USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III > Part 73
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servative men, but a tidal wave swept over the State, and the mass of white voters did not participate in the election. The two national Democratic conventions of 1868 and 1872, which nominated succes- sively Seymour and Greeley, adopted the following resolutions as part of the national platform: "We regard the reconstruction acts, so-called, of congress, as usurpatory, unconstitutional, revolutionary and void." In the campaigns which followed, Judge Orr took no part. In 1876 the national Democratic convention at St. Louis nominated Tilden and Hendricks, and adopted a platform, accepting the laws of congress, including the reconstruction acts, as a finality, and demanding a repeal of the odious tariff laws of 1862. In that platform the following words appear: "We do re-affirm our faith in the permanency of the Federal Union and our devotion to the constitution of the United States, with its amendments, universally accepted as a final settlement to the controversy which engendered the Civil war." In this campaign, Judge Orr, in support of the Democratic nominees, made the only party speeches he has made since his candidacy for the Confederate congress, the summer of 1863. From 1869 until April, 1876, he served as judge of the Sixth judicial circuit. Judicial fairness, fearlessness, and legal ability distinguished his administration. As a judicial officer he took rank with Hugh R. Miller, Wiley P. Harris and J. S. Yerger. Though now nearing the age of four score years, he is endowed with won- derful physical vitality, while his mental powers seem to be in their apotheosis, and he is actively engaged in the practice of his profes- sion in Columbus, being one of the foremost members of the bar of the commonwealth, which has gained so much in dignity and prestige through his services and character. His last and success- ful appearance in the supreme court of the State was in the session of 1905, in the celebrated case of Johnston vs. Columbus Insurance and Banking Co., in which were arrayed a number of the strongest lawyers of the State. He is the attorney for six important corpora- tions; and in the ripe plentitude of his powers, his services are valued by a clientage of distinctively representative character. In 1905, after serving for thirty-three years as a trustee of the University of Mississippi, at Oxford, Judge Orr retired, having failed to attend but one meeting of the board during that entire period, and that because of critical illness in his family. The record of the board shows that there is to the credit of the university, from the sale of the naval reserve lands in the State treasury, $110,000 more than there would have been but for his services as a member of the execu- tive committee of the board. In August, 1896, at a called meeting of the board, in Jackson, the full board vested in the executive com- mittee the power to sell the township known as the naval reserve lands. A majority of the committee decided to accept a bid which would have netted to the university about $60,000. The chairman of the committee was preparing a contract of sale when, at Judge Orr's earnest request, he reconvened the committee, and Judge Orr so earnestly opposed the sale, detailing, among other things, the squandering of the two and three per cent fund of the Chickasaw
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school lands, that he induced a reconsideration of the vote of the committee. Judge Orr and Chancellor Fulton were then appointed a committee to go in person and inspect the lands. They employed Mr. A. P. Priestly, of Lowndes county, an experienced lumber man, to accompany them, and he estimated that there were 1,280,000 feet of lumber in trees standing on the lands. Two years afterward, four out of five members of the executive committee made a ma- jority report, recommending the board of trustees to accept a bid, amounting to about $70,000, for the lumber trees upon the land. Judge Orr made a minority report, and the discussion ran through three meetings of the board, when Judge A. T. Roane, Col. J. R. McIntosh and Pres. A. A. Kincannon came to his aid and his minor- ity report was adopted by a vote of eight to seven. This timber was afterward sold for about $110,000 more than would have been otherwise realized; and the university still owns the lands and all " the small timber of ten inches in diameter standing upon it. Judge Orr has long been an elder of the First Presbyterian church, of Col- umbus, while, as a close and appreciative student of the Bible, he has come prominently before the public through his lecture on the subject : "The Bible as a Text Book for Lawyers and Statesmen."" Approval of his presentation of the case and his arguments have been unstinted, and has come from exalted sources; while it may be said that a diametrical result from his efforts in this connection was the conferring upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws by the University of Alabama.
