USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III > Part 85
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of his life, engaged in planting. His wife died in Alabama. Richard A. Seward accompanied his parents on their removals from Virginia to Tennessee, thence to Alabama and then to Mississippi, and he was a resident of Carroll county, Miss., at the time of his marriage, which was celebrated in Pickens county, Ala. About 1852 he removed to Choctaw county and settled near French Camp, afterward removing to LaGrange, where he engaged in merchandizing, under the firm name of Seward, Boyd & Company. Upon the removal of the county seat to Chester he located in that place and the firm of Seward & Son, the subject of this sketch being the son, there conducted a general store, the father's retirement taking place shortly before his death, which occurred in 1887. He was a good business man and one of inflexible integrity and honor. He accumulated a competency and was one of the prominent citizens of his community. For a time he served as circuit clerk of Carroll county. He was a member of the Christian church, was a stanch Democrat, and was identified with the Masonic fraternity. His first wife, Sarah A., nee Doyle, died in 1858, devoted in the faith of the Christian church, and he later married Mary (Doyle) Heslep, who bore him one son, F. D. The following brief record is given concerning the six children of the first marriage: Elizabeth V. is the wife of R. J. Irving, and they reside in Texas; James A., who was a Confederate soldier during the Civil war, is a resident of Texas; Mary L. resides in Ackerman; E. R. is the subject of this sketch; Emma is the wife of M. M. Ridgeway, a planter of Choctaw county; and M. F. is a member of the firm of Seward & Company, of which E. R. is the senior member. E. R. Seward was reared on the homestead plantation, and in the schools of French Camp, Choctaw county, he secured good educational advantages. He taught school for a brief interval and in 1872 he was elected chancery clerk of Choctaw county, retaining this incumbency until 1880, when he was elected to the legislature, serving one term. In the meanwhile, from 1880 to 1883, he was engaged in the practice of law, having been admitted to the bar upon examination. In 1884 the firm of Seward Brothers engaged in business in Ackerman, where they have now a finely equipped department store, and conduct an annual business amounting to from $90,000 to $100,000 per year. In 1904 the firm was reorganized and incorporated under the laws of the State of Mississippi with the firm name of Seward & Company, and it has since been conducted under that name. Mr. Seward is a stalwart
Democrat, and is a progressive and public-spirited citizen.
He and
his wife are prominent and zealous members of the Baptist church, and fraternally he is identified with Snowsville Lodge, No. 119, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was master two years; and Acker- man Lodge, No. 1290, Knights and Ladies of Honor, of which he is past protector. He commands uniform confidence and regard in the
community and is influential in local affairs. In 1873 Mr. Seward was married to Miss Lucretia M. Robinson, who was born and reared in Choctaw county, Miss., being a daughter of Samuel M. and Rhoda E. (Cornwell) Robinson, who were born in South Carolina, whence they came to Choctaw county about 1855, there passing the remainder
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of their lives; the father died in 1859, and the mother in 1881. Mr. and Mrs. Seward have three children, namely: Ruby is the wife of J. A. McCain, of Meridian. Doyle, practicing medicine at Eden, Yazoo county, Miss., graduated at Clinton college, Mississippi, took up the study of medicine at Tulane medical college, but graduated from Jefferson medical college of Philadelphia, in 1903. Irma lives with her parents.
