USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III > Part 28
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Fisher, Henry K., junior member of the well known firm of J. H. Fisher & Company, cotton factors, of Greenville, Washington county, is one of the representative business men of that city, while the firm of which he is a member has a splendid record for long continued and reliable operations in the buying and shipping of cotton, being one of the oldest concerns of the sort in the South. Mr. Fisher was born in the city of Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 2, 1869, and is a son of John H. and Bettie (Matthews) Fisher, both of whom were born and reared in Tennessee, being members of old and honored families of that commonwealth. John H. Fisher was loyal to the Confederacy and served as a member of a Tennessee regiment during the entire period of the Civil war. After the close of the great struggle which brought defeat to the Confederacy, he located in Memphis, Tenn., and established himself in business as a cotton buyer, thus becoming the founder of the extensive business conducted by the firm of which he is still the head, in Greenville, to which place he removed in 1892. The active management of the business is now largely in the hands of his son, Henry K., subject of this review, who is familiar with all details and well qualified for the handling of the large industrial enterprise, the firm handling an average of 15,000 bales of cotton each year. Henry K. Fisher was reared in Memphis, in whose excellent schools he secured his educational training, and since the year 1887 he has been actively identified with the cotton business, having come to Greenville in
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1897 and being numbered among the progressive business men and popular citizens of that place. He is a stanch adherent of the Demo- cratic party, and he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, besides holding membership in the Elysian and Mis- sissippi clubs, of Greenville. On Oct. 20, 1903, Mr. Fisher was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Piseros, daughter of Mrs. C. G. Piseros, of Greenville.
Fitchette, William F., M. D., the in- cumbent of the office of health officer in the city of Natchez (1906), is one of the able and popular representatives of the medical profession in that attractive old city. He was born in Fredericksburg, Va., Nov. 2, 1875, and is a son of Capt. Charles L. and Virginia M. (Mosby) Fitchette, both of whom were born in Richmond, Va., and the latter of whom is a relative of Col. John S. Mosby, the cele- brated guerilla general of the Confederate service during the war between the States. The Mosby family has long been one of prominence and distinction in the Old Dominion State. The father of the doctor was for many years in the government military service, having been a member of the Eleventh Pennsylvania cavalry during the Civil war and having attained to the rank of captain while acting as a scout; he had previously served in the commissary department. He was in the government service from his boyhood until his death, which occurred in 1899, during the memorable yellow-fever epidemic, to whose ravages he succumbed, at Natchez. He came to this city in December, 1885, and was superintendent of the national cemetery here at the time of his demise. Prior to this he had been superin- tendent of the Fredericksburg and Arlington national cemeteries. His wife still survives him and resides in Natchez. Dr. Fitchette was educated in the Fredericksburg, Va., collegiate institute and also in Jefferson military college, at Washington, Miss., and the Columbian Polytechnical institute, in the city of Washington, D. C. After this he took a partial course in the medical department of Vanderbilt university, Nashville, Tenn., and in 1889 he was grad- uated in the Memphis hospital medical college, from which he re- ceived his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. He im- mediately established himself in the practice of his profession in Natchez, where he has met with distinctive success and gained noteworthy prestige in both departments of his professional work. He has served as city health officer continuously since 1904. He is identified with the American medical association, the Mississippi State medical association, and the Adams county medical society. His political support is given to the Democratic party. Dr. Fitchette is a bachelor.
