USA > Mississippi > Mississippi : comprising sketches of towns, events, institutions, and persons, arranged in cyclopedic form Vol. III > Part 90
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Shepherd, Banks A., M. D., local sur- geon for the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railroad at Lexington, was born at Date- ville, Tallapoosa county, Ala., May 19, 1855. He is a son of James B. and Martha P. (Banks) Shepherd, the former born near Dateville. The doctor received a proper preliminary discipline in the schools of Big Springs, Tenn., and then in 1875 he entered the medical department of Vanderbilt university and two years later received his degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1877 and in the following June, the medical degree was conferred by the Uni- versity of Nashville. The first year after graduation he was located at Goodman, and then he went to Richland in Holmes county where he remained from 1878 to 1889. Since the latter year he has been engaged in the successful practice of his profession in Lexington. In 1890 he received the appointment of local surgeon for the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railroad and has been retained in the same capacity ever since. Like the ma- jority of his neighbors the doctor is a Democrat in his political be- liefs, and as the candidate of that party was twice elected to the county board of supervisors and was for several terms county health officer. In a professional way he is identified with the National Railroad Surgeons' association, the Mississippi State medical asso- ciation and the Tri-State medical association. On June 23, 1880, Dr. Shepherd married Miss Mollie Tackett, daughter of Judge Tack- ett, of Richland, Miss. The children of this union are three in num- ber. Katie Eva, the eldest, is a graduate of the University of Mis- sissippi in 1902. Thomas Banks is a student in the University of Mississippi. Alfonzo Pitt, is the youngest. The family are mem- bers of the Baptist church, and the doctor has been a deacon and a member of the board of trustees of the Baptist church and trustee of the Lexington training school for sixteen years. Since his resi- dence in Lexington he has been a member of the board of trustees
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of the city schools. He is also medical examiner for several of the largest and most substantial life insurance companies. He is popu- lar with his professional friends, who recognize in him a man of ability, and a substantial, earnest citizen of the community.
Shelton, Thomas Mode, who is engaged in the practice of law at Fayette, is one of the prominent representatives of the legal frater- nity in Jefferson county. He was born in Copiah county, Miss., May 26, 1872, and is a son of John W. and Selina (Goff) Shelton, both of whom were likewise born in Mississippi. The father was one of the loyal sons of the State who went forth in defense of the Confederacy in the war between the States and he was one of the prominent planters and influential citizens of Copiah county. The subject of this sketch completed the curriculum of the high school at Union Church, Jefferson county, and then entered the Agricultural and Mechanical college, at Starkville, where he was a student for one year. His technical education was secured under most ad- vantageous condition, since he was graduated in the Kent College of Law, in Chicago, as a member of the class of 1897, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws, as did he also from the law department of the University of Mississippi in the following year. He also attended the Northern Indiana law school at Valparaiso, Ind. He initiated the practice of his profession in Fayette in 1899 and here he now has a large and important legal business, having gained dis- tinctive reputation as an able trial lawyer and conservative and discriminating counselor. In politics Mr. Shelton gives an un- qualified support to the principles and policies of the Democratic party and in 1902 he represented his district in the State senate. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1901 Mr. Shelton was united in marriage to Miss Loudie Belle Harris, daughter of John C. Harris, of Union Church, Jefferson county, and she died in June, 1904, leaving two children.
Shipp, Robert Wheless, M. D., is an able representative of the medical profession in the city of Gulfport, where he is meeting with excellent success in his exacting profession. He was born in Yazoo City, Miss., May 4, 1878, and is a son of S. S. and Eunice (Dinkins) Shipp, the former of whom was born in North Carolina and the lat- ter in Madison county, Miss. Dr. Shipp had the advantages of the excellent public schools of his native State, and after completing a course in the high school he was matriculated in the University of Mississippi, at Oxford, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1898, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Having determined to adopt the profession of medicine as his vocation in life, he then entered the medical department of Tulane university, in the city of New Orleans, where he carefully followed through the prescribed technical courses and was graduated in 1901, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Dr. Shipp was well equipped for the responsible duties of his profession and initiated his practice in Yazoo county, but a few months later, he came to Gulfport, where he has since been established and where his unmistakable ability and gracious personality have gained to him a representative sup-
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port in his professional work while he is distinctively popular in both business and social circles. He is identified with the American and State medical associations and also with the county medical society, of which latter he is secretary at the time of this writing. He is house physician for the Great Southern Hotel and local surgeon for the Gulf & Ship Island railroad. He is a member of the business league of Gulfport and also of the Gulfport yacht club, while in a a fraternal way he is identified with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World and the Sigma Alpha Ep- silon college fraternity. He is a stockholder in the State National bank of Gulfport and has other local interests. His religious faith is indicated by his retaining membership in the Baptist church.