Osoinach, Anthony G., editor and pub- lisher of the Gulfport Record, has made his paper distinctively representative of the progressive spirit for which this com- paratively new and very thriving little city is so notable, and he is held in high esteem as one of the loyal citizens of the place. Mr. Osoinach was born in the town of Bay Saint Louis, Hancock county, Miss., on March 17, 1874, and is a son of Antony and Caroline (Lalencet) Osoinach, the former of whom was born in the city of Vienna, Austria, and the latter in New Orleans, La. Anthony G. Osoinach ac- quired his preliminary educational train- ing in the public schools of his native town, where he supplemented this discipline by an excellent course of study in St. Stanislaus col- lege. He initiated his business career by taking a position as salesman in a retail mercantile establishment in Bay Saint Louis, and in 1896 he purchased a half interest in the Seacoast Echo, a weekly paper published in Bay Saint Louis. He was identified with this publication about one year and then went to New Orleans, where he was engaged in newspaper work for a short time, after which he located in Scranton, Miss., and established the Scranton Chronicle, whose publication he continued until 1899. Thereafter
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he had editorial charge of the Biloxi Herald about one year, and in the fall of 1900 he came to Gulfport and here founded the Gulf- port Record, of which he has since been editor and publisher, while he has made his paper an exponent of local interests in the fullest degree and through its columns has done much to exploit the many attractions of this place and thus to further its development. At the time of his locating here the town had a population of about 2,000, and the rapid growth within the intervening half decade is manifest when we state that the population at the time of this writ- ing (1905) is fully 8,000. The Record is issued on Saturday of each week and its political policy is Democratic, reflecting the sound- money opinions of its editor, who is a great admirer of ex-President Cleveland, whom he regards as an exponent of the basic principles of Democracy. On Feb. 21, 1897, Mr. Osoinach was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth McNulty, daughter of Thaddeus and Mary (Weldon) McNulty, of Mobile, Ala., and they have three children- Granville, Harold and Mary.
Owen, John William, the able sheriff of Madison county and one of the popular citizens of Canton, where he has made his home since 1878, having been a sufferer and survivor of the terrible yellow fever scourge of that year, is a native of the county which he is now serving as sheriff, having been born in Sharpsburg, Dec. 24, 1851, and being a son of Augustus M. and Mary (Tucker) Owen, the former of whom was born in Lawrence county, this State, and the latter in Madison county. Sheriff Owen was afforded the advantages of the common schools of Mississippi and Louisi- ana and supplemented this discipline by a course in a Jesuit college in the city of New Orleans. His father was a successful planter and was a valiant soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, having been in the command of Gen. Kirby Smith, and having been made sergeant of his company. The subject of this sketch was too young to enter the service, but when only fourteen years of age he took part in the battle of Mansfield, entering the ranks without enlistment. He is a stalwart in the camp of the Democracy, and has been in official life for many years past. He was city marshal of Canton for sixteen years, constable of Beat Five for two years, and he has been sheriff of Madison county since 1903. He is affiliated with the lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity and also with the Knights of Pythias, Knights of Honor, Woodmen of the World, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On Oct. 26, 1879, Mr. Owen was united in marriage to Miss Mackie Maxwell, daughter of Willis and Kittie (Cooper) Maxwell, of Camden, Miss. They have eight chil- dren, namely : Bessie, T. W., J. W., Jr., J. M., W. Augustus, Mackie,
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Kittie Bell and Charles P. Bessie is the wife of R. D. McBroone, and they have two children-Robert and Owen.
