Dr. B. W. Sanders, from North Carolina to Franklin, in Holmes county, to which place his grandfather, Col. D. M. Dulaney, had by four or five years preceded him. The parents of E. F. Noel were married April 2, 1851. Nine children were born of that union, he being the second son and third child. Until his seventeenth year he had only such educational advantages as were afforded by irregular country schools, performing in the meanwhile such labor in the fields, and otherwise, as usually befalls a country boy of moder- ate circumstances. Prior to the war his father had been a well-to-do and successful farmer and a public-spirited citizen who actively participated in political affairs, though never aspiring to office, and who had the esteem and confidence of all who knew him. During the war, while sick, Mr. Noel was captured by Federal troops and subjected to such exposure in bad weather as caused the permanent loss of health and of his eyesight. Business reverses, immediately after the war, lost him all but land, and involved that. His uncle, Maj. D. W. Sanders, one of the leading lawyers in Louisville, Ky., took charge of E. F. Noel's educa- tion, in September, 1872, and sent him to the public high school of Louisville for three years, and afterward furnished him the opportunity of reading law at the high school in a class largely over a hundred students. He took third to the highest honor for general scholarship that year; the next to the highest the second year, and the third year, the very highest in the class. In March, 1877, he was admitted to the bar at Lexington, Miss., and commenced practicing law there, possessed of nothing but his professional services. At first he cleared expenses by abstracting land titles, and other services rendered older attorneys. He soon acquired a fair share of the law business of his county. His paternal and maternal ancestors had repeatedly represented the states of Virginia and North Carolina respectively in their legislatures. His grandfather, Dr. B. W. Sanders, was a member of the Mississippi legislature from Holmes county in 1838, at the time of his death. His granduncle, Thomas Dulaney, had formerly, and his uncle, D. W. Sanders, had subse- quently held the same position. In 1881 E. F. Noel was, by a practically unanimous vote, elected to the legislature from that county. In the session that followed he served on the

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judiciary and other important committees. In company with a strong minority he supported bills for an equitable taxation and supervision of railroads, and earnestly opposed those pro- visions of the railroad charters passed at that session which exempted from taxation for twenty years their property of all kinds, and which virtually contracted away to those rail- roads the state's future right of supervision. He introduced and secured its passage through the house a constitutional amendment similar to the one just coming in force, fixing the terms of all state and county officers at four years, with quadrennial elections. This, how- ever, failed in the senate.

In 1881 there were five candidates for the democratic nomination for district attorney before the convention for the Fifth judicial district, which embraces seven counties. After a spirited contest E. F. Noel received a considerable majority of the entire vote of the dis- trict, and his competitors, who ranked among the ablest and most popular lawyers of the district, withdrew, and he was nominated by acclamation, numbering among his most zeal- ous supporters some of those who most earnestly opposed him in the election previous. At

the election in 1887 he defeated, by over six thousand majority, the present United States district attorney, the most popular and influential republican in the district. He is now finishing his fourth year as district attorney. E. F. Noel was married to Miss Lula Hos- kins, at Lexington, Miss., on June 4, 1890. All his life he has been a moral and temperate man, not using tobacco or intoxicating liquor. He has always been an unwavering and working democrat. He has served twice on the democratic state executive committee, twice on the congressional executive committee, and resigned the chairmanship of the democratic executive committee of his county in 1887 on entering the canvass.

No man in the state has ever served his country in an official capacity with more fidelity and sincerity than E. F. Noel. As a public prosecutor he is just and energetic, searching, sifting and thoroughly weighing every fact and circumstance material to the issue involved. He takes no unfair advantage, but presents his case strongly and irresistibly, and when he is once convinced that the defendant is innocent he seeks not his conviction, but immediately enters a nolle prosequi.

