Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 57

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 57

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people's battle against a monopoly, strongly entrenched and cor- respondingly defiant." In 1902, Mr. Mashburn was again elected to the board of aldermen, while his name has been frequently and prominently mentioned in connection with nomination for the may- oralty, but he has invariably refused to permit the formal presen- tation of his name in the nominating convention, believing that his private business affairs demand so much of his time and attention that he could not do justice to the same and to the office of mayor. In 1905 he was elected to the council from the fourth ward and is president of that body. He is a loyal and enthus- iastic member of the Democratic party, taking an active interest in the party cause. Mr. Mashburn is a member of Walthall Camp, United Confederate Veterans, of Meridian and of the A. O. U. W. and W. O. W. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, of which he is an elder and superintendent of the Sabbath school. On March 7, 1867, our subject led to the altar Martha Colley, a daughter of Daniel and Ollie Colley of Haversham county, Ga. They became the parents of five children, four of whom are living: Martha, living at home; Geo. W., who died at the age of eigh- teen years; Wallace K., of Meridian; Sarah, now the wife of Frank Kaye, of Meridian; Florence, the wife of J. P. Persons, of Griffin, Ga. Matthews, John R., the efficient and popular postmaster at Wesson, has passed his entire life in Copiah county and is a member of one of the representative families of this section of the State. He was born on the homestead plantation, Jan. 7, 1875, and is a son of James M. and Lavinia (Barlow) Matthews, both of whom were likewise born in Mississippi, the former being of Scotch-Irish descent; both died in this county. After attending the schools of Copiah county Mr. Matthews continued his studies in the public schools at Union Church, Jefferson county, where he prepared for college. He attended Millsaps college for a time and then entered the University of Mis- sissippi, where he was a student for two years. After leaving the university Mr. Matthews returned to his home county, with whose civic and business life he has since continued to be closely identified. In 1899, under the administration of President Mckinley, he was appointed and commissioned postmaster at Wesson, and in Decem- ber, 1903, under the regime of President Roosevelt, he was appointed as his own successor. He has given a most able administration of the affairs of the local postoffice and has gained the uniform commen- dation and support of the community. In politics Mr. Matthews is aligned with the Republican party so far as national and State issues are involved, and he has been a delegate to the State conven- tion of the party, also having served as chairman of the county and district conventions of the same. He is a member of the Knights

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of Pythias and the Knights and Ladies of Honor. In December, 1899, Mr. Matthews was united in marriage to Miss Nannie Bridger, daughter of John D. Bridger, of Claiborne county, and they have two children-Maria Livinia and James Meredith.

Mathews, William T., mayor of Cleve- land, was born at Lafayette, Ala., April 25, 1860. His parents were James M. and Sarah (Cargile) Mathews, the former a native of Paulding county, Ga., and the latter of Eufaula, Ala. James M. Ma- thews served in Stonewall Jackson's corps, Longstreet's division, of the army of Northern Virginia throughout the war. His regiment participated in all the battles from the first battle of Manassas to the surrender at Appomattox, but Mr. Ma- thews fortunately returned without a scar. William T. Mathews was educated in the common schools in the vicinity of his birthplace. For many years he has followed commercial pur- suits and incidentally managed a plantation. In politics he is a Democrat, and besides having been chosen mayor of his city as such, he has served on the board of county supervisors. His religious affiliations are with the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Emma, daughter of Nelson Tucker, of Arkansas, who died in 1897 after having borne him two children-Frederick and Grace. On March 27, 1898, he led to the altar Miss Ethel Howard, daughter of J. J. and Caroline (Thornton) Howard, of Senatobia, Miss. To this marriage have been born two children-Clara and Clyde. The mayor is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. May, George Williams, one of the most prominent of the younger generation of attorneys-at-law in Jackson, was born at Dlo in Simpson county, Miss., Jan. 8, 1876. He is a son of William R. and Mary F. May, the former born at West- ville, Miss., and the latter at Cato, in the same State. His grandfather, George W. Johnston, served with distinction in the Confederate army during the great struggle in the sixties for four years, and for two terms was the representative of Simpson county in the State legisla- ture. The subject of this memoir re- ceived a preliminary education in the common schools of Mississippi and then an academic collegiate course in Mississippi college at Clinton. His legal training was ac- quired in the law department of Millsaps college at Jackson. In In 1894 and 1895 Mr. May engaged in teaching and then for two

