USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III > Part 54
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and other enterprises were set on foot in different parts of south Mississippi. Their late achievements in the business world may be thus summarized: The sale of the Banner Lumber Company and Kentwood & Eastern railway; the rescue of the McComb City bank when it was on the verge of failure; the acquirement of a controlling interest in the Bank of Wesson; their liberal co-operation in the build- ing of the Magnolia cotton mills, the Magnolia Oil Mill and Manu- facturing Company and other enterprises of a local character; the establishing of the Tylertown bank and the erection of the handsome store building at that place; the promotion of the Luce Cotton Com- press Company; the acquirement of large blocks of stock in leading banks in New Orleans, and many other things which the limits of this article render impossible of mention." The subject of this sketch is associated with his five brothers in the Lampton Brothers Mercantile Company, of Magnolia, which is one of the most extensive concerns of the sort in southern Mississippi. He is president of the company and also of the Bank of Magnolia. He is one of the largest stockholders in the Magnolia cotton mills and has other capitalistic interests of importance. He is progressive and public-spirited as a citizen and commands the unreserved confidence and esteem of the people of his native county. In politics he accords support to the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor and he takes a loyal interest in all that appertains to the welfare of his native county and state. In 1874 Mr. Lampton was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Barton, who died and is survived by three children-L. B., H. Dudley, and Claudius L. In 1884 he was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Brumfield, daughter of Henry S. Brumfield, who served many years as treasurer of Pike county. They have no children.
Langston, D. C., of Sherman, is one of the popular citizens and successful busi- ness men of Pontotoc county, where he is a member of the Sherman Mercantile Com- pany. He was born in Alabama, and is a son of Rev. John M. and Mary (Wilson) Langston. His father was a clergyman of the Baptist church and was engaged in the work of the ministry in Alabama for forty years. He was a soldier of the Con- federacy during the Civil war, having been a member of the Forty-fourth Alabama infantry. His father, Obediah Langston, was a native of England and was a resident of Spartanburg district S. C., for many The subject of this review is a man of fine scholarship and was for a number of years engaged in teaching. He came from Alabama to Mississippi in 1889 and for twelve years was one of the co-principals of the Mississippi normal institute, at Sherman. In 1904 he engaged in the general merchandise business, as a member of the Sherman Mercantile Company and he now gives his attention to the affairs of this concern, which is one of the important mercantile houses of the
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county. He is an able public speaker and has done yeoman service in behalf of the cause of the Democratic party. In 1904 he was elected a member of the State legislature, and in this office he has rendered most valuable service to his county and State. As a citizen he is loyal and progressive and he commands the unequivocal con- fidence and esteem of the community in which he maintains his home. Mr. Langston is a zealous member of the Baptist church, and for fifteen years he has served as Sunday school superintendent and church clerk. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Woodmen of the World. Mr. Langston married Miss T. Etta Davis, daughter of Col. John N. Davis, the honored founder of the town of Sherman. Mr. and Mrs. Langston have two children-Mary Sue and Judson Davis.
