Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 70

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 70

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Port Hudson, and after the capitulation joined Gen. Joseph E. John- ston's command, the Army of the Tennessee. He was present at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, where his brigade held the top of the mountain, and thereafter was with his command in the battles. of Atlanta, Franklin and Nashville, in which last mentioned city he was in the hospital, being one of the last of the Confederate sol- diers to leave the city. In the siege of Mobile the doctor was also on duty with his regiment. He was captured at Port Hudson and later at Mobile, and on the latter occasion was taken to Ship Island, where he was held in captivity for some time, the war closing soon after his exchange was effected. Dr. Norman was a participant in the following engagements: Fort Pickens, Port Hudson, Kenesaw Mountain, Franklin, Cassville, Nashville, Murfreesboro, Mobile and many skirmishes. He was in service as surgeon during practically . the entire course of the great conflict, and none rendered more faith- ful, unselfish and able service. After the siege of Port Hudson and Vicksburg the troops were thrown into a parole camp at Enterprise Camp, Miss., and there the doctor was chief surgeon. He is said to have performed the last capital operation of the Civil war. Dr. Norman is a member of the American medical association, as well as the associations of the State and county, and he is active in the work of the latter two, where he is an honored representative in the various meetings of his professional confreres, who look upon him as the veritable dean of the profession in the State. Dr. Norman is a frequent contributor to medical journals on tuberculosis He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and he has long been a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while his wife is a Presby- terian. On Nov. 29, 1865, Dr. Norman was united in marriage to Miss Sorintha J. Easterling, daughter of Col. William K. and Ann Easterling, of Rankin county, and they have three children-Anna Laura, born Nov. 29, 1866; Thomas, born May 20, 1868; and Mary Ida, born July 27, 1872.

Norment, James William is one of the able and popular members of the bar of Oktibbeha county, being engaged in suc- cessful practice at Starkville, and he is a member of the State legislature, in which he has made a splendid record of service. Mr. Norment was born at Rienzi, Alcorn county, Miss., Dec. 23, 1868, and is a son of James Moore Norment and Monecia (Rogers) Norment, the former of whom was born in Raleigh, N. C., in 1818, and the latter in Spartanburg dis- trict, S. C., in 1837. The father removed from his native State to Alabama, whence he later came to Mississippi, having been actively engaged in newspaper work nearly all his life. - Within his journalistic career he established twenty-four newspapers, and at the time of his death he was editor and publisher of the Oktibbeha

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Citizen, at Starkville, where he died in the year 1881. He served in the Seminole Indian war, in which he was colonel of his regiment, and for a short time he was in active service as a soldier of the Con- federacy in the Civil war. He was a man of ability and influence and did effective work in his chosen field of endeavor. His wife sur- vived him by more than a decade, her death occurring in 1894. James W. Norment secured his earlier educational training in the common schools of Starkville, where he early began to assist in the work of his father's newspaper office. He was but thirteen years of age when his father died, but he at once assumed charge of the mechan- ical department of the paper and to a large extent of the editorial work, continuing the enterprise until 1888, when he sold the plant and business. Thirty days later he was made the assistant manager of the office of R. G. Dun & Co.'s commercial agency at Mobile, Ala., retaining this incumbency until 1893, after which he returned to Starkville, to supervise his various interests. In 1900 he took a course in the law department of the University of Mississippi, being admitted to the bar the same year, and he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession at Starkville. Mr. Norment is one of the leaders in the ranks of the Democratic party in his native county and he has served as special judge on the bench of the circuit court and was a member of the board of aldermen of Starkville for two terms, also serving simultaneously as town clerk. He resigned the latter position in 1899, to accept the nomination of his party for representative in the State legislature, to which he was duly elected, making an admirable record and being chosen as his own successor in 1903. Within his two terms in the legislature he served on the following named committees: judiciary, appropriations, pub- lic buildings and grounds, roads, ferries and bridges, manufactures and printing, and the house committee having to do with redistrict- ing the congressional districts of the State. He served frequently as speaker pro tem. of the house and proved an able and popular presiding officer. Successfully, and almost single-handed during his last term in the legislature, he fought the bill providing the bond- ing of the State for the sum of $500,000. He was also the author of the bill providing for the present contract system of constructing and improving roads, a system which is proving of inestimable value in developing proper highways. During the yellow fever panic in Starkville in 1898, Mr. Norment had charge of the local quarantine forces and work, having been appointed by the mayor and board of aldermen, and he rendered a most valuable and self-ab- negating service in this connection, as is shown by the fact that the clergymen of one of the local churches afterwards offered a prayer in his church, saying, "Thank God for Jim Norment." The fear, suffering and disrest at the time demanded the utmost courage and discrimination on the part of Mr. Norment and his labors did much to quell the epidemic and relieve unfortunate conditions. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical college, at Starkville; is affiliated with the lodge, chapter and council of the Masonic fraternity, as well as the Inde-

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pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World, and the State bar association, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist church. On Sept. 1, 1897, Mr. Norment was united in marriage to Miss Susie Kennedy, daughter of the late John S. and Almeta (Gresham) Kennedy, of West Point, Mississippi. Her mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Norment have two children- Almeta and Susie Lillian.