O'Brien, Alfred George. It was the fortune of Colonel O'Brien to run the full gamut of experiences as a valiant and gallant soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, in which he attained to distinc- tion as an able commanding officer, and he is now one of the honored and influential citizens of Starkville, where he is living practically retired, after long and prominent identification with the printing and newspaper business. Colonel O'Brien was born in Tennessee, Dec. 25, 1839, and is a son of James and Susan (Everett) O'Brien, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Virginia. The progenitors of the family in the paternal line came from Ireland in an early day and settled in Pittsburg, Pa. From the old Keystone State four brothers, of whom the father of the sub- ject of this sketch was the eldest, removed to the upper part of eastern Tennessee and there opened and operated one of the first iron mines in the State. James O'Brien remained in that section until his death, after which his widow removed to the city of Knoxville, in order to afford her children proper educational advantages, and she died while visiting in the city of Chattanooga. She was a direct de- scendant of Gen. Edmund Pendleton Gaines of Virginia, who served with distinction in the War of the Revolution. Of the eight chil- dren of James and Susan O'Brien, two are living. Two of the sons served in the Mexican war,-Capt. John T., who had command of a company, and Joseph, who died in the city of New Orleans while en route to his home. Col. Alfred G. O'Brien was reared and edu- cated in Tennessee, having been afforded the advantages of the high school in the city of Knoxville and having there learned the printers' trade. In 1855 he came to Mississippi and located in Kosciusko, Attala county, where he published the Attala Democrat until the outbreak of the war between the States, when he subordinated all other interests to go forth in defense of the Confederate cause. In the spring of 1861 he enlisted as a private in Company I, Thirteenth Mississippi infantry, with which he proceeded to the front, the com- mand becoming a part of the Army of Virginia and being involved in the most important engagements of the same. Among the battles in which Colonel O'Brien thus took part may be noted the following: Manassas, Leesburg, Ball's Bluff, Seven Pines and other battles in front of Richmond, second Manassas, Antietam, the Wilderness, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga and Fort Johnson, at Knoxville, where he was captured by the enemy, being there held in captivity for two days, at the expiration of which he was granted a parole of three months. He was then sent to Camp Chase, Colum- bus, Ohio, where he was held a prisoner of war for fourteen months, being then exchanged on a parole of forty days. At the expiration of this period he rejoined his command, which was not thereafter involved in any serious engagements, and he was with his regiment in the city of Richmond at the time of the final surrender. Soon after entering active service he was elected first lieutenant of his company, later being elected its captain, and thereafter being pro-
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moted in turn to the offices of major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel, finally serving as brigadier general, with commission as colonel. After the war Colonel O'Brien returned to Mississippi and located at Goodman, Holmes county, where he engaged in clerking and buying cotton for a large mercantile concern. Later he became editor of the Tishomingo Herald, at Iuka, publishing the paper four years and then selling the property and removing to Starkville, where he has maintained his home since 1877. Here he was identified with the editorial management and publication of the Southern Live Stock Journal for several years. He then established a job-printing con- cern, with which he has since been identified, though he is now living retired, having leased his well equipped plant in 1905. For six years he was editor and publisher of the Starkville Banner, which he conducted in connection with his job-printing establishment. He built up a prosperous enterprise and gained prestige as one of the reliable business men and sterling citizens of the city in which he has resided for nearly thirty years. The colonel has sedulously avoided being drawn into the vortex of "practical politics," but has given his allegiance unreservedly to the Democratic party. He is affiliated with the United Confederate Veterans and he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South, In 1869 was solemnized the marriage of Colonel O'Brien to Miss Martha Ford, daughter of Thomas Ford, of Kosciusko, this State. and they have four children: James H. is station agent for the Illi- nois Central railroad at McCool, Attala county; Everett M. is en- gaged in the printing business in Starkville; Bessie is the wife of Prof. George E. Mason, assistant chief of agriculture in the Philip- pine Islands; and Alice H. remains at the parental home.
O'Dom, Mabry A., assistant cashier of the Waynesboro bank, Wayne county, has here passed his entire life and is one of the popu- lar and representative young business men of the county. He was born in Waynesboro, and is a son of J. W. O'Dom, who is still a resi- dent of Waynesboro. The father was born in the city of Mobile, Ala., whence he came to Waynesboro about the centennial year, 1876, being here engaged in the general merchandise business for a number of years, while he is now holding the responsible position of bridge constructor for the Mobile & Ohio railroad. . Mabry A. O'Dom secured his educational training in the excellent public schools of Waynesboro, and after leaving the same he became a salesman in the general store of Wetherbee & Huggins with whom he remained about three years, at the expiration of which, in May, 1902, he as- sumed the position of bookkeeper in the Waynesboro bank, remain- ing thus engaged until Jan. 1, 1904, when he opened the business of the People's bank, at Wiggins, Harrison county, in the capacity of cashier, serving as such until Jan. 1, 1905, when he returned to Waynesboro and accepted the position of assistant cashier of the Waynesboro bank. He is also a stockholder in the Wetherbee- Huggins Company, successors to the firm by which he was formerly employed, and in his native town he has the confidence and esteem of all classes, enjoying marked popularity in both business and social
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circles. ₮ He is a Democrat in politics, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Waynesboro.