Lear, John, has been prominently iden- tified with the civic and industrial up- building of Yazoo City and is now at the head of one of its leading financial insti- tutions, being president of the Delta Bank and Trust Company. He was born on a plantation near Anding, Yazoo county, this State, Oct. 14, 1853, and is a son of John and Eliza (Hamilton) Lear, the former of whom was born in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, in 1804, and the latter in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland, in 1816. The father came to Mississippi in 1834 and engaged in mer- chandising and planting, and his marriage was solemnized in Yazoo county in 1852. His devoted wife passed away in 1876, and he survived her by a decade, his death occurring in 1886. Both lie buried in the city cemetery of Yazoo City. They became the parents of two sons and two daughters, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest ; James Hamilton died at the age of nineteen ; Elizabeth is the wife of W. D. Lawson, of Yazoo City ; and Margaret is the wife of Webb Zenor, of the same city. John Lear, Sr., left an estate of about $60,000, and the same has never been divided, though he passed away more than a score of years ago. His only surviving son, subject of this review, has ably and faithfully administered the estate, which was inherited jointly by the children. John Lear, whose name initiates this article, attended the public schools of Yazoo City and later attended one session in the Bryant & Stratton business college in St. Louis, Mo. In 1878 he engaged in business in Yazoo City, where he built up a large and profitable enterprise in the conducting of one of the city's leading livery and sales stables. He retired from this business in 1903. In 1883 he was one of the organizers of the First National bank of Yazoo City, with which he was identified about five years and of which he was a director and vice-president. He was one of the founders of the People's Ice Company, and was its secretary and treasurer for three years. In 1899 he was one of the organizers of
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the Citizens' Opera House Company, of which he continued presi- dent until the destruction of its opera house by fire in 1904. In 1903 he was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Lear-Williams Furniture Company, of which he was made pres- ident, and he is still one of its leading stockholders and its president. In 1904 he identified himself with the organization of the Yazoo Hardware Company, of which he was president for two years and of which he is still a director. In 1904 also he was chiefly instru- mental in bringing about the organization and incorporation of the Delta Bank and Trust Company, of which he is president. The bank has a subscribed capital of $225,000 and a paid in capital of $150,000. Its success has been of pronounced order and its deposits are now larger than those of any other banking house in the city, aggregating more than $400,000 at the beginning of the year 190 ?. The surplus fund is $10,000 and the undivided profits $20,000. The banking building is one of the finest and most modern in the State, and is supplied with the best type of safety deposit vaults and other facilities for the safeguarding of the interests of its patrons and sup- porters. The building is owned by the company. It will be naturally inferred from the foregoing statements that Mr. Lear is a man of progressive ideas and marked enterprise, but in addition to this his course has ever evidenced the highest loyalty and public spirit as a citizen, and in giving his aid and influence in support of various financial and business enterprises he has not looked solely to personal aggrandizement, but also to the resulting influence upon the general welfare of his home city and State. He has the con- fidence and esteem of the community and is a valued and honored citizen. In politics he maintains a conservative attitude and while he has never sought public office, he rendered efficient service for seven years as a member of the city council. In a fraternal way he is identified with the local organization of the Knights of Pythias. On Feb. 6, 1890, Mr. Lear was united in marriage to Miss Mary Torry Stigler, daughter of Capt. James and Mary (Torry) Stigler, who reside in Holmes county, Miss. Mr. and Mrs. Lear were mar- ried in St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal church at Cincinnati, Ohio, and became the parents of four children-Marguerite, John H., Mary Torry and James Hamilton. John H. died May 13, 1893, in the second year of his age.
Lathram, William E., one of the leading merchants of Waynes- boro, Wayne county, is a native of Lowndes county, Ala., where he was born May 23, 1859, being a son of Rev. Jackson Lathram, who was born in Georgia and reared in Alabama and who became a prominent clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church, being identified with the Alabama conference during the greater part of his active ministry and having been one of the honored and influ- ential men of his church. He died in western Florida, in 1895, at a venerable age. William E. Lathram secured his education in the schools of Florida, where his father resided during the time when the son was a youth and he early manifested a decided aptitude for practical business, in which he secured excellent training. He finally
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became prominently concerned in logging and lumbering enterprises in Alabama, where he continued to reside until 1898, when he came to Mississippi and located in Waynesboro, where he established himself in the general merchandise business, in which he has since continued, while he has built up a very substantial trade and com- mands unqualified esteem in the community. He is thoroughly loyal to the Democratic party and supports its cause at all times, and both he and his wife are prominent and influential members of the Waynesboro Methodist Episcopal church, South, of which he served as a member of the board of stewards from practically the time of locating in the county, while he is now a member of its board of trustees. In 1889 Mr. Lathram was married to Miss Lettie Rutherford, daughter of John J. Rutherford, of Monroe county, Ala. Mr. Rutherford was born in North Carolina and served as a faithful soldier of the Confederacy during the entire period of the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Lathram have four children-Lillian, Willie May, John Rutherford and Harry Edmund.
