Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 83

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 83

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Reale, Joseph, who has served sixteen years as alderman of the city of Natchez, having the distinction of being the oldest member of the board in point of service, is one of the representative busi- ness men of Natchez, being the head of the well known firm of Joseph Reale & Sons, dealers in groceries, wines, liquors, tobacco, etc. Mr Reale was born in the town of Biggiano, Basilicata, Italy, on Nov. 18, 1843, and he received his early educational training in the schools of his native land, while he manifested the musical talent so char -. acteristic of his countrymen. In 1859 as a member of a string band, one of whose members was his brother-in-law, he came to America, landing in New Orleans. Soon afterward he went to Mexico, where he engaged in the business of silver-plating. In 1861 he returned to the State of Louisiana, where he formed a partnership with one of his countrymen, S. Galeotti, and engaged in the making of am- brotypes and daguerreotypes. In 1861 he enlisted in a military company which was organized by Capt. Napoleon Robeau at Ope- lousas, La., proceeding with his command, in February of that year, to the city of New Orleans and making ready to enter on active duty as a soldier of the Confederacy. While in Camp Benjamin he was taken ill and was ordered to the hospital in New Orleans, but he was there cared for in the home of his cousin instead of entering the hospital. During the siege of the city he was compelled to remain there, having been unable to join his company, which had been sent to Camp Moore in the meanwhile. He was thereafter engaged in the daguerreotype business again for a short time, and then re- sumed his musical work, as a member of a local orchestra. In 1863 Mr. Reale went to Matamoras, Mex., as a musician with a minstrel company, receiving forty dollars a week and his expenses. In 1865 he returned to New Orleans, his intention at the time being to embark for his old home, in Italy. He, however, decided to first make a visit to his old friend, John Conti, in Natchez, and Mr. Conti who is still a resident of this city, persuaded him to remain, and they became associated in business here, Mr. Reale having four hundred dollars in gold as his cash capital. Mr. Reale thus engaged in the grocery business in Natchez in the autumn of 1865 and he has ever since been identified with this line of enterprise, while he has risen to a position of definite success and prominence among the business men of the place, having accumulated a competency and having the esteem of all who know him. He is president of the Italian Benevolent Association of Natchez, having held this position for a number of years past, and for about fifteen years he was foreman of Phoenix fire company No. 7. He is a member of the directorate of the First. National Bank of Natchez, and is progressive and public- spirited in his attitude as a citizen. He has served as alderman from

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the Second ward for eight terms, of two years each, and is still a. member of the board, in which he has proved a valuable factor. In politics he is a stanch Democrat and fraternally is identified with the Knights of Pythias. In 1869 Mr. Reale married Miss Elizabeth Mackin, who was born and reared in Natchez, and they have four children, James and Joseph, who are associated with their father in business, and Lulu and Rosa, who remain at the parental home.

Redding, Charles A., is cashier of the Bank of Terry, at Terry, Hinds county, and is an able and popular executive and prominent business man of this thriving town. He is native of the State of Georgia, where he was born Nov. 13, 1850, a son of Capt. Augustus B. and Maria (Connor) Redding, both of whom were likewise born in Georgia and the former of whom was of Scotch-Irish descent. Augustus B. Redding was a valiant soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, in which he rose to the rank of captain. He came to Mississippi after the close of the war and located in Tallahatchie county, but he soon afterward removed to Copiah county. He accumulated large interests in that county, where he was a success- ful planter and also a stockholder in the Mississippi Manufacturing Company, of Wesson. The subject of this sketch received his early education in the common schools of Georgia and Mississippi, and his initial business experience was gained in Wesson, where he became identified with the Mississippi Manufacturing Company, of which his father was a stockholder, as already noted. Thereafter he was in business first at Hazlehurst and later at Crystal Springs, from which latter place he removed to Terry in 1903, and he has since been cashier of the Bank of Terry. He is a stanch adherent of the Demo- cratic party and is affiliated with the Knights of Honor. In Sep- tember, 1874, Mr. Redding was united in marriage to Miss Sallie A. Linfield, daughter of Rev. Edward M. Linfield, D. D., and Soph- ronia (Barker) Linfield. Mr. and Mrs. Redding are the parents of six children, namely: William Linfield, Charles A., Jr., Katherine, Margaret, Mary and Philip.