Sheely, Charles Almon, M. D., who is engaged in the practice of his profession in Gulfport, Harrison county, is well fortified in the wide range of technical information pertaining to the two branches of his profession, and his skill and ability have gained to him a due- support in the community. He is a native son of this common- wealth, having been born in Jasper county, Miss., March 21, 1869. This State also figures as the native place of his parents, William Hill Sheely and Josephine E. (Edwards) Sheely. Dr. Sheely was edu- cated, in an academic sense, in the public schools and in Conehatta institute, while he completed his technical course of study in the medical department of Tulane university, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1898, duly receiving his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. He had previously read medicine under private instruction and had become eligible for practice through successful examination before the State board of medical examiners, and in 1894 he engaged in the work of his profession at Perkinston, Harrison county. In 1897 the doctor survived an attack of the yel- low fever and being thus immune from further attack his profes- sional services were brought into requisition as inspector of shipping at Ship Island, his appointment to this position having been made by the State board in connection with the marine hospital service. In 1897 he was stationed at the east end of the island, and in the following year at the west end. In 1898, Dr. Sheely located in Gulf- port, being one of the first practitioners to take up permanent resi- dence in the town, which was then undeveloped. With the rapid growth and progress of the place his professional business has kept pace, and he is now one of the most successful and popular physi- cians and surgeons of this section, enjoying a lucrative practice and being held in high esteem by all who know him. Since 1900 he has served as health officer of Harrison county and as inspector of public health and for the marine hospital service at this port. He is vice- president of the medical society of the county and is a member of the State society, as well as the American medical association. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Wood- men of the World. On Dec. 6, 1899, Dr. Sheely was united in mar- riage to Miss Willie E. Polk, daughter of Alphonse F. and Martha E. (Barnes) Polk, of Gulfport, and a niece of John F. Barnes, super- vising architect of the new capitol building of Mississippi, at Jack- son. Dr. and Mrs. Sheely have two children-Wallace Polk, born Oct. 5, 1900, and Eleanor Ruth, born Feb. 11, 1903.
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Scott, Charles, is recognized as one of the representative members of the bar of Mississippi, is prominent and influential in political affairs and is one of the honored and popular citizens of Rosedale, Bolivar county, where he is engaged in the active practice of his profession. Mr. Scott was born in Jackson, this State, Nov. 7, 1847, and is a son of Charles and Elizabeth (Bullus) Scott, both of whom were born in Tennessee. Joseph Scott, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a major in a Virginia regiment in the War of the Revolution. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Scott was Commodore Bullus, a commodore in the United States navy. Charles Scott was attending school in Jackson, Miss., during the Civil war, and when but fifteen years of age he tendered his services in defense of the cause of the Confederacy, and saw his first service as a soldier in Captain Yerger's company of Wirt Adams' regiment, later being a volunteer aide for a short while on the staff of Gen. D. W. Adams. Still later he enlisted as a private in the Twenty-eighth Mississippi regiment, Armstrong's brigade, Forrest's cavalry, the captain of his company having been W. E. Hunt. He continued in active service until the close of the war, and was paroled at Gainesville, Ala., after the final surrender. After the war Mr. Scott took up the study of law, thor- oughly fortifying himself in the learning of the same and in due time being admitted to the bar. He began the active practice of his pro- fession before he was twenty-one years of age and has since con- tinued in practice, having attained to distinctive prestige and success as an attorney and counsellor. He has been established in practice in Bolivar county since 1869, and there he also has important farming and mercantile interests. Mr. Scott has long been an influential factor in the councils of the Democratic party in Mississippi, and for many years he served as chairman of the Democratic executive committee of Bolivar county, having also been chairman of numerous county and district conventions of his party, but he has never been a poli- tician nor a candidate for an office of any kind previous to this year, 1906. He formerly served as president of the Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners and is at the present time president of the Mississippi River Improvement and Levee Association. He is essentially progressive and public-spirited in his attitude as a citizen. Mr. Scott is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, as is also his wife, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, Knights of Honor and Elks, and holds membership in the Tennessee Club, at Memphis, Tenn. On March 10, 1870, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Scott to Miss Malvina Yerger, daughter of Col. Alexander Yerger and Elizabeth (Rucks) Yerger, of Washington county, this State. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have three children, namely: one son, Alexander Yerger, and two daughters, Malvina and Charlie. One
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daughter, Elizabeth Bullus, died, being at that time the wife of Capt. E. H. Woods.
