Biographies
Chicot County
Arkansas Genealogy Trails
Transcribed
by Renae Donaldson from "Biographical and Historical Memoirs of
Southern Arkansas" published by Goodspeed Publishing of
Chicago, IL in 1890.
MARK
ALLEN, physician and surgeon, of
Grand Lake, Ark., was born in Raleigh, N. C., in 1838. He is the son of
Solomon and Helen (Warren) Allen, natives of Petersburg, Va., and North
Carolina, respectively. The father was a farmer by occupation, and
moved with his parents to North Carolina when quite young, and
emigrated to Mississippi in 1845, where he resided with his wife and
six children: Mark, John, Henry, Sophronia, Ella and Solomon, for many
years. He lived to be sixty-three years old, dying at McKinley, Ala.
The children are all dead except Mark and Henry, who resides in Santo
Tomas, Central America. Mark Allen passed his youth in La Fayette
County, Miss., and had excellent advantages in every way, attending
school until he completed the course. Afterward he entered the
University of Michigan, attending the medical lectures of that famous
college. He then went to the Jefferson Medical College, at
Philadelphia, where he graduated with honor. Having thus perfected
himself in his chosen profession, he returned home and commenced to
practice medicine in Morehouse Parish, La., where he prospered until
the breaking out of the war. Dr. Allen enlisted in the Confederate army
in the month of September, 1861, and remained three years, taking part
in the battle of Shiloh and others equally famous. His health failed so
seriously from the exposure in the army, that at the expiration of
three years he was compelled to leave and return to his practice in
Morehouse, where he remained until 1868. In 1865 he married Miss
Virginia Lewis, daughter of Frank and Elisebeth Lowry, both of whom
were natives of Virginia. To this union were born six children: Mark,
Lula, Willie, Grace, Frank and Daisy. Of these children only two
daughters are living at the present time. In 1868 Dr. Allen moved to
British Honduras, where he engaged in sugar raising and general
merchandising. Bad health compelled him to sell out his business and
move away, after remaining there only one year. He then moved to
McKinley, Ala., where he devoted a great deal of attention to farming
and mercantile business. In 1874 he moved with his family to Chicot
County, Ark., and resumed the practice of medicine, having from the
first a large and lucrative practice, and is to-day one of the most
successful physicians in that county. He also farms some, and owns his
residence and office in the village of Grand Lake. In politics he is an
ardent Democrat, a member of the L. of H. and K. of P., and is
deservedly a popular and successful man.
D. BRAWNER,
merchant and farmer of Vaucluse post-office, and resident of Oden
Township, was born in Arkansas, one mile from where Lake Village now
stands, in the year 1850, being one of the four children born to his
parents, William B. and Drusilla Brawner, natives of Virginia, and
Mississippi, respectively. The father moved to Arkansas in 1828, being
one of the pioneers, and settling while yet the country about here was
in point of fact a "forest primeval." He was a soldier in the War of
1812, and though now in his seventy-eighth year is still active, and is
a thoroughly temperate and well preserved old gentleman. The mother
died in 1886, at the age of fifty-eight, and they both were members of
the Baptist Church. Of their four children, only two are living: D.
Brawner and Eola (wife of P. H. Ford). D. Brawner was educated in St.
Louis, Mo., at the University, and at Dallberry's Commercial College,
Louisiana. At the age of twenty he commenced working for himself as a
farmer, an occupation which he continued to follow for three years. He
is engaged in mercantile business, and has been for the past six years.
He married Miss Sallie Parker, of Arkansas, daughter of Isaac M. and
Mary (Bingham) Parker. Of this union have been born eight children,
four of whom are now living, viz.: Parker, Robert, Reuben and Edward.
Mrs. Brawner is a member of the Baptist Church. Mr Brawner has served
as sheriff for a number of years, and in 1880 was elected deputy
assessor.
HUGH N. BROOKS
is a butcher by trade and an enterprising resident of Dermott, Ark. He
was born near the mouth of Red River in Louisiana, on March 25, 1852,
being a son of John T. Brooks, who was born near Cape Girardeau, Mo.,
January 8, 1816, being reared, educated and married there. He followed
merchandising and farming there for some time, after which he moved to
Louisiana, and settled in Point Coupee Parish, where he made large
investments and became prominent as a dealer in real estate. He was a
Roman Catholic in belief, although not a member of the Church and
socially was a Master Mason, and politically a Democrat, being an
active worker in the interests of his party, by which he was offered
may positions of honor and trust but declined them all, as he had no
desire for office. His death, which occurred January 18, 1869, was a
source of much regret to all who had the pleasure of knowing him for he
was a man who had always tried to do as he would be done by, and his
many noble qualities of mind and heart were seen and recognized. His
parents were born in Ireland, and emigrated to the United States in
1776, settling in South Carolina, moving from there to Missouri in
1799, where they spent the remainder of their lives, dying at an
advanced age. The grandfather was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was
severly wounded in battle, the wound resulting fatally after many years
of disability. The mother of Hugh N. Brooks, whose maiden name was Mary
J. Evans, was a native of Missouri, born March 27, 1826, and was a
daughter of Berry C. and Nancy (Taylor) Brooks, the latter dying in
Drew County, Ark., September 16, 1881, having removed there from
Louisiana after the death of her husband. John T. Brooks and his wife
were married in Missouri, in 1842, and became the parents of fifteen
children - nine sons and six daughters - twelve of whom grew to
maturity, and five are now living: John T. (a farmer of Louisiana),
Hugh N., Mary J., Sevaris R. and Minnie B. (who is going to school in
Fayetteville, Ark.). Those deceased are: Mark, William B., Henry M.,
Perry E., James E., George J., Henry M., Jr., Annie and Narcissus. Hugh
N. Brooks was reared in Point Coupee Parish, La., but as the country
was very wild and thinly settled, and school-houses very few, his
educational advantages were quite meager. At the age of eighteen years
he commenced the battle of life for himself as a trader and dealer in
live stock, more especially cattle, and after being thus engaged for
some time he went to Texas, and for one year resided near Fort Worth,
after which he returned to Arkansas, and in 1887 settled in Desha
County, where he opened a small farm, which is still in his possession.
