Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 69

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 69

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

598

MISSISSIPPI

highly of the operations of Captain Harvey in the rear and on the flanks of Sherman's army in Georgia. General Sherman himself compares Harvey's Scouts to "a nest of yellow jackets continually buzzing about my trains and stinging severely when I attempted to drive them away." Gen. Stephen D. Lee, a very high authority, says, speaking of this command, "They were everywhere conspicuous for activity, enterprise, persistence and intrepidity." During General Hood's Tennessee campaign Harvey's Scouts became a part of Gen- eral Forrest's command, serving under that "Wizard of the Saddle" until the surrender. Mr. Nash was in Columbus, Ga., at the surren- der, but surrendered in Port Gibson, Miss., about one month after- ward, his purpose being to cross the Mississippi river, and fight with the Trans-Mississippi department; when he reached the river how- ever, he, for the first time, ascertained that the forces on the other side had also surrendered, and it was not until then that hereturned to Port Gibson and surrendered, his parole being dated June 6, 1865. At this date Mr. Nash was still in his teens, had stood the service remarkably well for one so young, so light and so small, as when he entered the Confederate service he only weighed ninety-six pounds. In closing this part of our sketch two noble and heroic acts of this young soldier must not be omitted; namely, in the rescue, from the battle field, of two of his comrades, both privates and both badly wounded, one, John Lorance, now deceased, who, near Atlanta, Ga., had been badly wounded with a sabre in a fight with cav- alry and captured; the other, Alfred Land, who, near Natchez, Miss., had been shot, through and through and bayonetted in a close fight with infantry. Mr. Land is WILEY N. NASH (In His Gray Jacket.) now one of the supreme court judges of A reprint from an old photo taken about twelve months after the sur- render, while a student at the Uni- versity, Oxford, Miss. This state- ment explains why he has on a "biled" shirt. the State of Louisiana. For a more detailed account of these two incidents see Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, Vol. II., pp. 492-493. Mr. Nash has done yeoman service in the many efforts of the white people of Mississippi to wrest the State from radical rule and negro domination. In the great and memorable struggle of 1875, the year, as the negroes say "when de white folks riz," he volunteered to make the race for district attorney of the old Sixth judicial district, this being when the white people of Mississippi made the never-to-be-forgotten fight against the most oppressive civil government that ever disgraced the State, largely upheld as it was by military power. The white people won the victory. This victory also placed Mr. Nash, one of the youngest members of the bar, in the office of district attorney. In 1883 he was elected to the legislature. In the legislature of 1884 he took an active part in all important legislation, especially in the passage

599

BIOGRAPHICAL

of the bill establishing the Industrial Institute and College for the white girls of Mississippi. He labored faithfully for the passage of this bill from the time it came from the senate until it became a law passing the house on the night of March 5, 1884, by a vote of yeas, 45; nays, 43. The speech made by him on that occasion is con- sidered among the best in support of the bill. It was printed and extensively read throughout the State. In 1884 while a member of the Mississippi legislature he introduced a bill in the house of representatives looking to the dividing of the State convicts of the State penitentiary equally between the Gulf coast and the inland or hill counties of Mississippi and the territory known as the Missis- sippi delta, his idea being to keep one half of the penitentiary convicts working continually upon a public highway running from the Gulf coast country up through the inland or hill counties of Missis- sippi to and through the northern part of the State, and to have the. work done so efficiently and in such a manner that the highway could at any time be sold for a railroad bed if proper purchasers could be found; and also keep the other one half of the penitentiary convicts working constantly upon building and keeping up the levees on the Mississippi river, in order to protect the people and the prop- erty in the Mississippi delta country. He was also a member of the Deep Water Harbor convention (appointed by Governor Stone), held a number of years ago at Mississippi City, and one of the vice- presidents of the convention. The same being called by a special act of the legislature. The object of the convention being to promote the. speedy construction of a deep water harbor somewhere on the Gulf coast of Mississippi. His speech before the convention was a well prepared and splendid treatment of the subject, and was extensively distributed and read throughout the State. He was also a member from the State at large (appointed by Governor Stone) of the great Canal convention, held soon after in New Orleans, La., and when the convention met was made spokesman of the Mississippi delegation. The speech made by him before this convention in New Orleans, and his speech before the Deep Water Harbor convention held at Mississippi City, taken in connection with the bill introduced by him while a member of the Mississippi legislature relating to the disposition and working of the penitentiary convicts, show that Mr. Nash has labored faithfully, many years of his life, for the improve- ment and development of the State. This is especially so as to the Gulf coast country, the inland or hill counties of the State, and the Mississippi delta country. In 1896 he became attorney general of Mississippi, being nominated by the Democrats, and elected the previous fall, he held this office for four years. By virtue of his office as attorney general he became ex-officio member of the State board of education, a member of the board of control of the State penitentiary, a member of the State board of election commissioners, a member of the board of public contracts, and a trustee of the State library. These ex-officio positions along with his general duties as attorney general gave him a close insight into the general powers of almost every department of the State government. He served

