USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III > Part 47
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him is accorded the highest esteem of the community in which he has so long maintained his home and he merits a place of honor on the roster of the sterling pioneers of Lowndes county.
Johnston, Robert Crocker, M. D., of Laurel, Jones county, has been actively engaged in the practice of medicine for a period of thirty years and is well known throughout Jones and surrounding coun- ties, while he has been especially success- ful in the treatment of cancerous growths. and similar morbid conditions. He was born in Jasper county, Miss., May 31, 1847, and is a son of James P. and Charity (Duckworth) Johnston, the former of whom was born in Alabama and the latter in Jones county, Miss. The paternal grandfather was a valiant soldier in the Continental line during the War of the Revolution. Dr. Johnston was one of the valorous Southern boys. who offered his services in defense of the Confederate cause at the outbreak of the Civil war, as he enlisted in Company B, First Mis- sissippi cavalry, with which he did much scouting through northern Mississippi, taking part in many skirmishes and in the battle of Harrisburg, and encountering many hazards through his labors as a courier scout. He had secured the advantages of a good prac- tical English education, and in formulating his plans for his future career decided to prepare himself for the medical profession. He secured his technical discipline through a careful course of reading under an able preceptor, Dr. B. F. Duke, of Jasper county, and after thus becoming ably fortified for the work of his profession he engaged in practice in Jasper county, where he continued to labor most successfully for a quarter of a century, at the expiration of which, in 1902, he removed to Laurel, Jasper county, from which attractive city he has since carried on his professional work, which extends over a wide area of country, while, as previously stated, the doctor devotes special attention to the treatment of cancers, ulcers, chronic sores, etc., in which connection he utilizès his origi- nal preparation which he has designated as cancer serum and which is a wonderful specific in the treatment of diseases of the malignant type mentioned, and many are the cases of cancer which he has treated, entirely avoiding the use of the knife and substituting his special serum, with magnificent results. He is an appreciative mem- ber of the Mississippi State medical society and also that of Jones county ; in politics is a stalwart Democrat, and fraternally is a Master Mason. On Oct. 21, 1869, Dr. Johnston was married to Miss Eliza Shelby, daughter of Alfred and Mary (Flowers) Shelby, and they became the parents of eight children. Mrs. Johnston died March 14, 1895. On Dec. 8, 1898, Dr. Johnston consummated a second marriage, being then united to Miss Ester Bush, daughter of Jeffer- son and Susan (Dies) Bush, of Jasper county. The doctor has had
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ten children of whom eight are the offspring of his first marriage and nine of whom are living. The names are here entered in the order of birth: James Julius, Candice, Oscar, Lela (deceased), Vern, Maude, Troy, Daisy, Jefferson Perry and Robbie Alva.
Johnston, Sydney W., M. D., one of the representative physicians and sur- geons of the city of Vicksburg, was born in Clinton, Hinds county, Miss., June 3, 1878, and is a son of Henry W. and Sarah (Iungherr) Johnston, both of whom were likewise born in this State, the ancestry in the paternal line being English and in the maternal of German extraction. His great-grandfather, Henry Leake, for whom Leake county is named, was Mississippi's first United States senator and her third governor. Governor Leake entered the Revolutionary war at fifteen years of age and served with distinction on General LaFayette's staff. The old homestead in which he entertained La- Fayette, is still owned by the Johnston family. Dr. Henry W. John- ston was one of the prominent physicians of Mississippi and was engaged in the practice of his profession for many years prior to his death, which occurred March 14, 1879, less than a year after the birth of the subject of this sketch. He was a graduate of the Louis- ville medical college and was for a number of years physician to the Mississippi State hospital for the insane, at Jackson. He served as a loyal soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war and was a man of distinctive ability and high professional attainments. His widow is still living. They became the parents of five children, of whom three survive-Mrs. Annie J. Easterling, of Jackson, Miss .; Robert H., a merchant of Clinton, this State; and Dr. Sydney W., subject of this review. After due preparatory study Dr. Sydney W. John- ston entered Mississippi college, at Clinton, in which he was gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1896, receiving the degree of Bache- lor of Science. He then entered the medical department of Tulane university, in the city of New Orleans, where he completed the pre- scribed course and was graduated in 1899, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Thus amply prepared for his chosen vocation, he located in Clinton, Miss., where he was distinctively successful in his work, being there established in practice until 1903, when he availed himself of the broader field of labor afforded by the city of Vicksburg, where he has since maintained his residence and where he controls a representative professional business, being associated with Dr. Hugh H. Haralson, of whom specific mention is made in this work, and devoting special attention to the surgical branch of his profession. Dr. Johnston is secretary and ex-vice-president of the Warren county medical society and is visiting surgeon to the Vicks- burg charity hospital. He is aligned as a supporter of the Demo- cratic party, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and both he and
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his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South. On Nov. 7, 1900, Dr. Johnston was united in marriage to Miss Mattie Haralson, of Vicksburg, and they have two children, Hugh H., named in honor of his maternal grandfather, Dr. Hugh H. Haralson, and Walter Easterling, named in honor of the late Hon. W. L. Easter- ling, of Jackson, Miss.
