Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 48

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 48

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signally displayed as president of the Industrial institute and col- lege at Columbus, Miss. The difficulties in organizing and conduct- ing this pioneer institution were very serious and required not only nice skill and tact within the institution, but great energy and ability in representing it before the public. Dr. Jones successfully solved all these problems, connected with the early history of the admirable college and it made it a model for the imitation of other States. This work is a monument to his skill and fidelity and a credit to the ad- ministration of Gov. Robert Lowry. As professor and vice-chan- cellor of the State university, Dr. Jones' reputation is not only co- extensive with the bounds of the State but he is well and favorably known throughout the Southern States and wherever he is known he is honored. When Dr. Jones tendered his resignation to the board of trustees of the university it was received with profound regret and that body passed resolutions expressing their very high appreciation of his long and distinguished services and stating that the loss to the university was irreparable. Throughout his long career he has maintained an untarnished reputation for purity and strength of character. He has been devoted during his whole life to Sunday school work and has been active as a Christian in other ways. In November, 1905, Dr. Jones became prominently asso- ciated in the organization of the Gulf States Investment Company, with headquarters in Laurel, where he has since maintained his home. He was elected president of the company and remains at the head of the same. The functions of the corporation are principally the han- dling of timber lands and other realty, and it owns fourteen town sites along the line of the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City railroad. The company also handles investment securities and has installed an electric light plant in Laurel. The concern is ably managed and has ample capitalistic reinforcement, so that the enterprise is certain to be cumulative in scope and importance. The doctor is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the United Confederate Veterans. He is also a member of the American Chemical society and the Ameri- can association for the advancement of science. He has written much on scientific subjects, as well as those of historical import. He made a careful and extended investigation in regard to the cotton army-worm and the boll-worm in 1881. Two articles written by him in this connection were published by the government and widely circulated through the cotton growing States. He has been a mem- ber of the Mississippi State historical society and a member of the board of trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History from the time of their establishment. He has contributed a number of articles to the publications of the State historical society, " the last of these being "Confederate Cemeteries and Monuments of Mississippi." Dr. Jones and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He has filled many impor- tant positions in his church, having been a delegate to the general conference of the church on seven different occasions as well as dele- gate to the annual conference. He was a member of the ecumenical conference held in the city of London, England, in 1892. He has also

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been especially . active in the work of the Young Men's Christian Association for the past thirty years and he is a member of its State executive committee in Mississippi. On Jan. 6, 1864, Dr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Betty S. Spratley, daughter of William H. and Mary J. (Hcath) Spratley, of Greensville, Va., and of their nine children, seven attained maturity: Richard W., Jr., is the presi- dent of the Oriental bank, New York city; Henry S., who was like- wise identified with the banking business, died Feb. 8, 1898, at the age of twenty-seven years; Garland M. is engaged in the practice of law in Kansas City, Mo .; C. Randolph is a banker in the same city; Stewart M. is secretary and treasurer of the Gulf States Investment Company; Arthur H. is secretary and treasurer of the Inter-State Security Company of New York city and Elizabeth Virginia remains at the parental home. All of the children were educated in the Uni- versity of Mississippi, except the daughter, who graduated from Converse · college, South Carolina.

Jones, Watson E., representative of the Fourth ward of Meridian on the city board of aldermen, is one of the repre- sentative young business men of the city and State, being credit man for the firm of Marks, Rothenberg & Company, repre- senting one of the largest commercial houses in the State and also manager of the opera house. Mr. Jones was born in Starkville, Oktibbeha county, Miss., Sept. 10, 1867, and is a son of Rev. Ransom J. Jones, who was one of the leading mem- bers of the clergy of the Methodist Epis- pal church, South, and who held the office of presiding elder for the Meridian dis- trict for a number of years and also pastor of Central church of Merid- ian. He is now deceased, his death having occurred at Crystal Springs, Dec. 24, 1901, while his wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Mounger, is now living in Meridian. W. E. Jones was about eight years of age when his parents took up their residence in Merid- ian, in whose public schools he completed his early educational train- ing, while in this city also has he gained his thorough business training and experience. In 1886 he entered the employ of W. G. Castell, and a year later became an employe of the firm of Marks, Rothenberg & Company, wholesale dealers in general merchandise, with which concern he has ever since been identified. Of his connection with this house it has been written that "His application, diligence and strict integrity soon won him recognition, and he was rapidly promoted from one post of trust and responsibility to another, until today he fills the highly responsible place of credit man for the largest commercial house in the State." In politics Mr. Jones is an uncom- promising advocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, and in 1898 Governor McLaurin conferred upon him the ap- pointment as member of the board of trustees of the East Mis-

