Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 16

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association
Number of Pages: 938

USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III > Part 16

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Clark, John, president of the Bank of Tupelo, was one of the representative citizens and business men of that thriving little city, and his also was the distinction of having been a valiant soldier of the Confederacy in the war between the States. Mr. Clark was born on a farm in Sumpter county, Ala., Jan. 16, 1842, being a son of Richard C. and Susan (Hodges) Clark, the former of whom was born in Brunswick county, Va., and the latter in Smith county, Tenn. As a young man Richard C. Clark removed from the Old Dominion State to Mississippi, settling in Monroe county, where he became a successful planter, also engaging in business as a cotton factor during the winter months and having his headquarters in Mobile, Ala., in this connection. He thus continued until the time of the Civil war, after which he removed to Verona, Lee county, Miss., where he became a prosperous banker and mer- chant, having established the first bank in that county. His wife was a daughter of Capt. Robert Hodges, who was a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church and who removed from middle Tennessee to Tishomingo county, Miss., where he passed the re- mainder of his life. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, having been captain of a company in General Jackson's regiment and hav- ing served under him in the battle of New Orleans. John Clark was afforded excellent educational advantages in his youth, having attended school at Florence, Ala., and having been graduated in Wesleyan university, at Florence, Ala., with first honor in a class of twenty-two, as a member of the class of 1861. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in the Confederate service as a member of the First Mississippi cavalry, commanded by Col. Dick Pinson. For a few months the regiment was with General Forrest, when Mr. Clark was commissioned captain and transferred to the army commanded by Gen. Sterling Price. Subsequently he was assigned to duty with General Van Dorn in Mississippi, where he was made chief of ordnance of Little's division and participated in the battles of Corinth, Iuka and the military operations around Vicksburg. General Little was killed at Iuka on Sept. 19, 1862, and Captain Clark was transferred to the staff of Gen. Dabney H. Maury as ordnance officer, and while serving in that capacity was captured at Fort Blakely, April 9, 1865. After the war Captain Clark returned to Lee county, and in 1869 he engaged in the mercantile

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business in Tupelo, beginning operations on a small scale. From this modest nucleus has been evolved the large wholesale grocery business now conducted by the firm of Clark & Company, whose trade transactions have attained to an average annual aggregate of half a million dollars. From 1899 he was president of the Bank of Tu- pelo, which was reorganized after the death of his father. The bank- ing business has engaged his attention since 1875, and he was asso- ciated with his father in this enterprise. Richard C. Clark founded the Bank of Lee County, at Verona, about 1875, and in 1885 the business was removed to Tupelo, the present Bank of Tupelo being the direct successor of the original institution. Captain Clark was president of the Tupelo Compress Company and the Tupelo Cotton Oil and Ice Company ; vice-president of the Tupelo Cotton Mills, also president and director of the Tupelo Fertilizer Com- pany in that city and owned valuable farm lands and town property. The maiden name of Mrs. Clark was Nettie Kimmons, and she is a daughter of the late Rev. John A. Kimmons, of Oxford, Miss. Captain and Mrs. Clark became the parents of five children: Nell, who is the wife of F. Knoeble; Jessie, who is the wife of R. G. Strain; Christine, who remains at home; Neil, who is attending school in Louisville, Ky .; and Antoinette, at home. Captain Clark died suddenly from heart failure, Jan. 12, 1906.

Clark, Joseph Marion, M. D., associated with Dr. J. R. Anderson, at Sumrall, Lamar county, is a successful practicing physician and surgeon and one of the representative citizens of his community. He was born in Smith county, Miss., on Sept. 3, 1877, and is a son of Francis M. and Frances (Cole) Clark, native respec- tively of Jones county and Smith county, Miss., in which State the families were founded in the pioneer days. Doctor Clark completed a high school course and - thereafter was for some time engaged in teaching in the public schools of Marion county, while in the meanwhile he form- ulated definite plans for his future career, deciding to adopt the medical profession. With this end in view he entered the medical department of the University of Nashville, Tenn., where he prepared himself for the vocation which he had chosen and in which he has met with marked success. He began the practice of medicine in Bassfield, Covington county, where he remained until January, 1905, when he removed to Sumrall, where he has since followed the work of his profession. The Doctor is a Democrat in his political faith and adherency, is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias, while both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church. On May 11, 1904, Doctor Clark was united in marriage to Miss Edna F. Rawls, daughter of Felix L. and Rebecca (Bennett) Rawls, well known citizens of Lamar county.

