USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III > Part 13
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readiness to lead where the crest of conflict rose highest. He will be greeted on fame's eternal camping ground by the thousands of martial spirits who have gone before. At the close of the war he located at Tupelo and resumed the peaceful struggle of life. He served the people in the capacity of district attorney and also as a member of the legislature for several terms. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1890 and ranked among the leading members of that memorable body. His entire official career was marked by a conscientious and effective discharge of duty. Colonel Blair never received the full political recognition to which his merit and ability entitled him, which was due in a large measure to the fact that when he sought political preferments he was in- fluenced more by considerations for the public welfare than the promotion of personal ambition, and was utterly unskilled in the arts by which the rabble is made subservient to the political manip- ulator. As a lawyer he was peculiarly endowed with a high con- ception of his profession and conspicuously illustrated its honor and dignity. He always brought to the discharge of his professional duties a thorough consideration of every legal point involved, and he never allowed the interest of a client to suffer from any de- linquency on his part. He was a clear, cogent reasoner, and any history of the bar of the State would be incomplete did it not em- body something of the clear, analytical argument which he con- tributed to the discussion of many important questions of law. He was a man of strong impulses, but always exercised them in the direction which he thought was right. He found time from his arduous professional labors to cultivate a Christian character, and it was evident that he sought the higher and purer walks of Christian life with the honest purpose of elevating himself and pro- moting his usefulness, and that he was never influenced by super- stitions, fear or hypocritical motive. He was called hence in the full development of his mental faculties, but his life work presents all the symmetry of completion." It may further be said that Colonel Blair was one of the most prominent criminal lawyers in the State and that he was identified with many celebrated cases in this depart- ment of his profession. He was among the first to tender his ser- vices in defense of the Confederate cause. In April, 1861, he became a private in the Iuka Rifles, which command was mustered into service as Company K, Second Mississippi infantry. Within a few months he was made sergeant-major of his company, and at the reorganization of the regiment, at Yorktown, in April, 1862, he was elected major. After the battle of Gettysburg he was promoted lieutenant-colonel of his regiment, of which he had command much
of the time during the last year of the war. The history of his regiment gives the record of his service, for he participated in all the engagements in which the command was involved. He was a valued member of the United Confederate Veterans at the time of his demise. Colonel Blair was a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and the Knights of Pythias, and was an honored
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member of the State bar association. His religious faith was indi- cated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South, in which he was a zealous worker. Colonel Blair was twice mar- ried. On Nov. 30, 1865, was solemnized his union to Miss Josephine Clifton, daughter of Wiley D. and Julia F. (Oliver) Clifton, of Fulton, Miss., and concerning the children of this marriage the fol- lowing data are entered: Willie Eugene is the wife of Oscar L. Stribling, a representative member of the bar of Waco, Tex .; John Alan, Jr., died at the age of seven years; Nannie Lou died when about two years of age; Alice Irene is a teacher in Chevy Chase college, Washington, D. C .; Mattie Eckford died when about two years of age; Julia Oliver is the wife of Frank M. Goodlett, of Tupelo; Josephine Clifton remains at the old home; Wiley Alex- ander is an able member of the bar of Tupelo, having been gradu- ated in the law department of the University of Mississippi in 1905. Mrs. Blair was summoned to the life eternal March 24, 1885, and Dec. 22, 1887, Colonel Blair married her sister, Miss Julia Clifton, who survives him, as do also their two children-Ethel Eleanor and Edward Russell. Mrs. Blair's father was born in North Carolina and her mother in South Carolina. He became a leading merchant and influential citizen of Fulton, Miss., where he had a beautiful plantation home and where he was an extensive slaveholder prior to the Civil war. He died in 1858, at the age of fifty-two years, having accumulated a large fortune through his well directed en- deavors. His grandfather, William Clifton, was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. Mrs. Blair's mother was a daughter of Joseph and Esther (Ellis) Oliver, the former of whom was one of the leading merchants of the city of Charleston, S. C., and a man of much wealth. The father of his wife was a patriot soldier in the Revolutionary war, and the original representatives of this family came to America in the historic "Mayflower."