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sissippi Hospital for the Insane, and in 1900 he was reappointed, by Governor Longino, continuing incumbent of the office until the expiration of his second term, in January, 1903. In December, 1902, Mr. Jones was elected to represent the Fourth ward on the board of aldermen, assuming his official duties in the following month, and was re-elected in 1905 without opposition and his record in the connection has been altogether creditable. The following endorse- ment and appreciative estimate has been given: "He has brought to the service of the municipal government the same qualities that have distinguished his character and conduct in other fields of labor and which mark him a zealous, faithful and accomplished public servant, deserving and enjoying the respect of his colleagues as well as the unqualified confidence of his constituents and fellow citizens." Mr. Jones is a member of the Central Methodist church and has taken the Masonic degrees from Knight Templar to the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, in which he has filled all the chairs, being a member of the grand lodge and also deputy for this district. He is also a member of the Knights and Ladies of Honor. On Aug. 10, 1898, Mr. Jones led to the altar, Miss Sarah Whitfield, a daughter of Dr. R. H. Whitfield of Meridian, who was the founder of the public school system in that city, the first school built bearing his name. They have two children-Emily and Sarah.

Joor, John S., is numbered among the well known and representa- tive citizens of Sharkey county, retaining his residence in the fine little city of Rolling Fork and having held various positions of public trust, including those of sheriff and county superintendent of educa- tion, of which latter he has been incumbent consecutively since 1892. He served with distinction in the cavalry arm of the Confederate service in the Civil war, honoring his native State in that respect, as has he also through his labors in the "piping times of peace." Mr. Joor was born in Washington county, Miss., Sept. 30, 1845, being a son of George and Kate (Shelby) Joor, the former of whom was a son of Gen. George Joor, a native of South Carolina and of French Huguenot descent. General Joor removed to Mississippi before its admission to statehood and was a member of the State constitutional convention of 1817, while he served in the State senate, from Wilkinson county, in 1821, 1823 and 1825, and was in command of the State militia, being a man of prominence and influence in his day and generation. George Joor was a successful planter in Wash- ington county, both he and his wife continued resident of Mississippi until death. The subject of this sketch completed his educational discipline of a specific order at Frankfort, Ky., and at the outbreak of the Civil war he tendered his aid in defense of the cause of the South, enlisting in the Confederate service, as a private in Company D, Twenty-eighth Mississippi cavalry, Gen. Frank Armstrong's brigade, Gen. W. H. Jackson's division, Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's corps. He was a gallant soldier in that command until the end of the war, participating in many skirmishes and battles, including the hundred days' battles in Georgia, from Resaca to Jonesboro,

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and the campaign in Tennessee under Generals Hood and Forrest, and the rear guard fighting on the retreat. He participated in the battle of Selma, Ala., April 2, 1865, under General Forrest, and surrendered with the troops of that eminent commander, at Gaines- ville, Ala., in the following May. Mr. Joor then returned to his home in Rolling Fork and turned his attention to planting, doing his part in the initial work of trying to rebuild the sadly devastated South. In 1870 he was made deputy sheriff, holding that position four years, after which he was assessor of Issaquena county for two terms. In 1880 he was elected sheriff of Sharkey county, being re-elected at the expiration of his first term and giving an admirable administra- tion during his incumbency of the office. Since 1892 he has served as superintendent of education in Sharkey county, and in the long intervening period has accomplished a noteworthy work in systema- tizing and vitalizing the affairs of the schools of the jurisdiction. as- signed to him. He is a Democrat in politics and is affiliated with the United Confederate Veterans and has served since 1892 as adjutant of Pat R. Cleburne Camp 190, U. C. V. He is a member of the Ma- sonic order. In 1878 Mr. Joor was united in marriage to Miss Kate Waddell, daughter of the late Dr. Andrew M. Waddell, of Rolling Fork. They have two children-John S., Jr., and Kate W.