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years was employed as a bookkeeper in the office of the State treas- urer. In 1898 he was promoted to be cashier in the same department of the State government and served with satisfaction to the official head during that year and the year following. Since the beginning of 1900 he has been successfully engaged in the practice of law, and is ranked as one of the leaders of his profession. In politics he is a Democrat, but has never held office. Mr. May has never married. Fraternally he is a member of Kappa Alpha college fraternity, hav- ing been actively identified with the Alpha Mu chapter of the same, and is a member of Mississippi lodge, No. 416, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and held the office of exalted ruler of said lodge from April, 1904, to April, 1905. He is a young man of great promise and his friends predict a great future for him. He is a member of the law firm of May & Flowers of Jackson, Miss., and. his firm are the Mississippi attorneys for the Mobile, Jackson & Kansas City railroad.

Mayers, Thomas J., an old and popular physician of Shelby, was born at Floyd, Floyd county, Va., Jan. 8, 1839. He is a son of .Hiram and Rebecca (Zentmeyer) Mayers, both natives of Virginia, the former of Montgomery and the latter of Botetourt county. For several genera- tions some members of his family have been physicians. His great-grandfather was a surgeon on the staff of General Washington in the Revolutionary war. The maternal grandfather, John Zent- meyer, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and fought with Jackson at the historic battle of New Orleans. The late Judge A. G. Mayers, of Brandon, Miss., was a cousin of Dr. Mayers. Dr. Thomas J. Mayers came to Mississippi in 1855. Prior to that time he had received a general education in the common schools of his. native State and at Emory and Henry college, and in 1859 received the degree of M. D. from the St. Louis medical college, St. Louis, Mo. On the last day of March, 1861, he was mustered into the Con- federate service as a member of the Vicksburg light artillery, but after nine months with that organization he obtained permission to. enlist in Company G, Ninth Mississippi infantry, and became second lieutenant of his company. On May 29, 1862, he was severely wounded at Corinth, having his right leg shot nearly off. He re- signed his commission and returned home, but after a time recovered from the effects of his wound sufficiently to engage in scout duty, in which he continued to the close of the war. His record as a soldier is an honorable one, as he was wounded five times while in the line of duty, the one received at Corinth being the most distressing. Before the war he had not practiced his profession to any considerable extent, but after the war he took up medicine as his chosen calling and has followed it ever since. In 1869 he located in Bolivar county,

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Miss., and is now the only physician there who was practicing in the county at the time. For nearly forty years he has been a familiar figure in and about Shelby, and in that time has been the means of restoring hundreds of afflicted people to health. Owing to his ad- vancing years he is trying to give up his professional work, though he is still frequently called upon to attend some of his old patients or some member of their families. He owns some fine farm lands near Shelby and these yield him a comfortable income from rentals. Dr. Mayers is a member of the American and the Mississippi State medical associations, the Bolivar county medical society, and the Six Counties medical society of Clarksdale. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Methodist Episcopal church, South. In politics he is a Democrat of the Andrew Jackson type, always stanch and true to his principles under all circumstances. He has served the city of Shelby as alderman and mayor, and has always taken an interest in every movement for the betterment of the city and its institutions. He has been married three times. In Septem- ber, 1862, he was united in wedlock to Miss Josephine Marble, of Warren county, Miss. She died in 1867 and the following year he married Miss Dicey Duckworth, of Morehouse parish, La. Her death occurred in 1878 and in 1885 he married Miss Rosa Sherwood, of Algona, Ia. His children by his first and second wives are all deceased. By his third wife he has one daughter, Goldie E., now the wife of Dr. M. P. Winkler, of Tchula, Miss.