Shoffner, James H., M. D., is one of the representatives physicians and surgeons of Yalobusha county, being established in a successful practice in Water Valley, where he has followed the work of his profes- sion for a quarter of a century. Dr. Shoffner was born in Carroll county, Tenn., May 27, 1841, being a son of Martin and Jane (Johnson) Shoffner, the former of whom was born and reared in North Carolina and the latter in Tennessee. As a young man the father removed from his native State to Tennessee, whence he later came to Missis- sippi with his family, becoming one of the successful planters of Marshall county, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, his death having taken place prior to the Civil war. He was a grandson of John Shoffner, who served under Gen. Francis Mar- ion in the War of the Revolution. Dr. Shoffner secured his early educational discipline in the excellent schools of Marshall county, Miss., and thereafter was a student for a time in the New Orleans school of medicine, later being matriculated in the medical depart- ment of the University of Nashville, Tennessee, in which he was grad- uated as a member of the class of 1862, duly receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine. Shortly afterwards he entered the service of the Confederacy in a professional capacity, first serving in the hospital at Nashville and later as surgeon in a hospital at Bowling Green, Ky. also doing effective field and hospital duty at various other points to which he was assigned. He continued in the service until the close of the war, and his experience in the connection proved exceptionally valuable as a further preparation for the private work of his chosen profession. After the war he engaged in practice at Mount Pleasant, Miss., later practicing in Coldwater and Moscow, Tenn., and in 1881 taking up his residence in Water Valley, where he has since been engaged in general practice and where he has won marked prestige as an able and popular physician and surgeon. He is division surgeon for the Illinois Central railroad, having served in this capacity for a score of years. He is a member of the State medical society and of the American Association of Railway Surgeons, being also identified with the Masonic fraternity. The doctor is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, taking a lively interest in its cause but never seeking public office. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South. On April 1, 1862, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Shoffner to Miss Susan E. Hinton, daughter of
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William K. and Mary J. (Hale) Hinton, of Marshall county, Miss., and they have four children : Lulu, Emmett, Zoula and Janie.
Simmons, John D., cashier of the Bank of Pontotoc, has resided in Pontotoc county from the time of his birth and is one of its well known and popular citizens and business men. He was born on his father's plantation, in that county, Sept. 27, 1854, and is a son of John C. and Rebecca (Beckham) Simmons, the former of whom was born in North Carolina and the latter in Alabama. John C. Simmons was about fourteen years of of age at the time of the family removal from North Carolina to Mississippi, where he passed the remainder of his life, having become one of the successful planters of Pontotoc county. He died when the subject of this sketch was six years of age, and his wife, who likewise came to Mississippi when a child, survived him by a number of years. John D. Simmons, was reared to manhood on the farm and his early educational training was secured in the common schools of his native county. He con- tinued to be actively identified with agricultural pursuits until 1895, when he was elected sheriff of Pontotoc county, of which office he remained incumbent four years. He still retains valuable plantation interests in the county, besides property in the city of Pontotoc. He is a stockholder in the Bank of Pontotoc, of which he has been cashier since 1903, and is also a stockholder and director in the Pontotoc Cotton Oil Company. He gives his allegiance to the Democratic party and takes a lively interest in local affairs of a public nature. He is a member of the board of aldermen of Pontotoc and is clerk of the board. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias. In 1889 Mr. Simmons was united in marriage to Miss Luella West, daughter of the late Dr. James R. West, who was for many years engaged in the practice of medicine at Troy, Pontotoc county. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons are the parents of five children-John Douglas, Wilma Denton, Lowry Garrett, Sicily Elmira and Heber Sherwood.