Besides this property he has landed interests in Louisiana at and near
his father's old homestead, but he has long since given up farming, and
is now engaged in the butchering business at Dermott. He is without
doubt, a self-made man, and during his walk through life has risen from
adversity to the enviable place he now occupies in business as well as
social circles. He is a sober, industrious and honest gentleman,
creditable alike to his sisters and brothers, and to the community in
which he lives. He has always been a stanch Democrat, and in his
religious belief is a Roman Catholic, but not a member of the church.
J. E. BRYAN, of the
firm of Carlton & Bryan, general merchants and planters of Luna
Landing, Chicot County, Ark., was born in North Carolina, in 1854, and
is the ninth child of the family of twelve children born to L. B. and
Amoning Bryan, both natives of the State of North Carolina, and who
were called away from earthly scenes while J. E. was quite small. He
was educated in the common schools of Missouri, and at the age of
sixteen commenced life for himself as a farmer and trader. He remained
in Missouri until 1875, at which time he moved to Arkansas, locating in
Chicot County, engaging in planting and general merchandising, a
business which he followed at that place until 1882, when he went to
St. Louis, staying only one year, when he came to Chicot County,
settling at Luna Landing, and forming the partnership above mentioned.
Mr. Bryan is a self-made man, and has met with grand success in all his
business ventures, and is socially a most agreeable, cultured and
intellectual gentleman. In the spring of 1880 Mr. Bryan married Miss
Lizzie Wallace, daughter of Eliza Wallace, and to them have been born
five children, viz: Lem, Vivie, Inola, Evan and Zora. Mrs. Bryan is a
member of the Catholic Church. Of the twelve children born to the
parents of Mr. Bryan, only the following are living at the present
writing, viz: Gatcy, Sarah (Mrs. R. C. Barrett), John, Lizzie (widow of
Mr. Hogan), E. A., and Annie (wife of John Barrett).
HENRY F. CLARK
is of Scotch-Irish extraction, and is a man who has lived an energetic
and useful life, acquiring thereby a prominent place among the
progressive farmers of Chicot County, Ark. He was born in Hinds County,
Miss., October 23, 1835, and is a son of Archibald Clark, a native of
North Carolina, whose birth occurred in the year 1807. He was also a
farmer by occupation, and, at the time of his death, in 1863, he was a
prominent member of the Baptist Church, and a Master Mason. He was an
Old Line Whig in politics, and died in Meridian, Miss. His wife Nancy
A. (McGraw) Clark, was born in Wilkinson County, Miss., in 1812, of
Scotch patents, and died, in Hinds County, Miss., in 1876. Their
marriage took place in Wilkinson County, Miss, in 1829, and the result
of their union was a family of ten children: Angus Marion (a banker of
Fresno, Cal.), Melissa E. (the widow of Judge J. F. Lowry, of
Corsicana, Tex.), Henry F., and Nancy A. (wife of J. B. Robertson, a
farmer of Hinds County, Miss.), are the only ones living. Those
deceased are: Susan E. (wife of John McDonald), Flora P., John H.,
James W., Baldwin H. and Robert H., the last four dying in Hinds
County, Miss. Henry F. Clark's youth was spent in this county and
State, and here he received the advantages of the common schools, and
commenced life for himself at the age of twenty years, as a farmer and
overseer, but as early as 1859, he removed to Arkansas, but after
remaining one year returned to Mississippi. In 1869 he returned to
Arkansas, and settled in Chicot County, near his present place of
abode, and here he has followed the occupation of farming ever since,
being the owner of 120 acres of good land, seventy-five of which are
under cultivation, all well adapted to raising corn and cotton. In 1861
Mr. Clark enlisted in the Confederate army, in Company G, Eighteenth
Mississippi Volunteer Infantry, Col. Burt Barksdale's brigade,
Longstreet's corps, and was in the battles of Manassas, all the
preliminary battles around Richmond, both battles of Fredericksburg,
Sharpsburg, Ball's Bluff, Gettysburg, where he was wounded in the right
shoulder by a minie-ball, which disabled him from further service. He
had the ball extracted from his shoulder in 1878 having carried it for
fifteen years. He is an uncompromising Democrat, sincerely interested
in the success of tariff reform, and he and Mrs. Clare are active
workers in the Presbyteian Church. They are charitable, to the extent
of their ability, arn are highly honored residents of the county. They
were married, in Chicot County, Ark., October 22 1874, his wife being
Mrs Isalba (Heard) McDermott, a native of Mississippi, and the daughter
of Dr. Heard, an eminent physician and surgeon. Their union has been
blessed in the birth of the following children: Frank L. and Allie M.