Scott, Daniel A., a prominent member of the bar of Coahoma county, engaged in the practice of his profession at Clarks- dale, the judicial center of the county, is a native son of Mississippi and he has risen to high prestige in his exacting profession through his own efforts and ability, being one to whom may consistently be applied that honored American title, "self-made man." On other pages of this work ap- pears a sketch of the career of his father, Ex-chancellor Charles Scott, Sr., and in the connection will be found data concern- ing the parents and the family gene- alogy. Daniel Adams Scott was born in the city of Jackson, capital of the State of Mississippi, on Dec. 5, 1852, and is a son of Charles and Elizabeth B. Scott, both native of Ten- nessee. He was doubly orphaned when about nine years of age, after which he passed the greater portion of his boyhood with his aunt, Mrs. Daniel W. Adams, whose husband was a brigadier general in the Confederate service during the Civil war. During the progress of the war Mrs. Adams and her young nephew were constantly on the move, and thus he had but little opportunity for attending school. After the close of the war, whose ravages had been so severely felt in Mississippi, it was found that all of the property of Mr. Scott's father had been swept away, and he was compelled to seek employment when but fourteen years of age, ever afterward providing for his own maintenance. When he was about fifteen years old he secured a position as page in the circuit court of Hinds county, Judge Watt being on the bench at the time, and in the intervals between sessions of the court he attended the common schools of the capital city, being ambitious to make good the educational handicap of the preceding years. When he was about eighteen years of age Mr. Scott removed to Washington county and secured employment with the firm of Sims Brothers, who were engaged in the mercantile and planting business at what is now known as the village of Burdett, and within a short time his ability and fidelity were rewarded by his being placed in full control of the business. During his leisure hours Mr. Scott devoted himself to his books and he ultimately succeeded in familiar- izing himself to some extent with the classics and with belles-lettres. For two years prior to the attaining of his legal majority he con- ducted a small private school, and within this period he devoted him- self to the study of law, being admitted to the bar, at Rosedale, Bolivar county, in October, 1874, having previously been a student for a time in St. Stanislaus academy, at Bay St. Louis. Soon after being admitted to practice he located at Friar Point, Coahoma county, where he gained distinctive recognition in his profession and built up a representative practice, there remaining until November, 1900,
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when he removed to Clarksdale, the better to meet the demands of his important and constantly increasing professional business. Since that time he has continued in practice in Clarksdale, where he is giving special attention to commercial and corporation law. He is re- tained as counsel by the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railroad, the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company, the American Express Company and other corporations. Mr. Scott is an uncompromising supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, and was on the party ticket as a presidential elector from Mississippi at the time of Grover Cleveland's last candidacy for the presidential office. He and his wife are com- municants of the Protestant Episcopal church, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Honor, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Woodmen of the World. On Nov. 9, 1875, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Scott to Miss Maria Lou Yerger, daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth B. Yerger, of Rosedale, Miss. Seven children have been born of this union and all are living except one, the names, in order of birth, being as follows: Nettie S., Charline, Elizabeth B., Daniel A., Jr., Louise, Malvina Y., and Mary. Nettie is now the wife of Arthur P. Gariong; Charline is the wife of George Clinton; Daniel A., the only son, died June 9, 1897; the other children remain at the parental home.
Scales, W. F., M. D., of Macon, is one of the able physicians of the State and is local surgeon for the Mobile & Ohio railroad. Dr. Scales was born in Crawford, Lowndes county, Miss., on Aug. 14, 1864, and is a son of William H. and Sarah A. (Flowers) Scales, na- tive respectively of Tennessee and Arkansas. During the Civil war the father was in the Confederate service, in which he made a gallant record, having enlisted in Company C, First Arkansas in- fantry, in which he was promoted lieutenant, while after the battle of Franklin he was made captain of his company, serving as such until the close of the war. He was wounded in the battle of Franklin, but was not long incapacitated, and among the leading battles in which he took part in addition to that engagement may be mentioned Shiloh, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and Peachtree Creek, much of his service being under command of General Hood. Dr. Scales completed a course of study in the high school in Mobile, Ala., in which State his parents resided during his youth, and he then entered the Southern university, at Greensboro, Ala., where he was graduated in 1884, with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. In 1887 his completion of a thorough course in medicine and surgery was signalized by his grad- uation in the medical department of the University of Alabama, from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. For one year after his graduation he was connected with the dispensary depart- ment of the medical college in which he had taken his course, that department of the university being located in the city of Mobile, and there he continued in practice until, 1891, when he located in Wesson, Copiah county, Miss., where he was engaged in professional work until 1898, when he enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war, being chosen captain of Company G, First Mississippi infantry, and
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having been sent with his command toIChickamauga, remaining in service until December, 1898, when he was mustered out and received his honorable discharge. He then took up his residence in Macon, where he has built up a fine practice and gained the high regard of all with whom he has come in contact. He is a member of the State board of medical examiners, is identified with the medical associations of his county and State, as well as with the International Association of Railway Surgeons and the Southern Association of Railway Sur- geons, being local surgeon of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad, as before stated. In politics Dr. Scales is an ardent Democrat, and he is identified with the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the - Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On March 14, 1888, Dr. Scales was united in marriage to Miss Mary Kate Harrington, daughter of Jim J. and Mary E. (Daly) Harrington, of Mobile, Ala. They have no children.