Learned, Rufus F., is one of the repre- sentative business men and influential citizens of Natchez, where his capitalistic interests are varied and important. Mr. Learned was born in Jackson, Miss., Dec. 26, 1834, and is a son of Edward D. and Louise (Woodward) Learned, the former of whom was born in Livermore, Maine, and the latter in Gardiner, that State. Fis paternal great-grandfather, Gen. Ebenezer Learned, served during the Revolutionary war and commanded a division under Washington at Valley Forge. He was one of the first to enter Boston after the evacuation. He was a native of Massachusetts. In recognition of his services in the war, he was allotted tracts of land in Maine ; the property eventually came into the possession of his sons. The paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch was a major of engineers in the United States regular army and was sent to Georgia to erect fortifications along the Spanish frontier. He died in that State while engaged in the work mentioned. Edward D. Learned came to Mississippi about 1817, in the year which marked the admission of the State to the Union, and located at Pearlington, Hancock county. When Jack- son was made the capital of the State he removed to that place, and there he continued in the practice of law until his death, in 1836. He served as district attorney and was one of the able and honored representatives of his profession in the State. For some time he was associated in practice with Hon. Albert G. Brown, who later became governor of the State. Rufus F. Learned was sent to the North as a youth, to prepare for entering the United States military academy, at West Point. He became dissatisfied with the con- ditions under which he was placed and accordingly ran away and
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went to California, by way of Nicaragua. He remained in Cali- fornia about eighteen months and then went to Australia, where he engaged in gold mining. He also became associated in the owner- ship of a schooner, which was utilized in shipping sandalwood from the South Sea Islands to China, from which latter country cargoes of tea were brought on the return trip. He remained in Australia about five years, and in 1856 he returned to Natchez, Miss., where he became identified with the lumbering industry. In 1861, at the inception of the War between the States, Mr. Learned became a member of the Natchez Southrons, which command was mustered into the Confederate service as Company B, Tenth Mississippi in- fantry. He continued in active service with this regiment until the close of the war and for some time he served as purchasing com- missary. At the close of a protracted and gallant military career, Mr. Learned returned to Natchez, and at the time of his arrival his entire capitalistic resources were summed up in a single dollar. In the intervening years he has risen to a position as one of the sub- stantial capitalists and best known financiers in the State, and he is recognized as a liberal and public-spirited citizen. He was one of the organizers of the Natchez Cotton Mills, of which he has been president from the start. He is president of the Britton & Koontz bank, the Natchez Ice Company and the Natchez & Bayou Sayre Packet Company. He owns and operates a saw mill, and is an ex- tensive grower of and dealer in cotton. His well improved planta- tions are located in Concordia parish, La. In politics Mr. Learned is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party and he is affiliated with the United Confederate Veterans. In 1868 Mr. Learned was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Brown, daughter of Andrew Brown, and of the three children of this union two are living-Andrew B., who is associated with his father in business and who is a member of the board of aldermen of Natchez; and Louise Woodward, who is the wife of Richard I. Metcalf, of Natchez.
Lee, Robert Charles, of Madison Sta- tion, Madison county, is incumbent of the office of United States attorney for the Southern district of Mississippi, is an ex-member of the State senate, is an ex- tensive landholder in Mississippi and Arkansas, and is known as a lawyer of = distinctive ability. Mr. Lee was born at Graysport, Grenada county, Miss., July 17, 1861, and is a son of Dr. Lewis C. and Laura Willie (Hunter) Lee, the former of whom was born in Murfrees- boro, Tenn., in 1834, and the latter in Baltimore, Md., in 1840. Both the pa- ternal and maternal grandfathers of the subject of this sketch were officers in the War of the Revolution. The Lee family was early founded in the State of North Carolina, whence representatives of the name removed to Tennessee. Dr.