(who died in 1880, at the age of three years). Mrs Clarh has three
children by her first husband, Benjamin S. McDermott, who died in 1871,
their names being Mabel R. (wife of W. D. Trotter, a merchant at
Dermott), Matt A., also a merchant there, and Lizzie L. (wife of Burns
Mason, a farmer of Chicot County).
JOHN CURTIS CONNERLY,
a young attorney of Lake Village, Chicot County, was born in Selma,
Ala., June 25, 1856, being the eldest of the seven children born to the
union of D. C. B. and Ellen (Taylor) Connerly, of Newberry District, S.
C. D. C. B. Connerly, in 1837, settled at Selma, afterward attending
school at the University of Alabama. Arriving at the age of maturity,
engaged in ministerial duties of the Methodist Episcopal Church, taking
charge of Centenary Male Institute at Summerfield, Dallas County, Ala.,
a positiion which he retained four years, at the end of which time he
resigned to enlist in the Confederate army as private in Capt. John T.
(now United States Senator) Morgan's company, continuing to serve until
the close of the war. He was engaged in the battles of Missionary
Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Franklin, and many others, and
was taken prisoner and was paroled at Selma, Al. After peace was again
restored through the country, he returned home, living on his farm near
Summerfield. At that place he founded Stonewall institute, of which he
was principal and taught until 1875, in which year he emigrated to
Huntsville, Ala. In the winter of 1875 he moved to Arkadelphia, Ark.,
January 10, 1875. Here he established a school, teaching for twelve
months, and in 1878 moved to Hamburg, Ashley County, where he founded a
high school, which is now under the charge of Profs. J. H. and J. S.
Gladney. After acting as principal of this school until January 1882,
Mr. Connerly moved to Austin, Tex., his health having failed very much.
His death occurred at Camden. Ark., June 12, 1887, while he was on his
way to the house of his son John Curtis. Mrs. Connerly, the wife of D.
C. B., breathed her last in June 1884. Of the seven children born to
them, seven are living now, viz.: John Curtis, Alice May, Frank L.,
Mary K. (wife of C. L. Mead), Robert H., Bessie L. (who married James
W. Greer), and Fred T. John Curtis was educated first under his
father's instruction, which prepared him for college, and at the age of
twenty-four entered the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa, where he
remained one year, studying the sophomore and junior courses at the
same time. After finishing school, Mr. Connerly returned to Hamburg and
entered the office of Hon. J. W. Van Gilder, State Senator, reading law
for six months, and in August 1882 was licensed to plead law in the
State of Arkansas by the circuit court of Ashley County, and has since
been licensed to practice his profession in all the courts, both
Federal and State, of the State. February, 1886, he married Miss Katie
P. Kramer, of New Orleans, daughter of Judge P. J. Cramer. His business
partner is his brother Robert L., who is a rising young attorney of
unusual talent and ability. Mr. Connerly has in his possession a
considerable amount of real estate.
ROBERT H. CONNERLY,
one of the most popular, learned and successful young attorneys in the
State of Arkansas, is a brother and law partner of John C. Connerly. He
was born near Summerfield, Ala., the son of D. C. B. and Ellen (Taylor)
Connerly. Like his brother, he first received instructions at home from
his father, who was a brilliant scholar and well calculated to lay the
foundation for the successful career of his children, and later Robert
entered the University at Austin, Tex., commencing life for himself, at
the early age of nineteen, as a farmer. He then went to New Orleans,
and was with his brother, Frank, who is connected with the Granite
works of that city. In January, 1886, Mr. Connerly moved to Lake
Village, reading law under his brother, John C. In the fall of 1886 he
was elected county surveyor, an office which he held until the fall of
1888, at which time he was admitted to the bar, and the same year
entered into a partnership with his brother, John C. Connerly. The firm
do a large business, especially real estate and chancery, and are
prominent in Lake Village, a place which boasts one of the strongest
and best bars in the State of Arkansas.
JOHN T. CRENSHAW
is a native Tennesseean, born November 30, 1847, and is a son of Dr.