Scott, Jacob, manager of the extensive wholesale liquor business conducted under the name of his father, Henry Scott, in Greenville, Washington county, is one of the prominent and progressive business men of that city. He was born in the city of New York, on Sept. 27, 1857, and is a son of Henry and Hannah Scott, both of whom were born and reared in Gnesen, province of Posen, Prussia, while the father served the requisite term in the Prussian army, having been attached to the cavalry arm of the service. He came to America in 1857 and has been a resident of Greenville, Miss., since 1869, having been the founder of the large and prosperous business of which his sons now have the active management. In the family are four sons and three daughters, and the three sons, Jacob, Isador and Louis, are associated in the carrying on of the wholesale liquor business founded by their father, as already noted, being the representatives also of the Pabst Brewing Company, of Milwaukee, Wis. Dr. S. L. Scott, the youngest of the sons, is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and is engaged in the practice of dentistry in Greenville. Louis is a graduate of Nelson's business college, in Cincinnati, Ohio, as is also Jacob, who secured his early educational training in the city of Vicks- burg, Miss. The family are prominently identified with the Hebrew congregation of Greenville, and the father and sons are all stalwart advocates of the principles of the Democratic party. Jacob Scott is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, the Free Sons of Israel, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Mississippi and Olympia Clubs, of Greenville. In June, 1884, he was united in marriage to Miss Mollie Lewy, daughter of B. M. Lewy, of Montgomery, Ala., and they have four children: Ernestine, Walter L., Bertine, and Marguerite D.
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Scruggs, John Bridges, secretary and treasurer of the Mississippi Levee Board and manager of the interests of the Pitts- burg Coal Company at Greenville, is one of the representative business men of Washington county. He was born in Shreveport, La., March 4, 1851, and is a son of Dr. Robert L. and Isabella M. (Bridges) Scruggs, the former of whom was born in Cumberland county, Va., Oct. 3, 1813, and the latter of whom was born in Harrodsburg, Ky. Dr. Scruggs was for many years engaged in the practice of his profession in Louisiana and Mississippi, and was a physician and surgeon of distinctive ability. His grandfather in the maternal line was Gen. John Adair, who was a member of congress and United States senator from Kentucky, as well as governor of the State, while he distinguished himself in the War of 1812, having had command of the Kentucky troops in the battle of New Orleans. The grandfather, John L. Bridges, was for thirty-six years judge of the circuit court of Boyle and Mercer counties, Ky. John B. Scruggs was reared in Danville, Ky., educated in Shelbyville, Ky., and has been a resident of Green- ville since 1890, being numbered among the loyal and public-spirited citizens of that attractive city. His duties as secretary and treasurer of the Mississippi Levee Board place demands on much of his time and attention, and he controls a large business in his capacity of manager for the Pittsburg Coal Company. Unqualified endorse- ment is given by him to the principles of the Democratic party, and he is affiliated with the four bodies of York Rite Masonry, being past master of the lodge, and treasurer of his commandery of Knights Templar, while he is also identified with the Knights of Honor and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. On Nov. 25, 1880, Mr. Scruggs was united in marriage to Miss Virginia Wilbourn, daughter of Mad- ison W. and Lillie (Skipwith) Wilbourn, of Sardis, Miss., and the names of the seven children of that union are as follows: Neppie A., Wilbourn S., John B., Virginia Adair, William Wallace, Robert B., .and Isabel B.