Henry Peyton Noland enjoys the reputation of being a substantial and progressive planter, and an intelligent and thoroughly posted man in all public affairs. He was born in Warren county, November 16, 1841, a son of Judge Pierce and Elizabeth L. (Galtmy) Noland, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Adams county, Miss., where she was born in 1801, being descended from an old Dutch family of New York, the Killands, who were originally from Holland. Judge Pierce Noland was descended from a Revolutionary soldier, and at the age of thirteen years left home and came to Mississippi, and in time, by industry and frugality, he amassed quite a comfortable fortune. He also by self applica- tion fitted himself for the duties of a good citizen, and became an exceptionally well-informed man, although he never attended school but about three months during his life. He was judge of the county court of Jefferson county during the twenties, and in this capacity served with faithfulness and ability. He gave his eight children good advantages, and one of his sons, T. V. Noland, graduated from Princeton college and became a prominent attorney and citizen of Mississippi. Three of the other children graduated from Oakland college. Henry Peyton Noland attended a private school until he was twelve years of age, and at the age of fourteen entered Mississippi college, but a short time after returned home on account of ill- health and remained under the care of his parents for about six months. The following twelve months were then spent in Oakland college, and after remaining on the home place for about the same length of time, two months were spent in the Nashville military school.

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Some fifteen months afterward he married Miss Annie Aldridge, a daughter of Dr. William O. Aldridge, of Kentucky, who acquired his medical education in New Orleans Medical col- lege, and practiced his profession in Madison and Hinds counties. Mrs. Noland was born December 12, 1842, and received a high school education in the city of Jackson. Mr. Noland followed the calling of a planter until the opening of the war, then became a member of Capt. J. J. Cowan's company of artillery, First Mississippi regiment, stationed at Vicksburg, but was physically incapacitated for service and was discharged at the end of nine months. In 1863 he moved onto the plantation on which he is now residing, where he now owns about one thousand acres of land, of which three hundred are under cultivation. After the close of the war he began taking considerable interest in political matters, and has since been an active democrat. He filled the position of justice of the peace from 1876 to 1880, during which time he made an enviable record for himself. His sessions of court were models of order, and all concerned were given to understand that no favors would be shown, as had been the custom, but that even-handed justice would be meted out to all. He and his wife are Episcopalians in religious views. Their children are: Mary, Thomas Vaughn, Lily, Hugh Aldrich, Myra Ruth, Annie Aldrich and Edna Aubrey. Mary, Lily and Hugh are deceased.

In connection with his practice Dr. John R. Nolen, physician and surgeon, Tomnolen, Miss., is engaged in planting, and is also the present member of the state senate from Choc- taw and Webster counties, Miss. He is a resident of old Greensboro, Webster county, Miss., where he was born in 1856, and is a son of Prof. John and Elizabeth (Dukins) Nolen, the former a native of Georgia, born in 1812, and the latter of Kentucky, born about 1827. Professor Nolen was of Irish descent, was a man of education and learning, and when still single, or in 1839, he came to what is now Webster county, where he taught school for a number of years. In 1843 he was elected circuit clerk of Choctaw county, and held that position for twelve consecutive years with credit to himself and his constituents. He was married in Greensboro, and there resided until his death, in 1868. Both he and wife were members in good standing in the Missionary Baptist church. He was a man of considerable influence and ability in his community, and was active in all public matters. He was the only member of his family who died in this county. During the latter part of the Civil war he served in the Confederate army. He showed his appreciation of secret organizations by becoming a member of Greensboro lodge No. 49, A. F. & A. M. His wife was a stepdaughter of Judge Thomas N. Davis, who came to Greensboro with his family in 1836. To Mr. and Mrs. Nolen were born nine children, who are named in the order of their births as follows: Alonzo, a soldier in the late war, was captured at Fort Donelson and was retained at Fort Delaware during nearly the entire war (he was killed in Arkansas in 1873); Susan is the widow of Frank Holloway; Edgar P., died in 1890 (he was a merchant and planter); Thomas; Dr. John R .; William C., a planter of Choctaw county; Eva, now Mrs. Stiff, of Texas; Lillian, died at the age of five years; and Lee, who is engaged in merchandising at Tomnolen station. Dr. John R. Nolen was reared to farm life, attended the Greensborough school until thirteen years of age, and then entered Hico academy, near Paducah, Ky. He subsequently studied medicine, first with Dr. D. M. Simmons, of Kentucky, and then with Dr. A. H. Bays, now of Eupora. During the winter of 1876-7 he attended the Louisville Medical college, and in 1878 graduated from Vanderbilt university, Nashville, Tenn. He at once began practicing at Greensboro, where he has since continued and is considered not only one of the leading physicians of the county, but is one of the most popular public men. In 1883 he celebrated his nuptials