Otkin, Chas. H., a native of Louisiana, entered Mississippi col- lege in 1857; enlisted in the Charlton Rifles at Raymond in 1861 and served as chaplain of the 45th Mississippi regiment; married Emily J. Lea in 1866, was principal of the Peabody public school at Summit, 1867-76; was president of the Lea Female college at Summit, 1876-93; was president of McComb City Female college 1893-98. He served for ten years as a trustee of the Mississippi college. He is the author of "The Ills of the South," 1894.
Parker, John Woods, secretary and treasurer of the Bonita Brick Company, one of the leading concerns of the sort in eastern Mis- sissippi, is one of the representative business men of Meridian and has passed the major portion of his life in Lauderdale county. He was born in Lockhart, that county, Feb. 26, 1861, and bears the full patronymic of his father, John Woods Parker, Sr., who was born in Georgia, in 1807, and who was a child at the time of his parents' removal to Monroeville, Ala., where he was reared and educated. He came from Alabama to Mississippi in an early day and became a prominent citizen of Lauderdale county, where he was engaged in planting during the greater portion of his active business career, and where his death occurred, in 1882. His wife, whose maiden name was Augusta Byron Robertson, was born and reared in Ala- bama, and died Dec. 25, 1905. The subject of this sketch availed himself of the advantages afforded by the public schools of Lauder- dale county and later was a student in Cooper's institute, at Dale- ville, that county. His first independent venture was in connection with the general merchandise business in Lockhart, that county. where he later engaged in the pottery business in the same place, where he continued operations in this line until his removal to Merid- ian, in 1889. Here he continued to be engaged in the manufacturing of pottery for some time and finally added the manufacture of brick. For two or three years he resided in Laurel, Jones county, where he founded the Laurel Brick and Tile Company, of whose works he was in charge until 1903, when he sold his interest and returned to Meridian. In 1903 he effected the organization and incorporation of the Bonita Brick Company, whose finely equipped plant is located at Bonita, one and one-half miles from Meridian, having a capacity for the outputting of 40,000 brick per day. The officers of the com- pany are as follows: George T. Lockard, president; and John W. Parker, secretary and treasurer. The enterprise is one ably con- ducted and is one of marked value in the facilities which it affords, constituting one of the important industries of that section of the State. A stanch Democrat in politics, Mr. Parker served on the city council of 1895 to 1899. Mr. Parker is also secretary and treas- urer of the Meridian wagon factory and also a member of the water commission of Meridian. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pyth- ias and the Fraternity of American Citizens. On Aug. 1, 1882, Mr. Parker was united in marriage to Miss Annie B. Eaken, daughter
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of Joseph Eaken, at one time sheriff of Lauderdale county, and she died in January, 1890, leaving no children. On Nov. 27, 1895, Mr. Parker married Miss Florence M. Halsell, daughter of Martin V. Halsell, of Meridian, and they have four children-John Halsell, Leslie, Ida Louise and Florence Mildred.