Mayes, Daniel, was eminently distinguished as a legist and jurist and though his residence in Mississippi compassed but little more than two decades he left a deep impress upon the annals of its bar, which he dignified and honored by his presence and services, and it is most fitting that a brief tribute to his memory be entered in this publication. Judge Mayes was born in Dinwiddie county, Va., in 1792 and his death occurred in the city of Jackson, Miss., in 1861. He was a son of Robert Chappell Mayes, who likewise was native of Dinwiddie county, and of Agnes (Locke) Mayes, daughter of Richard and Agnes (Hardaway) Locke, of Prince George county, Va. Robert C. Mayes removed from the Old Dominion State to Kentucky, locat- ing in Fayette county and a few years later removing to Christian county, that State, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was a son of Matthew and Martha (Chappell) Mayes, of Prince George county, Va., in which historic old commonwealth the respective families had settled at an early date. Matthew Mayes was a patriot soldier in the War of the Revolution and was a descend- ant of Rev. William Mays, as the name was then spelled, who immi- grated to Virginia in 1611 and who was preacher in charge at Kegoghtam, that colony. He died in Jamestown, Va., about 1665. Richard Locke, maternal grandfather of the subject of this memoir, likewise served in the Continental line in the Revolutionary war, as a member of the Virginia troops. Judge Daniel Mayes was afforded the advantages of an excellent private school and read law under an able preceptor. About 1815 he engaged in the practice of his profession in Christian county, Ky., and later practiced at Lexing-

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ton, that State. In 1838 he took up his residence in Jackson, Miss., where he followed the work of his profession until 1850, after which he was engaged in practice in New Orleans, La., until 1852, when he returned to Jackson, where he passed the remainder of his long and useful life. He served as a private in the War of 1812, though a mere boy at the time. He represented Christian county in the Kentucky legislature in 1826, and in 1845 he was the nominee of the Whig party for the office of attorney-general of Mississippi, but was defeated with the rest of the party ticket. He was a close personal friend of Henry Clay and was prominent and influential in the coun- cils of his political party. Judge Mayes served on the bench of the circuit court in Kentucky and later became a member of the law faculty of Transylvania university, at Lexington, that State. In 1852 he was lecturer on the common law in the law school of the University of Louisiana, now Tulane university, at New Orleans, and in 1856 he was professor of law in the college at Jackson, Miss. He was a man of the highest intellectual and professional attain- ments, and his integrity of character was inviolable. As a lawyer he ranked among the ablest who have lent dignity and distinction to the Mississippi bar. He was a devout member of the Christian or Campbellite, church, and during the latter portion of his life fre- quently preached sermons as a layman.

Mayes, Edward, a lawyer of Jackson, Miss., was born in Hinds county, Miss., Dec. 15, 1846. He is the youngest son, by a second marriage, of Daniel and Elizabeth (Rigg) Mayes. Both parents were natives of Virginia. His father was a descendant of the Rev. William Mayes, who, in the year 1611, immigrated to Virginia in the active ministry. Daniel Mayes grew to manhood in Christian county, Ky., where he served in the legis- lature; afterwards on the circuit bench, and then filling the chair of law in Tran- sylvania university. In 1839 he moved to Jackson, Miss., and engaged in the practice of law at that bar. Edward Mayes, the subject of this sketch, was at the outbreak of the Civil war, a student at Bethany college, Virginia (now West Virginia). When hostilities began he returned to Jackson, and there engaged in business until April, 1864, when he volunteered as a private in Whitney's company (Co. H) of the Fourth Mississippi cavalry, of the Confederate army, and served until the end of the war. In October, 1865, he entered the fresh- man class of the State university, completed the course in three vears and took the A. B. degree in 1868. In the next year he re- ceived the degree of B. L. from the same institution. In May, 1869, he married Miss Frances Eliza, oldest child of the late Justice Lucius Q. C. Lamar, and granddaughter of Dr. A. B. Longstreet. In 1871, after serving a year as tutor of English at the university, he moved

