Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas

LEE COUNTY–RECENT ORGANIZATION–CHEATIVE ACT–SEAT OF JUSTICE–OFFICERS OF TRUST–DURING WAR TIMES–POLITICAL COMPLEXION–VALUATION–DEVELOPMENT–CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS–PEHIOD OF SETTLEMENT–LOCATION, AREA AND POPULATION–STREAMS, SOILS, ETC.–NATURAL YIELDS–STOOK RAISING INTERESTS–SKETCH OF MARIANNA AND HAYNES–NUMEROUS SELECTED SKETCHES.

Woodfin & Henderson. Among the leading general mercantile establishments of Brinkley, Ark., none are deserving of more favorable mention and consideration than the above mentioned firm, of whom E. L. Woodfin and R. M. Henderson are the proprietors. Their house was established in 1887 and with their stock which amounts to $;4,000 they do an annual business of $15,000. Mr. Woodfin was born in Marshall County, Miss., in 1851, and is a son of John and Mary (Scott) Woodfin, the former a native of Alabama and the latter of North Carolina. After spending most of their youth in Tennessee they were married there, but afterward moved to Mississippi, which State continued to be their home until 1859, at which time they came to Arkansas and settled in Cotton Plant. Mr. Woodruff was a farmer by occupation, a member of the Masonic fraternity, and died at Des Arc in 1861. His wife survives him and is a member of the Presbyterian Church. E. L. Woodfin is one of three surviving members of a family of seven children and spent his youthful days in laboring on the farm, Two years were spent in cattle dealing, which occupation proved fairly remunerative, but in 1885 he engaged in his present occupation in Brinkley. In 1875 he was married to Miss Mollie, a daughter of Benjamin and Matilda Glover, who were born, reared and married, in Limestone County, Ala., but removed to De Soto County, Miss., and in 1859 to Arkansas, locating near Wheetley, where the mother's death occurred in 1871. Mr. Glover married again and is now living at Cotton Plant occupied in farming. Mrs. Woodfin is one of five children and was born in Mississippi and for a number of years has been a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church. Mr. Woodfin is a Democrat. When starting out in life for himself in 1869 he had only $18 but now owns the old homestead of 480 acres, besides a good house and business block in Brinkley. He lost heavily during 1874, his large crop of cotton being consumed by fire, but he has retrieved his losses and is now in affluent circumstances.

Culture's hand

Has scatter'd verdure o'er the land;

And smiles and fragrance rule serene,

Where barren wild usurp'd the scene,–Anon.

LEE, one of the more recent acquisitions to the sisterhood of counties in Arkansas, is yet comparatively new, having been created by the legislature of 1873. The territory now embraced within its limits was a portion formerly of four counties, viz.; Phillips, Monroe, St. Francis and Crittenden.

The act of organization was entitled "an act to create the county of Lee and for other purposes." The first section defining the boundaries of the new county was as follows:

"That all that portion of territory, now being in the counties of Phillips, Monroe, St. Francis and Crittenden, included within, the following boundaries, viz.: Beginning at the southwest corner of Section 31 on the base line, in Township 1 north, Range 1 east, running east with base line to the Mississippi River; thence with the meanderings of said river to the east township line of Township 3 north, Range 6 east; thence north to the northeast corner of Section 1, Township 3 north, Range 6 east; thence west with the northern line of Township 3 north, Range 6 east, 3 north, Range 5 east, 3 north, Range 3 east, 3 north, Range 2 east, 3 north, Range 1 east and 3 north, Range 1 west, of the fifth principal meridian, to the northwest corner of Section 3, in Township 3 north, Range 1 west; thence south with the section lines, to the southwest corner of Section 34, Township 2 north, Range 1 west; thence east to the southeast corner of Section 36, Township 2 north, Range 1 west; thence south to the southwest corner of Section 31, Township 1, north of Range 1 east, to the place of beginning, be and the same is hereby formed into a separate and distinct county, to be known and designated as the county of Lee, to have and to exercise, as a body politic and corporate, all the rights, privileges and immunities of a separate county." It was further provided by this act that the temporary seat of justice for the new county should be located at Marianna.

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It was also provided that an election should be held to elect commissioners, whose duty it should be to locate the court house, as nearly as possible in conformity with the will of the majority of the people.

A lot of ground near the center of the town was purchased and a frame building erected thereon, which was used for court purposes by the county until the erection of the present handsome and commodious public edifice.