Parker, Stephen D., member of the city council of Meridian, from the Fifth ward, is one of the prominent business men and honored citizens of this fair city of the State, where his friends are in number equal to his acquaintances. He was born near Lockhart, Lauderdale county, Miss., July 5, 1858, and passed his boyhood and youth on the farm, while his educational advantages were such as were afforded in the schools of the locality and period. At the age of seventeen years he became identified with the railroading interests, and in this field of service continued for twenty-seven years. In 1886 he took up his residence in Meridian, where he has since maintained his home and where he has stood exponent of progressive and public-spirited citizenship. Upon retiring from the railroad service Mr. Parker established himself in the general merchandise business in Meridian, and in this line of enterprise he has since continued, having built up a prosperous trade, while he is also engaged in the manufacturing of brick, having a well equipped plant. Concerning his official career the following estimate has been written by one who has been familiar therewith: "His high character as a citizen, his intelligence and his fidelity to trust, won him an eminent recognition, several years ago, in his selection as a member of the board of police com- missioners, one of the most distinguished honors within the city's gift. In 1903 Mr. Parker was chosen a member of the city council, and here his good sense and loyalty lent weight to his views upon every question relating to the public welfare. Genuinely solicitous for Meridian's progress and prosperity, in his private life as well as his public service, he has won and retained the unqualified respect and confidence of this community." In his political adherency Mr. Parker is a stanch and uncompromising Democrat. Mr. Parker and family belong to the South Side Methodist church. He is a member of the order of Railway Conductors and Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica. He was married in 1876 to Miss Georgia S. Perkins, daughter of Erasmas and Columbia Perkins. Mrs. Parker died in July, 1887, leaving four children, all of whom are living with one exception; Mary Augusta, is now the wife of N. Y. Jarman, of Jackson, Miss .; Oliver E. is a railroad man of Denver, Colo .; Clelia Maud is living at home. Mr. Parker was married the second time in November, 1888, to Miss Elizabeth Josephine Bludworth, daughter of L. W. Blud- worth, of Alabama. She became the mother of six children, all of whom died in infancy.
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Paxton, Alexander Gallatin, a lawyer and planter of Greenville, is of English extraction, his ancestry being traced back to one James Paxton, who was an officer in the army of Oliver Cromwell, and who assisted in the execution of Charles I. Some of the Paxtons came to America before the Revolution and settled in Lancaster county, Pa., where a number of their descendants still live. The great-grandfather of Alexander Paxton removed to Rockbridge county, Va., and it was there that Andrew J. Paxton, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1816. When he was about twenty-one years of age he rode on horseback overland to Mississippi, and at Jackson joined his uncle, Alexander G. McNutt, afterward gover- nor of Mississippi, and for several years they practiced law in partner- ship. Andrew J. Paxton married Hannah Mary Beasley of Jackson, Tenn., and about the year 1850 gave up the law to become a cotton planter in Washington county, Miss. During the war between the States, - being above the military age, he was not a soldier but was through- out the struggle active in the business branch. One of his brothers was Brig .- Gen. E. F. Paxton, who was appointed on the recom- mendation of Stonewall Jackson to the command of the celebrated "Stonewall brigade," and led that command through some of the hardest fought battles in the Valley of Virginia. He fell at the battle of Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863. Another brother, Maj. James Gardner Paxton, was the promoter and builder of the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad, and was the first president of the company. He was killed in a railway accident on the road, while holding the office of president. Andrew J. Paxton was always interested in political matters, but was never personally ambitious to hold office. He was a delegate to the Mississippi constitutional convention in 1890 and died on Oct. 1, 1900, at the ripe age of eighty-five years. Alexander G. Paxton was born near Arcola, Washington county, Miss., Jan. 16, 1858. He was educated at the Washington and Lee university, Lexington, Va., graduating from the law department of that insti- tution in 1880. He then practiced law in Vicksburg and Indianola, Miss., until 1902, when he removed to Greenville. At times he has engaged in the business of cotton seed crushing, establishing and operating mills at Arcola and Hollandale. He is now engaged in the practice of law and also looks after the management of several cotton plantations in the vicinity of Greenville. He is an intelligent and fearless advocate of Democratic principles, but is not a politician in the sense of being a seeker after office. In church matters he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a consistent prac- titioner of the tenets of his religious faith. He is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta college fraternity, and of Vicksburg lodge, No. 95, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Paxton has been twice married. On Dec. 12, 1880, he was married to Miss Mary Noland, daughter of H. P. Noland, of Warren county, Miss. To that union were born three children, viz .: Annie Aldridge, Sept. 10, 1883; Jennie Ruth, June 30, 1885; and Mary Noland, Feb. 17, 1890. On May 3, 1893, he led to the altar Miss Annie Belle Buie, daughter of Mrs. E. Buie, of Brookhaven, Miss., and to that marriage have
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