North, Charles S., of Raymond, is in- cumbent of the office of superintendent of education of Hinds county and has ac- complished admirable work in the educa- tional field. He was born in Jefferson county, Va., Dec. 19, 1846, and is a son of William D. and Hannah (Patterson) North, both of whom passed their entire lives in Virginia, the respective families having early been founded in the Old Do- minion. Charles S. North was reared on the homestead plantation of his father and in Bunker Hill, Va. He was afforded excellent educational advantages of a preparatory nature and was then matricu- lated in historic old Washington and Lee university, in Lexington, Va., Gen. Robert E. Lee having been president of the institution at the time. Mr. North completed a course in the law department of this university and was graduated as a member of the class of 1870, receiving his diploma from the hands of the distinguished president and gallant Confederate officer, General Lee, a fact to which he re- verts with unqualified appreciation and satisfaction. Mr. North began the practice of his profession in Martinsburg, W. Va., where he remained until 1874, when he removed to Mississippi and estab- lished himself in practice at Bolton, Hinds county. In 1877, he re- moved to Raymond, the county seat, where he built up an excellent law business, continuing to devote his entire attention to the work of his profession until 1886, when he was appointed county super- intendent of education, of which office he has since remained con- tinuously in tenure, a circumstance which in itself offers the best voucher for his able and popular service. Within the twenty years of his regime the schools of the county have practically doubled in both number and attendance, while the highest efficiency has been attained and the work been thoroughly systematized in all depart- ments. He has the supervision of more than one hundred and fifty schools, and his corps of teachers is conceded to be equal to that of any other county in the State, the people of Hinds county endorsing his course and providing salaries adequate to securing the best class of instructors. Mr. North gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and both he and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church. On April 9, 1876, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. North to Miss Johnnie Jenkins, daughter of John and Sarah (Elder) Jenkins, of

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Delta, La. Mr. and Mrs. North have two children-Mary whois the wife of Thomas I. Moore, of Marion, Ala., and Annie G., now the wife of Thos. Mitchell Houze, of Marion, Ala.

Norwood, Joseph E., editor and publisher of the Magnolia Gazette, at Magnolia, Pike county, is one of the representative members of the newspaper fraternity in Mississippi and is also a member of the bar of the State, but not now an active prac- titioner. He was born near Clinton, East Feliciana county, La., May 5, 1873, being a son of Joseph E. and A. Lucretia (God- frey) Norwood, the former of whom was born in Louisiana and the latter in Mis- sissippi. The paternal grandfather, Abel J. Norwood, was a prominent and influ- ential citizen of Louisiana and was for many years grand master of the grand lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in that State. The maternal grandfather was Rev. James A. Godfrey, a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and a member of the Mis- sissippi annual conference, of which he was a presiding elder for twenty odd years. Mr. Norwood secured his rudimentary educational dis- cipline in the public schools of Mississippi and thereafter continued his studies in the Southern university, at Greensboro, Ala. He then entered the law department of Vanderbilt university, at Nash- ville, Tenn., in which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in June, 1904. He was admitted to the bar of Mississippi in June, 1895, and at once engaged in the practice of his profession in Magnolia, being associated during the greater portion of the time with Judge John H. Price and continuing in the work of his profes- sion until 1900, when he purchased the Magnolia Gazette, of which he has since continued editor and publisher. In politics Mr. Nor- wood is a stalwart adherent of the Democratic party, and served eight consecutive years as a member of the board of aldermen of Magnolia, taking deep interest in all that touches the welfare of his home city and county. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Woodmen of the World. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South. He has brought the Gazette to a high standard and the paper is one of the best in Southern Mississippi. He is prominent in newspaper circles and was at one time president of the Mississippi press association. On Dec. 9, 1896, Mr. Norwood was united in marriage to Miss Kittie Thornhill Maxwell, daughter of William L. and Fannie (Thornhill) Maxwell, of Camden, Madison county, Miss.

Newsom, Luther Paul, M. D., one of the successful young phy- sicians and surgeons of Marion county, is established in practice in the city of Columbia, where he located in 1903. The doctor was born in Lawrence county, Miss., Nov. 2, 1878, and this State also

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figures as the native place of his parents, Isaac and Missouri (Bourn) Newsom. Dr. Newsom secured his early educational discipline in the public schools, completing a course in the high school, and then matriculated in the Louisville medical college, in Louisville, Ky., where he completed the prescribed technical course and was graduated as a member of the class of 1903, receiving his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine from this excellent institution. In April of the same year he located in Columbia, where he is building up an excellent practice and meeting with gratifying success, being closely devoted to his profession and finding it worthy of his entire time and attention, in the matter of continued study and investi- gation as well as of active practice. He is identified with the Mis- sissippi State medical society and also the Marion county medical society. He is a loyal supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, his religious faith is that of the Baptist church, and frater- nally he is identified with the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias. He has made many friends since establishing himself in practice in Columbia, and his success is certain to be cumulative.