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Farrell, James, whose death occurred April 3, 1906, was one of the leading contractors and builders in the city of Natchez and was also secretary of the Natchez Undertaking Company. He was born in Natchez, Dec. 21, 1856, and was a son of Patrick and Sarah (Whalen) Farrell, both of whom were born in Ireland. They were early settlers of Natchez, where they continued to reside until their death, and the father was a carpenter by trade and voca- tion. Both were communicants of the Catholic church. . James Farrell was educated in the Cathedral school of the Catholic church in Natchez, and as a youth he learned the carpenter's trade, in which he became a skilled artisan. He followed his trade for a number of years and then engaged in contracting and building on his own responsibility. In this important field of enterprise he was most successful and erected many fine buildings in his native city and elsewhere in that section of the State. He was one of the organizers of the Natchez Undertaking Company, of which he was secretary, which is one of the leading concerns of the sort in the city, with headquarters at 108 North Union street. Mr. Farrell always gave a loyal support to the Democratic party and showed much interest in the advancement of his city and State. In 1904 he was elected a member of the board of aldermen, from the Fourth ward, being at the time of his death a valued member of that body, in which he served on several important committees, including the committee on accounts, of which he was chairman. He was a communicant of the Catholic church, as is also his wife, and was identified with the Catholic Knights of America and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1889 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Farrell to Miss Carrie Quarterman, who was born and reared in Natchez, and they have three children-Glenn, Francis and Margaret.
Flynt, Samuel B., M. D., a representa- tive physician and surgeon of the city of Meridian, was born in Monroe county, Miss., Feb. 7, 1863, while his parents, William and Margaret W. (Rogers) Flynt, were native respectively of Ten- nessee and Alabama. The father became one of the well-to-do planters of Missis- sippi, and in that State both he and his wife continued to reside until their death. He was a valiant soldier in the Seminole war. Dr. Flynt passed his youth on the old home plantation and his earlier educa- tional training was secured in the schools in the village of Greenbrier; in his native county. As a young man he took up the study of medicine, finally entering Memphis hospital medical college, in which he completed the prescribed course, being graduated as a member of the class of 1898 and receiving his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. Prior to his graduation the doctor had established himself in the practice of medicine at Greenbrier, Monroe county, where he was
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successful in his professional work, having practiced there two years prior to his graduation and thereafter until January, 1901, when he removed to Meridian, where he has gained high standing as a well informed and skillful physician and surgeon. In 1902 he established the Flynt sanitarium, at the corner of Thirteenth street and Twenty-first avenue, and this finely equipped institution has . already gained a high reputation and has drawn a representative support from the most diverse sections of the State. The doctor also has a beautifully appointed office suite in the new Miazza- Woods building, one of the finest business blocks in the city. He is a member of the Mississippi State medical association and the American medical association, and he was appointed by the mayor of Meridian to represent his city in the meeting of the Anti-tuber- culosis League, at Atlanta, Ga., on April 17, 18 and 19, 1905, before which assembly he read a most interesting and valuable paper, In July, 1906, the doctor was appointed vice-president of the American Anti-tuberculosis League which will meet at Atlantic City, N. J., in June, 1907. He has been the physician for the Meridian male college since its organization. In politics the doctor gives an un- wavering support to the Democratic party and is a member of the Methodist church. On Sept. 25, 1895, Dr. Flynt was united in marriage to Mrs. Virginia Boss, of Aberdeen, Miss.