William Crenshaw, of Scotch parentage, born, reared and educated in the
State of Tennessee. He was an eminent physician and surgeon, a graduate
of the Louisville Medical College, and also graduated from the literary
department of a Nashville (Tenn.) college. About the year 1850 he
removed to Louisiana, and settled in Avoyelles Parish, the country at
that time being almost a wilderness, and here actively practiced his
profession for about ten years, after which he retired from the
profession and gave his attention to agricultural pursuits. He became a
very extensive planter, and at one time owned two large plantations,
but during the war, was almost ruined financially, and in 1868 came to
Arkansas, and resumed the practice of medicine in Drew County,
continuing until his death in 1878. He was a Democrat, and although not
a member of any church, was a man of strict morality. He was married in
Tennessee to Miss Henrietta E. Mickelberry, a native of Shelby County,
and by her became the father of two children: John T. and Hattie E
(wife of H. C. Petticord). Mrs. Crenshaw was a daughter of John
Mickelberry, and died January 5 1852. After her death Dr. Crenshaw
married a Mrs. Ross, by whom he had a family of two sons and seven
daughters: Sallie, Mary, Benjamin, Mattie, Marcia, Bradley and Clara
(living), and Susan and James (deceased). John T. Crenshaw received the
principal part of his education in Louisiana, but in 1866 attended
college in Lebanon, Tenn. During the latter part of the war he served
for about six months in the Second Louisiana Cavalry, and afterward, in
1867, started out in life for himself, as a planter and plantation
manager in Louisiana, but in 1869 removed to Arkansas, and settled in
Chicot County, where he became a salesman and depot agent. After about
a year spent in this manner, he entered mercantile life on his own
account, continuing until 1884, since which time he has been a salesman
and cotton buyer, and to some extent engaged in farming, being the
owner of two small farms in Chicot County. Besides this, he owns some
good business property in the town of Dermott, and as a business man,
is intelligent and active, and enjoys the respect and confidence of the
citizens among whom he has so long lived. While in Shelby County,
Tenn., he was married, Novemeber 28, 1875, to Miss Susan E. Adams, a
native of De Soto County, Miss., though reared in the former county.
She is a daughter of Collin and Francina (Brown) Adams, Tennesseeans,
born May 26, 1814, and January 5, 1815, respectively, and are now
residents of Memphis, Tenn. Mrs. Crenshaw was educated in this city.
Her union with Mr. Cresnhaw has resulted in the birth of two sons and
one daughter: William T., Ruby F. and Agnew G.
JOHN B. DANIELS
is possessed of those advanced ideas and progressive principles
regarding agricultural life which are always the chief characteristics
of a successful farmer. His birth occurred in Wilkinson county, Miss.,
December 24, 1852, and he is a son of William A. Daniels, also a
Mississippian, born about the year 1821, his death occurring March 25,
1868. He was a successful farmer, but lost heavily by unfortunated
business investments which he made in his latter days. He was
collecting and disbursing officer for his section, under the
Confederate Government, during the war, and after the war was a member
of the Legislative body of his State during 1866 and 1867, discharging
his duties faithfully and in a highly satisfactory manner, and being a
Democrat, sacrificed much for the success of the party. He was a Master
Mason, a member of the Presbyterian Church, being elder in the same for
many years prior to his detah, and was noted for his piety and
religious devotion, living an exemplary Christian life under all
circumstances and conditions. He left to his children the most
honorable and valuable of all heritages - a good name and an
unblemished record in both public and private life. The maiden name of
his wife was Miss Caroline L. Buford, a native of Amite County, Miss.,
where she was reared and educated, but her marriage to Mr. Daniels took
place in Granvill, Ohio, while she was there finishing her literary
education at college. Their union resulted in the birth of the
following children: Adella S. (wife of Robert Lowry, of Texas), John
B., Ida I. (wife of N. S. Anderson, a farmer of Mississippi), Lily A.
(widow of J. B Krisel, a resident of Chicot County, Ark.), William P.
(a farmer and merchant of Chicot County), Ernest W. ( a resident of
Tacoma, Wash.), and Coral L. (wife of W. S. Adams, residing in Chicot
County). Robert J. died in Mississippi in 1854. Mrs. Daniels is living
on the old homestead near Dermott, Ark., to which she removed with her
husband and family in 1858. John B. Daniels was reared in Chicot
County, and here obtained a fair academic education. From the time he
was sixteen until he attained his majority he superintended his
mother's business, after which he began for himself as a farmer, and as
such still continues. He was in the mercantile business in 1878-1879,
but at the end of that time retired from this business and turned to
his farm, to which he is devoting all his time and attention. He has a
fine body of land near Dermott, embracing about 800 acres, 300 of which
are under cultivation, well improved, and adapted to the raising of
grain, cotton and grasses, but the most of the land is devoted to
cotton and corn. He is, to a small extent, engaged in the stock
business, raising cattle, hogs and sheep. He is a member of the K. of
H., is a Democrat in his political view, and for several years has been
deputy collector of taxes. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian
Church, and he is an elder, occupying a prominent position in the
councils of his church at Dermott. They are a truly Christian family,
are devoted to church and Sunday-school work, both at home and abroad.
Mr. Daniels is an honorable, high-minded gentleman, whose influence for
good reaches far beyond the narrow confines of the community in which
he resides. On October 29, 1885, he was married to Miss Annie Canon, a
native of Shelby County, Tenn., and a daughter of John Q. and Mary E.
(Smith) Canon, who were born in South Carolina and Shelby County,
Tenn., in 1820 and 1839 respectively. The former's death occurred in
1876, and the latter's in Crittenden County, Ark., in February, 1884,
she, at the time of her death, being the wife of Joseph Williams, of
Shelby County, Tenn., whom she married in 1979, removing with him to
Arkansas in 1883. Mr. Daniels and wife have two children: Bertie C.,
born September 7, 1887, Robert J., born August 29, 1889.