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private, but before the war ended he was promoted to the rank of captain in the quarter-master's department, General Price's com- mand. He returned home in May, 1865, and resumed his profession. For many years he was president of Franklin college in Holly Springs, Miss., and was widely known as a pious, scholarly, cul- tured gentleman-genial and polished and highly respected by the community. In 1878 he fell a victim to yellow fever that swept our southern land, and died Sept. 12, in Tuscumbia, Ala., leaving four children : Mrs. Rosa Tunstate, a woman of unusual ability as a musician, who died June, 1902; William Clark, now a merchant in Holly Springs, Miss., Mrs. Mary Courtnay Wright, now living in Jersey City, N. J., and Mrs. Elizabeth Lenore Gholson, not only a musical genius, but a woman of varied talents who died in 1897 at the age of twenty-five years.

Coleman, John R., a planter near Le- land, was born in Tishomingo county, Miss., Sept. 12, 1858. His parents were Henry L. and Eliza A. (Potter) Coleman, the former a native of South Carolina, the latter of Georgia. Henry L. Cole- man entered the Confederate service with the Mississippi troops in 1862. Later he was transferred and served with Gen. Robt. E. Lee until the battle of Gettys- burg, where he fell mortally wounded. John R. Coleman received his education in the public schools of Union and Pontotoc counties. For some time he was engaged in commercial pursuits, but the past few years he has given his whole attention to farming. Polit- ically he is a stanch Democrat and as such has served as a member of the county board of supervisors. Both he and his wife are mem- bers of the Baptist church. On June 16, 1881, Mr. Coleman mar- ried Miss Dennie O., daughter of James and Mary (Stone) Givens of Pontotoc county, Miss. They have no children. Mr. Coleman is a member of the Blue Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.

Cole, William Qualls, of Water Valley, Miss., was born June 28, 1856, at Woodlawn Plantation, Holmes county, Miss., the son of William Ferguson Cole and Aurelia Qualls (Walton) Cole. His father was a native of Prince Edward county, Va., and settled in Mississippi in 1843. Mr. Cole attended the public schools of Lex- ington under the instruction of John L. Dyson, and obtained a practical education in bookkeeping and accounting under the tutor- ship of his father, W. F. Cole. He was a practical printer from 1870 to 1878. He entered the service of the Chicago, St. Louis & New Orleans railroad (now Illinois Central) in 1878; was appointed traveling auditor for the Illinois Central railroad in 1883 from which position he resigned Jan. 1, 1898. He was a member of the Water Valley city council from 1894 to 1898; was elected auditor of public accounts in November, 1899, for the term beginning Jan. 15, 1900,

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and ending Jan. 18, 1904. He became ex-officio insurance commis- sioner upon the creation of the department, March 5, 1902, and was elected insurance commissioner by the people, Nov. 3, 1903. He is the author of the insurance law of Mississippi, and was instrumental in the establishment of a department of the State government de- voted to insurance. Mr. Cole is a member of the First Methodist church of Jackson, Miss., and a member of the fraternal orders of Knights of Pythias, Knights of Honor, Elks, and Knights and Ladies of Honor. On Dec. 13, 1882, at Water Valley, Miss., Mr. Cole was married to Miss Alice May West, daughter of Thomas Jefferson West. Mrs. Cole is a descendant of Rev. John Prewitt Boydston, a pioneer Methodist minister of north Mississippi. Mr. and Mrs. Cole have four children : William West, Alice Williams, George Welling and Wilfred Qualls.