Scruggs, L. S., of Holly Springs, was born in Florence, Ala., and is the son of Finch P. Scruggs and Martha (Kittrell) Scruggs, natives of Virginia. He was educated in the schools of Alabama and enlisted as a private in Company B, Seventeenth Mississippi regiment, holding the rank of major at the close of the war. After the war he located in Holly Springs, Miss., and engaged in mercantile business. He is a member of the fraternal orders of Knights of Pythias and Odd Fellows. He was married to Priscilla Shelby Hammond, daughter of Dr. J. P. C. and Priscilla (Shelby) Hammond. Priscilla Shelby was a daughter of Judge Anthony Shelby of Galveston, a brother of
Governor Shelby of Kentucky. A brother of Mrs. Scruggs was Federal judge in eastern Tennessee for eighteen years. Her first marriage was with Captain James Meriwether Scruggs, by whom she is the mother of two children: Fannie and James M. Mrs. Scruggs was appointed postmistress in 1896, and again in 1901.
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Sharkey, Clay, a popular resident of the capital city, ex-member of the State legislature, a veteran of the Civil war and incumbent of the office of manager of the Jackson branch of the business of the Missis- sippi Cotton Oil Company, is a native son of Mississippi, having been born in Leake county, Oct. 7, 1844. He is a son of Patrick Sharkey, who was a member of one of the old and representative families of this State. He was a veteran of the War of 1812; was orderly ser- geant and commanded his company in the battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815. On his return from New Orleans, after receiving his discharge at the close of the war, he was so pleased with the country .. of Mississippi territory that he moved, in 1816, to Warren county, afterward buying and operating a farm in Hinds county, near the present town of Bolton. The maiden name of his mother was Matilda Puckett. The parents removed to Hinds county where his father had owned his farm and had only temporarily left it, when Clay was ten years of age, and here he attended school until he had attained the age of sixteen years, when he laid aside all private interests to go forth in defense of the cause of the Confederate States, responding to the first call made for volunteers. Concerning his military career the following record appears in Volume VII of the Confederate Military History, published in 1899: "In the spring of 1861 Mr. Sharkey volunteered as a private in Company I of the Eighteenth Mississippi infantry, which he accompanied to Virginia. He served with this command until discharged. As soon as his health would permit he re-enlisted, in 1862, in Company C, Third Mississippi infantry, Col. T. A. Mellon, of Featherston's brigade, Loring's division. He was with this command at the battle of Baker's Creek, May 16, 1863; in the campaign for the relief of Vicksburg; and in the siege of Jackson, under Gen. J. E. Johnston. In 1864 he participated in the Georgia campaign, from Dalton to Jonesboro, including the battles of New Hope church, Pine Knob, Kenesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek and Atlanta. A severe attack of illness prevented him from going with his conmand into Tennessee and, being cut off from his regiment, he was attached temporarily to Clark's company of scouts, Col. Josiah Patterson's regiment, Fifth Alabama cavalry, which operated in north Alabama. When this regiment was ordered to surrender, at Prattville, Ala., after the capitulation of General Lee, the greater part of it did so, but Private Sharkey and a few others refused, setting out to cross the Mississippi and join the forces in Louisiana and Texas. On their way they learned of the surrender in that depart- ment and returned to their homes, without surrender or parole." After the close of the war Mr. Sharkey returned to Hinds county, engaging in farming for a time and then establishing himself in the mercantile business in Bolton, where he continued operations about fifteen years. In 1888 he assisted in securing to the capital city the headquarters of the Mississippi Cotton Oil Company and the erection of the Jackson plant, while he has ever since been connected with this important concern, having been traveling representative for the corporation for several years, while in 1904 he was appointed manager of the Jackson branch of the business, the company owning and con-
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