USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III > Part 11
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Crawford Burrus, Sr., was born in Carolina county, Va., and he married Elizabeth Coleman of the same State. They removed to Huntsville, Ala., where they passed the remainder of their lives. The Burrus family of the present generation takes special pride in the fact that their ancestors, in the various direct and collateral lines, were represented in the patriot army during the War of the Revolution. John C. Burrus, Sr., married Margaret Louisa Mc- Gehee in Huntsville, and in 1836 removed to Bolivar county, Miss., to take charge of his large slave and property holdings which had been moved to Mississippi by his guardian. He was educated in the University of Virginia and was a man of fine scholarly attainments, having been admitted to the bar in Huntsville, Ala. After his re- moval to Bolivar county, Miss., he was judge of probate for many years and was one of the honored pioneers of that section. He died in Bolivar county in 1880, while his wife still survives him, being at this writing eighty-six years of age and making her home on the old home place in the residence erected by her husband in 1858. The Burrus family is one of the few old Southern families who re- tain a part at least of their property owned "before the war." 300 acres of this property is owned by Dr. H. L. Sutherland of Rose- dale, a brother-in-law of Mr. Burrus, who manages the property, and 400 acres owned jointly by Mr. Burrus and his unmarried sister which is also managed by him. John C. Burrus, to whom this sketch is dedicated, received good advantages in an educational way during his boyhood, having studied the classics under the direction of his honored father, with whom he also studied law for a time. He married when a youth, however, and the demands thus placed upon him in the support of his family caused him to forego any practical work in a professional way. He has ever been a volu- minous and appreciative reader and has thus broadened his educa- tion to liberal bounds. In November, 1863, Mr. Burrus tendered his service in defense of the Confederate cause, enlisting as a private in Company I, Ninth Texas cavalry, which was assigned to Ross' brigade. He served principally on detached duty, as a scout, having been one of the command known as Evans' Texas scouts, while he took part in many spirited skirmishes, part of his army service being under the command of General Forrest. In December, 1864, he was captured by the enemy and was taken to Alton, Ill., where he experienced a due amount of the retaliation extended by the federal authorities in charge in remembrance of the treatment of the Union soldiers in certain of the southern prisons. In March, 1865, at Richmond, Va., he was paroled. He had joined the Ross brigade of Texas cavalry at the time when the same crossed the ยท Mississippi river, having served in the western department, and the command thereafter served on the east side of the river. Mr. Burrus retains as a valued souvenir of his military career and his imprisonment, the parole document which was issued to him shortly before the close of the war. He has devoted much of his time to agricultural pursuits since the war, and is the owner of 400 acres of land in Bolivar county, while he is a practical surveyor and book-
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keeper and has found in the past years demand for his services in these lines. He is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, and has served in various local offices of trust, having been justice of the peace for a term of eight years, and a member of the board of supervisors of his county for an equal length of time, while he was a member of the lower house of the State legislature four years. He states that he has practically devoted a score of years to serving his county in non-paying offices. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Honor, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, his wife, who is now deceased, having also been a member of that church. On March 17, 1870, Mr. Burrus was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Anne Barritt, daughter of Lucas and Emily (Nutter) Barritt, who were residents of Kentucky at that time. Mr. and Mrs. Burrus became the parents of six children, of whom only one is living, Margaret Louisa, wife of T. F. Barry, of Benoit, Bolivar county.