Sivley, Clarence Lee, one of the most prominent of the younger attorneys of the Lafayette county bar, was born near Raymond, Miss., March 14, 1871. His parents, William Rufus and Lelia Jose- phine Sivley, were both born in Mississippi, the former at Raymond, Hinds county, July 23, 1843, and the latter at Hernando, De Soto county, Oct. 13, 1844. The father enlisted in 1861 as a volunteer in Company E, Third Mississippi regiment, and with that command took part in the battle of Baker's creek and the siege of Vicksburg. In 1863 he was transferred to Company C, Ballantine's cavalry regi- ment, Armstrong's brigade, and participated in the battles of Peach- tree creek, Atlanta, Franklin, Nashville, and the other engagements of Hood's Tennessee campaign, his command finally being surrendered
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at Demopolis, Ala. Clarence Lee Sivley was educated at the Cham- berlain-Hunt academy at Port Gibson, Miss., and the University of Mississippi at Oxford, graduating in both the literary and law courses. Upon his admission to the bar he began practice at Oxford in 1893, where he has ever since continued, and where he has built up a representative clientage. For some time he was professor of law in the State university, which position he recently resigned to remove to Memphis, Tenn., and accept the position of assistant general solicitor of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad Company, and assistant district attorney of the Illinois Central Railroad Com- pany for the State of Tennessee. This selection of Mr. Sivley as counsel by two of the leading railroad companies of the South, tells the story of his standing as a lawyer, and especially of his knowledge of corporation law. While a student in the University of Mississippi he became affiliated with the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. The estimation in which he is held by his brother attorneys may be seen in the fact that he is chairman of the board of directors of the Missis- sippi bar association. In politics Mr. Sivley is aligned with the Democratic party and takes a commendable interest in promoting the welfare and principles of that organization. For eight years he has served as a member of the Democratic State executive committee for Mississippi, and has also served as chairman of the executive committee of Lafayette county, but he has never aspired to office. He is a member of the Episcopal church. On Nov. 29, 1899, Mr. Sivley married Miss Minnie Clopton, daughter of William Hales and Maggie (Gholson) Clopton, of Aberdeen, Miss. This union has been blessed by one son, Clarence Lee, Jr., born Nov. 6, 1906.
Smith, Lemuel Augustus, a prominent young attorney of Holly Springs, is a native of that city and a son of Lemuel Augustus and Carrie (West) Smith. Something of his maternal ancestry may be learned by consulting the biography of Gen. A. M. West, elsewhere in this volume. The paternal grandfather was a colonel in the Mexi- can war. He was a man of considerable wealth, a cotton merchant of Memphs, who invested all his money in Confederate bonds during the Civil war. The subject of this sketch received a preliminary education in the Webb school in Tennessee and at St. Thomas hall in Holly Springs. He rounded out his scholastic work with a course at the University of Mississippi at Oxford where he was graduated in 1899. A year later he was admitted to the practice of law, and since that time has been continuously and successfully engaged in it. In fraternal circles Mr. Smith is well known, being a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and of the Knights of Pythias. On Feb. 7, 1900, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma Louisa Robertson, daughter of Charles H. and Emma (Caffey) Robertson. Her paternal grand- father was a distinguished general in the early Indian wars in Missis- sippi. Charles H. Robertson was formerly county treasurer of De Soto county and served with distinction in Walthall's brigade of the Confederate army during the Civil war. An uncle, William Robertson, a West Point graduate, declined a major-generalship in the Federal army. On both sides Mrs. Smith had four ancestors who
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participated in the battle of King's Mountain. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born two children-Louisa Caffey and Emanuel Augustus. Mr. Smith is earnest, sincere and able and his friends predict a great future for him in his chosen profession.