Barbour, Jeptha F., is recognized as one of the representative members of the bar of the State and is engaged in the prac- tice of his profession at Yazoo City, where he also has important capitalistic interests and where he is known as a progressive and loyal citizen. Mr. Bar- bour was born in Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 19, 1875, and is a son of James G. and Cornelia A. (Fowlkes) Barbour, the former of whom was born in London- derry, Ireland, and the latter in Hender- son, Ky. James G. Barbour came to America as a young man, and after re- maining a short period in Pittsburg, Pa., he removed to Memphis, Tenn., where he engaged in the hardware business, under the firm name of Barbour & Simpson. He there continued in business for several years after the close of the Civil war. In 1861 he tendered his services in support of the cause of
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the Confederacy, by enlisting in a Tennessee cavalry regiment which became a part of Gen. Nathan B. Forrest's division, with which he served until the final surrender, proving a gallant and faithful soldier and taking part in many of the important engagements of the great internecine conflict.
After the war he resumed his connection with the hardware busi- ness in Memphis, where he remained until about 1880, when he removed with his family to Yazoo City, where he assumed charge of the hardware business of Nierman & Doherity, with which firm he remained many years. He died in that city Dec. 6, 1891, and his remains were laid to rest in Elmwood cemetery, Memphis, Tenn. After the war he was united in marriage to Mrs. Cornelia A. (Fowlkes) McDonald, widow of Charles A. McDonald, and they became the parents of five children: James S., David, Austin F., Cornelia A., and Jeptha F. Three of the number are living, David and Cornelia A. having died in infancy. The devoted wife and mother passed to the life eternal, in Yazoo City, May 25, 1901, and her remains rest beside those of her husband in Elmwood cemetery, Memphis. The subject of this sketch was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Yazoo City, and his higher education was secured through his own efforts, as he depended on his own re- sources in meeting his expenses while a student in the Mississippi agricultural and mechanical college, at Starkville, where he com- pleted the work of the junior year, and also in the law department of the University of Mississippi, in which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws as a member of the class of 1896. From September of that year until January, 1899, he was engaged in the newspaper business in Yazoo City, where he was editor of the Yazoo Sentinel. He then disposed of his interests in this enter- prise to F. R. Birdsall, the present owner, and since that time has given his attention to the practice of his profession, in which he has attained to noteworthy success and reputation. He was one of the organizers of the Delta Bank and Trust Company, of Yazoo City, and is a member of its directorate and its largest stockholder. He has shown public spirit by giving support to various other enterprises, being a stockholder in the. Yazoo City yarn mills, the Yazoo Hard- ware Company and other concerns which have materially advanced the commercial prestige of the city. He is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, but has never sought or held public office. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is affiliated with the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks, and also with the Delta Psi college fraternity. On Dec. 10, 1902, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Barbour to Miss Freida Haverkamp, daughter of John H. and Anna Haverkamp, of Yazoo City, both of whom were born in Germany. Mrs. Barbour was summoned to the life eternal Nov. 29, 1903, less than one year after her marriage.
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Boothe, James B., of Sardis, Panola county, is presiding on the bench of the Third judicial circuit of the State, and is one of the representative members of the Mississippi bar, while he is also an hon- ored veteran of the Confederacy. He was born near Gatesville, Gates county, N. C., March 1, 1844, and in that same county were also born his parents, Will- iam R. and Margaret A. (Ballard) Boothe, the former Dec. 26, 1811, and the latter Oct. 16, 1813. Their grandfathers on both sides were soldiers in the Continental army during the War of the Revolution, and the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Boothe was an officer of high rank. The parents of Judge Boothe came to Mississippi in 1846, locating in Yalobusha county and there following agricultural pursuits until 1856, when he removed to Tal- lahatchie county, where he continued in the same line of enterprise and where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their long and useful lives. He was long a member of the board of super- visors of his county and was a man of influence in local affairs, being a stanch Democrat, while both he and his wife were zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They became the. parents of seven children, of whom four are living. Judge Boothe received his early educational discipline in