Jordan, Jason Walter, M. D., county physician for Holmes county for twelve years and still a leading member of his profession in Lexington, was born in Holmes county, Miss., on June 11, 1857, a son of Francis Asbury and Martha Elizabeth (Mozart) Jordan. The father was born at Huntsville, Ala., on Dec. 25, 1824, and the mother at Petersburg, Va., in June, 1839. A family tradition main- tains that the original Jordans to come to this country were from the north of Ireland and settled in Virginia. Although no record has been preserved some members of the family undoubtedly participated in the Revolutionary war as soldiers of the Continental army. Francis Asbury Jordan was a member of a Mississippi infantry regiment in the Confederate army in the great internal struggle of the sixties, and when the organization to which he belonged reached Corinth he was discharged because of ill health. He walked barefoot from Corinth to Lauderdale Springs through snow and suffered terribly from frost bitten feet. Dr. Jordan, after due preliminary discipline in the Yazoo district high school at Black Hawk, matriculated in the medical department of the University of Louisville, Ky., and on Feb. 25, 1881, was graduated at that institution with the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine and has since taken a post graduate course in the medical depart- ment of Tulane university at New Orleans, La. He did not enter into the active practice of his profession at once, but located on a plantation near his boyhood home and remained for a number of years.

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Then he came to Lexington and in December, 1892, became asso- ciated in practice with Dr. Shepherd but is now practicing alone. In his political affiliations the doctor is a member of the Democratic party, and an active worker in its cause in both city and county. For ten years he was a member of the common council of Lexington, for twelve years was county physician and for another ten years was a member of the board of health. He is now the incumbent of the office of president of the Holmes county medical society and a prominent and influential member of the Mississippi State medical association. In religious matters the doctor is connected with the Methodist Episcopal church and is a conscientious member of the Durant con- gregation of that society. On Nov. 15, 1885, Dr. Jordan married Miss Emily Frances Hobbs, daughter of David M. and Emily (San- didge) Hobbs of Holmes county. Colonel Sandidge, an uncle of Mrs. Jordan, served two terms in the United States congress from Louis- iana prior to the Civil war, and after the close of that conflict served in both the House and Senate of Louisiana for a period of about sixteen years. His father served in the legislature of Alabama for several terms in the early part of the Nineteenth century. The maternal forebears of Mrs. Jordan were valiant soldiers in the War of the Revolution, a grandfather of Colonel Sandidge, mentioned above, together with seven of his sons having participated side by side throughout the entire war, in which one of the sons met his death. They were lineal descendants of Gen. Daniel Morgan of Revolutionary fame. Doctor and Mrs. Jordan became the parents of four children : Jason W., Jr .; Hattie Lucile; Francis Laurie, and Emily Olivia. The wife and mother died Oct. 27, 1902, leaving, beside her family, a large circle of friends to mourn her loss.

Jones, Capt. Joseph Thomas. In this age of colossal enterprise and marked intellectual energy, the prominent and successful men are those whose abilities, persistence and courage lead them into large undertakings and to assume the responsibilities and labors of leaders in industrial, commercial and civic life. Suc- cess is methodical and consecutive and this fact finds lucid demonstration in the career of Captain J. T. Jones, of Gulfport, Miss., who is a power in the financial and business world. He has accomplished a gigantic and splendid work in connection with the development of the State of Mississippi, in which his capitalistic investments now aggregate about $12,000,000, represented in multifarious lines of enterprise. His is the distinction of being the founder and up-builder of the thriving little city of Gulfport, where he maintains his home. Captain Jones is a native of the old Keystone State of the Union, having been born in the city of Philadelphia, June 11, 1842, and being a son of Albanus P. and Jane (Thomas) Jones, the former of whom was born in Pennsyl-

