Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 34

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 34

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Glass, Frederick M., who is engaged in the practice of law at Vaiden, merits consideration in this publication as one of the rep- resentative members of the bar of Carroll county. He was born near Durant, in Attala county, Miss., March 1, 1876, and is a son of Henry C. and Phoebe (Wade) Glass, the former of whom was born in Cherokee county, Tex., and the latter in Jones county, Miss. At the age of nine years Henry C. Glass came with his widowed mother to Attala county, Miss., where he still maintains his home, owning and operating a valuable plantation, near Sallis. He was a loyal and valiant soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war. After due preliminary training in the public schools of his native State, Fred M. Glass continued his academic studies in Millsaps college, in the city of Jackson, and in 1901 he was graduated in the law school of that institution, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He immediately located in Vaiden, where he has met with marked success in the practice of his chosen profession, winning prestige by faithful effort backed and fortified by a broad knowledge of the law and by careful preparation of all cases intrusted to his keeping. He is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and is identified with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows and with the lodge, chapter, council and commandery of the Masonic fraternity, as well as with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Glass is unwavering in his devotion to the work of his pro- fession and is held in high regard both professionally and socially.

Golladay, Robert H., was one of the most distinguished mem- bers of the bar of the State and dignified his profession and the commonwealth through his able services and his exalted manhood. He was born in Lebanon, Tenn., in the year 1824, and his early education was secured in his native city and in Pulaski, Tenn., where he was graduated with honors. He was for some time a teacher in the college at Pulaski and finally located in Jackson, Miss., where he studied law under the preceptorship of Judge William Yerger. He was admitted to the bar in due course of time and then removed to Grenada, where he initiated the practical work of his profession and where was solemnized his marriage to Miss

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Amanda Byrd Willis, daughter of Dr. Willis, who was a native of Virginia and who became one of the leading physicians of Grenada county. Prior to the Civil war he removed to Coffeeville, where he formed a law partnership with Capt. Frank Aldridge and where he successfully continued in the practice of his profession. On account of physical disability he was unable to enter service as a soldier in the Confederate ranks, but he did all in his power to assist the Confederate government and its cause. After the war he formed a professional partnership with Gen. E. C. Walthall, and this alliance continued until General Walthall became general solicitor for the Mississippi Central railroad. He thereafter con- tinued in the practice of his profession in Coffeeville until his death, in the fullness of years and well deserved honors. He gained a specially high reputation as a pleader, being known as one of the leading trial lawyers of the State. It is said that in his later life, after he was more than four score years old, the court honored him by permitting him to address the tribunal while seated, the infirmities of advanced age rendering it difficult for him to stand long, though his mental faculties glowed with apparently undimin- ished luster. His facility in recalling precedents and in quoting authorities and decisions from memory was remarkable, and his knowledge of the law was profound, exact and at all times at ready command. He was a man of noble character and his name merits a place of honor in the history of Mississippi. His wife survives him and of their three children-two sons and one daughter-only one is living-Willis. Willis Golladay, who is well upholding the professional and personal reputation of the honored name which he bears, was born in Grenada county, Miss., Dec. 23, 1859, and after a period of attendance in Roanoke college, at Salem, Va., later being matriculated in the University of Virginia, in which famous old institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1881, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later he was graduated in the law school of Cumberland university, at Lebanon, Tenn., where he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Mr. Golladay began the practice of his profession in Coffeeville, where he was associated with his father until the death of the latter. He is one of the representative members of the bar of this section of the State and he also has valuable plantation interests in Yalobusha county, giving to the same a general supervision of a personal order. He has been an active worker in the ranks of the Demo- cratic party, to which he gives an uncompromising allegiance, and in 1884 he represented his county in the lower house of the State legislature. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, South. In 1890 he was united in marriage to Miss Motiere Bibby, daughter of Dr. F. P. Bibby, of Pontotoc, Miss. Mr. and Mrs. Golladay have three children: Robin, Wilfred and Russell.

