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 84

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 84

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life, and gives promise of spending many more years in battling for right and for the inter- ests of the section in which he resides, for he retains to the fullest extent his vigor of mind and intellect. He is a prominent member of the First Presbyterian church and is a member of the board of elders. He was first married to Miss Lizzie, daughter of William Gates, of Chickasaw county, in 1852, and by her is the father of three children: William G., an emi- nent attorney of Okolona, Miss .; Christopher and Lizzie. Mr. Orr's second union was to Miss Cornelia Vandegraff, by whom he has two children: Mrs. Franklin Harris, of Chatta- nooga, Tenn., a very fine musician, and Miss Pauline V., who is professor of English litera- ture in the State Female college of Mississippi, filling a like position at Mount Eagle, Tenn.

Eugene C. Orrick, the senior member of the firm of Orrick & Baker, a very prominent law firm of Indianola, the county seat of Sunflower county, is a young man, having been born on Jannary 3, 1864, in Canton, Miss., where he was reared and received his elementary educa- tion. He took a full collegiate course at that most admirable institution of learning, Notre Dame university, Notre Dame, Ind., graduating with high honors in 1882. He was admitted to the bar in Canton in 1884, and after practicing there for about a year he removed to Indianola, where together with his partner, Mr. J. H. Baker, he has built up a most excel- lent practice. Mr. Orrick interests himself to some extent in politics and is a stanch democrat. He is chairman of the county executive committee and is now serving his second term as superintendent of public education. The ancestors of Mr. Orrick are of English descent, having settled in this country long prior to the Revolutionary war. His father, N. C. Orrick, was born in Virginia, in October, 1836, and was reared and educated in that state. He moved to Mississippi in 1859, and after being in the state for a short while located in Canton, where he now resides. Mrs. Orrick, a daughter of John R. Semmes, is a native of Georgia, but was reared in Mississippi.

Nicholas Cromwell Orrick, merchant, Canton, Miss., was born in Morgan county, Va., near Martinsburg, October 27, 1837, and of the eight children born to Cromwell and Mary (Johnson) Orrick he was seventh in order of birth. The parents were natives of Virginia and Maryland, respectively. The father was a planter on the Potomac river. He held important offices in his state and county, serving with credit as probate judge for some time, as a mem- ber of the Virginia legislature for a number of years and in the senate of Virginia. He was a gentleman of wealth and culture. He died in his native state in 1857, when but sixty-four years of age. He was the son of Nicholas and Mary (Pendleton) Orrick, natives of Maryland and Virginia, respectively. Nicholas Orrick, for whom the subject of this sketch is named, was one of the most prominent men in his state. In the year 1784, he was one of a committee to witness a test of steam navigation invented by one James Rumsey, who according to the reports of congress (Vol. 70, XXIVth congress) was the original inventor of steam navigation. The committee consisted of Charles Morrow, Nicholas Orrick, Gen. George Washington, Gen. Horatio Gates and Henry Bedinger; General Washington signing an affidavit to the effect that the invention was a success. The boat was launched on the Potomac river iu Berkeley county, Va., within a few miles of where the subject of this sketch was born. Mr. Rumsey went to England and soon after related to Fulton what he had done. He died in England before he had fully developed his wonderful discovery. Fulton then came to America and fully demonstrated to the world what Mr. Rumsey had discovered, to all of which the records of the XXIVth congress testify.

William Orrick, the great-grandfather of our subject, was a native of Baltimore county, Md. The Orrick family originated in England in the days of the Saxons. The maternal grandparents of Nicholas Cromwell Orrick, William and Betty Pendleton, were natives of

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Virginia and of English ancestry. For more than two hundred years this family had been Episcopalians.