Neville, James H., who is recognized as one of the able legists and jurists of the State, is now engaged in the practice of his profession at Gulfport and has held various official positions of public trust. Judge Neville was born in Gainesville, Sumpter county, Ala., Sept. 28, 1852, and is the son of Albert L. and Mary (McDow) Neville. The father was a wholesale mer- chant and cotton factor of Mobile, Ala., during the last decade of his life and in that city his death occurred in 1882. He was born in South Carolina, in 1820, and there was reared to the planter's vocation, but the major portion of his active busi- ness career was devoted to mercantile pursuits, in which he met with marked success. His first wife, who was born in Greene county, Ala., died in 1852, three days after the birth of the subject of this sketch. She became the mother of seven children. The father later married a second time and of the second union three children were born. James H. Neville, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to maturity in Sumter county, Ala., where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools. In 1871 he took up the study of law and two years later he was admitted to the bar of Sumter county. In 1875 he removed to Kemper county, Miss., and located in the village of Scooba, where he was engaged in practice until within the last decade, when he removed to the thriving city of Gulfport, where he has since continued in active and successful professional work. He has ever given a stanch support to the cause of the Democratic party and has done yeoman service for the same. In 1883 he was elected district attorney of the Second district of the State, and held this office for thirteen years, gaining high recogni-

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tion as an able and successful public prosecutor. He then served as circuit judge of the same district for two and one-half years, resigning his seat on the bench to become general consul for the Gulf & Ship Island railroad in which capacity he is at present acting. From 1878 until 1884 Judge Neville was editor and publisher of the Kemper Herald, which he made a power in the field of local politics and a valuable exponent of the interests of its assigned province. He is second vice-president of the Mississippi State bar association and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Honor, while both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. On May 22, 1878, at Scooba, Miss., was solemnized the marriage of Judge Neville to Miss Susan Hart, daughter of James E. and Susan (Howard) Hart, and the children of this union are: Mrs. Florence C. Griffith, James H., Jr., Will H., and Edward McD.

Norton, John William, ticket agent for the Queen & Crescent railroad, or tech- nically the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific, at Jackson, Miss., has risen through various grades of promotion in the railway service, and his present re- sponsible position indicates the ability and fidelity which have conserved his ad- vancement. He was born and reared in Lee county, being a son of John W. and Ella (Aycock) Norton, both of whom were likewise born in Georgia, where they still maintain their home. John W. Norton, Jr., was educated in the public schools of his native State, and began the study of the art of telegraphy in the office of the Central railroad of Georgia at Montezuma. Within two years he was advanced to the office of ticket agent for this system at Fort Valley, Ga., whence he was later transferred to Eufala, Ala., where he remained three years, at the expiration of which he went to Savannah, Ga., as passenger agent for the same railroad. From this incumbency he was promoted to his present office, in May, 1905, and he is according to same prac- tical and able service which has gained to him previous commenda- tion and advancement and insured his hold on the confidence and esteem of the public.

Nimocks, R. Franklin, M. D., who is engaged in the practice of his profession at Poplarville, Pearl River county, is rapidly gaining prestige as one of the leading medical practitioners of this section of the State, while it is interesting to record that he is following along the same line of endeavor as that which his honored father has digni- fied by long years of service. He was born in Newton, Newton county, Miss., Dec. 21, 1878, and is a son of Dr. F. B. and Fannie (Huddle- ston) Nimocks, both of whom likewise claim the fine old common- wealth of Mississippi as the place of their nativity. The father is actively engaged in the work of his profession, being a physician and surgeon of fine attainments. The subject of this sketch com-

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pleted the curriculum of the public schools, including that of the high school, and then began reading medicine under the direction of his father, finally entering the medical department of Vanderbilt university, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1900. He initiated the active work of his profession by engaging in practice in Pearl River county, and later was in practice for an interval in Hancock county, this State, as well as in the northern portions of the States of Louisiana and Alabama. In December, 1903, the doctor returned to Pearl River county and took up his residence in Poplarville, where he has since been successfully engaged in the active work of his profession and where he is building up a representative business. He is a close student and keeps in touch with the advances made in both branches of his profession, while his zeal and enthusiasm are of the most insistent type, so that his . practice is certain to continuously expand in scope and importance. He is a member of the American medical association, as well as the medical societies of his home county and State, while he is also serv- ing as local surgeon for the New Orleans & North Eastern and the Frisco railroads. He is a stanch Democrat in his political allegiance, and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Presby- terian church. In a fraternal line he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor, and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and the Order of American Citizens.