Bush, Jesse Marion, of Ellisville, has been the efficient and popular circuit clerk of Jones county since 1892, and was previously actively identified with the raising of cotton and other agricultural products. He is a native of Jones county, and was born March 31, 1858, being a son of Madison P. and Mary E. (Har- rington) Bush, the former of whom was born in Stewart county, Ga., and the latter in Jones county, Miss. Madison P. Bush was one of those who rendered loyal service to the Confederacy during the turbulent epoch of the Civil war. He became a private in the Seventh Missis- sippi infantry, in which he was promoted to the office of first ser- geant, and he served under Major-General Terrill during the greater portion of his term in the ranks, having taken part in the siege of Vicksburg, in defending the city, and also having partici- pated in numerous skirmishes and battles in Mississippi. After the close of the war he identified himself once more with the vocations of peace, endeavoring to aid in bringing about as great a measure of prosperity as possible in the South, ravaged and depressed through the great conflict through which was compassed the defeat of the Confederacy, and he continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits in Jones county. Both he and his wife are seventy-three years old and still living at this writing. Jesse M. Bush was af- forded a good practical education in the schools of his native county, and in assuming the active responsibilities of life he became con- cerned in that line of industrial enterprise to which he had been reared, having become a successful planter in Jones county and de- voting his attention to the management of his estate until his induction into office. In 1882 he was elected justice of the peace,
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serving two years, and for a period of four years he was incumbent of the office of county surveyor, while in 1892 he was elected to his present office, that of clerk of the circuit court for that county, in which capacity his services have met with the most unqualified appreciation and commendation. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy, the Knights of Pythias and the Knights and Ladies of Honor, of which first mentioned order he is district deputy grand master at the time of this writing. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church. Sept. 25, 1879, stands as the date of the marriage of Mr. Bush to Miss Amanda J. Montgomery, daughter of Jonathan T. and Eliza- beth (Buckoliew) Montgomery, of Jones county, and the children of this union are four in number, namely: Claiborne L., Mary Elizabeth, Madison Cleveland and Jesse J.
Belk, William Alexander, of Holly Springs, is one of the leading members of the bar of northern Mississippi and is a member of the State senate, from the Thirty-sixth district. The Senator was born in Clay county, near Pine Bluff, Miss., March 15, 1860, and is a son of John Woodward Belk, who was born in Marion county, Ala., in 1825, being a son of Rev. William Belk, who was a pioneer local clergyman of the Methodist church in Mississippi, where he moved from Darlington District, S. C. The latter's maternal grandfather, Jesse Woodward, served as a member of a South Carolina regiment in the war of the Revolution. The maiden name of the mother of Senator Belk was Elizabeth Robinson. She was born in 1833, in Pickens county, Ala., a daughter of Alexander and Nancy (Liles) Robinson. The Robinson family removed from South Carolina to Alabama. The Belk family is of Welsh origin and the Robinson of English. John W. Belk became a successful planter of Mississippi and represented the State as a loyal soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war. He is now deceased. The subject of this sketch secured his preliminary education in the common schools of his native county and later continued his studies in the high school at Providence and Iuka college, from which latter in- stitution he eventually received the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Didactics. Thereafter he did successful work as a teacher in the public schools of West Point, Tupelo, and Water Valley, serving in the capacity of principal of the latter two. In the meanwhile he began reading law and he finally entered the law department of the University of Mississippi as a member of the class of 1895. He was admitted to the bar shortly afterward and began the practice of his profession at Oxford, whence he came to Holly Springs the same year, having since made the latter city his home and professional headquarters. He has built up a large
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and important business, his practice extending throughout the northern part of the State and his clientage being of representative character. In December, 1898, he was appointed judge of the circuit court for a special term held at Water Valley. For the past nine years he has been a member of the board of trustees of the University of Mississippi. In 1903 he was elected a representa- tive from the Thirty-sixth district in the State senate, where he has made an admirable record as a legislator, having served on several of the most important committees of the upper house. He is a stalwart adherent of the Democratic party and takes a loyal interest in public affairs in his native State. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. On Jan. 31, 1884, Senator Belk was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Mckinney, daughter of Columbus B. and Mary A. Mckinney, of Athens, Ala., and they have four children : William . Dean, Nellie Clyde, Fannie Corinne, and Frederick Mckinney.