ANTHONY H. DAVIES
was born at Derby, Conn., April 28, 1798. When quite young he came
South, and first located at Nashville, Tenn., where he found employment
as book-keeper with a firm by the name of Flowers & Co.; after
having served faithfully in that capacity for several years, he moved
to Columbia, Ark., where he engaged in merchandising for some time,
gaining the confidence and esteem of all whom he came in contact with.
Finding the business too close and confining, he sold out, and while on
a visit to Tuscumbia, Ala., he fell in love with and married a Miss
Aldridge, by whom he had four children. After having spent five or six
years in Alabama, he returned to Arkansas and purchased a plantation on
Lake Chicot, which he named Lake Hall plantation. While on a visit to
Louisville, Ky., Mrs. Davies was taken sick and died July 19, 1839.
Three years later, on February 12, 1841, he married a Miss Mildred P.
Gaines, of Boone County Ky., who at the time was visiting her brother,
R. M. Gaines, at Natchez, Miss. Immediately after the marriage, Mr.
Davies returned to Lake Hall, where he lived some twenty odd years, a
useful and honorable life, and on September 10, 1862, died of flux. He
was for many years judge of the county court, over which office he
wielded the sword of justice with an unerring hand and a clear
conscience. He was a man of many fine traits of character and undoubted
integrity, and, like Abou Ben Adhem, was one who loved his fellow men.
He was also a loving husband and a good and kind father. At his death
Chicot County lost one of her most worthy and foremost citizens. By his
second marriage he had eight children: Pollard, Harpin, Fannie Walker,
Fredrick Walter, Anthony Legrand and Abner Gaines (twins), Robert
Geddes, Minnie Pollard and Joseph.
FELIX G. DAVIS
was born in Illinois in 1819, and is the son of Nathaniel and Hulda
Davis, natives of Virginia and Mississippi, respectively. The father
received an excellent medical education in the State of Virginia, and
was a physician of prominence. He emigrated to Arkansas in 1826,
locating near Helena, and in 1830 settled in Chicot County, where he
breathed his last in 1840. Felix passed his youth in Arkansas. When
sixteen years old he attended college at St. Charles, Mo., and after
completing a four years' course, returned home on account of the ill
health of his father. Mr. Davis was married in 1848 to Miss Mary Lamb,
daughter of Thomas and Mary Lamb, both of whom were natives of England.
Of this union were born four children, only one of whom is now living -
Gertrude. In 1886 Mrs. Davis was called away from the scenes of earth
leaving a husband who still mourns his loss. Mr. Davis became a
minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in the year 1887. He
has also devoted much of his time to farming, owning a valuable
plantation. Mr. Davis was at one time elected to represent his district
in the Legislature; was justice of the peace for twenty years. He is a
man of great culture and intellectual force, and one who is highly
esteemed throughout Chicot County.
WILLIAM W. FORD,
a prominent citizen and popular man in Lakeport, Chicot County, Ark.,
was born in Louisville, Ky., in 1838 and is a son of Nicholas and
Martha (Page) Ford. The mother was a native of Pennsylvania, and the
father of Kentucky, and the latter had excellent educational
advantages, was a successful merchant, and acquired both fame and
"worldly gain" during his life. He died when thirty-eight years old,
and when William W., was only six years old. William was in school in
Paris, Ky., during his boyhood, and afterward near Frankfort, the same
State, and emigrated to Arkansas in 1858, where his mother once owned a
farm, until 1862, at which date he enlisted in the army, and was
present at many of the famous battles. At Arkansas Post he was captured
and taken to Springfield, and when released returned to Kentucky, and
remained there until the close of the war, after which he settled in
Chicot County, Ark. He married Miss Annie Milton, daughter of Bushrod
and Mary Milton, and to them have been born two children, Pattie P. and
Catherine, both of whom are still living. Mr. Ford is in the mercantile
business, having for a partner Mr. Jeff Peak. Besides, he is largely
interested in stock-raising, and owns much valuable real estate. Mr.
Ford is a Democrat, and takes an active part in the welfare of the
county where he makes his home; is a Mason and a member of the
Episcopal Church.
RICHARD M. GAINES,
one of the leading attorneys of Lake Village, and a brother of Abner
Gaines, a prominent man of ths county, is a son of John H. And Hellen
Gaines. Richard was born in Chicot County, in the year 1855, was
educated at Locust Dale Academy, Madison County, Va., and was there
prepared for the senior class for the University of Virginia, but
instead of attending the last-named school as he expected, came home in
1874, teaching and farming until such time as he began reading law
under Mayor James F. Robinson, and was licensed to plead at the bar in
January, 1879, locating in this village, where he has since followed
his profession very successfullly, numbering to-day among the prominent
lawyers in the State. In 1880 Mr. Gaines was elected county treasurer,
and again in 1882, making in all four years that he held that
responsible position. He was married to Miss Mary P. Chapman in 1888,
who is a faithful member of the Episcopal Church, and a thoroughly
attractive lady. Politically, he is a strong Democrat, and favors all
public improvements that promise comfort, health, and happiness to the
citizens. He owns about 1,500 or 2,000 acres of valuable farming land
that is in an excellent state of cultivation, and is, taking all his
estates and practice into consideration, a wealthy man.