Smith, Thomas White, an enterprising dealer in lumber, coal and grain with headquarters in Lexington, was born in De Soto county, Miss., Dec. 28, 1864. He is a son of John P. and Ann Eliza (Hoskins) Smith, both natives of Rutherford county, Tenn. His maternal grandfather, William M. Hoskins, served as a surgeon in the American army in the War of 1812, enlisting from Virginia. The subject of this sketch received his early educational advantages in the schools of Marshall county and subsequently in those of Lexington. When the nation became involved in internal strife in the early sixties he en- listed on March 15, 1862, in Company A of the Thirty-eighth Missis- sippi infantry and with that organization participated in the engage- ments of Iuka, Corinth and Vicksburg. After he had been duly ex- changed following the fall of the latter place he became a member of the mounted infantry operating with the brilliant cavalry leader of the Confederacy, Gen. Nathan B. Forrest. When hostilities had ceased he embarked in the general merchandise business at Ebenezer and remained in it for one year, abandoning it to remove to Lexington to become deputy clerk of the circuit court. This position he retained through several changes of administration and was then made deputy sheriff for a period of years. When he gave up official life he en- tered the general merchandise business in his own name and continued at it for six years. The following few years, until 1897, he was a traveling salesman, abandoning the road to go to farming. After two years in agricultural pursuits he returned to Lexington and embarked in the lumber, coal and grain business. This he has con- tinued successfully up to the present time. In a fraternal way Mr. Smith is identified with the commandery of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Honor and the order of Hoo Hoos. Politically he is a Democrat and beside having held appointive offices he has served as supervisor of Beat One. On Dec. 3, 1867 Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Sallie A. West, a daughter of John M. and Ailsie (Oliver) West of Lexington. The children of this union are ten in number. Sydney M. married Miss Mattie Smith. Minnie Alice, now deceased, became the wife of John A. McDonald and by him had a son, John A., Jr., also deceased. Jessie, Sallie West and Sarah, the fourth, seventh and ninth in order of birth, have all passed the great divide. Charles W. is at home. Clara May is the wife of G. A. Doty and the mother of five children- Minnie May, Glenn (deceased), Carolyn, Alva and Johnston. The other members of the Smith family are Thomas' W., Jr., Joseph Hughes, who married Emelia D. Phillips and Mildred. The family was brought up in the Baptist faith, and the father is at the present time the incumbent of the office of clerk of the Lexington congregation.
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Somerville, James, of Vaiden, is recognized as one of the leading business men and influential citizens of Carroll county, and is a repre- sentative of one of the honored and prominent families of this section of the State. Mr. Somerville was born on the homestead plantation, seven miles west of Vaiden, Miss., Nov. 8, 1862, and is a son of James and Martha (Hudson) Somerville, the former of whom was born at Culpeper Court House, Va., and the latter of whom was born in Alabama. James Somerville, Sr., was graduated in the University of Alabama, and was thereafter a member of the faculty of that institution for some time. Prior to the Civil war he was editor of a leading paper in Memphis, Tenn., and during the war he served as colonel of militia at Grenada, Miss. He was a veteran of the Mexican war, having enlisted when nineteen years of age. He became one of the leading members of the bar of northern Mississippi, having been established in the active practice of his profession in Carrollton at the time of his death, in 1877, his wife also passing the closing years of her life there. They were zealous and prominent members of the Presbyterian church and the father was one of the distinguished members of the bar of the State, controlling a large and important practice. The subject of this sketch secured his earlier educational discipline in the schools of Carroll county, Miss., and in 1880 he was graduated in his father's alma mater, the University of Alabama, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Art. He has been identified with plantation interests from his youth to the present and is now the owner of a valuable landed estate in Carroll county. From 1890 to 1896 he served as deputy sheriff of the county, and he was then elected sheriff, in which office he continued consecutively until Feb. 1, 1901, having given a most able and satisfactory administration. He is at the present time a member of the board of aldermen of Vaiden and is editor and publisher of the Carroll News, a Democratic weekly paper which exercises important functions and is an able exponent of local interests and of the cause of the Democratic party, to which Mr. Somerville gives an unqualified allegiance. He is prominent in in the party councils in his section and in 1900 was a delegate to the Mr. Somerville Democratic national convention, in Kansas City.