Barber, Evon Marion, was born in Choctaw county, Ala., Feb. 28, 1858. His paternal and maternal great-grandfathers came to this country from Scotland and were both officers in the American Revo- lutionary army. His father, Washington Barber, was born in Wake county, N. C., Jan. 3, 1812; his mother, Sarah Harris, was born in Tennessee, Sept. 12, 1818, and was a member of the distinguished Tennessee family of that name and closely related to the McMillans of Ten- nessee. The parents of his mother moved from Tennessee to Hale county, Ala., in the twenties and his father's parents moved from North Carolina to Alabama about the same time, his father and mother being married in that State in 1835, and later moving to Choctaw county, Ala., where the subject of this sketch was born. From Choctaw county, Ala., Washington Barber moved with his family to Copiah county, Miss., and lived there the remainder of his life, always taking a lively interest in its political affairs. Al- though too old to enter the Confederate army himself, Washington Barber was an ardent sympathizer and active worker in the cause of the Confederacy, his two eldest sons enlisting in the Confederate ranks at the outbreak of the war. One of these, a lieutenant, with sixty-four comrades was captured at Island No. 10, by General Burnside, and sent to the Federal prison at Madison, Wis., where Lieut. Barber and sixty-two of his companions died in prison. Evon M. Barber was educated in the public schools of Copiah county and under the instruction of his sisters, Mrs. Rowena Barber Willis and Mrs. Mary Barber Williams and the Rev. J. R. Farrish. He next attended Mississippi college at Clinton, Miss., after which he successfully engaged in business for several years. Having always
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had, however, a leaning toward law as a profession, he matricu- lated at the law school of the University of Mississippi in 1889, where he was graduated in June, 1889, having completed the two years' course in three months and four days. Mr. Barber further pursued his legal studies at Cornell university. He was admitted to the bar at Port Gibson, Miss., in 1889, and, ten days after his graduation from the law department of the University of Missis- sippi, he was elected representative from Claiborne county and was a member of the legislature of Mississippi which called the con- stitutional convention of Mississippi of 1890. While at the Uni- versity of Mississippi, Mr. Barber did pioneer work in advocating the doctrine of the separation of the taxes paid by the whites and negroes for school purposes, setting forth his views on the subject in an open letter. In 1895, Mr. Barber moved from Port Gibson to Biloxi, Miss., where he now resides. Here he has built up a large and lucrative practice, being engaged in all the courts from the lowest county court to the United States supreme court. Polit- ically, Mr. Barber has always been an ardent and consistent Demo- crat. In 1892, Gov. Stone appointed him one of four delegates from Mississippi to the Nicaragua Canal convention; in 1899, he repre- sented the State Association of Bimetallic Leagues of Mississippi in the National Association of Bimetallic Leagues which met in Indianapolis, and, the same year, represented the Mississippi Asso- ciation of Democratic Clubs in the National Association of Demo- cratic Clubs convention in Indianapolis. In 1900, he was elected presidential elector from the 6th congressional district of Missis- sippi, and at present represents Harrison county in the house of representatives of Mississippi. During the sessions of 1904 and 1906 of the legislature he especially advocated legislation to confine the oyster industry of Mississippi to citizens of said State, consti- tutional prohibition, and the elective judiciary movement. Mr. Barber is a member of the Baptist church, a Mason, Odd Fellow, Knight of Pythias, member of the Knights and Ladies of Honor, Woodman of the World, Essenic Knight, member of the Delta Psi fraternity of the University of Mississippi, member of the board of directors of the Mississippi State bar association, as well as the Harrison county bar association and member of the Biloxi Yacht club. Mr. Barber was married Oct. 7, 1885, to Estelle Thornton, daughter of John F. Thornton and Elizabeth Hammond, of St. Louis, Mo. Mr. and Mrs. Barber have one living child, Evon Marion Barber, Jr., aged twelve years, who is a messenger in the house of representatives of Mississippi.