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with Miss Zenie Holloway, a native of Choctaw county, Miss., and the daughter of William and Elizabeth Holloway. Mr. Holloway was a well-to-do planter of Choctaw county, where he died about 1874. His widow is now living at Greensboro. To Dr. and Mrs. Nolen were born four children. Dr. Nolen is the owner of nine hundred acres of land and has three hundred acres cleared, all the result of his own efforts. In 1887 he was elected to the lower house of the state legislature, and was chairman of the committee on public health and quarantines, also a member of the committee of ways and means and railroads. In 1889 he was elected to represent the thirteenth district, composed of the counties Choc- taw, Webster, Clay and Oktibbeha, in the senate. He is a member of the Masonic frater- nity, Greensboro lodge No. 49, and is past master. He is a member of the Farmers' Alliance, and he and Mrs. Nolen are members of the Missionary Baptist church.

Thomas N. Norrell, a well-to-do planter of Rankin county, Miss., whose parents came from South Carolina to Mississippi in the year 1800, was born on the 4th of July, 1815, in Claiborne county, Miss., being the youngest of five brothers and one sister, surviving mem- bers of a family of sixteen children born to Levi and Kate (Gwin) Norrell, both of whom were natives of South Carolina, but afterward became residents of Mississippi; he died in this state in 1823, his wife's death also occurring in that year. In the state of his birth Thomas N. Norrell was reared to the life of a planter, and in his youth acquired a prac- tical education. He has been successful in the career he has marked out for himself, and his fine plantation comprises one thousand two hundred and sixty acres, located six miles south of Jackson, the principal part of the cultivated portion being devoted to the raising of cotton and corn. He also takes much interest in the raising of good stock, and, in fact, is a very practical and experienced planter and miller, the latter occupation having received his attention for many years. He justly merits the respect and esteem in which he is held by all classes, for his career has been honorable throughout, his kindly spirit has at all times manifested itself, and his intelligent and progressive views have placed him among the leading citizens of the county. He has been an active politician, and in 1880 his services to his party were recognized and he was elected by his many friends to represent Rankin county in the general assembly of the state, making a faithful legislator. He has also been a member of the board of supervisors of Rankin county two years. In 1854 he became a member of Evening Star lodge No. 70, of the A. F. & A. M., and has taken all the degrees in the Blue lodge. Since 1888 he has been a member of the Farmers' Alliance, which order he joined at Richland academy. He was married in 1845 to Miss Frances Parker, a native of Virginia, who was born in 1814, and by her has a family of seven children born, five of whom survive: Albert G. (who represented Yazoo county in the state legislature in 1882, 1884 and 1886, and for the past three years has held the position of United States commis- sioner in Utah territory), Mary E., William O., Laura F., Florence. The two sons are in Salt Lake City, Utah, practicing law, their education having been received in Oxford, Miss. The youngest son of this family represented Rankin county in the legislature in 1886. During the war Mr. Norrell enthusiastically espoused the Confederate cause and did all he could to bring matters to a successful issue for the South in the way of service, money and stock. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, but his estimable wife has long been a Baptist.

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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 79

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