the schools of Yalo- busha and Tallahatchie counties, and when seventeen years of age he numbered himself among the loyal sons of the South who went forth in defense of the Confederacy, enlisting in 1861, in Company F, Twenty-first Mississippi regiment of infantry, with which he re- mained until the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, when he lost his right arm. Among the principal engagements in which he took part were Savage Station, Malvern Hill, Harper's Ferry, both bat- tles of Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Knoxville and the Wilderness, besides many of minor order. In the battle of Gettysburg he was slightly wounded in the hand. After the loss of his arm he was, of course, incapacitated for further service, and he returned home and taught school for a year. In 1865 he was elected clerk of the circuit and chancery courts of Tallahatchie county, and he was chosen as his own successor on the expiration of his first term, remaining incumbent of the office until March, 1868, when he was removed by the military authorities then in control. In the meanwhile he had been prosecuting a careful course of reading of the law, under the direction of Col. W. H. Fitzgerald, commander of his old regiment, and he was admitted to the bar at the last term of the circuit court in 1868. After retiring from the office of circuit clerk, he engaged in the practice of his profession in Charleston, where he made rapid rise in professional standing, there continuing in practice until 1874, when he removed to Sardis, Panola county, where he has ever since been identified with the work of his pro-
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fession, in which he has met with marked success. He was elected a member of the State senate in 1885, serving during the sessions of 1886 and 1888, while in 1890 he was a member of the constitu- tional convention, from the Second congressional district as a dele- gate from the State at large. He served twenty-three years as United States commissioner, and on Oct. 8, 1903, he was appointed to his present office as judge of the Third judicial circuit. One familiar with the career of Judge Boothe has written of him as follows: "He is a talented man, a shrewd practitioner, a forcible and eloquent speaker and one whose public career is above re- proach. While holding the different offices and positions of trust with which he has been honored, he has jealously guarded the interests of the people and faithfully discharged his duty." Judge Boothe is one of the stalwarts in the ranks of Mississippi Democ- racy and has been an influential factor in the party councils. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Honor, the Knights and Ladies of Honor, the Patrons of Husbandry and the American Legion of Honor. On Dec. 10, 1868, Judge Boothe was married to Miss Annie E. Hill, who was born and reared in Panola county, a daughter of William C. Hill. Judge and Mrs. Boothe have three children-William Ed- win, Annie Estelle and Lillian.
Bloomfield, Horace, of Gulfport, Har- rison county, Miss., is the senator from the First district in the State senate, his district comprising the counties of Han- cock, Harrison and Jackson, bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. The senator is a native of New Orleans, La., being a son of George T. and Harriet Elizabeth (Baldwin) Bloomfield. George Thomas Bloomfield was born in Tittlesdale, county of Norfolk, England, and came to America when a young man, first taking up his residence in New York city and later in New Orleans, whence he removed to Mississippi when Horace was a child. In New Orleans he married Harriet Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob T. and Mary (Donington) Baldwin, formerly of Newark, N. J., both of whom were likewise of English lineage, Thomas Baldwin, a direct ancestor, having been a soldier in the Continental line dur- ing the War of the Revolution. Senator Bloomfield secured his early educational training in Handsboro, Miss., and later attended the Trinity high school, in Pass Christian, that State. He then studied law, under the preceptorship of Chancellor William Gaston Henderson, of Handsboro, being admitted to the bar by the circuit court, Judge James S. Hamm being on the bench of the circuit court at the time. Senator Bloomfield entered into partnership with Hon. Roderick Seal, this alliance continuing until 1898, while this law firm had headquarters in Scranton. In 1889 Senator Bloomfield
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was elected to the State senate from his present district, which he represented during the sessions of 1890, 1892 and 1894. In Novem- ber, 1903, he was again elected to represent this district in the senate, of which he is a valued member, being a member of the committee on judiciary and committee on railroads and franchises, and other important committees. He is an able and successful law- yer and is one of the representative members of the bar of Mis- sissippi, being engaged in active and lucrative practice. He is a member of the Mississippi State bar association, he having helped organize said association during the session of the legislature of 1906. Senator Bloomfield is identified with the Masonic fraternity.