The following are the officers who have served the county since its organization. County judges: H. N. Hutton, E. L. Black and H. N. Word. Clerks: M. H. Wing, F. H. Govan, T. C. Merwin and W. T. Derrick. Sheriffs: W. N. Furbush, C. H. Banks, E. H. B. Dupuy and V. M. Harrington. Treasurers: B. B. Nunnally, D. S. Drake, B. M. Govan and Julius Lesser. Owing to its brief existence as a separate county, the list of Lee's public servants is smaller than that of adjacent localities.

At the breaking out of the war the territory included in the present county of Lee, having as stated been embraced in Phillips, Monroe, St. Francis and Crittenden Counties, the part taken in that struggle by the people of this section appears elsewhere in the present volume. It is only necessary to say that about 300 men went from here for the Confederate army, and but a small porportion ever returned. D. C. Govan, T. C. Anderson and B. C. Brasher commanded troops from the region hereabouts, and were attached first to Hindman's legion, and afterward to the Second Arkansas Regiment of Cavalry.

The political complexion of the county may be judged from the vote for President cast in 1888, in which Cleveland received 962, Harrison 1,537 and Streeter 13 votes.

The taxable property of the county in 1880 was, in round numbers, $1,800,000, which has increased until it is now, 1889, $2,410,730, of which $1,723,525 is real and $687,205 is personal property. This is hardly a fair criterion by which to judge its true wealth, the general rule of assessment being only 40 per cent of the actual value of the property. The county is practically out of debt, with its scrip at par. During the year just passed a magnificent court house has been erected, costing $15,500, for which cash was paid. There is also in course of construction a substantial jail, with all the modern appliances and conveniences, which will cost about $7,000, and the money is in the treasury to meet this demand also. In 1880 the county shipped about 25,000 bales of cotton, increased in 1889 to upward of 40,000 bales. In 1880 there were 50,000 acres of improved land here, but now something over 87,000.

This county is not a whit behind its sister connties in educational facilities. It is divided into forty-three school districts, in which are erected eighty-one good substantial school-houses, thirty-eight for the white children, and forty-three for colored. The school population by the last census was 5,838, the amount expended in the conduct of the schools reaching nearly $17,000.

In the country the principal religious denominations represented are the Methodists and Baptists. Many of the neighborhoods have, in addition to their school edifices, neat and roomy churches, though in the absence of church buildings proper school-houses are used for worship. A commendable and generous rivalry is apparent among the different denominations toward the promotion of good, and the services are well attended.

The people of this section have indeed made rapid and noticeable strides in the advancement of education since the war, the adoption of the free school system having proven an important factor in the general progress and development of the community.

The early settlers of Lee County were of that class who represented true worth and unpretentious greatness. Penetrating the wilderness to carve out for themselves and their progeny homes, they brought with them the same spirit of tolerance that actuated and inspired their ancestry in founding this great Republic, many of them being the veterans of "Jackson's War."

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This county was at one time the home of that lawless desperado and freebooter, John A. Murrell. Here he rendezvoused and sallied forth to prey upon the flat-boat navigators of the Mississippi. About one and a half miles northeast of Marianna stands the Lone Pine. Beneath its somber, dismally [p.568] rattling boughs frequently met this outlaw chief and his clan of unworthy followers; here in council were planned numerous forays, and here they divided their illgottan spoils. Not far distant burst forth several pure and never-failing springs; and the ruins of the old blacksmith shop, where the band had their horses shod, with the corks in front, the anvil dust and iron, still remain to mark with certainty the spot.

Among the early settlers of the territory now embraced in this county, was John Patterson, who died quite recently at the advanced age of eighty-six, in a little enclosure, about one and a half miles from Marianna. He rests beside six of his wives and twenty of his children, who preceded him to the spirit land, and since his death his seventh wife has followed him. Among other pioneers were David Wills, a native of Rhode Island; James Wilson, of Missouri; Ridley Myrich, Owen Myrich, Charles Ewen, John Dillard and E. K. James, all of Tennessee; David Davis, of Kentucky, who came in 1829; A. G. McDaniel, of Kentucky, who came in 1824; Green E. Story, of Missouri; Middleton Hensley and Washington Hensley, of Indiana; also Larkin Meeks, of the same State; Thomas Adams, of Kentucky; J. Lee and Hiram Dunn, of Virginia; Andrew Dunnski, Obadiah Roberts, John Griffin and Absalom Lowrey came prior to 1829; John Lynch, Matthew Smith, William Smith and Cyrus Lyttle. In 1829 there were not to exceed forty families in the county. The most densely settled portion was on Cow Bayou. In 1835 seven families entered from the States of Illinois and Indiana, locating west of L'Anguille. In 1852 there was a large influx of immigration from the Carolinas, and a steady increase in new-comers existed until the breaking out of the war. That circumstance, here as elsewhere, for a time greatly retarded the settlement of the county. Among those who once owned large estates and numerous slaves ware Col. Walter L. Otey and his brother Robert. As the more prominent of the later settlers might be mentioned: Frank Smith, Bryant Lynch, R. D. Griffith and Judge H. N. Hutton, now an influential attorney; John Hudson, one of the first blacksmiths to locate in ths section; Eli T. Diamond, Berry Parker, of Alabama; Alex. Granger, of Kentucky; Bascom Bunch, David Weatherly and R. R. Foreman, of North Carolina.