Jones, Egbert Rufus, of Holly Springs, is one of the extensive planters and promi- nent and influential citizens of Marshall county and is a scion of one of its honored pioneer families. The province of this cyclopedia is such as to render impossible the entering of detailed genealogy in any specific instance, but it should be noted in the present connection that the subject of the sketch is of distinguished Southern lineage, being descended from the Craw- ford and Reese families of Georgia and the Alston and Jones families of Edenton, N. C. In publications of more concrete gene- alogical compass are to be found ample data concerning these prominent families, many of whose represent- atives have been distinguished in the history of the nation and in the public and civic affairs of the States mentioned, as well as that of Mississippi. Mr. Jones' great-grandfather was Hon. Thomas Jones, of Edenton, N. C., a distinguished jurist and the author of the first constitution of North Carolina. His son, William Jones, was born in Chowan county, N. C., July 23, 1783, and was a child at the time of his parents' removal to Morgan county, Georgia, where he was reared and where he remained until 1840, when he came with his family and numerous slaves to Marshall county, Miss., locating at Talleluce about eight miles from the present city of Holly Springs and purchasing large tracts of land for himself and his sons. He became one of the large and successful planters and influential citizens of that section of the State, where he passed the remainder of his life. He died in 1855. In 1810 .he married Phalba Hutchins whose family removed from Maryland to Georgia. They became the parents of six children, all of whom were born in Morgan county, Ga., and of these, Rufus, father of the subject of this sketch, was the eldest, having been born in 1811 and his death having occurred in Marshall county, Miss., Dec. 30, 1856. On March 17, 1840, shortly before the family removal to Mississippi, he married Miss Martha Alston Crawford Reese, who was born Dec. 12, 1820, and who died July 16, 1874. They are survived by four children, of whom the youngest is he whose name initiates this article. Rufus Jones settled on his plantation, "Prospect Hill," upon coming to Marshall county and he became one of the successful planters and merchants of the county, having early engaged in the general merchandise business in Holly Springs. He was a man of exalted character and com- manded the unqualified esteem and confidence of all who knew him.
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His public spirit was pronounced and his business acumen and pro- gressive ideas were used freely in the promotion of the material and civic advancement of his county and State. His name merits a place of honor in the annals of Mississippi. Egbert Rufus Jones, to whom this sketch is dedicated, was born on the homestead plan- tation, "Prospect Hill," about eight miles distant from Holly Springs, Aug. 10, 1848, and in his youth he was afforded the advantages of Chalmers Institute, a well ordered educational institution at Holly Springs. He supplemented his education, after the war, by travel in Europe and America and by individual application and experi- ence. In 1857, after the death of his father, the family removed to Holly Springs, where his mother built the residence now owned by her daughter, Reese, wife of Dr. Franklin B. Shuford. Though too young to enter the military service, his loyalty to the cause of the Confederacy was of the most ardent nature and he spared no effort to render such aid as was in his power to offer. He early de- veloped distinctive business sagacity and executive ability, and these came into effective play in the critical epoch following the Civil war. For a time he was associated with his brother, William A., in the hardware business, but his strong love for nature and his predilec- tion for an out-doors life led him to turn his attention to farming and stock-raising. Rapidly adding to his real estate holdings, he is now one of the largest land-owners in Marshall county and his plantations are finely improved and managed according to modern scientific methods. He was associated with Capt. George M. Buch- anan in importing the first registered Holstein cattle ever brought into the State, and he now owns fine herds of both Holstein and Dur- ham cattle. During the reconstruction period he was specially active and loyal in bringing about the overthrow of the odious "car- pet-bag" regime, and he has ever been true to the call of duty in all the relations of life, having the courage of his convictions and being well fortified in his opinions. With no selfish aim in view, he has joined all progressive movements and has aided in promoting the best interests of the community, while he is tolerant in judgment and kindly and charitable in a pronounced degree. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party but he has never sought or held public office. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Mississippi Synodical college, at Holly Springs, and both he and his wife are devout and active members of the local Presbyterian church. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of the Fish and Game club of Holly Springs and of the Holstein association of North America. On Sept. 10, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jones to Miss Elizabeth Howard Blanton, daughter of Leigh M. and Clara L. (McConnell) Blanton, of Farmville, Va. She is a descendant of the Vawter, Lee, Walker, Tinsley and Blanton families, of Virginia, and of the Clayton, Martin, Sharpless, Ring and Webb families, of Pennsylvania, and the How- ards of Maryland. She is a woman of gracious presence and distinc- tive culture, and is a leader in literary, social and benevolent work. Mrs. Jones is State registrar for the Colonial Dames in Mississippi
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and is State regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is secretary of E. C. Walthall chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy, and is a member of the Mississippi historical associa- tion, and is president of the Holly Springs Thursday Club, a literary club. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have four children: Egbert Reese, Clara Leigh, Howard Taliaferro, and Francis Crawford.
Jones, Fontaine, of Rosedale, has been a resident of Bolivar county since the centennial year of our national inde- pendence, 1876, and is one of the repre- sentative lawyers of that part of the State, being well fortified in the learning of his profession and having a clientage of important order. He was born in the city of Louisville, Ky., May 3, 1849, and comes of distinguished lineage, both ag- nate and cognate. He is a son of Albert Edwards Jones and Martha Ann (Fontaine) Jones, the former of whom was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1820, and the latter in Louisville, Ky., June 20, 1830. In the paternal line the descent is traced in a direct way to Rev. Jona- than Edwards, president of Princeton college, New Jersey, 1757-8, and one of the greatest metaphysicians America has ever known. The mother of Mr. Jones was a representative of the Fontaine and Buckner families, both prominent in the history of Kentucky, Commo- dore Matthew Fontaine Maury having belonged to the Fontaine family through collateral strains. Fontaine Jones secured his earlier edu- cational discipline in the public schools of Louisville, Ky., and Chi- cago, Ill., and then entered the law department of the famous Uni- versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he was graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1870, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, being admitted to the bar in the same year. He came to Mississippi and took up his residence in Bolivar county in 1876, as has been stated, and he now controls a large and important practice, having an at- tractive home in Rosedale, the county seat, and being one of the prominent and popular citizens of that locality. He is a stanch Democrat in his political adherency, but has never had aught of am- bition for public office. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Honor and both he and his wife are valued mem- bers of the local organization of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. On Feb. 10, 1880, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Emma Braden, daughter of Blackstone P. and Sarah (Harris) Braden, of Braden, Tenn., and they have four children-Ella Alberta, now the wife of I. L. Shelby; Anne Fontaine, the wife of William B. Jones, Jr., Emma May, and Fontaine, Jr.