Nicholas Cromwell Orrick was reared in his native state, attended school at Hancock, Md., at Berryville, Va., then Winchester academy, and finished at the University of Vir- ginia in 1855. Soon after he began the study of medicine, attending lectures at the Univer- sities of Virginia and Philadelphia, but on account of failing health he abandoned the pro- fession, although he still continued to study. Pending the settlement of his father's estate he left home before he was twenty years old, came West, and after drifting about through the West and South for some time, finally settled in Jackson, Miss., where he was engaged as a bookkeeper for some time by John W. Robinson. He was then sent by his employer to Canton, Madison county, and there he has since made his home. He has been a hard stu- dent all his life and has a finished scientific education. He has a fertile brain and has invented some of the most useful implements known to the public. In 1890 he lost by acci- dent while working with some machinery the first and second fingers of his right hand, and to replace them he applied to the best known artists in the United States; but failing to find any one who could supply his want he went to work, and with astonishing results, for he made two fingers with which he can write and can use nearly as well as the natural members, and which are so perfect in shape and color that the imitation can not be detected except by critical examination, a thing never before accomplished. He is an inveterate reader and reads only the best literature. If he wishes to invent anything Mr. Orrick at once consults the best scientific authorities and studies and experiments until he obtains the desired results. Thus he has made his knowledge useful to himself and the world. His life is one of purpose.

In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate army, company I, Tenth Mississippi regiment, Madison rifles, under Capt. Joseph Davis, and was sent to Fort McRea, Fla., where he remained until transferred to the army of Virginia. He participated in the Valley campaign under Stonewall Jackson, and was wounded in the left elbow and disabled from further serv- ice. While at Winchester he was appointed by General Jackson to drill the recruits for heavy artillery service, and was complimented by that general for his excellency and pro- ficiency in performing his duty. He had been a military student and made that branch of knowledge useful. He came to Canton, Miss., in 1859, and was engaged as bookkeeper for Robinson, Mayson & Co., a large firm whose annual business equals $250,000 in Canton, besides a larger business in Jackson. Mr. Orrick was married in 1864, to Miss Mary Semmes, a native of Georgia, and daughter of John R. Semmes. The fruits of this union have been eleven children: Eugene C., a very successful lawyer, now practicing in Indianola, Miss., but who has just formed a copartnership with Mr. Hogsett, of Fort Worth, Tex., at which place he will make his future home; Lucy Semmes, has had special advantages in the study of draw- ing and painting, and whose productions have received much praise from art critics; she is a writer of much fluency and vigor; her literary efforts have been published in some of the leading journals North and South; Alphonse Paul is in business with his father, a youth of fine character and a superb pianist; Mary Bena, whose specialty is being a violin- ist of very high order ; Panline, Louise, Edna, Madeleine and Gertrude at school; John and Zita, deceased. Mr. Orrick and family are members of the Catholic church, although his ancestors for over two centuries back have been Episcopalians. He investigated the subject of religion wholly by himself and for himself, and educated himself into the Catholic church. After the war he found the two administrators of his father's estate had been killed in the army. The estate being located between the hostile lines a new administrator

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was appointed by the court. The courthouse and public records were burned. The property was sold by the new administrator. When the war closed it was found his bond was worthless; this entire splendid estate was consequently lost to the heirs. Mr. Orrick, finding himself without means, applied to his former employer, John W. Robinson, for a loan of $5,000. Mr. Robinson gave him the money without a line of security or anything but a verbal promise. This sum was immediately invested and in three months returned, leaving Mr. Orrick with $4,000 of his own profits. With this beginning he started in the mercantile business in 1869. He has raised and educated a large family, has a beautiful and attractive home, and with a business which, with the revenues derived from his patents, places him in easy circumstances. Mr. Orrick takes great pride in his family, and well he may, for all his children are bright and quick at whatever they undertake. All are good musicians, and his eldest daughters are specially talented in music and art.

Rev. Charles H. Otken, LL. D., was born in 1839, in the parish of Orleans, La. His parents were respectable. His father was a skillful mechanic. His mother possessed more than ordinary intellectual qualities and great force of character. She died when the subject of this sketch was about six years old. After the mother's death his father placed his three sons in different families. Charles lived with his uncle Coleman, whose first wife was his father's sister. He had married again, and this second wife, whom Charles called aunt, was not related to him. His uncle placed Charles in the public school of Carrollton, La. ; here he learned his letters; he attended this school for about two years. After this his father sent him to a school about a half-mile north of Carrollton. This coast school, as it was called, was regarded as more select than the former, consisting largely of the children of wealthy planters. He also attended a private school, where he studied French and German. He had learned the rudiments of the two languages when a Mr. George, a merchant of the town, desired Charles to take a position as clerk in his store. The offer was accepted. From this time on Charles earned his own living. He was now about eleven years old; he remained here some four or five years. It was a store of general merchandise; he soon familiarized himself with the business. He was attentive to business, industrious and hon- est, frank and cheerful by nature; he was not too proud to do any honorable work, but too proud to do a mean thing.