Coleman, Silas K., M. D., holds prestige as one of the able and successful phy- sicians and surgeons of Madison county, and is engaged in the practice of his pro- fession in Canton, the county seat. He was born near Sharon, this county, March 19, 1842, and is a son of Asa and Mary E. (Divine) Coleman, both of whom were born near Rodney, Jefferson county, this State. It is a matter of practical authen- ticity that ancestors of the doctor were numbered among the patriot soldiers in the War of the Revolution, as well as the Seminole Indian war and the War of 1812. His paternal ancestors were driven from Charleston, S. C., by the Tories and made their way from Pittsburg by flat-boat to the Mississippi river, down which they came to Rodney, Miss. The maternal grandfather was a French Huguenot and upon coming to America first located in Connecticut, whence he later removed to the State of New York. Dr. Coleman secured his early education in the schools of Madison county and completed a course in old Madison college, at Sharon, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1860. In April, 1861, he entered the service of the Confederacy, enlisting as a private in Company C, Eighteenth Mississippi regiment, and later being trans- ferred to Company H, Ward's battery of Polk's battalion of light artillery, with which he served until the close of the war. Among other engagements in which he participated were the battles of Manassas, Leesburg, the Wilderness and the conflicts around Rich- mond. At the close of the war he engaged in mercantile business at Sharon, Miss., and in the meanwhile took up the study of medi- cine. He finally entered Baltimore medical college, in Baltimore, Md., in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1870, duly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He has kept closely in touch with the advances made in both departments of his profession, and in 1896 he took a post-graduate course in the

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College of Physicians and Surgeons in the city of Chicago. After his graduation he remained in the city of Baltimore until 1874, when he returned to his native county, where he has since followed the work of his profession with marked success, having a large practice and having maintained his residence in Canton since 1889. He is a member of the Mississippi State medical association, is a stanch Democrat in his political adherency, and is affiliated with the lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity and with the Knights of Pythias, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Knights of Honor and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On Feb. 23, 1872, Dr. Coleman was united in marriage to Miss Kate Coleman, daughter of Elias and Mary E. (Gilchrist) Coleman, of Madison county, and she died in 1886, being survived by seven children, namely : Mary D., F. Dean, Asa, Malcolm G., Silas K., Jr., Anna Lou and Kate M. In 1888 Dr. Coleman married Miss L. M. Dunlevy, daughter of Dr. Dunlevy, and they have two children, Meta and Lyda Platt.

Coffey, Charles Clark, of Fayette, is serving his fourth term as circuit clerk of Jefferson county, and is one of the well known and popular citizens of his native county. He was born in Fayette county, Jan. 27, 1853, and is a son of Chesley Shelton and Mississippi Seraphine (Davis) Coffey, the former of whom was born in Ten- nessee and the latter in Mississippi. The father came to Mississippi as a youth and was one of the citizens of this State who volunteered for service in the Mexican war, in which he became a member of the Second Mississippi regiment, commanded by Col. Charles Clark, in honor of whom the subject of this sketch was named.

He was a planter and followed farming all his life, owning a large tract of land in Jefferson county. He died Feb. 25, 1869, aged fifty-two years, having never recovered from the wounds re- ceived in the Confederate service. His wife died in November, 1884. At the outbreak of the war between the States Chesley S. Coffey showed his loyalty to the Confederate cause by organizing Company D, Nineteenth Mississippi infantry, this having been one of the first companies which left Jefferson county. He continued in active service until the battle of Williamsburg, where he was wounded and taken prisoner, being held in captivity several months after which he was exchanged. He then returned to the army and was later discharged because of disability. He was captain of his company in the Mexican war and also in the Civil war. Charles Coffey was the second of six children, one of whom died in in- fancy. They were, in the order of birth : Bradford Davis, who was graduated from the law department of the University of Missis- sippi, and died a few months later ; Charles C., the subject of this sketch; Chesley Shelton who practiced law at Fayette for a few years and then died ; John Mott, a planter and stock-breeder, resid- ing on the old homestead ; Sallie O., who lives with John M .; Edgar N., who attended the agricultural college at Starksville, Miss. He was a druggist at Fayette until the Spanish-American war, at which time he was made captain of the military company at Fayette and