Jones, James F., is one of the few old business men of Macon, Miss., where he has been engaged in the drug business for more than forty years. He was born in Butler county, Ala., July 27, 1841, and is the son of James Jones who was born in Halifax county, N. C., in
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1809. James Jones, the father of this sketch, was a son of Wilie Jones who was also born in North Carolina. Wilie Jones was a member of the legislature (or assembly) of North Carolina, serving many terms both before and after the Revolutionary war, as did also his brother Allen. He served in the Continental congress from 1780 to 1781 succeeding his brother Allen. Both Wilie and Allen Jones were men of wealth, education and influence in North Caro- lina, and it was through their influence in congress that Com. John Paul Jones obtained his first commission in the American navy and out of gratitude for this he adopted their name, his original name being John Paul. He afterwards became famous as a sea fighter under the name of John Paul Jones. Wilie Jones died leaving five children, one of whom was Andrew Jones, the father of James Jones and grandfather of Jas. F. Jones. Andrew Jones served in the North Carolina legislature in 1809 and 1810 and in 1820 moved with his family to Butler county, Ala., where he died about 1825. He was a farmer and a man of great influence, and highly respected by his neighbors. James Jones, his son, settled on an adjoining farm and like his father was a man devoted to the welfare of his family and country but not a politician. He died in 1842, leaving one child, James F. Jones, the subject of this sketch, then about one year old. James F. Jones was educated in the common country schools and at Emory and Henry college, Va., and the University of Virginia, leaving the last named school June 2, 1861, to enter the Confederate army. He enlisted in Company G, Ninth Alabama regiment, Wil- cox brigade, Army of Northern Virginia and served throughout the war, the first year as a private soldier and the other three years in the medical department as a druggist, surrendering with General Lee's army at Appomattox Court House, Va., April 9, 1865, After he was paroled he returned to his native county and State and after a rest of a few months accepted a position as druggist with Dr. H. Dent at Macon, Miss. He served as clerk nearly three years and then opened a drug store on his own account and has since remained in the drug business almost without interruption. Mr. Jones has never sought political office of any kind. Never but once has he held a public position of profit and then only as alderman of his own town. He devotes himself to his business and to his family. He was married in 1861 to Miss Rose P. Ferris, daughter of H. C. Ferris founder of the Macon Beacon. He has four sons and three daugh- ters all grown. Two daughters are married. He has three grand- children. Two of his sons are druggists, one is a wholesale and retail grocer and one is a banker. Two of his daughters married bankers. Mr. Jones' mother is also a North Carolinian and is still living. She was born in Newbern, N. C., in 1819 and moved to Butler county, Ala., in 1839 and in 1840 married the father of the subject of this sketch there. Her maiden name was Frances Ann Lewis. A few years after the death of James Jones his widow mar- ried Dr. James C. Batchelor who served when quite a youth in the Seminole war in Florida, for which his widow now draws a pension. Dr. Batchelor died about ten years ago. He was prominent as a
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Free Mason, and succeeded Gen. Albert Pike as chief of the 33rd degree F. & A. Masons and died in the Masonic Temple in Wash- ington city, his official residence. Mr. Jas. F. Jones is now sixty- five years of age and hopes to round out his life in such a way as to be remembered kindly by all whom he may leave behind him.
Jones, James Henry, of Woodville, is one of the representative members of the bar of Wilkinson county, has served in both branches of the State legislature and also as lieutenant governor and he . is also a veteran of the .Confederate ser- vice in the Civil war. Col. Jones is of French Huguenot ancestry and was born in Autauga county, Ala., Oct. 9, 1840, being a son of John Edmund and Mary (Mellard) Jones, the former of whom was Further born in Tennessee and later moved to Alabama, and the latter in Orangeburg district, S. C. The father was a lawyer by profession and served as circuit judge in Alabama. The subject of this sketch was graduated from the University of Mississippi as a member of the class of 1858, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1859. At the outbreak of the war between the States Colonel Jones tendered his aid in defense of the Confederacy, enlisting in 1861, as a private and being promoted lieutenant. He entered the field with his regiment but soon returned to Wilkinson county, where he raised the Wilkinson Guards, which became Company D, Thirty-eighth Mississippi infantry. His regi- ment was in the thick of the fray during the remainder of the war and he thus participated in many of the important battles which marked the progress of the great internecine conflict. Colonel Jones was captured at Vicksburg, and was seriously wounded at Harris- burg, Miss., where he had succeeded to the command of his regiment, by seniority. Three of his brothers met their death while in the Con- federate service, one having been killed at Vicksburg and two at Harrisburg. After the close of the war Colonel Jones resumed his residence in Wilkinson county, where he has since continued estab- lished in the successful practice of law. In 1886-8 he was representa- tive of his county in the State legislature and in 1890 he was a mem- ber of the State senate, also being a delegate from the State at large to the constitutional convention of that year. In 1892 he was re- elected to the State senate, in which he continued to serve until 1896, when he was elected lieutenant governor of the State, serving one term. He is one of the leaders of the Democratic party in his section of the State and has been an active worker in its cause. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the United Con- federate Veterans. In 1859 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jones to Miss Helen M. Davis, daughter of Wm. B. Davis, of Wil-
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kinson county, and they have had two children, namely: Mary A., who died at the age of fourteen years; and William Edmund, who died at the age of nineteen years.