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Lee became one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Missis- sippi and continued in the practice of his profession until his death. He was graduated in Jefferson medical college, in the city of Phil- adelphia, and when about twenty-one years of age he came to Mis- sissippi and located in that portion of Yalobusha county which is now included in Grenada county, where he continued in the active practice of his profession until his death, which occurred Oct. 8, 1883. When the War between the States was instituted, Dr. Lee entered the Confederate service as a surgeon, but he resigned this office to become major of the Forty-eighth Mississippi infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. He was a most gallant officer and made a splendid military record ; he was wounded five times while in action. He was a man of noble character and ever commanded the respect and esteem of his fellow men. His wife, who survived him by several years, was a daughter of John L. and Sophia (Green) Hunter, both representative of prominent families of the Old Dominion State. Robert Charles Lee was reared in Grenada county, where he secured his early educational training and prepared himself for college. In 1881 he was graduated. in Vanderbilt university, Nashville, Tenn., with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in the following year he was graduated in the law de- partment of the University of Mississippi, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He pursued his legal studies under the preceptorship of Gen. E. C. Walthall, of Grenada, and in 1884 he engaged in the practice of his profession at Canton, Madison county, where he entered into partnership with Judge John Handy. In 1888 he removed to Madison Station where he has since main- tained his home and given his supervision to his extensive planta- tion interests. He is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Dem- ocratic party and in 1886 he represented Madison county in the lower house of the State legislature. He was a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1890 and was the youngest member of that body. In 1898 he was elected to the State senate, from the Eighteenth senatorial district. In 1893 President Cleveland ap- pointed him United States district attorney for the Southern district of Mississippi, and he served four years in this office. In 1902 he was appointed to the same office by President Roosevelt; resigning his seat in the State senate to accept the position, and he was re- appointed in 1906 for a second term of four years. At the time of his resignation from the senate, that body passed special resolutions of an appreciative order, as shown in the following excerpt from Mississippi correspondence appearing in the New Orleans Picayune of Feb. 12, 1902: "No member of the State senate was more popu- lar than Hon. R. C. Lee, of Madison, who resigned to accept the position of United States district attorney for the Southern district of Mississippi. The senate, by rising vote, testified its splendid appreciation of this able, manly and popular Mississippian by the passage of the subjoined resolution by rising vote, to which Mr. Lee made fitting and eloquent response : 'Whereas, the Hon. R. C. Lee has, by reason of his appointment to the office of Federal dis-
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trict attorney, severed his connection, as senator from the Eigh- teenth senatorial district, with this honorable body; Therefore be it resolved, That the senate of Mississippi recognizes the splendid service rendered the State by our brother, Senator Lee, and also desires to express its perfect confidence in him as a high-toned, honorable gentleman and friend, and regrets exceedingly that it has become necessary for him to vacate his seat and leave us, and with the fondest benedictions of this honorable body our brother will enter his new field of duty. And that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the journal of the senate.'" Mr. Lee has a beautiful modern home in Madison Station and is the owner of a large landed estate in Madison county and in the State of Arkansas. He has attained to the thirty-third degree in Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Masonry and is identified with the Knights of Pythias and Knights of Honor; both he and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church. On Nov. 16, 1882, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Lee to Miss Ella J. Bass, daughter of Rev. Isaac R. and Martha J. (Jones) Bass, of Madison Station. Mr. and Mrs. Lee became the parents of six children, of whom two are deceased, namely : Laura Eugenia and Robert Charles, Jr. The living children are: Robert Charles, Jr. (2d), Walthall Bennett, Ella Bass, and Martha Bennett.