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went out in the First Mississippi, and remained at Chickamauga Park and was later sent to Kentucky where the regiment was mustered out. Captain Coffey then applied for a presidential appointment and received a commission as second lieutenant in the Thirty-third Texas volunteer regiment, and went to the Philippines where he remained two years, and was in forty-five skirmishes and engage- ments, having assisted in the capture of Aguinaldo and his cabinet. While in the Philippines he was commissioned captain of his com- pany. Upon the return of his regiment to the United States they were mustered out at San Francisco. He then returned to civil life for about six months when he again applied for presidential appointment and received a commission as second lieutenant of cavalry and was assigned to the Twelfth regiment of U. S. A. Later he was ordered to Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., to attend military school for two years and received a commission as first lieutenant and assigned to the Second cavalry, U. S. A., with which command he again went to the Philippine Islands, spending nearly two years. His regiment is now in the United States and is considered one of the best cavalry regiments in the United States service. Charles C. was afforded the advantages of the University of Mississippi, which he attended three years, having been in the junior year at the time he left school. He has been identified with various lines of busi- ness enterprise in his native county and has held offices of dis- tinctive trust and responsibility. He served one term as sheriff of the county and he is now serving his fourth term as clerk of the circuit court of Jefferson county. Mr. Coffey is a stanch sup- porter of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. On Feb. 25, 1880, Mr. Coffey was united in marriage to Miss Olive S. Bullen, who was born and reared in Jefferson county, being a daughter of James Bullen. Of this union have been born eight children all of whom are living except one, their names, in order of birth, being as follows: Charles Lamar, Coralie Alma, Anna Olive, Irma Lu- cile, Charles Clark, Jr., Willie Elma, Sidney Davis (deceased) and Eugene Vernon.

Collier, James William, a prominent attorney of Vicksburg, was born in Glenwood, Warren county, Miss., Sept. 28, 1872. He is a son of John Marshall and Sarah (Newman) Collier, natives of Mis- sissippi, the former of Jefferson county and the latter of Warren county. The father, John Marshall Collier, was a sergeant in Com- pany A, Twenty-first Mississippi regiment, volunteer Southrons, during the Civil war, and a granduncle, in the same company, saw service in the Mexican war. The paternal grandfather was for some years circuit clerk of Jefferson county. James W. Collier is a graduate of the University of Mississippi. Since his graduation he has practiced law and interested himself in the politics of the State and county. From 1896 to 1900 he was a Democratic member of the house of representatives of the Mississippi legislature. In 1900

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he was elected circuit clerk of Warren county and is still the in- cumbent of that office. In religious matters Mr. Collier upholds the tenets of the Episcopal church. On Feb. 21, 1900, he married Emma, daughter of George M. and Louise (Balfour) Klein of Vicksburg. Two daughters have blessed this union-Emma Bal- four, and Laura De Loach. While in college Mr. Collier was made a member of Delta Psi fraternity. He also has a membership in the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World, the Redmen, and the Eagles. From March, 1905, to March, 1907, he was head consul, the execu- tive officer, for the State of Mississippi, in the Woodmen of the World, for which same order he has represented his State in the national council for four years and for two years represented as a delegate at large the States of Arkansas, Louisiana and Missis- sippi and was also a member of the supreme law committee for two years.

Collins, Frederick W., Jr., is one of the popular young business men of Summit and served for some time as postmaster of this thriving little city. He was the youngest presidential postmaster ever appointed to that position in the State and never since has there been an ap- pointment made of that age. He was born in Pike county, Nov. 15, 1876, and here his life thus far has been passed. In this State also were born his parents, Frederick W. and Mary E. Collins, who still maintain their home in Pike county, being well known and honored citizens of this section of the State. The subject of this sketch availed himself of the advantages of the public schools of his native county and thereafter identified himself with mercan- tile pursuits, having been individually engaged in business for several years. He was assistant in the Summit postoffice for some time, and in February, 1902, he was appointed postmaster, enter- ing upon the discharge of his official duties the following month. He gave a most able and satisfactory administration and is held in unqualified esteem in the community. He is a Republican in politics, so far as national issues are involved, and in local affairs maintains an independent position. He is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, South, and is a young man of sterling character and gracious personality. In March, 1906, Mr. Collins resigned the office of postmaster to accept a position as deputy collector of customs at Gulfport, Miss., his father being collector of customs.