JOHN W. GORDON
was born in the State of Alabama, in 1857, and is the son of J. C. and
Alabama Gordon. The father moved to Arkansas in 1859, settling where he
now lives, and owns a valuable estate which is well cultivated. He was
twice married, and by his first marriage had four children, all of whom
are dead. His second wife is the mother of this subject and to this
union there were likewise born four children, of whom John W. and
Victoria (Mrs. Emmett Gorman) are living. The father died in 1867. He
served four years in the Confederate army during the late war, and then
turned his attention to farming. The mother is still on the old
homestead. John W. was educated in the common schools of Chicot County,
and at the age of eleven commenced to work for himself, as a laborer on
a farm, working thus until he reached his eighteenth year, at which
time he emigrated to the Lone Star State, being while there a cowboy on
the plains, and in 1877 returned home to take charge of his mother's
farm, on which he has resided up to the present date. In 1884 he
married Miss Flora A. Gorman, daughter of John F. and Flora Gorman. To
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon have been born four children, viz.: Ada T., Mary
E., Abner G. and George D. Mrs. Gordon is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. The subject of this sketch is a very public-spirited
man, generous, open-hearted and kind. He is a Democrat, and has served
as deputy sheriff for four years.
HERBERT W. GRAVES
of Sterling, Chicot County, Ark., was born in Windham County, Vt., on
February 13, 1843, and is a son of Alpus and Fannie (Goodell) Graves,
who were natives of Massachusetts and Vermont, respectively. The father
was a minister of the Congregational Church, was a graduate of Union
College in New York, and also attended the East Windsor Theological
Seminary, Conn., and was a prominent and loved minister of that
denominaton for a period of forty-five years, the greatest part of that
time being passed in the States of Iowa and Minnesota. He has now
retired from his labor, and resides in Memphis, Tenn., and is
seventy-four years old, and the mother is only two years younger.
Herbert W. Graves passed most of his youth in Iowa, having moved there
with his father at the age of eleven, and attending good schools, where
he received a thorough education. At the age of twenty-one Mr. Graves
began life for himself, and gave his attention to mercantile business.
After clerking three years he formed a partnership with his former
employers. In the fall of 1867 he emigrated to Chicot County, Ark.,
where he resides at the present writing. Upon his arrival in this place
he opened a mercantile business at Columbia, an at the expiration of
one year was elected county clerk of Chicot County, and held this
important office for ten years. When he moved to Sterling he opened up
an extensive mercantile business, and carries a splendid stock of
goods. He also owns valuable farm property at Sterling and in the State
of Louisiana, and is engaged in planting and mercantile business at
both places.
EDWIN S. HILLIARD,
planter and merchant of Grand Lake, Ark. He is very prominent in the
county of Chicot. He was born in Henry County, Ky., in 1850, and is a
son of Isaac H. and Marian (Brannin) Hilliard, the former being a
native of North Carolina and Virginia, ant the latter of the Blue-Grass
State. The father was a planter and merchant, being one of the firm of
Hilliard, Summers & Co., of New Orleans, La. The only two
surviving children born to their union were Isaac H. (who died in 1882)
and Edwin S. Edwin's early life was spent partly in Arkansas and partly
in Kentucky, where he attended school through most of the years until
he reached manhood. He was compelled to begin life for himself at an
early age, because of the war which had financially ruined his father.
For two years he worked in Louisville, Ky., and in 1869 moved to Chicot
County, where he has resided ever since, and where he owns some
valuable lands. Besides the other branchs of business in which he is
engaged, Mr. Hilliard is beginning to raise stock, and has a store
where he sells general merchandise. In politics he is a Democrat, but
takes no active part. He is a man of great public spirit, and very
popular in the community in which he resides.
SAMUEL F. HORNOR.
Since the history of any county must necessarily be dependent upon the
lives of great men who reside there for the interest with which the
public peruse its pages, such men as Samuel F. Hornor are deservedly
honored and beloved by the citizens, whose interests they
advance, both in a social and business way. He was born in this county,
being, therefore both by natural claims and preference, among the real
men of this locality, and by his personal success and desire to be of
assistance to those less blessed by circumstances and financial
achievements, he has endeared himself to the people throughout the
county. An active member of the Democratic party, and a leader in
public enterprises and State questions; he has been magistrate of his
district for the past twelve years, and was at one time school
director, manifesting a lively regard for educational matters. He is
the youngest of a family of five children, and his days have been most
agreeable passed within the limits of his native State. At the age of
twenty the subject of this sketch took upon his own shoulders the
burden and responsibility of "bread-winning," and at once turned his
attention to farming. In 1874 he married Miss Alice M. Wighom, daughter
of Samuel and Mary (Long) Wighom, and of this union have been born six
children: Mary E., Theodore S., Mattie M., Hattie B., John S., and a
baby not yet named, all of whom are still living. Mr Hornor is the
fortunate possessor of a valuable plantation, which yields a princely
annual income.
VICTOR M. JOHNSON
is a prominent and highly respected citizen of Lakeport, Ark., and the
history of Chicot County gains much of interest by claiming for its
pages one so deserving of praise and admiration. Mr. Johnson was born
in this county in 1863, and is a son of Lycurgus and Lydia (Taylor)
Johnson, both of whom were natives of the far-famed Blue-Grass State.