He used no profane language, nor did he use tobacco in any form, neither did he touch liquor of any kind. He uever was away from his place of business for a single day, nor from his employer's home after eight o'clock at night. His excellent habits gave him the name of the model boy. During his clerkship he occupied a room in the store; slept there at night. There was no iron safe in the house and no bank in the town. The gold and silver were kept in sacks and banknotes in a book, all of which were in charge of Charles. Up to his seventeenth year he know nothing of practical religion. Ceremonial observances were not unknown to him-the dead forms of worship that touch no heart. The Bible was to him a sealed book. Belief in Christ as a personal Savior was an inexplicable mystery ; he saw no necessity for such belief. At this time he became acquainted with a Baptist minister and through him with Christian people who believed in the great doctrines of conversion and justification by faith in Christ. He attended their meetings, heard the gospel in its charming simplicity as he had never heard it before. He now for the first time in his life made the gracious discovery that he was a sinful being and a sinner. Thus convicted, he saw the need of a Savior. He joyfully accepted Christ as his Savior. He felt that a wonderful change had taken place in bis spiritual being. He soon after united with the Coliseum Place Baptist church of New Orleans, joyfully following his Lord and Master in the ordinance of baptism by immersion.

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In 1856 he matriculated as a student of Mississippi college, located at Clinton, Miss., and remained there three and a half years. After the college suspended work at the out- break of the Civil war he taught a school for a few months at Edwards depot, and from there, in 1861, joined the Charlton rifles at Grenada. This company formed a part of the Third Mississippi battalion, afterward changed to the Forty-fifth Mississippi regiment. In 1862 he was appointed chaplain of this regiment; resigned the chaplaincy in 1864, and in the same year he was ordained a Baptist minister in the St. Francis Street Baptist church, of Mobile, Ala. During most of the period that he served as chaplain he was a licentiate min- ister. After the war closed he went to Amite county, Miss., at the suggestion of Rev. J. B. Hamberlin. Here he taught school and served as pastor of Liberty Baptist church and Mount Vernon church. In 1866 he married Emily Jane, daughter of James E. and Frances Lee, of Amite county. Rev. Dr. B. Sears, agent of the Peabody fund, having visited the town of Summit, in Pike county, Miss., offered that community a thousand dollars annually if they would establish a public school. The proposition was accepted by the people. At the suggestion of a friend, Mr. Otken applied for the principalship of this school, in 1867, and, after a rigid examination, was elected principal of the Peabody public school. The school opened with twenty seven pupils. The school prospered from the beginning. The third session a pay high school was added to the free school, Mr. Otken serving as principal of both. The highest enrollment during any one year was three hundred and forty-seven pupils. He served nine years as principal of the two schools, when he declined a re-election. During seven years of this period he was also the pastor of the Summit Baptist church. During his pastorate it became one of the best organized and strongest churches on the Illi- nois Central railroad in south Mississippi.

An effort having been made by Mr. Otken and Rev. S. S. Relyea to establish a female school of high order at Summit, Mr. Otken, after the death of his friend, Rev. Relyea, decided to commence such a school upon a modest basis. This was done in the year 1877. He bought two squares of ground containing a two-story building, originally intended for a school. To accomplish his object, he sought the assistance of personal friends upon the condition that he would open such a school and continue it at least five years. Upon this condition, Mrs. Elceba Bates, an aunt of Mrs. Otken, donated to the enterprise $1,000; Mrs. Mary Lee donated $750. This lady was a cousin of Mrs. Otken. The surname of both was Lee. Mrs. Margaret Silliman, a friend, of East Feliciana parish, La., donated $1,000. This lady promised to donate $6,000 in addition to her first gift. She failed in carrying out her benevolent design ou account of her sudden death. The school was named Lee Female college, in honor of the two lady relatives, and chartered in 1877. It has had fourteen continuous sessions and has sent out fifty-seven graduates. Many of its pupils have been fitted as teachers of the public schools.