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to Coffeeville, Miss., and there entered the active practice of law. In May, 1872, he moved to Oxford; and in 1877 was elected professor of law in the university, which position he filled until December, 1891. About 1886 the degree of LL. D. was conferred on him by Mississippi college. In 1887 he was elected chairman of the faculty of the university, performing the usual duties of a chancellor; and in 1889, the chancellorship having been re-established, was elected to the office. While chairman, he successfully defended, in a news- paper controversy with Senator J. Z. George, the Endowment Act of 1880, by which the State had recognized its indebtedness to the university and provided for the appropriation of the annual interest on the debt. Under Dr. Mayes' chancellorship the course of study at the university was remodeled, the close curriculum being aban- doned, and the present system of parallel courses and independent schools established. He also erected the present library building, having the bricks burnt on the grounds, and all of the work done by day labor, paying for the same out of the ordinary revenues of the institution. As a member of the Mississippi constitutional conven- tion of 1890, he served as chairman of the committee on bill of rights and general provisions; and many of the constitutional provisions were originated by him, among them being the provision by which the officers for the State at large are elected by the electoral votes of counties. In December, 1891, Chancellor Mayes voluntarily re- signed his office and professorship, in order to move to Jackson and enter upon the practice of law. Since then he has been employed as district attorney for Mississippi by the Illinois Central and the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railroads, and has taken a leading part in several of the most important cases in the legal history of the State. On the establishment of the law school in Millsaps college in 1895, he was elected a professor of law and dean of the law faculty, which position he still holds. In 1900 he was chosen a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket. In 1891 and again in 1901, he was appoint- ed delegate of the Ecumenical Conferences of the Methodist church, South, of which he has been a member since his college days. He was a charter member and the first president of the Mississippi his- torical society, and is regarded as one of the ablest lawyers and ripest scholars in the South. Dr. Mayes has made the following contributions to Mississippi literature: "A Glance at the Fountains of Our Land Titles," (Mississippi Bar Association Minutes, 1887) ; "The Administration of Estates in Mississippi," (Ibid., 1891) ; "Origin of the Pacific Railroads, and Especially of the Southern Pacific," (Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, 1902) ; "Life, Times and Speeches of L. Q. C. Lamar," (large 8vo, 1889); "History of Education in Mississippi," (8vo, published as a public document by the United States government, 1899). Chancellor Mayes has five children-Mrs. Mary L. Sanders, Mrs. Elizabeth L. Eakin, Lucius L., Francis L., and Basil R.

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Mayson, Charles G., of Purvis, occupies a leading position at the bar of the State and is a scion of one of the old and distinguished families of Mississippi. His grandfather, Charles C. Mayson, came to Mississippi from Columbia, Tenn., having previously been a resi- dent of the city of Charleston, S. C. In 1835 he was elected treas- urer of the State of Mississippi, and he died in the following year, while incumbent of that important office. Col. Hamilton Mayson, father of him whose name initiates this paragraph, was born in Col- umbia, Tenn., and was a child at the time of his parents' removal to Mississippi, where he ever afterward made his home. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Pitman, was born in Columbia, Miss., and is likewise a representative of a prominent pioneer family. Col. Mayson rendered distinguished service in defense of the cause of the Confederacy during the dark and turbulent epoch of the Civil war, having been colonel of the Seventh Mississippi infantry, in the army of the Tennessee and having taken part in many of the note- worthy battles of the great conflict, including those of Shiloh and Corinth. He was a member of the State senate of Mississippi during 1863-4 and was thus concerned in the important work which came before the body during the progress of the war. Colonel Mayson was a member of the first class to be graduated from the University of Mississippi, that of 1852, and was captain of the University Guards, a fine military organization. His commission was signed by Gen. John A. Quitman, of Mexican war fame, who was at that time gover- nor of Mississippi. Colonel and Mrs. Mayson resided at Columbia, Miss., at the time of the Colonel's death in 1869, and his widow con- tinues to reside there. Charles G. Mayson was born in the city of Columbia, Miss., on Feb. 11, 1867, and was there reared to maturity, having duly followed through the curriculum of the public schools, including the high school after which he was matriculated in his father's alma mater, the University of Mississippi, at Oxford. He remained a student of this university for two years, and later con- tinued his studies during one summer in the historic old University of Virginia. In 1892 Mr. Mayson was given preferment in an official way, being made chancery and circuit clerk of Marion county, of of which dual office he remained incumbent for eight years. In the meanwhile he had given careful study to the science of jurispru- dence and made himself eligible for admission to the bar of his native State, and upon retiring from office, in 1900, he engaged in the prac- tice of law in Columbia, from which point he transferred his resi- dence and headquarters to Purvis in 1900, taking rank among the leading members of his profession in the recently organized county and controlling an excellent practice at the present time. He is a stalwart advocate of the principles for which the true Democracy has ever stood exponent, his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias. On Dec. 17, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Mayson to Miss Lona Holleman, daughter of John W. and Annie (Murphy) Holleman, of Purvis. They have four children- James Neville, Louise, Janice and Charles G., Jr.