Leftwich, George Jabez, is one of the representative members of the bar of Monroe county and is engaged in the practice of his profession at Aberdeen, as senior member of the firm of Leftwich & Tubb. He is a native of Montgomery county, Va., and is a son of Jabez and Mary (Switzer) Leftwich, both of whom were likewise native of the Old Dominion State, the former having been born in Bedford county and the latter in Bote- tourt county. Col. Jabez Leftwich was a soldier and officer in the War of 1812, having served under his brother, Gen. Joel Leftwich, in the command of General Jackson. He was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Another brother, Col. Thomas Leftwich, was commander of the rear guard at Camden, N. J., in the War of the Revolution, and the eldest brother, Col. William Leftwich, was a member of the revo- lutionary committee of Bedford county, Va., in 1775. Lieut. John Leftwich was a soldier in the Revolution, and another of the family, Capt. Jabez Leftwich, the grandfather of our subject, served in the War of 1812. The paternal grandmother of the subject of this review, Martha Jones Early, was a daughter of Bishop John Early and a cousin of Gen. Jubal A. Early. The original American progenitors of the Leftwich family came to the new world from England. Ralph Leftwich arrived in America about 1658, being the first of the family to come to this country and having had a land
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grant from the British government. In Cheshire, England, stands Leftwich Hall, erected 600 years ago by the Leftwich family, num- bered among the English gentry. The family coat of arms bears the motto, "Vernon Semper Floret," Vernon being a family name and the other two words signifying "always blooming." The father of Mr. Leftwich died in 1861, when the son was an infant and the mother is still living in the Old Dominion. Two of the former's brothers were Confederate soldiers, and of the latter's brothers who were in the Confederate service, several lost their lives, among them being George Switzer for whom his nephew, the subject of this sketch, was named. George J. Leftwich completed a course in the high school at Fincastle, Va., and thereafter entered the National normal university, Lebanon, Ohio, in which institution he was grad- uated as a member of the class of 1882, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After his graduation he became principal of the high school at Grayville, Ill., and later he held the principalship of the high school at Carthage, Miss., for five years. In the meanwhile he had taken up the study of law and had been admitted to the bar, in 1886. In fortifying himself further for the work of his profession he com- pleted partial courses in the law departments of the University of Virginia and of Cornell university, New York. In 1888 Mr. Left- wich located in Aberdeen, where he has since been established in the general practice of his profession, in which he has met with unequivocal success and gained distinctive prestige. He was asso- ciated with H. S. Gilleylen until 1904, when he formed a partner- ship with C. L. Tubb, under the firm name of Leftwich & Tubb, which still obtains. Though a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, he has never sought or held public office. He is a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, which he has represented as a lay delegate to two general conferences. His wife is a member of the Baptist church. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, having been exalted ruler of the Aberdeen lodge the first two years of its existence. In December, 1887, Mr. Leftwich was united in mar- riage to Miss Elgenia Groom, daughter of William G. Groom of Caldwell county, a well known Kentucky family transplanted there from Virginia, and they have six children, namely: Mary Marguerite, Katie Elgenia, George Jabez, Jr., Bessie Louise, Will- iam Groom and Frank Switzer. The eldest, Mary Marguerite, is at this writing (1906) a student in Randolph-Macon woman's college at Lynchburg, Va. As a diversion from his professional labors Mr. Leftwich occasionally finds time to contribute to the magazines and periodicals of the day. He is fond of historical and biographical research and is a member of the Mississippi historical society to whose publications he is a frequent contributor.
Love, Philip C., of Arcola, has gained prestige as one of the progressive and successful planters of Washington county and is one of its popular citizens. He was born in Rankin county, Miss., Nov. 22, 1872, and is a son of Joseph F. and Fannie H. (Devine) Love, both of whom were likewise native of this State. Joseph F.
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Love was a loyal soldier of the Confederacy and continued in the ranks until the close of the war. He was identified with the plant- ing industry during his entire active career, and also was engaged in mercantile pursuits for a number of years. He died at Winter- ville, Washington county, in 1891, and his widow continued a resi- dent of the same place until her death, in 1893. Philip C. Love was afforded the advantages of the public schools, his parents having resided in Louisiana during a portion of his boyhood and youth, and he later continued his studies in the Agricultural and Mechan- ical college, at Starkville, Miss., and the Winchester normal school, at Winchester, Tenn. Since leaving school he has been successfully identified with plantation interests in Washington county, where he also has other capitalistic and business interests. He is aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and he is affiliated with Hollandale Lodge, No. 153, Knights of Pythias, at Hollandale, this county. On May 5, 1902, Mr. Love was united in marriage to Miss Corrie Wolf, daughter of Bryant H. and Julia (West) Wolf, of Terry, Hinds county, where she was born and reared.
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