Renaud, Pierre Adolph, proprietor of the Bungalow stock farm, in Harrison county, well merits consideration in this work by reason of the impetus he has given to the development of this section, while his name is one known to the turf and sporting fraternity throughout America and Europe, as he has been conspicuously identified with interests of this sort for many years past and is at the present time general manager of the Crescent City Jockey Club, of New Orleans. Mr. Renaud is a scion of one of the old and distinguished Southern families of French extraction. He was born in Mobile, Ala., Feb. 9, 1853, and is a son of Adolph and Camille Hortense (Rondeau) Renaud, the former of whom was born in Batignolles, a former town on the northeast of Paris, France, of which city it is now an arrondissement, while the latter was born in the city of New Orleans, La. Her father, Maj. John Rondeau, served under Jackson in the battle of New Orleans. Adolph Renaud emigrated from France to America as a young man and located in the city of Mobile, Ala., where he met and married his wife, who was the widow

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of John DeSota, the first marshal of the town of Mobile. He whose name initiates this paragraph secured excellent advantages in his youth, having prosecuted his studies in the private school of Amos Towle, in Mobile, and in Spring Hill college, near that city, where he was reared to maturity. As a youth he became identified with the drug business in his native city, being employed in this con- nection for a period of seven years. In 1873 Mr. Renaud initiated his connection in a practical way with the world of sport, in which he has attained so much of distinction. As before stated, he is gen- eral manager of the Crescent City Jockey Club, of New Orleans, while he also was the originator of the winter racing in that city, his efforts in the connection having been most potent in popular- izing the noble sport as thus exemplified there each winter. In 1889 he was manager of the celebrated Sullivan-Killrain fight, in which connection he successfully fought the proclamations of five different State governors and "pulled off" the contest in Mississippi. The governor of the State ordered troops to the scene of the pro- posed fight for the purpose of preventing the event, but when he attempted to move his forces to the scene of action he found that Mr. Renaud had secured every available engine on the railroads, so that nothing could be done. Mr. Renaud may be consistently designated as the pioneer in developing this section of Southern Mississippi for resort purposes, its attractions having early appealed to him. He located a resort near Gulfport in 1896, before the rail- road had been constructed through this section. The place was selected for him by Capt. J. C. Wilmath, an old and retired English naval officer, whom he sent hither to procure for him a suitable location on the line of the contemplated Gulf & Ship Island railroad. The captain set forth with a Rand & McNally map, a pocket com- pass and with carte blanche instructions to select such locations as he deemed most available and attractive. He found a farm suit- able for his purposes about thirteen miles from Gulfport, and here Mr. Renaud now owns a fine landed estate of 2,000 acres, which in- cludes one of the finest stock farms to be found in the South, the best of improvements having been made, while the natural advan- tages and attractions are unexcelled. On the farm Mr. Renaud has at the time of this writing fifty head of thoroughbred horses- three stallions and thirty brood mares, exclusive of youngsters, and on the place are raised from twelve to eighteen colts each year. In 1904 three of the winners at the races of the Crescent City Jockey Club were bred on the Bungalow farm of Mr. Renaud, who makes frequent visits to and sojourns at the place, in which he takes the deepest interest. The postoffice address of the estate is Wortham. Mr. Renaud was one of the charter members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, with which he has been identified for a score of years, and he is also identified with the Young Men's Gym- nastic Club, of New Orleans, the same being a patron of high-class sports. He is one of the best known and most popular men in sport- ing circles in America today, and his reputation for fairness and for earnest desire to raise turf and sporting affairs to the highest

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possible standard has never been assailed. On Aug. 15, 1887, Mr. Renaud was united in marriage to Miss Mary Mitchell, daughter of Joseph and Agnes (Noonan) Mitchell, of Louisville, Ky.