Buckley, Madison Webster, head of the well-known firm of M. W. Buckley & Sons, of Enterprise, Clarke county, is also extensively engaged in farming and stock-growing, owning a large landed estate and being one of the representative citizens of this section of the State. Mr. Buckley was born at what was locally known as Buckley's Store, in Jasper county, Miss., Oct. 31, 1852, and is the eldest of the five sons born to Joseph E. and Mary I. (Rogers) Buckley, who also had three daughters. The other chil- dren are R. M. Buckley, who died Sept. 26, 1905; W. F. Buckley ; Jno. L. Buck- ley ; J. E. J. Buckley ; Elizabeth (Buckley) Dear, who died June 25, 1900; Angie (Buckley) Perry and Mary (Buckley) McMillan. The father was born in Georgia, Sept. 22, 1820, a son of Elijah and Nancy Buckley, and when a young man he removed to Perry county, Ala., where his marriage was solemnized in 1840, his wife having been born in Alabama, in 1825, a daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth (Waters) Rogers. Mr. and Mrs. Buckley came to Mississippi in 1843 and became numbered among the pioneers of Jasper county, where the former gained a wide reputation as a successful merchant and planter, accumulating a valuable property and being one of the influential men of his county, while he also had capitalistic interests in adjoining counties. His store in Jasper county gave title to the locality which is still known by his name. He served a short time in the Confederate army, but was compelled to forego further effort on the field of battle by reason of physical disability. He was the head of the well known mercantile firm of Joseph E. Buck- ley & Son, at Enterprise, the business having been conducted under this title for a number of years after his death, which occurred at the home of his son Madison W., in this town, Jan. 5, 1888. He was a consistent member of the Baptist church, while he was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Masonic fraternity. Madi- son W. Buckley was afforded the advantages of the schools of Jasper county and also those of Summerville institute, in Noxubee county, while he early began to assist in his father's store, on the
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homestead place, thus gaining an excellent knowledge of business methods and of the values of the various lines of merchandise. In 1873 he located in Enterprise and engaged in the general merchan- dise business with Mr. Chas. A. Lyerly, under the firm name of Lyerly & Buckley. About two years later Mr. Lyerly retired and the father of Mr. Buckley became an interested principal in the enterprise, while at this time the firm name of J. E. Buckley & Son was adopted. After the death of the father the business was con- tinued under the same title until Aug. 31, 1899, when the mother also passed away, after which the estate was settled and Madison W. retired from the mercantile trade, identifying himself with the opera- tion of a knitting mill, in which he became one of the principal stock- holders. In 1904, he again engaged in the general merchandise busi- ness in Enterprise, under the present title of M. W. Buckley & Sons, and the firm has a large and well equipped emporium, controlling a representative trade. Mr. Buckley is the owner of a fine plantation of 2,400 acres in Jasper county, and he devotes special attention to the raising of high grade live stock, including cattle, horses and mules. He is a member of the directorate of the Bank of Enter- prise and a stockholder in the Stonewall Cotton Mills, while his attitude at all times is that of a loyal and public-spirited citizen and progressive business man. He is a stanch supporter of the prin- ciples and policies of the Democratic party, and served ten years of the city council, while he was also president of the board of trustees of the Enterprise high school. Both he and his wife are valued members of the local Baptist church, in which he is a deacon, while he is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Honor. In November, 1878, Mr. Buckley married Miss Helen Harvey, who was born in Mississippi, in 1855, a daughter of Jones and Mary Harvey, who were well known residents of Clarke county at the time of their death. Mr. and Mrs. Buckley have eleven children, namely: Walter G., Wade H., Madison W., Jr., J. Wilson, Emmett, Helen, Samuel, John, Thomas W., Robert R., and Mabel Alice. The two eldest sons are associated with their father in business.
Carr, John P., superintendent of the city schools of Vicksburg, has attained to marked prestige in the pedagogic profession, with which he has been identified ever since leaving college, being a man of high attainments and one who has been unreservedly successful in his chosen vocation. Mr. Carr is a native of the fine old Hoosier State, having been born in the town of Oregon, Clark county, Ind., March 22, 1856, and being a son of Dr. F. M. and Martha (Cortner) Carr, both of whom were born and reared in that same county of Indiana, in which State they passed their entire lives, the father having been an able and honored physician and surgeon. After completing the curriculum of the public schools Mr. Carr became a student in Hanover college, at Hanover, Ind., and later was matric- ulated in the University of Indiana, at Bloomington, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Since leaving the university he has devoted his time to educational work, having
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taught in all grades, from the primary to the high school, and having served five years as county superintendent of schools in Clark county, Ind. In 1892 he came to Vicksburg, and was made principal of the boys' high school, which position he held for fourteen years, within which time he did much to advance the interests of the school and to perfect its work in all departments. In 1906 he was elected superintendent of the Vicksburg public schools while he enjoys unequivocal popularity in the educational circles of the city and State. He is a stanch Democrat in his political proclivities, and both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. On Sept. 19, 1883, Mr. Carr was united in marriage to Miss Ida Ferguson, daughter of Jesse and Frances (Wilson) Ferguson, of Vicksburg, and they have one son, Donald F.