600

MISSISSIPPI

his State until the expiration of his term, and did not offer for re- election. Had he done so it is believed he would have had no oppo- sition. Mr. Nash is a member of the Baptist church, as was his father and mother. He has been a delegate to the Baptist State convention and a delegate to the Southern Baptist convention. He is a strong believer in religious liberty, members of the immediate family belonging to the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Christ- ian church. He has been grand master of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Mississippi, and stands deservedly high in the estima- tion of the members of the order. At the expiration of his term as grand master, the Grand Lodge, held at Meridian, Miss., unanimously passed a .resolution most complimentary to him and to his admin- istration. He is also a Mason, P. M .; a Knight of Pythias, P. C .; a Woodman of the World, and a Past Protector of the Knights and Ladies of Honor. He has always been honored, respected and es- teemed by these fraternal orders. On Dec. 23, 1874, Mr. Nash and Miss Alice Ervin were united in marriag . Mrs. Nash died April 29, 1905. She was a kind, noble-hearted Christian woman, and died honored and beloved by her family, her relatives and a large circle of friends and acquaintances. On her death-bed she gave the highest evidence of a glorious immortality, and calling to her bedside her husband and her children, a brother and sister and the other relatives present, she gave to each her dying benediction. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Nash-Harry and Evie. The subject of this sketch has served the people of his town, his county and his State faithfully, both in private and in public life. In the various offices he has held he has proved himself to be a good officer, a loyal and true citizen, devoted to duty, and has always ably upheld the interest of good government. In peace and in war he has always stood by and fought for the best interest of the white people of the South. At least six generations of this family now either tread the soil of the South or sleep beneath her sod. He is still numbered among the prominent and influential men of the State, always taking great interest in her agricultural, industrial and commercial devel- opment. In his profession he stands deservedly high, and as a pri- vate citizen and Christian gentleman he is honored and respected wherever known. In concluding this sketch we find these words appropriately published in 1892, over the signature of "Oktibbeha," urging him to enter the race for governor, taken from the East Mis- sissippi Times: "Among the liberal number of public men of today, it occurs to us that General Nash stands well to the front. While his many efforts since early manhood have embraced in an especial way, his fellow citizens at home, and while they have especially received the benefits resulting from this effective public-spiritedness, his love and beneficence has by no means been limited by the bounds of his town and county; but through the entire length and breadth of our State her people have felt the result of his usefulness. Brave, he has never shirked a duty, whether public or private, but ever true to his convictions, he has stood like Jackson at Bull Run, no matter how formidable the opposition. Whether marching athwart the

601

BIOGRAPHICAL

battle field when the horrors of bloody war were upon us, or struggling in the conflicts incident to the times of peace, he has ever been brave. Honest, he stands before the world of criticism with no fear of accu- sation. Pure, no questionable act of his many years of public life has ever laid open a gap for stigmatisnı. In the cause of honesty, of moral elevation, of education, of public peace and progress we find that he has always taken a leading part and many times at the sacrifice of his personal interest. . General Nash looks to be in fine health, and to have before him many years of usefulness; this he attributes largely to out-door exercise and to light manual labor; "honor lies in honest toil," is one of the maxims in his life. It is seldom he allows anything to prevent him from spending some time, each day, out of doors. His farm enables hin to do this. He also derives much pleasure, during the proper season, in planting shade and fruit trees. A part of his small farm is planted with pecan trees, in which he takes much interest. In many respects he is certainly a good example to the young, to the youth of our land. He says when on his farm and among his trees he often thinks of these lines :---

"Give fools their gold and knaves their power, Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall, Who sows a field, or trains a flower, Or plants a tree, is more than all."

As the world judges a man, he is neither poor nor wealthy, reasonably independent. He does not covet riches. His means through life have increased -- but gradually. He holds to the idea that every one should strive to prosper through life-

"Not for to hide it in a hedge, Nor for a train attendant, But for the glorious privilege Of being independent."