Reynolds, Col. Arthur Exum, soldier, statesman and lawyer, late of Corinth, was born near Alexandria, Smith county, Tenn., Nov. 29, 1817, and died in Corinth in April, 1882. His parents were Josiah and Sally (Exum) Reynolds, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Virginia. Both removed to Smith county, Tenn., in youth. Colonel Reynolds after due preliminary training in the schools of Smith county completed his scholastic work with a course at Clinton college of Clinton, Tenn. For a time he was" engaged in teaching in Lawrence county, Ala., and after reading law in the office of Judge Willaim Cooper he was admitted to practice at the bar of that county. In 1838 he removed to Jacinto, Tisho- mingo county, and began the practice of his chosen profession. Ben- jamin N. Kinyon was his first partner and in 1859 Colonel Reynolds became one of the legal firm of Reynolds, Boone & Reynolds. This partnership continued until 1870, when Colonel Reynolds was ap- pointed judge of the court of chancery. He was a stanch Whig in his political beliefs and although his party was normally in the min- ority he twice defeated the Democratic nominee for State senator in his district, serving from 1849 to 1857. He was not a believer in secession and in the convention of 1861, called to consider the question of withdrawing from the Union, he was one of the strongest anti-secession men of the meeting. However, when by a majority vote the convention declared for secession, he affixed his signature to the proclamation and took his place on the side of the South. By July of 1861, more than 1,000 soldiers had gone from Tishomingo county to join the Confederate army. Colonel Reynolds set to work and before the close of that month he had organized a full regiment, and equipped and armed at the expense of himself and friends, it offered its services to the Confederate government. Colonel Rey- nolds was placed in command by votes of the members of the organ- ization, which became known as the Twenty-sixth Mississippi infan- try. The term of enlistment was for three years or for the war. The regiment became a part of Baldwin's brigade of Buckner's di- vision and the first engagement in which it participated was the Fort Donelson affair, and with the rest of the garrison was surren- dered on Feb. 16, 1862. After imprisonment and exchange reorgan- ization was effected at Jackson and the Twenty-sixth was made a part of Gen. Lloyd Tilghman's brigade of Loring's division, Pem- berton's Army of Mississippi. In the winter of 1862-63 it was a part of the Confederate force operating in the campaign against Grant on the Mississippi Central railroad and in the bayou campaign north of Vicksburg. In the engagement at Baker's creek, or Cham- pion's Hill, on May 16, 1863, Loring's division was cut off from the remainder of Pemberton's army, and when Pemberton was com- pelled to retreat into Vicksburg, Loring joined Gen. Joe Johnston's army. As part of the latter it moved in the operations for the relief of Vicksburg, marching as far as the Big Black river and retreating

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thence to Jackson, where for ten days Sherman besieged them. In the fall of 1863 Johnston detached the Twenty-sixth and assigned it in different squads to the various conscripting bureaus over the State. For several months it was engaged in arresting deserters and enforcing the conscription law and in January, 1864, it was sent to become a part of Gen. Joe Davis' brigade of Lee's Army of North- ern Virginia. Through all the subsequent battles between Lee and Grant in the Richmond and Appomattox campaigns-the Wilder- ness, Spottsylvania, North Anna river, Cold Harbor and the opera- tions about Petersburg-the Twenty-sixth had a gallant record. With the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia the Twenty-sixth laid down its arms at Appomattox Court House. In March, 1865, Colonel Reynolds was commissioned brigadier-general, but the final surrender came before he was assigned to a command. He was at the head of his regiment in all the engagements in which it partici- pated and in the fight on the Weldon railroad south of Petersburg he received a painful but not serious wound. After the cessation of hostilities he returned to Jacinto and in August, 1865, he was one of four delegates elected to the State convention which met to reor- ganize the State government under the proclamation of President Johnson. His vote was cast against the adoption of the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States. At the first election held after the war he was the choice of his fellow citizens as their representative in the congress of the United States, but with other Southern representatives he was refused a seat in that body. Colonel Reynolds removed to Corinth after the war and there in 1874 formed a partnership with a nephew, G. W. Reynolds, which continued until the colonel's death in 1882. In religious matters Colonel Reynolds was allied with the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and fraternally was a Royal Arch Mason. On April 24, 1838, was celebrated his marriage to Miss Minerva Driver, a daughter of Bennett Driver of Lawrence county, Ala. The children of this union are four in number-Tishie, Arthur Bennett, Joseph Tarver and Mrs. Margaret R. Dortch.