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Menger, William O., a furniture dealer of Vicksburg, Miss., was born in Clinton, Miss., May 8, 1863, and is a son of Prof. Emil Menger, and Mary (Seaman) Menger, both of whom were native of Germany. They immigrated to the United States in their youth and were married in New Orleans; Prof. Menger was a musician and was professor of music at Hillman col- lege, Clinton, Miss., for forty-two years. He died of yellow fever in 1897, his wife and seven children surviving him. Mr. Menger was educated at Mississippi col- lege, Clinton, Miss. In 1879 he came to Vicksburg where he clerked for ten years. In 1889, he opened a furniture store which he now conducts on a large scale. He is interested in the Yazoo City Furniture Company, Wachenheim & Menger Furniture Company and Tucker & Menger Furniture Company of Vicksburg. Mr. Menger is a member of the Baptist church, and fraternally is a Mason, Knight of Pythias, Mys- tic Shriner and Woodman of the World; a member of the Fraternity of American Citizens and of I. O. O. F., of the last of which he is Grand Master. He was married to Miss Lois Wells, of Vaiden, Miss., Oct. 9, 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Menger have five children : Marie L., Meredith, Kenneth B., Emil W. and Helen A.

Meriwether, Charles Stathan, one of the leading members of the bar of Jackson county, is engaged in the practice of his profession in Scranton. He was born in Carroll county, Miss., Nov. 28, 1848, and is a son of J. Nicholas and Helen (Stathan) Meriwether, the former native of Todd county, Ky., and the latter of the State of Georgia. Mr. Meriwether is indebted to the common schools of Tallahatchie county, Miss., for his early educational training, and when but sixteen years of age he tendered his services to the Confed- erate government and went forth to do battle for the cause, this being in 1864, when the conflict between the North and South was raging most fiercely. He enlisted in Capt. W. H. Ashby's company of scouts and served in this command until the close of the war, doing scouting principally in Mississippi and Tennessee and partici- pating in a number of spirited skirmishes. After the close of the great struggle he located in Charleston, Miss., where he took up the study of the law, having previously canvassed the situation and carefully defined his plans for a future career. When twenty-one years of age Mr. Meriwether was admitted to the bar of his native State and he began the active practice of his profession in Charles- ton, where he entered into partnership with W. S. Eskridge, under the firm name of Eskridge & Meriwether. This professional alliance was dissolved four years later and Mr. Meriwether then removed to Coffeeville, Yalobusha county, where he built up a large and lucrative practice, continuing his residence there for a decade. In 1885 he came to Scranton, where he has since maintained his pro-

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fessional headquarters, retaining a large and representative clientage and having been concerned in much of the important litigation which has been brought before the circuit and federal courts. In 1886, in conjunction with Hon. Horace Bloomfield, Mr. Meriwether secured the incorporation of the town of Scranton, and his interest in its welfare has never flagged, while his aid and influence are freely given to all worthy measures tending to conserve the advancement and prosperity of the town, as also of his residence city of Pascagoula, of which he was elected mayor in 1902, serving one term. He is a stalwart Democrat in his political proclivities, and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife also was a de- voted member, her death having occurred May 20, 1900. She was born and reared in Mississippi, her maiden name having been Eliza Thornton. She was a daughter of Philip Thornton, a well known resident of Tallahatchie county. Four children survive the loved and devoted mother-Charles N., Henry Thornton, Hattie Belle and Eliza Thornton.

Meriwether, James O., one of the hon- ored pioneers and successful planters of Tate county, resides in the attractive village of Senatobia, where he has a pleas- ant home. Mr. Meriwether was born in Oglethorpe county, Ga., in December, 1831, and is a son of Charles and Mildred (Oliver) Meriwether. His father had been a prosperous planter in Georgia, whence he removed with his family to Mississippi in 1852, settling in what is now Tate county, then a portion of DeSoto county, and here acquiring a large landed estate and becoming one of the representative farmers and stock-growers of this section, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. James O. Meriwether secured his early educational training in the schools. of Georgia and after the removal of the family to Mississippi he became interested in the agricultural enterprises and in due time initiated operations on his own responsibility. He has been very successful in his endeavors as a planter, and he continued to reside upon his homestead, near Senatobia, until 1886, when he took up his residence in the town, which is the judicial center of the county, and he still gives a general supervision to his plantation, which com- prises more than 1,700 acres of well improved land. His town residence is an attractive one of modern design and facilities, and here he is permitted to enjoy the rewards of his former years of earnest application. At the time of the Civil war Mr. Meriwether enlisted for service in the Confederate ranks, having become a member of an independent company which later became a portion of the forces under General Forrest, in the cavalry arm of the service, while during the latter portion of his term as a soldier Mr. Meriwether was in Chalmer's escort company, with which he was identified until the

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 57

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