Noel, Edmond F., one of the leading members of the Holmes county bar, and whose reputation as a lawyer and legis- lator extends beyond the boundaries of the State, was born on March 4, 1856, in Holmes county, Miss., where his ancestors were among the first settlers, coming in as the Indians went out. He is a son of Leland and Margaret (Sanders) Noel, the former a native of Essex county, Va., and the latter of Onslow county, N. C. Both families were founded in America in the colonial era, and representatives were found enrolled as loyal soldiers in the Continental line during the Revolution. Leland Noel was captured by Federal soldiers in 1863, and through exposure, while a prisoner of war, lost his sight, remaining totally blind until his death, in 1896. He was one of the honored and in- fluential citizens of Holmes county, where he and his wife continued to reside until summoned to their final rest. Edmond F. Noel se- cured his elementary education in the common schools of his native county, after which he continued his studies in the high school of Louisville, Ky. While in that city he read law under the direction of his uncle, D. W. Sanders. In 1877, a few days after he became of age, he was admitted to the bar. He at once established himself in practice at Lexington, where he has since maintained his home,

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and where he has gained distinctive prestige as a lawyer of force and ability, his clientage being widely extended, and of an important character. In 1881, he was elected to the legislature and had the distinction of being the youngest member of that body. In that term he took an important part in drawing up the minority report against giving railroads twenty-five years' exemption from taxation and immunity from regulation of rates. Upon this report the fight was made. At the same session he secured the passage, by the house, of a constitutional amendment making all State and county officers elective, at one time, for a period of four years, but it was defeated in the senate. In 1887 he was elected district attorney for the Fifth judicial district, holding the office until 1891 and retiring from it with the record of but two indictments quashed, and two reversals, during his term. His services in a public capacity recommended him to the people for still further honors, and in 1895, he was elected to the State senate for a term of four years, at the expiration of which, in 1899, he was re-elected. To him, more than to any other one man, is due the passage of the primary election law, which he pre- pared, doing away with conventions. It was the first bill intro- duced in the session of 1902, and after a strenuous fight was finally passed on the last day of the session. When it was contested in the courts, Mr. Noel appeared in its defense, and the law was sus- tained. The law imposing a tax of $5,000 on every office where C. O. D. liquor was delivered was first drafted by him for the legis- lature, and it proved a solution of that vexed question. Throughout his entire career, he has stood for law and order and has always been found faithful to the trusts reposed. In May, 1898, when war with Spain became inevitable, he enlisted as a private in Company K, Second Mississippi volunteer infantry, and was unanimously elected captain of his company. His regiment was assigned to Gen. Fitz- hugh Lee's army corps and was selected to lead the assault on Ha- vana, as planned for this campaign against that city. General Lee's corps, of which his regiment was a part, was stationed in Flor- ida until the close of hostilities. In fraternal circles Mr. Noel is well known. He has served as chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias lodge; is a past dictator in the Knights of Honor; a Knight Templar Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine; and is also identified with the Woodmen of the World. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church and take a commendable interest in promoting its good works. In 1903, when it was generally thought that the voters of the State were pretty well lined up for Governor Vardaman and Judge Critz for the gubernatorial nomination, Mr. Noel entered the canvass. His prominence in the councils of the Democratic party, of whose principles he has long been a fearless and intelligent exponent, gave him a wide acquaintance, and he entered upon his race with that zeal that has always characterized him in whatever he undertakes. Notwithstanding the confident predictions of the friends of the other candidates that he would not receive 10,000 votes in the primary election, he received over 24,000. Besides this he received the assurance of many of the leading men

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of the party that they would support him for the nomination in 1907, and he is now a candidate for that nomination, with a fair prospect of being the next governor of Mississippi. Mr. Noel has been twice . married. His first wife, to whom he was united on June 4, 1890, was Miss Loula Hoskins, daughter of N. S. and Loula (Walton) Hoskins, of Lexington. Her death occurred on Sept. 17, 1893. On Sept. 12, 1905, he married Mrs. Alice T. Neilson, a daughter of Col. J. F. Tye, of Pickens, Miss., a retired merchant and who served with distinction as an officer in the Confederate army. On the maternal side Mrs. Noel is a descendant of the historic Clark family, her moth- er's maiden name having been Clark, a member of the family of that name who came to Tallahatchie county, Miss., when it was first settled. One of her ancestors was Abraham Clark, who represented New Jersey in the Continental congress and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mrs. Noel is a graduate of Ward's seminary, where she took high honors for scholarship. She is a Daughter of the Revolution and of the U. D. C., in which latter she is an active worker.

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 70

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