The father gave most of his attention to tilling the soil, and was a
gentleman of superior education, having graduated with honors at
Bardstown Ky., and ranking among the Kentuckians noted for hospitality,
dignity and social culture. He amassed a large fortune during the span
of years alloted him, and emigrated to Chicot County, Ar., where he
engaged in planting, and passed the latter portion of his life
surrounded by the peaceful and beautiful charms of a rural life, free
from the busy din of city life, and where, surrounded by all the
comforts that wealth can provide, he lived happily and contentedly
until he reached his fifty-eighth year. To them were born twelve
children, seven of whom are now living , Victor being the youngest of
the family. The names of these children are: Joel, John H., Bent T.,
Mary J., Linnie, Theodore, Annie, Carl, Walter L., Julia J. and Victor
M. Victor attended school during a great part of his early life, and
when older entered the Arkansas University, at Little Rock, where he
remained a number of years; he attended Bellevue Hospital at New York,
and graduated from that celebrated school in 1888, at which date he
returned home to practice medicine, and has been kept busy with his
chosen profession up to the present time, and is considered an
excellent physician. Besides he has a good deal of real estate, which
is valuable and is in a fine state of cultivation. Mr. Johnson belongs
to the the Democratic party, and while he is not specially active in
political matters, yet, at the same time, he is always ready to advance
the cause of every worthy enterprise and advance the interests of the
community in which he resides.
JOHN H. LEE is
prominent among the highly respected and genial men. A son of Henry and
Susan M. (Massy) Lee, he was born in Shelby County in 1852. His parents
were natives of Tennessee and Alabama, respectively, and the former was
a physician, but preferring the freedom of outdoor exercise, abandoned
his profession to devote his attention to farming. When John was only
one year old, the family emigrated to Arkansas, locating in Drew
County. At the present date the father resides in Ashley County, having
reached his sixty-seventh year. The mother departed this life in the
year 1884. John H. Lee enjoyed good eduational advantages in his youth,
attending the pulic schools of his county until he had prepared himself
for the battle of life, and made his first venture in the business
worked as a clerk in a dry goods house, which position he continued to
fill most creditably until 1878. In that year he married Miss Gertrude
L. Davis, daughter of Felix G. and Mary (Lamb) Davis. Immediately after
his marriage Mr. Lee began farming, an occupation that he follows. To
Mr. and Mrs. Lee have been born seven children, viz.: Lou Ellen, Mary
S., Cleveland D., Mattie C., John B., Joseph M., and an infant, who
died without being named. John owns a valuable farm of 140 acres. In
politics he is a member of the Democratic party, and he also belongs to
several prominent lodges.
THOMAS N. LLEWELLYN
is a successful and enterprising farmer, and also a clerk in the store
of W. W. Ford, of Chiot County. He is a son of J. R. and Susan
(Humphrey) Llewellyn, natives of Virginia, both of whom were of Welsh
descent. Upon coming to America the Llewellyns located in Baltimore,
the Humphreys settling in Charleston Va. John Llewellyn was a
successful business man, was one of the earliest settlers of Vicksburg,
where he did an immense mercantile business. In the latter part of the
thirties, during the panic in commericial circles, he failed, but
previously had purchased 600 acres of valuable land in Arkansas, and
when he moved to the latter named State he brought with him slaves and
commenced to clear up and cultivate his estate. Just before the war he
added to his possessions considerable, engaging extensively in
planting, and when the war broke out he owned 1,200 acres of fine land,
but lost the greater part of his property. He was a member of the levee
board of this county, which, to people here, seems one of the most
importatnt positions a man can hold. He died July 1, 1878, at the age
of sixty-nine. The mother is still living and enjoys good health. Of
the nine children born to them, only the following are living at the
present time, viz.: Eugene, Sadie C., Ellen C., Adele (Mrs. W. H.
Elders), Edw. C., Charley, Richard. Thomas was born Deember 28, 1856,
and was educated in Locust Dale, Madison County, Va., but at the age of
fourteen received a severe wound and was forced to return home, and
when fifteen years old went to St. Louis as office boy for his
borther-in-law, Mr. Elder, and in 1880 moved to Chicot County, and
accepted a position to clerk in a store, an occupation which he has
followed largely to the present time. He is a member of the
Presbyterian Church, and politically is a strong Democrat.
A. N. McDANIEL, a
prominent citizen of Lake Village and popular saloon-keeper, was born
in the State of Kentucky on January 8, 1841, and is the son of Isaac
and Nancy McDaniel. The father is a farmer in the Blue-Grass State. The
paternal grandfather of A.N. was in the War of 1812, and at the battle
of New Orleans. Of the eleven children in the family only the following
are now living, viz.: W. H., A. N., Melissa (Mrs James Brown), John B.,
Susan, Mary, Allie A. (wife of William Carlisle), James F. and Eliza J.
(wife of Thomas Miggins). A. N. McDaniel was educated in the common
schools of his native county, and at the age of twenty-one commenced
life for himself in a financial way by working on a farm, but only
labored a short time. When he came to Chicot County he engaged in
running a tug on Lake Chicot from 1882 to 1885. At the end of which
time he once more opened a saloon, and since 1886 he has been freight
agent at this place. He was married, in 1865, to Miss Sarah F. Brown,
daughter of T. C. Brown, of Kentucky, and their union has been blessed
with eight children viz.: Luella, Verona (wife of H. Webb, of
Kentucky), Nannie B., Ernestine, Rosa, Callie, Thomas and Dessie. Mr.