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Gordon, William Scott, of Pickens, is one of the sons of the South who have shown that enterprise and ability which have brought about its rejuvenation since the close of the War between the States and through his personal efforts he has gained a success of note- worthy order, having been in the most significant sense the architect of his own fortunes. He is the president of the Bank of Pickens, the oldest in Holmes county, and has other important business and capitalistic interests. He was born at Pickens, his present home, Feb. 14, 1856, and is a son of John F. and Mary E. (McEachern) Gordon, both of whom were likewise born and reared in this State. The father died in 1860 and the mother now lives in the city of Jackson. After the death of her first husband she married Peter James, who is now deceased. Two children were born of the first union and three of the second, and of the number the only two living are the subject of this sketch and his half-brother, Thomas W. James, who is a prosperous planter of Holmes county. The original representatives of the Gordon family in Mississippi came hither from North Carolina. The subject of this sketch secured his edu- cation in the common schools of Pickens, Centenary college, at Jackson, La., and Emory and Henry college, Emory, Va. In 1874 he became a salesman in the mercantile establishment of St. John Pope, of Pickens, and in the following year was promoted to the position of bookkeeper. In 1880 he engaged in business for him- self, becoming associated with S. L. James and establishing a general merchandise business in Pickens. The enterprise grew to be one of the most important of the sort in the county and he is still a member of the firm. In 1888 Mr. Gordon was one of the organizers of the Bank of Pickens, of which he was cashier until 1890, when he was elected its president, a position of which he still remains incumbent. The bank was originally incorporated with a capital stock of $20,000, and in 1890 the stock was increased to $30,000, Mr. Gordon now having a controlling interest. From its inception the bank has never failed to pay annual dividends of ten per cent. and in 1903 a forty per cent. dividend was paid. Loans are made largely to planters, and the bank has never yet foreclosed on a mortgage. With ample capital and conservative management the institution has taken rank among the most popular and sub- stantial banks of this part of the State. Mr. Gordon is a director of the Yazoo Bank and Trust Company and a stockholder in the Citizens' Bank of Hattiesburg. He is manager of the Pickens Cotton Oil Company, is the owner of valuable plantation property and buys and ships annually about 5,000 bales of cotton. He is held in unqualified 'esteem in the community and has been the administrator of a large number of estates and guardian of minor children. He is progressive as a business man and public-spirited and loyal as a citizen. He is independent in his political attitude and has never sought or held public office. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Knights of Pythias. In 1885 Mr. Gordon was united in marriage to Miss Ella Beamon, daughter of Nathan P. Beamon, of Kosciusko, Miss., and she died a few years later, leaving

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no children. In 1895 Mr. Gordon married Miss Lelia Beamon, a sister of his first wife, and they have one child, Rudolph.

Grace, Oscar, editor and publisher of the McHenry News, at McHenry, Harrison county, is a thorough newspaper man and enterprising and public-spirited citizen and essentially loyal to the town, county and State of his adoption. Mr. Grace is native of the State of Illinois, having been born April 18, 1866, and being a son of H. L. and Charity (Overbey) Grace, the former of whom was born in Kentucky and the latter in Tennessee, while they removed from Illinois to Missouri when Oscar was a child, so that his early educational training was had in the public schools of that State, while later he was a student in the Missouri State normal school at Cape Girardeau. He prepared himself for successful pedagogic work, and devoted about seven years to teaching in the schools of Missouri and Texas. He initiated his newspaper experience in the office of the Star, at Sikeston, Mo., and thereafter passed several years in newspaper work in Texas, having been identified with various papers within this period. In 1899 he came to Mississippi and located in Gulfport, Harrison county, where he engaged in the general merchandise trade, his interest in which he closed out in the following year, while in January, 1901, he removed to Mc- Henry and manifested the true and instinctive allegiance of the newspaper man to the vocation which has claimed his attention, by here founding the McHenry News, of which he has since been editor and publisher. He has a well equipped plant and publishes an alert and vigorous weekly paper, conservative in policy, loyal and liberal in the upholding and advancing of local interests and unswerving in its advocacy of the principles of the Democratic party. The paper has secured a good circulation in Harrison county and is constantly growing in popular favor. Mr. Grace is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. On Nov. 11, 1903, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Grace to Miss Minnie Shaw, daughter of James Shaw, a well known citizen of Water Valley, Yalobusha county, Miss., and of this union has been born a daughter, Minnie Shaw Grace, the date of whose nativity was Oct. 6, 1904.