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vania, of stanch Welsh and English lineage, and the latter in Mary- land. Captain Jones was reared to maturity in his native city,where he was afforded the advantages of the common schools and where he was still residing at the time of the inception of the Civil war. In response to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers he tendered his services in defense of the Union. In 1861, at the age of nineteen years, he enlisted as a private in Company H, Ninety-first Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, which was assigned to the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac, under General Meade. He took part in thirteen of the hardest fought battles in which this gallant army was involved and was promoted captain of his company, holding commission as such at the time of receiving his honorable discharge. He took part in the battle of Antietam and the first and second battles of the Wilderness, that of Gettysburg and in the second battle at Cold Harbor. He was wounded in the second battle of the Wilderness but was not long incapacitated for duty, but in the second battle of Cold Harbor he was so severely wounded as to necessitate his retirement from the army. He re- ceived his honorable discharge and then returned to Philadelphia. After the war he became interested in the development of the coal-oil industry in Pennsylvania, and through this means laid the foundation for his great success as a financier and business man. He has de- veloped more than twelve hundred oil wells and is at the present time the owner and operator of about nine hundred wells in Pennsylvania and other sections of the Union. He was formerly interested in the consolidated pipe lines of the Standard Oil Company. Prior to coming to Mississippi he had resided in Bradford, Penn., and Buffalo, N. Y. His energy, administrative ability and far-seeing judgment have made him a veritable captain of industry, and through his own ability he has attained to this position. His capitalistic interests are varied and are of wide scope and importance. He has made judicious in- vestments in connection with banking, railroad, milling, street-railway and other enterprises, besides having developed the flourishing city of Gulfport, which is now one of the leading commercial points in the State of Mississippi. His investments are represented in many states of the Union and he has shown a marvellous grasp of details and great facility in handling his innumerable property interests. He owns a controlling interest in the Gulf & Ship Island railway and the Niagara Gorge railway, and has accomplished a noteworthy work in the developing of the lumber interests along the line of the former road. He is president of and controls the Gulf Coast Traction Company; is president of the First National Bank of Gulfport, which was organized and incorporated in 1901, with a capital of $100,000, and his other enterprises all have definite bearing upon the general welfare and advancement of the great State with which he has so closely allied himself. Captain Jones merits special recognition for the courage and able generalship which he has shown in connection with the found- ing and up-building of the city of Gulfport. At a cost of more than one and one-half million dollars he has made this one of the best seaports on the Gulf coast. He constructed a channel twelve miles in length and of sufficient depth to accommodate ocean vessels, and also a fine

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anchor basin and docks, so that the facilities are unexcelled. It may be said without fear of legitimate controversion that he has done more for the commercial advancement of Mississippi than has any other one man in the State, and his interest and loyalty to the commonwealth are of the most insistent order. He has not been hedged in by selfish motives but has used his wealth and exercised his personal powers for the good of his fellowmen. His life has been guided and governed by the strictest principles of integrity and honor and he finds his reward in the confidence and esteem accorded him in a popular sense. Captain Jones is arrayed as a stanch supporter of the principles of the Republi- can party and is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic. On Sept. 10, 1876, Captain Jones was united in marriage to Miss Meloda Blackmarr, who was born and reared in the State of New York and who is a daughter of the late Erastus Blackmarr. They have two children, Joseph A., who is first vice-president of the Gulf & Ship Island railway and general manager of the Gulf Coast Traction Company; and Grace E., who remains at the parental home. Captain Jones has been distinctively the architect of his own fortune, has been true in all the relations of life, faithful to every trust, and stands as a symmetrical type of that sterling American manhood which our nation delights to honor.

Johnston, Orange Andrew, M. D., secre- tary of the Hancock county medical society, is one of those able and successful physicians and surgeons who are aiding in maintaining the high prestige of the profession in Mississippi, and he is actively engaged in practice at Pickayune, as a member of the firm of Johnston & Harper. The doctor was born in Hebron, Lawrence county, Miss., July 24, 1875, being a son of George W. and Sudie M. (Eaton) Johnston, the former of whom was born at Quitman, Clarke county, this State; and the latter at Taylorsville, Smith county. They still retain their residence in Lawrence county, the father being one of the representative citizens of said county, which he represented in the State legislature for two terms, and also served two terms as a member of the board of supervisors of his county. Dr. Johnston made proper utilization of the advantages afforded in the public schools of his native county, where he com- pleted a course in the high school of Hebron, after which he took up the study of medicine under private preceptors, making rapid advance- ment in his technical knowledge and being admitted to practice upon examination before the State board of medical examiners. After being successfully engaged in practice for a few years he made further and distinctive reinforcement of his powers as a physician and surgeon by entering the Memphis Hospital medical college, in Memphis, Tenn., in which admirably equipped institution he was graduated, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, as a member of the class of 1900. In