Foard, Thomas Wyatt, of Eupora, is one of the leading merchants and planters. of Webster county and is a representa- tive of one of the most honored families of this section of the State. He was born in Bellefontaine, Webster county, at that time a part of Choctaw county, Miss., Dec. 21, 1847, and is a son of Capt. Thomas B. and Elmira (Hicks) Foard, both native of Georgia. Thomas Bird Foard was born in Milledgeville, Ga., on Oct. 2, 1821, and in 1846 he came to Belle- fontaine, Miss., where his marriage was soon afterward solemnized. In that town he was thereafter engaged in merchandis- ing up to the time of the Civil war, while he also had farming interests. When the war was inaugurated he raised a company of volunteers, of which he was made captain, and this became Com- pany K of the Fifteenth Mississippi infantry. After the battle of Shiloh he organized another company, which was assigned to the Fifth Mississippi cavalry, and he commanded this company until the close of the war, taking part in the entire campaign through Georgia, including the Atlanta campaign, while his command made final surrender near Selma, Ala. He was five times captured but managed to escape on each occasion. After the war he engaged in planting for a few years near Bellefontaine, after which he removed to Tate county, where he died in 1883, his wife passing away in 1896. His brother, Dr. Andrew J. Foard, was a surgeon in the
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. Mexican war and was serving in this capacity in the United States army prior to the Civil war, upon the inception of which he resigned and entered the Confederate service, having been surgeon-general of the Army of Tennessee. After the war he became professor of anatomy in the Baltimore medical college. Thomas W. Foard was educated in Bellefontaine, where he had as his chief instructor the well known poet, S. Newton Berryhill. He was thereafter identi- fied with agricultural pursuits until January, 1875, when he was made circuit clerk of Webster county, retaining this incumbency until January, 1884. In 1881 he had become identified with the mercantile business at Walthall, and when the railroad reached Eupora he removed to that town, in which he opened the second general merchandise establishment. Here he has built up a business which is second in scope and importance to none in the county, while his fine two-story brick block is one of the best business structures in the town. He is also identified with local banking interests and is the owner of a landed estate, in this county, of about 800 acres. He is one of the substantial capitalists and honored and influential citizens of his county, and has achieved marked suc- cess through his own well directed efforts. In politics Mr. Foard is an ardent advocate of the principles of the Democratic party ; he is a charter member of Adelphian Lodge, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and both he and his wife are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. On Nov. 28, 1876, Mr. Foard was united in marriage to Miss Lenora A. Roberts, who was born and reared in what is now Webster county, being a daughter of Frank M. and Mary (Scott) Roberts. She died in August, 1897, leaving two sons, Everett Q. and Thomas B., aged respectively twenty-six and twenty- three years (1905). On Jan. 26, 1900, Mr. Foard married Miss Edna McKee, daughter of Henry H. and Anna (Allen) McKee, of Webster county, and they have one son-Lloyd, aged four years.
Flowers, Ephraim W., M. D., is established in the successful practice of his profession in McComb and is one of the able and popular physicians and surgeons of Pike county, being also presi- dent of the board of health of McComb. Dr. Flowers was born at. Smithdale, Amite county, Miss., July 7, 1867, and is a son of Ephraim W. and Mary (Foster) Flowers, both of whom were like- wise born and reared in this State, being of Scotch ancestry. After completing the curriculum of the common schools Dr. Flowers con- tinued his studies in the Agricultural and Mechanical college at Starkville, later being matriculated in the Hospital college of med- icine, in Louisville, Ky., from which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1898, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He had previously pursued the study of medicine under private preceptors and had been granted a State license to practice, engaging in the work of his profession at Little Springs, Franklin county, where he remained four years. Shortly after his graduation he located in McComb, where he has met with un- equivocal success and gained a representative support. He is ren- dering most able and effective service as president of the city board
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of health and he is identified with various medical associations. In politics he is aligned as a supporter of the principles and policies of the Democratic party. On March 27, 1901, Dr. Flowers was united in marriage to Miss Mary McAllister, daughter of Rev. W. R. McAllister, a clergyman of the Presbyterian church.