General Nash has been associated in the practice of law, at different times with the following gentlemen : Hon. H. L. Muldrow, deceased, a man of national reputation; Hon. C. H. Alexander, now a promi- nent member of the bar, Jackson, Miss .; Hon. E. R. Seward, and J. W. Pinson, Esq., of Ackerman, Miss .; and Hon. James Drane and Hon. Frank Holloway, both deceased. He has living, three sisters - Mrs. C. L. Wilson and Mrs. Emma Nash Wilson, of Mount Hebron, Ala .; and Miss Stenonia Nash, near Warsaw, Ala. His daughter, Evie Nash, is now Mrs. Hand, and has one son, Wiley Nash Hand. Harry (Harry Ervin Nash), the son of General Nash, was a volunteer in the Spanish-American war; a member of the "Adams light infan- try," of Natchez, Miss., Second Mississippi regiment; Seventh army corps. 'n the preparation of this sketch data has been taken from the Historical and Biographical Memoirs of Mississippi; that part of Claiborne's History, 2d. Vol., relating to Harvey's Scouts, which was never printed in book form, but published in the East Missis- sippi Times, and Clarion Ledger, a part in each; and to the legisla-

602

MISSISSIPPI

tive, judicial and department records of Mississippi; as well as the current history and literature of the day.

Nelson, J. E., of Vicksburg, Miss., was born in Kieff, Russia, Jan. 15, 1866. He was educated in the private schools of his native place and immigrated to the United States in 1886, remaining awhile in New York city. In 1891 he came to Vicksburg and engaged in buying cotton, wool, hides, etc., a business in which he has been very successful and is now president of the Mississippi Valley Batting Company, which he helped to organize. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. In 189S, Mr. Nelson was married to Miss Rosa Nauen and they have two children-Florien and Burbey.

Neal, William S., of Raymond, is one of the popular citizens and officials of Hinds county, being incumbent of the office of assessor of the county. He was born near Livingston, Madison county, Miss., June 30, 1850, and his love for and - loyalty to his native State are of the most insistent order. He is a son of Littlebury and Sarah (Baskin) Neal, being the first- born in a family of ten children-seven sons and three daughters. His parents were both native of Georgia, when they came to Mississippi about 1830, and their marriage having here been solemnized in 1849. Littlebury Neal devoted the greater portion of his active career to agricultural pursuits, and was one of the successful planters and honored citizens of Hinds county at the time of his death, which occurred in 1885. His widow sur- vived him by nearly a decade, her death occurring, in Raymond, in the year 1894. She was a devoted member of the Christian church. William S. Neal was reared under the grateful influences of the home plantation and after duly availing himself of the advantages afforded in the common schools he continued his studies for one year in Mis- sissippi college, at Clinton. His principal vocation in life has been farming and he is still the owner of a valuable plantation in Madison county. In 1892 he removed to Raymond and assumed the office of deputy clerk of the circuit court, of which position he remained in tenure eight years, at the expiration of which, in the autumn of 1900, he was elected county assessor, in which office he has since con- tinued, giving a most able and satisfactory administration. He is well known throughout the county and enjoys the most unqualified personal and official popularity. He holds membership in the Ma- sonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. Mrs. Neal is a zealous member of the Baptist church. On March 18, 1873, Mr. Neal was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Stokes, daughter of Dr. George and Charlotte (Graves) Stokes, of Hinds county, where Mrs. Neal was born and reared, her father's fine plantation being located near Clinton. To Mr. an1 Mrs. Neal have been born seven children, concerning whom the following

603

BIOGRAPHICAL

brief record is given: Frank is the wife of A. H. Sivley, of Raymond; Littlebury is a resident of Raymond, Hinds county; Ruth remains at the parental home; William S. is flagman on the Yazoo & Mis- sissippi Valley railroad; George, also of Raymond, and Nancy and Thomas are the younger members of the home circle.