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1895 he initiated the practice of his profession by locating in Hooker, Lawrence county, where he remained until 1899, when he came to Pickayune, 'Hancock county, where he entered into a professional partnership with Dr. John A. Harper, under the firm name of John- ston & Harper, and they have since been successfully associated in general practice at this point, while their supporting patronage is widely extended throughout this section and is of a representative order. Dr. Johnston is incumbent of the position of health officer of the county and is also local surgeon for the New Orleans & North- Eastern railroad, while he is identified with the Mississippi State medical society and the Hancock county medical society, of which latter he is the popular and efficient secretary at the time of this writing. He is a director of the Bank of Pickayune, of which he was one of the incorporators, as was he also of the Pickayune Drug Com- pany, which has a finely appointed establishment, the company having erected a substantial new building, 30x45 feet in dimensions, for the accommodation of the business. In a fraternal way we find the doctor affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. On May 2, 1897, Dr. Johnston was married to Miss Balzora Buckley, who was born and reared in Law- rence county, being a daughter of S. C. and Lona (Culpepper) Buckley, of Hooker. Three children represent the offspring of this union- Robert Osborne, William Buckley, and Orange Alton.

Jones, Thomas M., M. D., has been for thirty-eight years engaged in the practice of his profession in Hernando, the capital of his native county of DeSoto, and is one of the skilled physicians and surgeons of the State. He was born in DeSoto county, March 28, 1846, being a son of Thomas M. and Johana (Lindley) Jones, the former of Irish and Welsh and the latter of English ancestry who possessed a coat of arms. The Lindley family was founded in America by ancestors who came from England in the historic Mayflower, becoming members of the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts, and the paternal an- cestors of the doctor likewise settled in New England in the colonial era. Judge Obediah Jones, grandfather of the doctor, was one of the early justices of the supreme court of Alabama and Mississippi before the division of the territory. The arrival of Thomas M. Jones, Sr., in Mississippi dates back to 1839, and he became one of the most extensive planters and influential citizens of DeSoto county, though his entire wealth was secrificed to the cause of the South during the Civil war. He did not live to see the overthrowing of the Confederacy, since he died July 20, 1862. His devoted wife survived him by many years, passing away July 28, 1898, at the venerable age of eighty-six years. Dr. Jones passed his boyhood days on the homestead planta- tion and attended the schools of the locality until the outbreak of the

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Civil war. In 1863, when but sixteen years of age, he enlisted in the Eighteenth Mississippi cavalry, in which he was promoted lieutenant, having been the last Confederate officer elected before the termination of the great struggle which compassed the defeat of the cause for which he had so bravely fought, having participated with his regi- ment in fully one hundred engagements, and skirmishes with General Forrest, including several of the more notable battles of the war. After thus supporting the cause of the Confederacy Dr. Jones returned to his home, a youthful veteran, and, like so many others in the pros- trate South, endeavored to adjust himself to the changed conditions. After a course of academic study in the University of Mississippi he took up the study of medicine, his first course being taken at Charles- ton, S. C., while he secured his degree of Doctor of Medicine from the medical college of the State of Maryland and Washington university of Baltimore, Md., having graduated in 1869. Thereafter he took post- graduate courses in leading medical institutions in New Orleans and Chicago, while he has long held prestige as one of the leading members of his profession in his native State. He began practice in Hernando, 'and has ever since maintained his home here. He has served twenty years as county health officer, and still holds that office and is a mem- ber of the committee of the health department of the second con- gressional district, while he is identified with various medical associa- tions of the State and nation and has kept in touch with the advanced thought and work of his vocation, in which his success has been une- quivocal. He is a public-spirited citizen, taking deep interestin local affairs, and his political allegiance is given to the Democratic party. He is the owner of valuable property in Hernando, and had a well improved plantation of three hundred acres, which he lost. In 1877 Dr. Jones was married to Miss Sarah Boone, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Oliver) Boone, representatives of families early founded in Mississippi. Dr. and Mrs. Jones have three children, namely : Meta, wife of Charles R. Robinson; Elwyn, a student of the University of Mississippi and now engaged in the practice of law and cotton business and Josie G., who remains at the parental home, being a kinder- garten teacher.

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 48

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