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Collins, Nathaniel M., one of the sub- stantial citizens and prominent business men of the city of Meridian, where he has a well equipped general merchandise establishment, is a member of one of the earliest pioneer families of what is now Lauderdale county, as there were only four white families resident of the county at the time when his father here took up his abode. The town of Collinsville is named in honor of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Collins was born on the homestead plantation, in Lauderdale county, Miss., Jan. 10, 1840, and is a son of John B. and Caroline (Kerley) Collins, the former of whom was born in Kentucky and the latter in South Carolina. When the father was a child of but four years his parents removed from Kentucky to Mississippi and settled in Marion county, where he was reared to maturity and whence he came to Lauderdale county at a time when only seven white men were to be found resident within its borders. He was a tanner by trade, but in the later years of his active life gave his attention to farming and stock-growing, with which he was identified until his death, while he commanded unqualified esteem in this county, where he served as justice of the peace for a quarter of a century, having been a man of much force of character and strong mentality, while his integrity was manifested in all the relations of life. The boyhood days of Nathaniel M. Collins were passed on the homestead planta- tion, and as the schools of this section were at that time limited in number and meager in scope of work, his early educational advan- tages were necessarily limited, being adequate, however, to enable him to lay a solid foundation for the broad knowledge which he was later to gain in the great school of practical experience. When the southern Confederacy took up arms in defense of inherent rights, Mr. Collins enlisted as second sergeant in Company I, Eighth Mis- sissippi infantry, with which he served in and about Pensacola, Fla., for nearly a year, after which his regiment was with General Bragg in his operations in Kentucky. In the battle of Chickamauga Sergeant Collins was wounded, and after being confined for a short time in a hospital in the city of Atlanta he was sent home to re- cuperate. He rejoined his regiment in front of Atlanta and after the battle of Jonesboro, in which he took part, he was elected a commissariat officer and was transferred to Berry's battalion, in which he served until the close of the war, having risen to the office of second lieutenant. Sustained by the thought that he had done his best in trying to uphold the cause for which he had fought, Mr. Collins returned to his home and for the following quarter of a century was engaged in agricultural operations in Lauderdale county, while he also conducted a general store at Collinsville, being one of the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of that

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section of the county. He still owns a valuable plantation in the county, and he leases the same to reliable tenants. In February, 1900, he removed to the city of Meridian, where he has since been engaged in the general merchandise business, having a well ap- pointed store and controlling a satisfactory trade. He is a stock- holder in the Southern bank and also in the newly established Beatrice Cotton Mills, while in all respects his loyalty to his native county and its attractive judicial city is of the most vigorous order. Reared in the faith of the great party of Jefferson and Jackson, Mr. Collins has never departed therefrom, though he has never been active in political affairs. He has long been an appreciative affiliate of the time-honored fraternity of Freemasonry, in which he has risen to the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, while he is also identified with the Mystic Shrine and the Knights of Pythias. On Dec. 27, 1865, Mr. Collins was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca J. Ethridge, daughter of Solomon and Rebecca (Lister) Ethridge, of Alabama, and they have three children, namely: Caroline, who is the wife of J. M. McBeath, a representative lawyer of Meridian ; Rosser A., who is an able mem- ber of the bar, being engaged in the practice of his profession in Meridian ; and Ida, who is the wife of J. C. Cowen, cashier of the Southern bank, of Meridian.

Collins, Seth Woodruff, has served nearly a score of years as postmaster at McComb, Pike county, and is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of this, his native county, where he was born, at Tylertown, Feb. 21, 1854. He is of Scotch-Irish descent and is a son of Chauncey and Amelia (Woodruff) Col- lins, the former of whom was born in the State of Connecticut and the latter in Pike county, Miss., where their marriage was solemnized. Mr. Collins was edu- cated in the schools of his native county, and after leaving school he located in Summit, Pike county, where he became assistant postmaster, his brother having been postmaster at the time. In 1881 he was appointed postmaster at McComb, under the administration of President Garfield, and he has since continued in- cumbent of the office save for an interval of eight years-during the two administrations of President Cleveland. When he assumed charge of the office it was of the fourth class, and it was later ad- vanced to the third and then to second class-signifying the increase in business and the industrial and material development and growth of McComb. In politics Mr. Collins is an adherent of the Repub- lican party, and he has served many years as commissioner of elections for Pike county. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Woodmen of the World. In 1891 Mr. Collins was united in marriage to Miss Mytilene G. Daniel, daughter of George J. Daniel,

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 16

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association Number of Pages: 938

Author: Rowland, Dunbar, 1864-1937, ed
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Atlanta, Southern Historical Publishing Association
Number of Pages: 938