McDaniel owns a large amount of valuable real estate, and is a
successful and popular citizen of the village in which he resides.
PHILANDER MCDERMOTT
has been a resident of Arkansas since his birth, and his example of
industry and earnest and sincere endeavor to succeed in life is well
worthy the imitation of the rising generation. He was born on May 11,
1846, in the territory now included in Chicot County, at which time the
State was a Territory and the country a wilderness. Dr. Charles
McDermott, his father, was a native Louisianian, born September 22,
1808, and was reared in his native State, receiving his early education
there and finishing his course at Yale College, from which institution
he was graduated with high honors. He entered the college about the
year 1834, when Rev. Lyman Beecher was on of its prominent professors
and was a classmate of Joseph E. Benjamin, now Lord Beaconsfield. Later
he began the study of medicine, attending the lectures at a celebrated
medical college, and upon his graduation ranked among the highest in
his class. He began practicing his profession in Louisiana, where he
became eminent as a physician and surgeon. He was for many years a
prominent correspondent of the Scientific American, in which he was
among the first to discuss and favor the germ theory of diseases. He
removed from his native Sate to the Territory of Arkansas in 1838,
continuing his practice, and here also became a prominent planter,
opening up a farm of about 2,000 acres in Chicot County, near where the
flourishing an enterprising town of Dermott is now situated, the town
being named in his honor. He was a man whose intellect was far above
the average, and to his fine natural abilities were added the wisdom
and experience of a useful and well spent life. He was well known for
his devotion the the church, being a strict Presbyterian, an endeavored
in every way to rear his children in the faith which he loved and
obeyed. Being an uncompromising Southern man, he became a voluntary
exile to Spanish Honduras after the late Rebellion, and remained there
about two years, being a resident of Tegucigalpa, where he engaged in
the practice of his profession, and also made large investments in real
estate which proved a great loss to him. Finding that he could not live
there in peace, on account of his outspoken views on the subject of
religious customs of that country, and owing to repeated but baffled
attempts to assassinate him, he disposed of his business there and
returned to his native land, very much reduced in means, the most of
his property having been spent in tying to establish himself and family
in their adopted home under a new and strange government. Possessing a
hopeful and determined disposition, he was not disheartened by his
losses, but again entered actively upon the practice of his profession,
and retrieved in a measure his fallen fortunes. His death, which
occurred October 13, 1886, was mourned by all, for he was
public-spirited, honorable and upright to a degree hat commanded the
confidence and esteem of all. His wife, who was Miss Hettie S. Smith,
was born in Louisiana, in 1818, and was a daughter of Ozane Smith, and
extensive sugar planter of Louisiana. Their marriage took place about
1834, and their union resulted in the birth of sixteen children - ten
sons and six daughter - only five of whom are now living: Jane (wife of
Rev. M. W. Shaw, of Clinton, La.), Katie (wife of P. E. Lambert, a
merchant of Monticello, Ark.), Philander, Charles A. (a merchant of
Visalia, Cal.), and Dr. Edward O. (a prominent young physician and
surgeon of Dermott. Those deceased are William, Benjamin, Susan, Emily,
Edward, Sr., Scott, Sr., Scott, Jr., Maggie (wife of J. B. Mercer),
William, Jr., Annie B. (wife of J. R. Anderson), and one that died in
infancy unnamed. Philander McDermott was reared in Chicot County, Ark.,
receiving fair early advantages, but his collegiate course was abruptly
terminated by the Civil War, in which he became a soldier before he had
reached his sixteenth year. In the early part of the war he enlisted in
Company B, Second Arkansas Consolidated Regiment, and served throughout
the entire ware, surrendering at Marshall, Tex., in 1865. he was in the
battles at Mount Elba, Mark's Mill, Royson Springs, Jenkins' Ferry, and
numerous smaller engagements and skirmishes. After his return home he
began life as a farmer, at the age of twenty years, which work received
his attention until 1885, when he rented out his farm and entered the
mercantile business at Dermott, his stock comprising druggists'
materials, sundries and light groceries, being valued at $2,000 or
$2,500. He has done well in his business ventures, an is accounted one
of the well-to-do residents of the county. September 7, 1866, he was
married in Amite County, Miss., to Miss Ella Jenkins, a native of that
State and county, a daughter of Ransom Jenkins,who is now deceased, but
was formerly a prominent cotton planter of that county. Her mother is
now the wife of Dr. Thomas Jackson, and residses on the old homestead
in Mississippi. Mr. and Mrs. McDermott are the parent of three sons and
three daughter: Arthur, Ada, Benjamin, Hettie, Emma and Stinson. Mr.
McDermott and his wife are consistent members of the Presbyterian
Church, and in his political views his is a Democrat, and takes an
active part in the success of the party, both locally and nationally.
He is upright and honorable in every respect, and enjoys to the highest
degree the esteem and confidence of the citizens of Chicot County.
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