Richards, Daniel Dupree, of Columbus, is the efficient and popular clerk of the chancery court of Lowndes county. He was born in the city which is now his home, the date of his nativity having been Feb. 26, 1875. He is a son of Daniel M. and Sarah E. (Richardson) Richards, both native of Pickens county, Ala., where the former was born June 8, 1831, and the latter in the year 1851. Of their six sons, all of whom are living, the subject of this sketch is the sec- ond, the others being William Ward, Charles Clinton, Thomas Till- man, John Jay and Edwin Earl. The father located in Columbus in 1868 and has here been continuously engaged in the mercantile business since that time. He is now the only merchant of the city who was in business here at the time when he opened his establish- ment. He is one of the honored and influential citizens of Columbus, was for eight years a member of the city council and was president of the board and acting mayor for two years. He was a gallant officer in the Confederate service in the war between the States. In

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September, 1861, he became captain of Company E, Twenty-fifth Alabama infantry, and in the following year he was promoted major. At the battle of Shiloh he was wounded in the thigh and was granted a furlough, passing thirteen months at home. Upon recuperating he rejoined his regiment, with which he took part in the battles of Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. At the time of the latter engagement he was captured by the enemy and was taken to John- son's Island, in Lake Erie, where he was held as a Federal prisoner until the close of the war; he received his parole in June, 1865, and returned to Alabama, where he remained until coming to Columbus, as already noted. Daniel D. Richards, the subject of this review, secured his earlier educational discipline in the public schools of Columbus and thereafter was for two years a student in the Univer- sity of Mississippi. From 1896 to 1898 he was in the employ of the Southern Express Company, after which he held the office of assist- ant postmaster of Columbus until 1900, in which year he engaged in the cotton-brokerage business, in which he continued until 1904, when he entered upon the duties of the office of chancery clerk, to which he had been elected in the autumn of the preceding year. He is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, is a member of the Baptist church, and is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Knights of Pythias, Im- proved Order of Red Men, and Woodmen of the World. In the Masonic order he has completed the circle of the York Rite and ad- vanced a number of degrees in the Scottish Rite.

Robbins, Samuel Davis, M. D., is one of the prominent and able representatives of the medical profession in the South, has held positions of distinction profes- sionally and politically and is an honored veteran of the Confederate service. He maintains his home at Anguilla, Sharkey county and having retired from the prac- tice of his profession, devotes his attention to the general supervision of his large plantation interests. Dr. Robbins was born at Ludlow, Scott county, Miss., April 6, 1846, and is a son of Col. Nathan- iel and Susan Davis Robbins, the former of whom was born in Edgecombe district, N C., Oct. 8, 1792, and the latter of whom was a native of Henry county, Va. Representatives of both families were found arrayed as loyal soldiers in the Continental forces during the War of the Revo- l ution and the father of the doctor was a lieutenant colonel in the War of 1812, also having represented Marion county in the State legislature of Mississippi. Of his children those living, besides the subject of this sketch, are as follows: Mrs. Fanny Sample, Mrs. Eliza- beth Hill, Mrs. Margaret Cundiff, Dr. Eugene B., Hon. O. S., and James B. Dr. Robbins passed his boyhood and youth in his native county and attended private schools until the time when he went

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forth as a soldier of the Confederacy, about two months prior to his sixteenth birthday. He was twice wounded during his term of service, which was one marked by distinctive valor and fidelity. After the war Dr. Robbins returned home and took up the study of medicine, entering the medical department of the University of Louisiana, at New Orleans (now Tulane university), in which he was graduated and began the practice of his profession at Brandon, Miss., remaining there until 1877 and then took up his residence in the city of Vicksburg, where he founded the Mississippi State charity hospital, of which he had charge for twenty-six years, accom- plishing a great work for this noble institution. In 1879 he was pro- moted assistant surgeon in the United States marine-hospital service, and in this capacity he did most effective service for more than a quarter of a century, finally resigning the office. He has ever been arrayed as a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Democratic party and while a resident of Rankin county he repre- sented the same in the State legislature. He was specially active in that memorable struggle for white supremacy which followed the close of the Civil war and in which the people of Mississippi arose in their might and asserted their inherent right to control the destiny of their own State. To no one man or set of men does the glory of this great achievement belong. It was the manifestation of the intrinsic virtue and integrity of the great mass of loyal citizens of the great commonwealth of Mississippi. Dr. Robbins is identified with various medical societies and is affiliated with the United Con- federate Veterans, the Masonic fraternity, Knights of Pythias, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and Ancient Order of United Work- men. He and his wife are zealous and valued members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, South. The doctor has been prominently identified with agricultural pursuits from his youth to the present and is today the owner of some thousands of acres of the celebrated and fertile land in the delta district of Mississippi, giving much of his time to the management of his large landed estate. On Feb. 25, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Robbins to Miss Amanda Vick, daughter of Col. John W. and Katheryn (Barbour) Vick, of Vicksburg, Miss. (See sketch of John Wesley Vick.) Dr. and Mrs. Robbins have three children, whose names with respective dates of birth, are as follows: Nathaniel Vick, Jan. 21, 1881; Katheryn Vick, Oct. 28, 1884; and Amanda Vick, Feb. 21, 1887.