Foley, Patrick J., head of the firm of P. J. Foley & Son, boilermakers, black- smiths and machinists, and dealers in all kinds of engineers' supplies, in the city of Vicksburg, has gained success through his own energy and ability, having started his present enterprise about thirty years ago, upon a most modest scale, and now controlling a large business and having a well equipped and thoroughly modern plant at 206-8 North Mulberry street. Mr. Foley is native of the fair Emerald Isle, having been born in County Carlow, Ireland, March 17, 1842, and having there received his early educational discipline. He came to America when about thirteen years of age, making the trip on a sailing vessel and disembarking in the city of New Orleans after a voyage of nine weeks and three days. He made the trip alone, his parents having preceded him to the United States and having established their home in Vicksburg, where he joined them. Here he served a full apprenticeship at the machinist's trade, in the shops of A. M. Paxton & Company, in the meanwhile attend- ing the high school as opportunity afforded. At the time of the siege of Vicksburg the shops of the firm were broken up and, in 1861, he went to Jackson, Miss., where he was employed a short time, then going to Canton and entering the employ of the Missis- sippi Central railroad, in whose service he continued about two years. At the fall of Vicksburg he followed Grierson's army to this city and entered the employ of the United States government, which took possession of the shops of what is now the Alabama & Vicksburg railroad. The government equipped a floating repair shop which followed up the gunboats, and in this unique shop Mr. Foley was employed for eighteen months, receiving four dollars a day for his services, together with his board. He then returned to Vicksburg and went to work in the shops of the railroad last mentioned, being thus employed until he started in business for himself. On thus beginning his independent business career he was in debt to the amount of about $400 and had but three days' wages due him. He had the courage of his ambition, however, and began operations in a very small way, this modest nucleus being the one from which has grown the splendid enterprise of which he is the head to-day, his son, John H., having been a member of the firm since 1898. The firm owns its own plant and it controls a large business throughout the territory tributary to Vicksburg as an in- dustrial center. A general blacksmith and machine shop is main-
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tained and boilers of superior type are manufactured, as well as breeching and smokestacks. The firm deals in valves, whistles, lubricators, injectors, pumps, pipes, shafting, belting, packing, pulleys, etc., and makes a specialty of plantation and repair work. Mr. Foley is a loyal supporter of the Democratic party, is a com- municant of the Catholic church, a member of the Knights of Pythias and Catholic Knights of America, and is known as a progressive business man and worthy citizen. In 1874 he was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Sullivan, who was born in Mobile, Ala., and they had an interesting family of seventeen children, of whom eight are now living.
Foote, George M., of Hattiesburg, Perry county, is one of the most progres- sive and capable of the younger genera- tion of business men who are lending their energies to the forwarding of the industrial and commercial advancement of Mississippi. He is president of the George M. Foote Company, conducting a large wholesale grocery business, with headquarters in Hattiesburg, and has other capitalistic interests of importance, while he is at the present time represent- ing the Fourth ward on the board of aldermen of his residence city. Mr. Foote was born in Macon, Noxubee county,. Miss., May 13, 1873, and that county was also the birthplace of his parents, Henry D. and Susan (Walker) Foote, who now maintain their home in Columbus, Miss. The father was a valiant soldier of the Confederacy, in which he served with the Mississippi troops, participating in many of the leading battles of the great conflict and laying down his arms only when the cause of the Confederacy was lost. George M. Foote secured his educational training in the. public schools, having completed a course in the excellently con- ducted high school at Columbus, Lowndes county. In politics a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, he early secured official preferment, having served for eight years as deputy chancery clerk of Lowndes county, while, as before stated, he is now a member of the board of aldermen of Hattiesburg, to which office he was elected in 1904. In 1899 Mr. Foote engaged in the merchandise brokerage business at Columbus, this State, and in October, 1901, located in Hattiesburg and engaged in the same line of enterprise by founding the firm of George M. Foote & Company, wholesale dealers in groceries and provisions. The enterprise so rapidly expanded in scope and importance that it was soon found expedient to augment its capitalistic and other facilities. Accord- ingly, in 1903, the business was incorporated under the present title of the George M. Foote Company, with a capital stock of $20,000 and with the following official corps: George M. Foote, president ; William H. Wainwright, vice-president; and Hugo L.
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Foote, secretary and treasurer, the last named being a cousin of the president of the company. The business of the concern extends throughout the entire southern part of the State, and an efficient corps of traveling salesmen is retained in representing the house to the trade. The aggregate annual business already approximates a half-million dollars, and the same is showing a constantly increas- ing tendency. The establishment of the company is well equipped in every particular and the unexcelled service has had much to do in the building up of so large a trade within a comparatively brief interval of time. The interested principals are men of reliability, honor and marked business acumen, so that their success lies firmly based on merited confidence and esteem. In March, 1904, Mr. Foote organized the Hattiesburg Eight Wheel Wagon Company, which effected the purchase of the Strickland patents and which was incorporated with a capital stock of $30,000. These wagons are used principally in connection with lumbering and logging operations and their superiority for the purpose is unmistakable, the ease of loading, elimination of friction and the large amount of material handled effectively and quickly, constituting the points of superiority which have gained to the wagons most appreciative reception wherever they have been introduced. The trade of the company extends throughout the lumbering districts of the United States and Central and South America, while Walter A. Zelincer & Company, of St. Louis, Mo., are sales agents for the company. . Mr. Foote is also president of the firm of Foote & Patrick, of Laurel; Foote & Mohler, of Gulfport; and Foote & Drummon, of Columbia, all of which are engaged in the wholesale grocery busi- ness in Mississippi. In a fraternal way Mr. Foote is an apprecia- tive and popular member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On Nov. 17, 1897, he was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Campbell, daughter of Charles H. and Fannie (Morton) Campbell, of Winona, Miss. They have no children.