When the war closed Dr. Otken, in addition to his labors as a teacher and pastor, com- pleted by hard work the studies usually pursued in the classical course at college. Missis- sippi college twice honored him, without solicitation on his part, first with the degree of A. M. and later with the degree of LL. D. When Prof. Thomas S. Gathright resigned the office of state superintendent of public education in Mississippi this gentleman and Prof. Charles L. Patton called upon Gov. J. M. Stone and urged him to appoint Dr. Otken to fill the vacancy. The result of the interview led to a dispatch to come to Jackson. Dr. Otken wired his friends declining the office. In 1877 he was appointed by Governor Stone a trustee of the University of Mississippi. He served four years. For nine years he has served Missis- sippi college as a trustee, having been three times appointed by the Baptist state conven-

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tion. He is now serving his fourth term as a trustee of this college. He declined invitations to accept the pastorate from the First Baptist church of New Orleans, and various churches in Mississippi and Texas. He also declined the presidency of a school in Texas, and the superintendency of public education in one of the most flourishing cities in Alabama. Believing that his life work was in south Mississippi, he has devoted his energies to its edu- cational and religious upbuilding. In denominational matters Dr. Otken advocated with great earnestness the work of Sunday-schools, especially their efficiency; benevolence for ministerial education, missions, systematic pastoral support and thorough organization in all the work of Christian churches. For years he stood almost alone in the advocacy of these subjects, combating prejudices and deeply rooted customs. Rev. Dr. J. R. Graves asked him in 1865, in the town of Magnolia, "Brother Otken, do you wish to be a popular preacher?" Often, after closing the discussion on one of these subjects, he felt that his popularity had received a deadly wound. But these discussions have borne rich fruitage in the churches of the Mississippi Baptist association-the oldest Baptist association in the state. Invitations to deliver addresses before schools and on general education have been frequent. He has spoken much on education in south Mississippi. He delivered also, by invitation on the occasion of death, eulogies on the characters of Gen. Robert E. Lee, Presi- dent James A. Garfield and Hon. Jefferson Davis. Dr. Otken is recognized at his home and where he is best known as a Christian gentleman. He is genial and unobtrusive in his manners, firm and conscientious in his convictions, clear in his opinions, and formulates bis own judgment of men and measures.

Capt. Robert A. Owen. A glance at the genealogy of Mr. Owen's family shows that his people were worthy and honored residents of the famous Blue Grass region of Kentucky. He was born in the month of April, 1834, and was the eldest of a family of three children born to his parents, Richard T., his brother, being still a resident of Kentucky and deeply interested in the municipal affairs of the county in which he lives. He was first lieutenant of a company in the Confederate States army, and during his entire service, which lasted throughout the entire war, he bore himself with intrepid valor and displayed the sagacity, coolness and discipline of the trained soldier. He was terribly wounded at the battle of Antietam, it was supposed fatally so, but the fates were on his side and he still lives, being a useful citizen of Kentucky. Catherine, the sister of Capt. Robert A. Owen, also resides in Kentucky and is a finely educated lady. Their father, Taylor G. Owen, was born on Blue Grass soil in the month of October, 1806, but his ancestors were of old Virginia stock, so well known in history. He was a real Southern gentleman, of the old school, and in his veins flowed some of the best and bravest blood of which America can boast, and of which he was deservedly proud. He was given a practical education in boyhood and, possessing a mind naturally brilliant, his career was a successful one and he became wealthy. He dis- pensed his means with an unstinted hand when necessity called and supported worthy enter- prises of a public nature both by purse and influence. He departed this life in 1845, and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary A. McGrath, passed from life on the 26th of January, 1889, having attained the advanced age of eighty-one years. She, like her husband, was a Kentuckian by birth and was finely educated, being a graduate of Science Hill Female col- lege of Shelbyville. Capt. Robert A. Owen, who has early become distinguished in Missis- sippi history, was in his youth given the advantages of Shelby college, and being a youth of practical views he made good use of his opportunities, and upon leaving that institution was better fitted than the average to make his own way in the world. Upon his return home he turned his attention to the pursuit of agriculture, but was engaged in steamboating at the