Newman, L. L., M. D., a physician and surgeon of ability now practicing in Cherry Creek, Pontotoc county, was born in Fay- etteville, Tenn. He is a son of Dr. Martin Wiley and Jane H. (Smith) Newman. On the maternal side he is a grandson of Rev. A. B. Smith of the Baptist church, one of the early settlers of Poplar Springs, Miss. The Newman family are of English des- cent and figured prominently in the Conti- nental army during the Revolutionary war. Dr. Martin Wiley Newman came to Pontotoc county in 1872 from Virginia. In the latter State he had enlisted in the Confederate army in the Twenty-eighth Virginia infantry, and served under "Stonewall" Jackson, and after that lamented leader's death, under Gen. A. P. Hill. He is now en- gaged in the pharmacy business in Pontotoc county and is promi- nently identified with the United Confederate Veterans. Dr. L. L. Newman, the subject of this sketch, received his preliminary educa- tion in the schools of Tennessee and of Mississippi and then attended the State Normal school at Poplar Springs, where in 1890 he was

given the degree of Bachelor of Science. In 1895 he graduated at the Wisconsin college of Physicians and Surgeons in Milwaukee and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. After three years of practice in the Indian Territory he came to Mississippi and for eight months was resident and house surgeon in the Mississippi State hos- pital at Vicksburg. About 1898 he came to Pontotoc county and has since been continuously and successfully engaged in his prac- tice, which has grown in a few years to one of large dimensions. In political matters Dr. Newman is a Democrat. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America and is identified with the American medical association, the Mississippi State medical association and the Pontotoc county medical association, of which latter organization he is at present vice-president. The doctor's wife was formerly Miss Josie Mivelaiz, of French descent, a daughter of Laurence Mivelaiz o. Fort Smith, Ark. To the doctor and Mrs. Newman have been born two daugh- ters, Blanche and Mary. The Newman family are well known over the State, a brother of the doctor, Charles F. Newman, being editor of the Baldwin Home Journal (formerly called the Signet). An- other brother, T. W. Newman, resides in Ecru.

604

MISSISSIPPI

Newton, Oscar, Jr., manager and cashier of the Bank of Brookhaven, Lincoln county, is a native of Copiah county, Miss., having been born in Crystal Springs, March 4, 1877, and being a son of James Marius and Martha (Willing) Newton, the former of whom was a native of Missis- sippi, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and the latter of whom was born in Crystal Springs, this State, of English lineage. Mr. Newton was prepared for college in the seminary conducted by Rev. Oscar Newton, in Crystal Springs, and he thereafter contin- ued his studies for a brief interval in the Southwestern Presbyterian university, at Clarksville, Tenn. At the age of eighteen years he secured a position in a banking institution in Crystal Springs, where he remained until 1900, when he took up his residence in Brookhaven, where he assumed the office of manager and cashier of the Bank of Brookhaven, which incumbency he still retains. He has done much to forward the interests of this solid and popular financial institution and is recog- nized as an able and discriminating executive officer. He takes a loyal interest in local affairs of a public nature and is an alert and progressive young business man. He is identified with the Ma- sonic order and with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fraternity and both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. In 1896 Mr. Newton was united in marriage to Miss Loraine John- son, daughter of John and Nannie (Catchings) Johnson, of Copiah county, Miss., and they have two children-Oscar and Louise.

Noah, William M., of Kosciusko, of which place he is mayor, is one of the successful and popular members of the newspaper fra- ternity in the State and is editor and publisher of the Kosciusko Herald. He was born in Attala county, of which Kosciusko is the judicial center, July 8, 1864, and is a son of Alexander G. and Re- becca (Gunter) Noah. His father was a native of Tennessee, whence he came to Attala county in 1847. He became a successful planter of this section of the State and served as county sheriff for a period of eight years. The subject of this sketch was afforded the advan- tages of a private school conducted by Dr. T. A. S. Adams, of Kos- ciusko, and after leaving school he was identified with planting interests until 1888, when he purchased the Kosciusko Star. Later he purchased the Mississippi Farmer and gave to this paper the name of the Kosciusko Herald. He has since continued the publication of this journal, which is ably edited, is of attractive letter-press and has a representative circulation in the county. He has a well equip- ped plant, with all requisite facilities for high-grade job work. Mr. Noah is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, of whose cause his paper is an able exponent. He served as mayor of Kosciusko from 1892 to 1897, and in 1900 he was again chosen chief executive of the municipal government, of which office he has.

605

BIOGRAPHICAL

since remained in tenure and in which he has given a most progres- sive and satisfactory administration. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South. On April 23, 1899, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Noah to Miss Margaret Sweatt, daughter of Nathan N. Sweatt, a well known citizen of At- tala county. Mr. and Mrs. Noah have four children : Bessie, Grace, Eva and Katherine.