Byrd, Adam Monroe, representative in congress from the Fifth district of Mississippi, has made an admirable record in the public service, having held many positions of distinctive trust and honor and having risen to prominence through his own ability and efforts. He maintains his home at Philadelphia and has long been numbered among the representative legists and jurists of Neshoba county. Judge Byrd was born in Sumter county, Ala., July 6, 1859, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Tann) Byrd. His paternal ancestors
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removed from Georgia to Alabama in an early day and his maternal grandfather, Alfred Tann, who was a pioneer of western Alabama, came to that State from Indiana. He served with Gen. William Henry Harrison in his historic campaign against Tecumseh, par- ticipating in the battle of Tippecanoe. John Byrd sacrificed his life as a soldier of the Confederacy, having enlisted in an Alabama regiment soon after the call to arms was made. He was survived by his wife and six children, the subject of this sketch having been the fourth son. Judge Byrd was therefore but a child at the close of the war, but he assumed his quota of responsibility in caring for the family and assisting his widowed mother. They came to Mis- sissippi in 1867, at which time he was eight years of age, and they settled on a farm in Neshoba county, where he was reared to maturity and where he has ever since made his home. He aided in the work of the plantation and in the meanwhile made good use of such advantages as were afforded in the local schools, which he attended until he had attained to his legal majority, in the mean- while having formulated definite plans for future action and his ambition and judgment having specially prompted him to secure as liberal an education as possible. He entered Hiwassee college, at Hiwassee, Tenn., where he continued his studies one year, after which he was for three years a student in Cooper institute, at Dale- ville, Miss., leaving the institution six months before the comple- tion of the work which would have entitled him to graduation. He forthwith was matriculated in the law department of Cumberland university, Lebanon, Tenn., in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1884, duly receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws and being admitted to the bar of Mississippi in the following month. He initiated the work of his profession by opening an office in Philadelphia, Miss., where he now resides and where he has attained to marked professional prestige and high standing as a loyal and public-spirited citizen. He served as superintendent of education of Neshoba county from 1887 to 1889, in which latter year he was elected to represent his district in the State senate. The following appreciative estimate of his public career has been previously pub- lished : "He proved to be one of the most prominent and useful members of the legislature, where he ranked with the leading men of the State. He voted for and supported the calling of the conven- tion that gave to Mississippi her present organic law. He was re- elected to the senate in 1892. In 1895 he was elected to a seat in the house of representatives of the State legislature, the senator- ship, under the system of rotation between the counties of the district, having passed to the county of Newton. In April, 1896, he was appointed district attorney for the Tenth judicial district, and in the following year he was appointed chancellor of the dis- trict which embraces the counties of Newton, Scott, Neshoba, Kemper, Nuxobee, Lauderdale, Lowndes, Winston, Attala and Holmes, which position he held until elected without opposition to congress in November, 1902. In all the positions to which Judge Byrd has been called he has displayed marked ability and earned
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the plaudits of those whom he has served. In politics he has al- ways entertained advanced ideas but has ever been a stanch, loyal Democrat, and he is in every sense a man of the people, being the architect of his own fortune. He is a man of great personal mag- netism and has many friends all over the State." In the election of November, 1906, Judge Byrd again appears as the candidate for congress from his district, having no opposition, "an evidence of the high esteem in which he is held by his constituents all over the district and a mark attesting popular recognition of his faithfulness to duty and able service in the national legislature." Judge Byrd is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and its adjunct organiza- tion, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Epis- copal church, South. On Dec. 16, 1887, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Simmons, who died in August, 1898, being sur- vived by two children-Anna Kate and Edward Lee. Judge Byrd's second marriage was to Miss Mary R. Gulley, daughter of James A. Gulley, of Meridian, and they have two children-Lena Eliza- beth and Adam Monroe, Jr.