Rivers, L. N., sheriff of Marshall county, is a native of Holly Springs, where he now resides. His father was Capt. Joel Lewis Rivers, who entered the service of the Confederacy during the Civil war as a private and was mustered out a captain. He was for many years probate clerk of a Mississippi county. The mother was Mary Ford, a daughter of William Ford, who for many years was a promi- nent and influential figure in Marshall county. After completing a scholastic course in the Blue Mountain, Miss., schools Mr. Rivers embarked in the bridge business and has been successfully engaged in it ever since. Many of the best steel and wooden bridges over the State and county are evidences of his handiwork. In 1899 he

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was elected to the office of assessor and four years later was made sheriff of his county, which office he still holds. Fraternally he is widely and favorably known, being prominently identified with the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Rivers' wife was formerly Miss Emily Greer, a daughter of Aquila Greer of Marshall county. To Mr. and Mrs. Rivers have been born nine children. Bertram Dare, the first born, is now a student in a college at Natchez, and Mable Clare, the third in order of birth, died at the age of six years. The others, Clyde Everett, Guy, Joseph, Lewis, Aquila, Jennie May and Clara Lee, are all at home. Mr. Rivers has filled the office of public trust to which he has been elected with eminent satisfaction to all concerned.

Robertson, James A., the able incumbent of the dual office of sheriff and tax collector of Covington county, was born in the city of Williamsburg, where he now maintains his home, the date of his nativity having been Jan. 20, 1861, while he is a son of George F. and Louisa (Graham) Robertson, the former of whom was born in Georgia and the latter in Mississippi. Sheriff Robertson secured his early education in public and private schools in his native county, and that he has made good use of his advantages is shown in the fact that he was for some time a successful teacher in the schools of Covington county. Later he was engaged in brickmaking, held the position of commercial salesman and was identified with agri- cultural pursuits. He held the office of constable for one year, and was elected county treasurer, of which office he remained in tenure for eight years, giving a most able and acceptable administration of the fiscal affairs of the county. Thereafter he served three years as postmaster at Seminary, this county, and in the autumn of 1903 he was elected sheriff and tax collector, while his re-election is assured if he consents to become a candidate at the expiration of his present term. He is a stalwart Democrat, a Royal Arch Mason, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Baptist church. March 5, 1885, witnessed the marriage of Mr. Robertson to Miss Rosa Stew- art, daughter of James and Martha (Worthy) Stewart, of Williams- burg, and they have nine children, namely: James Herbert, Frank- lin Hubert, Lena, Albert Dayton, Lanna, John Denny, Ray, Ross Stewart and Veronica.

Robinson, John Lowe, the popular mayor of the town of Flora, Madison county, is one of the successful planters of this county, which has been his home from the time of his birth and with the multifarious interests of which he has been long and prominently identified. He was born on the homestead plantation of his father, Dec. 9, 1852, and is a son of John and Sarah (Lowe) Robinson, both of whom were likewise born and reared in Mississippi, where the respective families settled in an early day. The Robinson family is of English lineage and the original representatives in America immigrated to this country in the Seventeenth century. Six members of the family were patriot soldiers of the Continental line in the War of the Revolution and all sacrificed their lives in defense of

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Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III, Part 83

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