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coming of the clash of arms, which caused him to drop his private pursuit to enlist in the famons Claiborne guards, of Claiborne county, Miss. He entered as a private, but for his pronounced bravery, skill and strict adherence to his duties he was promoted to the position of first sergeant of his company (company K Twelfth Mississippi volunteers), being trans- ferred from this regiment to Morgan's command March 12, 1863. He bore with him valua- ble papers and credentials from his captain and adjutant and a warm letter from his com- manding colonel, M. B. Harris. He took an active part in about thirty-seven battles and skirmishes, the following of which are among the most important: Yorktown, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, seven days' fight around Richmond, second battle of Manassas, the Maryland campaign, Harper's Ferry, Antietam, the battles in the Shenandoah valley, Fredericksburg, and Shelbyville. Captain Owen was one of only three men of his company who was not wounded nor captured. He was never absent on account of sickness during his service, was at all times ready for duty, and in an engagement set an excellent example to his men, for he dis- played indomitable courage, coolness and a determination to do or die. He was promoted to a lieutenancy in General Morgan's command, and by order of Jefferson Davis, of whom he was a personal acquaintance and friend, he was sent to the Mississippi valley, of which region he had a thorough knowledge, having been engaged in steamboating on the Mississippi river; being promoted to the rank of captain in a battalion which was detailed to convey Mr. Davis across that river after he had evacuated Virginia and North Carolina. Captain Owen relates many interesting war experiences and tells of a skirmish at Osceola, Miss., which is well worthy of mention. He, with only fourteen brave followers, made a running skirmish against eight hundred Union troops under a Yankee captain by the name of Owen, from Indiana, but were driven back to Port Gibson. The Captain and his command surrendered at Jackson, Miss., May 13, 1865, after which he returned to his home, once more to take up his river life, which he continued until his marriage and then entered upon the occupa- tion of planting. He and wife are the owners of a magnificent plantation of one thousand tive hundred acres, known as the Scrogy plantation, an English title. They are devout members of the St. James Episcopal church of Port Gibson, and for their many admirable qual- ities hold a high social position in the history of Claiborne county. They possess that true hospitality and generosity for which the Southern people are so famous, and are kind, genial, gracious and deferential, and both have the happy faculty of making the poorest and hum- blest feel the dignity of being men. They are warm advocates of education and their two children are to be given every advantage. Mrs. Owen was formerly Miss Eleanor Jefferies, a member of the noted Jefferies family, further mention of which is made in the Memoirs of Mississippi. Her union with Mr. Owen was celebrated at Port Gibson by Rev. John G. Jones, on the 16th of August, 1876. Nathaniel Jefferies, their eldest child, is now ten years of age and is attending the Port Gibson Female college, their little daughter, Mary, being also an attendant of that institution. Captain Owen is a Knight Templar in the Masonic fraternity and is now past commander in that order.

Samuel D. Owen, of New Albany, Union county, Miss., was born and reared in Tippah county, Miss., and grew to manhood on his father's plantation there. William E. Owen, his father, was born in Tennessee, and when he was two years of age his parents removed to a point near Decatur, Ala., where he grew to maturity. He came to Tippah county, Miss., in 1836 and secured a plantation, but soon returned to Alabama, where he remained until 1841, when he came again to Tippah county, where he made his home until 1871. During that year he located in Lincoln county, Ark., where he lived but two years, dying in 1873 at the age of sixty. He was a planter during all of his active life, At the age of eighteen Samuel

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D. Owen entered school at Ripley, and after a due course of study he acquired a practical education which enabled him to engage in the profession of teaching, which he continued for two years. He then read medicine and clerked in the drugstore of Drs. Murray & Alexander. After a year spent thus he went to Orizaba, Tippah county, Miss., and from there came a year later to New Albany, where he has since lived. He was engaged in merchandising until 1877, when he was appointed deputy sheriff and in this capacity he served during two years. In the fall of 1879 he was elected chancery clerk and served his fellow-citizens in that capac- ity for four years with great credit. After two years' retirement he was again elected to the same office, which he has filled to the present time, and is now the nominee of the democratic party for another term of four years. He has given such care and attention to the duties devolving upon him that he has gained the good opinion of the leading citizens of all classes, without respect to party. He was married in 1873 to Miss Hettie Williamson, a daughter of that old pioneer, J. H. Williamson of New Albany. Mr. Owen is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Honor, and has been secretary of the Masonic order of New Albany since 1873. He and his good wife are mem - bers of the Missionary Baptist church. He is a liberal patron of all worthy enterprises of public character, and a generous contributor to every good cause that is brought to his attention.

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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 84

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