Brown, Peyton R., M. D., physician and surgeon, is engaged in the active practice of his profession in Clay county, being one of the leading practitioners of that part of the State. Dr. Brown was born near Crystal Springs, Copiah county, Miss., on Aug. 27, 1856, and is a son of Dr. William J. and Armenta (Sham- burger) Brown, the former native of Florida and the latter of Mississippi. Dr. William J. Brown was a physician of high attainments and was engaged in practice in Mississippi at the outbreak of the Civil war. He forthwith enlisted in the Con- federate service, becoming surgeon in the Forty-first Mississippi infantry, with which he remained until his death, which occurred in Vicksburg, Miss., in 1862. He was a lineal descendant of that historic character, Commodore Perry, on the maternal side. His wife, the mother of the subject of this review, died Aug. 14, 1902, aged sixty-eight years. Dr. Peyton R. Brown completed the curriculum of the common schools and then entered Vanderbilt university, at Nashville, Tenn., where he was a student in the literary department for a short time, after which he entered the medical department of the same institution and was graduated as a member of the class of 1885, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In 1880 he initiated the active practice of his profession in his home county, Copiah, and in 1882 he removed to Liddell, Montgomery county, where he was engaged in practice until 1891, after which he was for two years successfully estab- lished in practice at Eupora, Webster county, whence he came to West Point in February, 1893. There his success has been excel-
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lent and he has a representative clientage, while he stands high in the esteem of his professional confreres. He is a member of the American medical association, the Mississippi State medical asso- ciation and the Oktibbeha & Clay county medical association, of which last mentioned he is president. His political allegiance is given to the Democracy, and he is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity, Woodmen of the World, and Knights of Honor. Himself and wife are members of the Baptist church. On Dec. 12, 1882, Dr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Drusilla E. Ellis, daughter of Elijah and Rhoda (Thrailkill) Ellis, of Montgomery county, and the children of this union are five in number, namely: Alma, William J. Howard, Mabel, Peyton and Addie. Howard is a prac- ticing physician, having passed the examination before the State board before reaching his twenty-first year. Alma graduated at the Industrial institute and college at Columbus, in the musical de- partment in 1903, being a member of the first class in music. She is now teaching at Winona.
Bates, Christopher Harbert, M. D., of Osyka, Pike county, has been engaged in the active practice of his profession for nearly two score years and is a repre- sentative physician and surgeon of his native commonwealth. He is a veteran of the Confederate service in the Civil war and as a citizen is loyal and progres- sive, being at the present time president of the Osyka bank, of which he was the organizer. Dr. Bates was born in Amite county, Miss., April 7, 1847, and is a son of James E. and Aletha (Frith) Bates, both of whom were likewise natives of Mississippi, and of English lineage. The paternal grandfather of the Doctor came from South Carolina to Mississippi in an early day, being accompanied by two of his brothers, and all became prosperous planters. Dr. Bates was a student in Somerville Institute at the time of the outbreak of the war between the States, and he left school about six months prior to his sixteenth birthday for the purpose of entering the service of the Confederacy. In 1863 he enlisted in Company A, Fourteenth Mississippi infantry, just prior to the fall of Vicksburg, and took part in the numerous engagements in which his command was in- volved, remaining in the ranks until the close of the war. After the war he determined to prepare himself for the medical profes- sion, with which end in view he entered the Kentucky School of Medicine, Louisville, in which institution he was graduated in 1871, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He located at Bates Mill, Amite county, a village named in honor of his father, and there con- tinued in the successful practice of his profession for twenty-eight years, also becoming a large land-owner in that locality. In 1900 he removed to Osyka, where he has been equally successful in the
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work of his profession, his practice being of a representative order. The Doctor is extensively interested in farming in Louisiana and has mercantile interests in Osyka. In 1902 he organized the Bank of Osyka, with a capital of $25,000 of which he has been president since its organization. The institution is a substantial and well managed concern and has met with support from the start. At the time of its organization the following named were the executive officers: Dr. C. H. Bates, president ; I. N. Varnado, who is now deceased, vice-president ; and Chas. Tote, cashier. The Doctor is a Democrat in politics, is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Master Mason and treasurer of his lodge; a member of the Woodmen of the World; United Confederate Vet- erans and is associated with the Pike county medical society of which he is president, the State medical society and the Tri-County medical society. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist church. Dr. Bates is most loyal and is always to be found in the front rank on questions effecting the welfare and advance- ment of his city. He has done much for Osyka and is one of its foremost citizens where he is held in highest esteem by all classes. In 1871, Dr. Bates was united in marriage to Miss Margaret A. McKnight, daughter of the late Thomas E. McKnight, who was a prominent planter of Amite county. Dr. and Mrs. Bates became the parents of six children, of whom only two are living, Margaret Eloise, who remains at the parental home, and Dr. William G., who is associated with his father in practice, having been graduated in the medical department of Tulane university in 1900.
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