Greaves, Clarence Budney, who is engaged in the practice of his profession at Flora, Madison county, is recognized as one of the ablest criminal lawyers in the State and he has rendered efficient service in both branches of the Mississippi legislature. He was born in Livingston, Madison county, this State, Aug. 22, 1863, and is a son of Gen. Stephen Arne Decatur Greaves and Sarah (Lowe) Greaves, both families being of stanch English ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Blythe Greaves, was a soldier in the War of the Revolution, having served as a lieutenant under Gen. Francis Marion, and having been a resident of South Carolina at the outbreak of the great struggle for independence. The maternal grandfather, William F. Lowe, was likewise a patriot soldier in the Continental line. Stephen A. D. Greaves was a lieutenant- colonel under Jefferson Davis in the Mexican war. He became a

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prominent member of the bar of Mississippi, having been for many years engaged in practice in Raymond and having represented Hinds county in the State legislature. He later removed to Mad- ison county, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. The subject of this review is indebted to the schools of his native county for his preliminary educational discipline, which was supplemented by a course of study in the Mississippi Agri- cultural and Mechanical college, at Starkville. He took up the study of law after leaving this college and was admitted to the bar by the supreme court in 1889 at Canton. He forthwith established himself in practice at Flora, where he has since remained and where he has built up a large and important professional business, par- ticularly in the department of criminal law. He is a specially strong advocate and has gained a wide reputation as such, being also well known as an effective public speaker. He has ever been a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Democatic party and has been an active worker in the cause. In 1895 he was elected to represent his district in the State senate, in which he served two terms, making a most admirable record, and in 1903 he was chosen to represent his county in the lower house of the State legislature. He is identified with the State bar association, is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South. On July 16, 1893, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Greaves to Miss Elizabeth Baker, daughter of James M. and Fannie (Pettus) Baker, of Shoccoe, Miss., and they have five children-Leila Cris- ler, Harry Battley, Clarence Budney, Jr., Ellen Elizabeth and Mary Baker. James M. Baker was a native of Mississippi and his father Samuel S., of Tennessee. Fannie (Pettus) Baker is a de- scendant of ex-Governor Pettus.

Greer, Andrew T., M. D., son of "Honest Bob" Greer and a practicing physician of Abbeville, Lafayette county, was born in Marshall county, Miss., in 1860. His parents were Hon. Robert S. and Elizabeth (Hardin) Greer. The father was the representative of Marshall county in the lower house of the State legislature for seven years, and for fourteen years was sent from the same county to the State senate. When McWillie received the nomination for governor of the State, Mr. Greer was one of the candidates and re- ceived forty-two votes in convention. The father was a native of Georgia and the mother of Kentucky. During his active life the father was a surveyor, a real estate dealer and planter of means. On the maternal side Dr. Greer comes of a famous family, the mother having been a cousin three times removed of Pres. James Monroe. Her father was Joseph Hardin, a first cousin of Ben Hardin, probably the greatest criminal lawyer of his age. A brother, James Hardin, was colonel of the Nineteenth Mississippi infantry during the Civil war and was killed in one of the big en- gagements of that struggle. Dr. Greer received his preliminary and preparatory education in the common schools and the Univer- sity of Mississippi. His technical training was had at Memphis

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college and the hospital there, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1892. Since that year he has practiced his profession in both Lafayette and Marshall counties, but makes his home at Abbeville with a sister, Mrs. Woolridge, and a bother, a planter. In the community in which he resides he is known as a man of resource, skilled and able to undertake the care of any case that may fall to his lot.

Greenley, J. C., has been engaged in the mercantile business in Greenville for nearly forty years and is one of the honored and influential citizens of the city. His well equipped establishment is located at 229 Main street, and in the same are handled high-grade clothing, men's furnishings, shoes, hats, trunks, traveling bags, etc. Mr. Greenley is a scion of families founded in Maryland and Virginia in the colonial era of our national history, and he himself is a native of the State of Kentucky, where he was born in 1847 and where he was reared and educated. He continued to reside in his native State until after the close of the Civil war, and in 1868, during the somewhat turbulent and troublous "reconstruć- tion" period, he came to Mississippi and took up his residence in Greenville, where he has since maintained his home and where he has won prominence as a reliable and progressive business man and loyal and public-spirited citizen.