has been secretary and treasurer of the Vaiden Brick and Tile Manu- facturing Company from the time of its organization, and since 1905 he has also been general manager of the business. He is a man of sterling characteristics, is forceful and indefatigable in business affairs and is loyal to all the duties of citizenship. Mrs. Somerville ably assists her husband in the editorial work of the Carroll News, and she practically has charge of the editorial department, showing much discrimination and ability in the connection. Both are mem- bers of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Somerville is identified with the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On March 13, 1891, he was united in marriage to Miss Annie Liddell, daughter of Andrew J. Liddell, of Carroll county, and she died in April, 1899, being survived by one child, James, Jr. On June 7,1900, Mr. Somerville wedded Miss Elizabeth Liddell, daughter of Dr. William and Elizabeth (Small) Liddell, of Carrollton, Miss., where
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Mrs. Somerville was born and reared, the family being one of promi- nence in Carroll county.
Spight, Thomas, of Ripley, Tippah county, is representative of the second district of Mississippi in congress, is a lawyer of distinction and is a veteran of the Confederate service in the war between the States. He was born near the city which is now his home, the date of his nativity having been Oct. 25, 1841, and he is a son of James Mumford and Mary (Rucker) Spight. Capt. Thomas Spight, the subject of this brief review, was reared on the homestead plantation, in Tippah county, and after a due course of study in the common schools he entered Ripley academy, and in 1859 he was matriculated in Purdy college, Tenn., and in 1860 in Lagrange Synodical college, Tennessee, where he remained a student until the outbreak of the Civil war, when his youthful patriotism and loyalty led him promptly to tender his services in defense of the Confederate cause. He left college and enlisted as a private, soon becoming lieutenant and later captain of Company B, Thirty-fourth Mississippi infantry, having attained the captaincy before he was twenty-one years of age and having been the youngest officer of that rank in the famous Walthall's brigade. He participated in nearly all the battles fought by the Army of the Tennessee, and in the engagement at Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 1864, was severely wounded. He was in command of the decimated Thirty-fourth regiment at the time of its surrender, with the army under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, at Greensboro, N. C., in April, 1865. After the close of his gallant and protracted military service Captain Spight engaged in teaching school for a time, and in the meanwhile decided to prepare himself for the legal profession. After careful study and reading along technical lines he was duly admitted to the bar of his native State, at Ripley, in 1874. He forthwith established himself in practice in that city, which has ever since been his home and professional headquarters. He repre- sented Tippah county in the legislature from 1874 to 1880, and inci- dentally took a prominent part in the impeachment of Adelbert Ames; he was presidential elector on the Hancock ticket in 1880; was elected district attorney for the Third judicial district in 1883, ably filling this incumbency until 1892, when he voluntarily retired from the office. On June 1, 1898, he was elected to represent the Second district of the State in congress, and he has since continued as member from said district, having served in the fifty-fifth, fifty- sixth, fifty-seventh, fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth and sixtieth congresses. He is a stalwart adherent of the Democratic party and has been an effective and valued worker in the promotion of its cause, having served as a member of the county and State executive committees and taken an active part in every campaign since the close of the
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Civil war. He is a member of the Baptist church, taking a lively interest in all departments of the church and Sunday school work. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Knights of Honor. Near Ripley, Miss., Dec. 12, 1865, Captain Spight was united in marriage to Miss Mary Virginia Barnett, daughter of Albert G. and Frances A. (Rucker) Barnett, of Tippah county. Captain and Mrs. Spight have six children : Mattie B., Mary V., Lynn D., Allie F., Henry R. and Lillian. Mattie is now the wife of Wm. Hines. Lynn married Miss Nannie Gibson of Arkansas, and Henry, Miss Ida May Jones. All have interesting little families. On May 21, 1901, the devoted wife of his young manhood with whom he had lived for more than thirty- five years, and to whom he attributes much of his success in life, was taken from him by death. On Oct.15, 1903, he was again happily married, in Nashville, Tenn., to Mrs. Thida Duncan Moore, a most estimable and cultured woman.
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