Foster, Thomas Walter, M. D., a leading physician of Tchula, was born near Canton, Madison county, Miss., Jan. 18, 1852, a son of John M. and Emily (Jones) Foster. The father was born in Franklin county in October, 1825, and the mother near Terry, in Hinds county, in 1832. The paternal grandfather, John A. Foster, was one of those who fell in the Alamo in the thirties. Dr. Foster, the subject of this sketch, was the recipient of what educational advantages the schools of Madison county offered. During the Civil war he found employment in a foundry in Alabama making arms for the Confederate cause. In 1874 he was graduated at the University of Mississippi with a degree in chemistry and two years later received a degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University of Louisville, Ky. He located first near Canton, in Madison county, and remained there until 1883 and then taking a course of lectures at Tulane medical college, in New Orleans, La., moved to. Yazoo county. In 1900 he came to Tchula and has since been most suc- cessful in the practice of his profession in that city. In political matters the doctor is a most ardent Democrat, but aside from fill-
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ing an appointive position, he has never held office. Fraternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Honor, the Knights and Ladies of Honor, and Woodmen of the World. In a professional affiliation he is identified with the Holmes county, the Mississippi State and the American medical associations. On Oct. 11, 1876, was solemnized Dr. Foster's marriage to Miss Augusta A. Thomp- son, daughter of L. P. and Caroline (Davis) Thompson, of Madison county, Miss. To this union nine children have been born. John M., the eldest, died at the age of twenty-five years. Margaret B., the first daughter, is a graduate of the Industrial institute and col- lege at Columbus, Miss., also a graduate of Scarritt bible training school at Kansas City, Mo., and is now a student in a medical college in Philadelphia. She has been elected president of her class, and when she completes her studies she expects to go to Soochow, China, as a medical missionary. The other children are: Carrie L., Tommie A., Spivey V., Cordell L., Rebekah Mhoon, Roy and Otis C. The family are all members of and devout workers in the Methodist Episcopal church of Tchula. Dr. Foster is recognized by the members of his profession and his fellow townsmen as one of the most substantial and valuable citizens of the community.
Francis, James N., of Tupelo, is county superintendent of education for Lee county and is one of the prominent and able educators of his native State, where he has been actively concerned with peda- gogic affairs for the past decade and a half. The paternal great-grandparents of Mr. Francis were of English birth and ancestry, and they came from the "right little, tight little isle" to America in colonial days, taking up their residence in the patrician old commonwealth of Virginia. From the Old Dominion his grandparents removed to Tennessee in 1818, and in the fifties they came thence to Mississippi, as did also the maternal grandparents. Both the grandfathers of Mr. Francis were soldiers in the War of 1812, and his great-grandfathers, Francis and Malone, were patriot soldiers of . the Continental line in the War of the Revolution. The Francis family has been notable for longevity and for numerous progeny in both the direct and collateral lines. The paternal grandparents of Superintendent Francis each lived to the age of eighty-six years, having reared fifteen children-six sons and nine daughters. James N. Francis was born at Ballardsville, Itawamba county, Miss., Dec. 2, 1863, and is a son of Nathaniel T. and Mary Elizabeth (Malone) Francis, both of whom were born near Winchester, Tenn., the former July 1, 1822, and the latter Nov. 8, 1830. Mrs. Francis was summoned to eternal rest Oct. 9, 1904, and her husband followed March 2, 1906. After completing the curriculum of the public
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