Gresham, William F., a prominent physician of Durant, was born at Eben- ezer, Miss., July 19, 1854. His paternal grandfather, William Gresham, was a pioneer planter of Yazoo county, where the father, Rufus R. Gresham, was born. The latter was a physician who gradu- ated at the University of Louisville about 1851 and practiced his profession at Ebenezer, Holmes county, until his death. Three of the father's brothers, R. R., S. H. and Harrison, served in the Con- federate army until the close of the Civil war. The mother was formerly Miss Salina Shipp, a native of Holmes county. The subject of this sketch received preliminary educational ad- vantages in the common schools of Ebenezer, the Birkhead school at Yazoo and the Bingham school then at Mebane, now at Ashe- ville, N. C. In 1876 he was graduated at the Louisville Medical college of Louisville, Ky., with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He located first at Vaiden, in Carroll county, and then was at West, in Holmes county, for a year. Just after his marriage he removed

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to Durant, and has since been most successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession. In politics he is a firm believer in the principles of the Democratic party, but has never held nor aspired to office. Fraternally the doctor is identified with the order of Masons and the Knights of Pythias, and professionally with the Holmes county and the Mississippi State medical societies. On Nov. 15, 1881, Dr. Gresham was united in marriage to Miss Belle King, daughter of William A. and Eliza (Shipp) King, living near Durant. To this union were born four children-Harvey, Salina, who is a graduate of Grenada college, Eliza and Mary Powell. On Sept. 14, 1899, some time after death had severed the first union, Dr. Gresham led to the altar Miss Lelah Landfair, a native of Holmes county. Two sons have blessed this marriage-William F. Jr., and Paul. The family are all communicants of the Meth- odist Episcopal church of Durant, of which the doctor was for many years a trustee.

Griffin, Col. Thomas H., who died in the city of Meridian, Nov. 9, 1901, was one of the oldest and most popular citi- zens of that city, of which he served as mayor for twelve years. He was in- cumbent of public office for more than a quarter of a century and was a gallant veteran of the Confederacy. He was es- sentually a lover of justice and equity, was a man of high attainments and his life was guided and governed by the loftiest principles. His name will go down is history as one of the best officials and most talented lawyers the city of Meridian and the county of Lauderdale have ever known. Colonel Griffin was a native of Georgia and was sixty-seven years of age at the time of his death. When a young man he removed from Georgia to Canton, Madison county, Miss., where he practiced law successfully for many years, there remaining engaged in the work of his profession until the inception of the war between the States, when he promptly mani- fested his loyalty to the cause of the Confederacy. He enlisted as a member of Company C, Eighteenth Mississippi infantry, of the Griffin-Barksdale-Humphrey brigade, and his company was com- posed of the flower of Canton men. By his bravery he soon won promotion to a lieutenancy, and he fought gallantly and faithfully in many of the important battles of the great internecine conflict. A severe wound received in the memorable and sanguinary battle of Gettysburg necessitated the amputation of his left foot. He ever retained a deep interest in his old comrades and was a valued mem- ber of the United Confederate Veterans. He took up his residence in Meridian in 1880 and here held public office by vote of the people until the day of his death. He was descended from the old and his- torical Semmes and Luckett families who were prominent in the

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early settlement of the State of Maryland. He was admirably equipped for the work of his chosen profession, having studied law under the preceptorship of the Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, at Crawfordville, Ga. In 1867 he was married to Miss Emma Mc- Devitt, of Mobile, Ala., who survives him, as do also seven of their children. True to his fellow men, true to his family, true to the Confederate cause and to the duties of enlightened citizenship, it necessarily follows that he was true to his God. He was sympa- thetic, tolerant, noble, chivalric. He left his impress upon many minds and hearts and, passing away, his noble record merits tribute on the pages of Mississippi history, that it may be reviewed by his many friends and stand as inspiration to future generations.