Noble, Albert William, editor and publisher of the Laurel Chroni- cle, at Laurel, is to be noted as one of the representative young news- paper men of the State, and is meeting with marked success in his present field, his paper being the leading paper of Jones county. Mr. Noble was born in Birmingham, Jefferson county, Ala., on April 5, 1874, being a son of Robert P. and Helen D. (Love) Noble, both of whom were born in Sumter county, that State. Albert W. Noble is a direct descendant from the Noble and Calhoun families which" were established on American soil in the early colonial era, both names having been prominent in the annals of the nation. One of his great-grandfathers in the maternal line was named Savage and was born and lived in Ireland, and there killed an Englishman who had presumptuously cut and removed a green sash from Savage's sister,-the act being an insult to the country as well as the woman in the case. Capt. Stephen Noble, paternal grandfather of Albert W., was an active. participant in the War of 1812. At the time of the Civil war, Robert P. Noble espoused with all of devotion the cause of the Confederacy, becoming a member of the Third Arkansas in- fantry and taking part in all of the engagements of the Army of Northern Virginia, under Gen. Robert E. Lee. For some time he had charge of the commissary department of his command, and he continued in service until the close of the war. Albert W. Noble was educated in a well equipped private military school at Living- ston, Ala., in which town he gained his initial experience in con- nection with the newspaper and printing business, becoming "devil" in the office of the Livingston Journal and there gaining an excellent knowledge of the "art preservative of all arts." After one year he established the Marengo Democrat, at Linden, Ala., being nineteen years of age at the time, and in 1896 he assumed charge of the Jasper County Review, at Paulding, Miss., where he remained until October of 1901, when he came to Laurel and purchased the Chronicle, of which he has since been editor and publisher and which he has made the leading paper of the county, although it is not published in the county seat. He has a well equipped plant, his facilities for the handling of job work being adequate to all demands, and the paper which he publishes is a true exponent of local interests and is thus given an appreciative support in the county. In politics Mr. Noble is a stanch supporter of the principles of the Democracy, whose cause he advocates both personally and through the columns of his paper. He is a member of the Mississippi Press association, is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Woodmen of the World and other fraternal orders. June 29, 1899, witnessed the marriage of Mr. Noble to Miss Leila Cope, daughter of Sidney and Sinie (Smith)

606

MISSISSIPPI

Cope, of Washington county, Ala., and two children are the offspring of this union: Albert Sidney, born August 29, 1900; and Leila, born Dec. 22, 1902. Mrs. Noble died on Oct. 27, 1905.

Norman, Christopher Rankin, M. D., one of the venerable and distinguished physi- cians and surgeons of Mississippi, is a representative of one of the honored pio- neer families of the State, which has been his home from the time of his birth, and he is still engaged in the active work of his profession, in Dlo, Simpson county, being, in all probability, the oldest of the pioneer physicians now following profes- sional work within the confines of the commonwealth, while further distinction is his from having been one of the loyal defenders of the Confederacy during the Civil war, in which he served as surgeon. Dr. Norman was born in Pike county, Miss., March 2, 1828, and is thus approaching the age of four score years, though his bearing and physical powers give slight evidence of this fact. He is a son of Thomas and Mary (Powell) Norman, the former of whom was born in Tennessee, while the latter was born in the State of Georgia, their marriage being solemnized in Pike county about the time the State was admitted to the Union, where the father became a pioneer planter and influential citizen. Dr. Norman received his earlier educational training in Pearl River academy, one of the leading educational insti- tutions of the State at that time, and later he took up the study of medicine at Canton, Madison county, gaining an excellent prelim- inary knowledge of a technical sort and supplementing this by taking courses of lectures in leading medical schools in New Orleans, La., and Memphis, Tenn. In the meanwhile he had done effective service as a teacher in the schools of Mississippi, and he then located in the practice of his profession in Madison county, whence he later removed to Rankin coutny, where he was successfully engaged in general practice for nearly half a century, enduring the strenuous labors and self-abnegating toil which was the portion of the faithful physician of the early days, ministering to those in distress with solicitous care, no matter how great the discomforts and hardships entailed in a personal way. It is needless to say that he is held in affection- ate regard by many of the old and prominent families of Rankin and adjoining counties. In 1900 Dr. Norman located in Dlo, Simpson county, where he still continues in practice, though in a more limited way, and where he conducts a prosperous drug business, having a finely appointed store. At the outbreak of the Civil war Dr. Nor- man enlisted in the Tenth Mississippi infantry as a private and one year later became a member of the Thirty-ninth regiment, with which he served as a surgeon until victory crowned the Union arms and left to the Confederacy the history of a "lost cause" for which its valiant sons had so nobly striven. The doctor was at the siege of

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 69

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