Jones, Richard Watson, M. A., LL. D. Few, if any, men within the borders of Mississippi or the Southern States have accomplished more in the field of educa- tion than has the honored subject of this review, who was an active member of the faculty of the State university for a quar- ter of a century besides serving in other honorable and useful positions and who is a man of recondite knowledge, dis- tinguished scholarship and skill in teach- ing. He is well known in educational circles and the strong and noble charac- ter of the man has had most grateful and beneficent influence upon the youth who have come in contact with him. After long years of able and faithful service he has retired from the field of specific educational work and is giving much of his time and attention to the executive affairs of the Gulf States Investment Company, of Laurel, of which he is presi- dent. Dr. Jones is a scion of patrician English stock in the Old Dominion, where was cradled so much of our national history. He was born in Greensville county, Va., May 16, 1837, son of Mordecai and Martha Randolph (Grigg) Jones. His mother was related to the noted Randolph family of Virginia whose most conspicuous figure was the eccentric John Randolph of Roanoke. His father was the grandson of Brig .- Gen. Cadet Young, who commanded Virginia forces in Washington's army in the Revolutionary war. The Young family is one of the most highly respected in Isle of Wight county, Va. John Young Mason, secretary of navy under President Polk and minister to France under Buchanan, was also a grandson of General Young. For generations the Jones family in Virginia has been prominent and influential in public and professional life. Dr. Jones was graduated in Randolph-Macon college, Virginia, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in the historic old University of Virginia he received the degree of Master of Arts. In 1881 Missis- sippi college conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. In October, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Greensville Guards, in the Virginia volunteers, serving for a short time with this command and then, raising a company in his native county, and being elected its captain, Feb. 22, 1862, was assigned to the Twelfth Virginia infantry, and proceeded to Norfolk, where they remained until the evacuation of that city, in April, 1862. The Norfolk forces under General Huger joined Gen. Joseph Johnston's army on the Peninsula. After the wounding of General Johnston in the battle of Seven Pines the regiment became a part of the Army of Northern Virginia, under Gen. Robert E. Lee, in whose command it remained until the final surrender at Appomattox Court House. Dr. Jones'
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promotion to the rank of major dated from the battle of the "Crater" in front of Petersburg, Va., in which desperate engagement he com- manded his regiment and behaved with such coolness and conspicuous gallantry as to attract special attention and commendation. He participated with his regiment in all (save one) of the great battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia with the Army of the Potomac; in the latter part of the struggle commanding his regiment of brave and patriotic Virginians until the surrender at Appomattox Court House. After the war he returned to his home and made ready to assume such labors as came to him under the changed con- ditions in his loved Southland. In 1866 he was elected to the chair of Mathematics in his alma mater, Randolph-Macon college, retain- ing this incumbency two years, at the expiration of which he accepted the call to the presidency of Petersburg female college, Virginia. Three years later he was elected president of Martha Washington college, at Abington, Va., one of the most prominent female colleges in the South, remaining its executive head and administering its affairs with splendid success for the ensuing five years. He then accepted the invitation to assume charge of the departments of chemistry in the University of Mississippi, of whose faculty he re- mained a member for nine years. In this position he served with marked ability and acceptability. He won the high opinion of his colleagues and of the trustees, and the students were devoted to him. His excellent reputation spread over the State, so that when in 1884 the trustees, appointed by Governor Lowry to establish the new State institution for white girls of Mississippi, desired a man of con- spicuous ability to successfully launch this institution, their minds turned to Dr. Jones. Although not a candidate for the presidency, he was unanimously chosen and was urged to accept that office. The lamented Chief Justice Chalmers said of that action of Governor Lowry and this board, in selecting Dr. Jones for this difficult work, that it was an inspiration. Nobly did he meet all expectations. He organized the institution, successfully correlating its varied de- partments and functions, conferring untold blessing upon the young women of the State. He succeeded in gathering about him a faculty of most talented ladies with pure scholarly qualifications, and devoted to their work. The standard of scholarship was raised to a higher grade than ever known in the South before this time in woman's education. This institution is the most splendid success ever or- ganized for Mississippi education. At the end of four years he re- signed this position and accepted the presidency of Emory and Henry college, Virginia. He remained here but little more than one year and accepted the call to resume the chair of chemistry in the Uni- versity of Mississippi. Here he remained in the active discharge of his duties for sixteen consecutive years; for about ten years of this time serving with efficiency as vice-chancellor. Dr. Jones has made in Mississippi a wide and high reputation for scholarship and administrative ability; his pupils are deeply devoted to him and honor him as they would hardly any other man. His fine capacity as an organizer and as an administrative and executive officer was
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