Gurney, C. E., M. D., is one of the leading physicians and sur- geons of the northern part of the State, being engaged in the practice of his profession in Blue Springs, Union county, where he also conducts a successful drug business. Dr. Gurney was born at Tuscumbia, Ala., in 1850, and is a son of Samuel and Rebecca (Thomas) Gurney, the former of whom was born in New York city and the latter in the State of Tennessee, where their marriage was solemnized. In 1840 Samuel Gurney removed to Alabama, becoming one of the prominent citizens of Tuscumbia and having held various local offices, including that of mayor. He finally re- moved with his family to Tippah county, Miss., where he became a successful planter and where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. Besides the subject of this sketch they are survived by two other sons-William R., who was a soldier of the Confederacy during the Civil war, having served in the Army of Tennessee, and now a resident of Gulfport, Miss., and Joseph A., a successful planter and miller residing in Ripley, this State. Dr. Gurney was reared to maturity in Tippah county and was afforded the advantages of Ripley academy. For a number of years he was actively engaged in agricultural pursuits, and he finally took up the study of medicine, being graduated in the medical de- partment of Nashville university as a member of the class of 1883. He has been established in practice at Blue Springs since 1886, and his professional business is very large and important, extending across the line into Tennessee, while as a specialist in the treatment of chronic diseases he has attained to a high reputation. He has served fourteen years as local surgeon for the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham railroad, and he is a member of the Mississippi State medical association. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Masonic order. Dr. Gurney was united in marriage to Miss Laura J. Dickinson, daughter of John N. Dickinson, who was a prominent and influential citizen of Union county, this State, where he was a successful planter and miller. Dr. and Mrs. Gurney have four children : W. Birdie is a graduate of Blue Mountain female college; John Oliver was graduated in the Iuka normal institute, receiving the degrees of both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science, after which he took up the study of medicine, being graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine and being now

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associated with his father in practice; Emma and Mary are stu- dents in Grenada college, at Grenada, this State.

Gwin, Samuel Donnell, is one of the leading business men and influential citi- zens of Holmes county and he now main- tains his residence in the city of Lexing- ton, the county seat, though his principal interests center in the town of Tchula. He is a native of the county which is now his home and represented the same as a valiant soldier of the Confederacy in the war between the States. He was born in Holmes county, Nov. 18, 1842, and is a son of James N. and Susannah Van Houten (Davis) Gwin, the former of whom was born in Tennessee and the latter in Holmes county, Miss. The earlier education of Mr. Gwin was received in the schools of his native county and he then entered the University of Mississippi, where he remained as a student until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he at once withdrew to go forth in defense of the cause of the Confederacy. In 1861 he enlisted in the Eighteenth Mississippi infantry, with which he served during the first year of the war, his regiment having been a part of the Army of Virginia. After the expiration of his original term he enlisted in Company A, Thirty-eighth Mississippi infantry, in which he was promoted to a lieutenancy and with which he continued in active service until the close of the war. He participated in many sanguinary engage- ments, among which may be mentioned Leesburg, Chickamauga, Corinth, Iuka and Harrisburg. At the close of the great struggle he returned to Holmes county and bravely assumed his part in rebuilding the prostrate industries of the State. He engaged in farming and merchandising and remained on his plantation until 1878, when he located in the village of Tchula, where he has since conducted a successful general merchandise business, also having extensive plantation interests in the county and being a large cotton grower. In 1897 he was one of the organizers of the Bank of Tchula, of which he has since continued president. During Governor McLaurin's administration he was appointed treasurer of the county to succeed John T. Walton, and he gave a most able administration of the fiscal affairs of the county, having taken up his residence in Lexington at the time of assuming the duties of the office. He is a stalwart in the camp of the Democratic party, and is affiliated with the United Confederate Veterans, the Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Honor, and the Delta Psi college fraternity. In May, 1865, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gwin to Miss Martha R. Durden, daughter of John A. and Matilda (Seltzer) Durden, of Warren county. The children of this union are as follows: John D., who married Annie Kelly ; Rosa, who is the wife of James B. Hutton and who has five chil-

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 34

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