Caldwell, James Hamilton, president of the Charleston bank, has been success- fully established in the practice of law in this town since 1896, and is a member of the firm of Dinkins & Caldwell, recog- nized as one of the leading law concerns of Tallahatchie county. Mr. Caldwell was born near Carthage, Leake county, Miss., Feb. 12, 1870, and is a son of James Hamilton Caldwell, Sr., and Eliza- beth (Walmsly) Caldwell, the former born in Newberry district, S. C., June 27, 1818, while the latter was born near Ray- mond, Hinds county, Miss., in May, 1834. The paternal grandfather came from Ire- land to America in 1767, settling in Newberry district, S. C., and be- coming a successful planter, while he went forth to do valorous service in the Continental line during the War of the Revolution. After duly availing himself of the advantages afforded in the public schools of Leake county, James H. Caldwell, subject of this review, entered Lexington normal college, in Lexington, Miss., from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1890. He then engaged in teaching school, and while thus finding insistent de- mands upon his time and attention he still found opportunity to prosecute a careful course of reading in the law, under the pre- ceptorship of George Richardson, of Louisville, Miss., a prominent member of the bar of Winston county, and he was admitted to practice in September, 1893. He was thereafter engaged in practice in Louisville, this State, until May, 1896, having not only gained distinct prestige in his professional work but having also been chosen to represent Leake and Winston counties in the State legis- lature, having been elected in' 1893. He has been an ardent worker in the cause of the Democratic party, and was elected on its ticket. In May, 1896, Mr. Caldwell located in Charleston and entered into a professional partnership with William B. Marshall, and this alli- ance continued until December of the following year, when the present firm of Dinkins & Caldwell was formed, Edwin D. Dinkins
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being the senior member, while the two members are also associated with Robt. L. Ward and Thos. B. Dudley in the maintenance of an office at Sumner, under the title of Dinkins, Caldwell, Ward & Dudley. Mr. Caldwell is a member of the Tallahatchie County Bar Association, is past-master in the Masonic lodge and identified with the Woodmen of the World, while he is an elder in the Presbyterian church of Charleston, and he has been president of the Charleston bank since 1904. On Nov. 7, 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Caldwell to Miss May Matthews, daughter of Benj. H. and Ella (Hunter) Matthews, of Hemingway, Carroll county, Miss. Two children have been born of this union-James Hamilton, Jr., born Jan. 27, 1898 ; and Alma, born Sept. 27, 1899.
Carnes, Charles F., M. D., is engaged in the practice of his profession in Kos- ciusko, Attala county, and is one of the leading physicians and surgeons of this part of the State. He was born in At- tala county, Miss., Aug. 23, 1855, and is a son of Elisha L. and Martha (Mabry) Carnes. His father, who was born in Hinds county, this State, in 1825, and whose death occurred in 1902, was a planter by vocation and he served thirty- five years in the office of justice of the peace. He was a son of Wells Carnes, who was a grandson of Thomas Peter Carnes, who was a member of congress during the time of the settlement of the boundary between South Carolina and Georgia. Thomas Mabry, maternal grandfather of the doctor, served as probate judge after the organization of Attala county. After duly attending the common schools of his native county, Doctor Carnes continued his studies in Vanderbilt uni- versity, Nashville, Tenn., and thereafter he taught school in order to secure the funds necessary to defray the expenses of his technical education. He finally entered the Memphis medical college, in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1881, and from which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. For two years after graduation he was engaged in the practice of his profession at Sallis, Attala county, after which he located in Thomastown, Leake county, where he built up an ex- cellent practice and where he continued to follow the work of his profession for seventeen years, since which he has been engaged in practice at Kosciusko. He is local surgeon for the Illinois Central railroad and is a member of the American medical association and the Mississippi State medical association. In politics his support is given to the Democratic party, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, Woodmen of the World, Knights of Honor, and Knights and Ladies of Honor. In 1881 was celebrated the marriage of Doctor Carnes to Miss Dena Ashley, daughter of Capt. John C. and Elizabeth Ashley. Doctor and Mrs. Carnes have
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