The first negroes within the present limits of the county were brought here by Samuel Bryant and Rufin Brown, the former bringing nine and the latter six. Among the most noted hunters of this section was Larkin Weeks, a recital of whose wonderful hairbreadth escapes in his numerous encounters with the denizens of the woods would furnish material for a thrilling volume.

The larger proportion of the present population of Lee are Tennesseeans. Each of the other Southern States has a fair representation, while among the thrifty and prosperous are found many from the Northern States.

Lee County is situated in the eastern portion of the State, bounded on the north by St. Francis County. On the east is the Mississippi River, on the south the counties of Phillips and Monroe, and on the west the counties of St. Francis and Monroe. It has a length of about twenty-eight miles from east to west, and a width of eighteen miles from north to south, and contains some 612 square miles of as fertile and beautiful land as any in the great Mississippi Valley–a section whose productions are only limited by its extent.

The population of the county by the census of 1880 was 13,288, which has since materially increased, at present having an estimated population of 18,000. It is divided into fifteen political divisions known as townships, named as follows: Hampton, Union, Independence, Big Creek, Bear Creek, Texas, Spring Creek, Liberty, Walnut, St. Francis, Richland, Oak Forest, Fleener, Council and Hardy. These townships contain over 700 farms, averaging 115 acres of improved land per farm, and there yet remains in the county 313,000 acres susceptible of cultivation. The principal town and county seat is Marianna, besides which are several smaller but thriving commercial centers of local import, among which may be mentioned Haynes, LaGrange, Moro, Spring Creek and Oak Forest.

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The principal streams of the county are the St. Francis and the L' Anguille Rivers, the former [p.569] flowing through in a southeasterly direction, and the latter entering near the center of the northern portion of the county and flowing in and emptying into St. Francis River, about two miles beyond the limits of the county.

The Mississippi River forms the entire eastern front, giving the county direct water communication with all points in the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys.

The land hereabouts lies in a level plain with the exception of Crowley's Ridge which passes through the county, entering on the northern boundary near its center and passing out in the southeast portion. The general width of this ridge is from one and one-half to three and one-half miles, with an altitude of from 250 to 325 feet above see level.

In the southwestern and eastern portions of the county are numerous beautiful lakes of pure water abounding in the choicest fish. Perhaps no other county in the State of equal area has a soil which in general productive properties ranks above that of this county. The whole area is susceptible of cultivation and with the exception of the land on Crowley's Ridge is alluvial, adapted to all the crops of this latitude which it produces in lavish profusion; indeed the husbandman has only to put forth but little effort when the soil laughs with its burdensome abundance.

The county is especially adapted to the great Southern staple, cotton. Here originated the celebrated world renowned variety known as the "Taylor Cotton" which has taken the premium for length of staple and firmness of texture at every fair and exposition where it has been exhibited, notably at the World's Fair at Amsterdam, in Holland. The average yield per acre for cotton is from 350 to 700 pounds. Corn produces from thirty to seventy-five bushels per acre; small grains have never been cultivated to any great extent, but do well here, more especially cats and millet. Vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage and onions grow in the greatest abundance with but little care and cultivation. Fruits of all varieties are raised and with few exceptions do well. That berries are a sure crop is evidenced by the profusion in which they grow in an uncultivated state. This county is the home of the grape and nowhere else does it thrive better nor produce more abundantly, the forests bordering on the rivers being festooned with the luxurious growth of vines.

Though game in the estimation of the old settler may be somewhat scarce, plenty still remains throughout the forests and cane brakes of the county, and it is no uncommon sight to see the carcass of a bear or a saddle of venison brought in for shipment to the markets of the East. Squirrels and rabbits everywhere abound; there is but one drawback to the shooting of small game in this country–its great abundance destroys the zest of the sport.

A question frequently asked, and to Northern people perhaps the hardest to satisfactorily solve, is this: If your county can produce all you claim, in such abundance and so cheaply, why has it been so backward in its development? Why have its resources lain dormant and comparatively unknown during this long lapse of years? A reply naturally is given that in the first place the system of labor here has been different from that of the North, and while the brain and inventive genius of the latter have for centuries taxed themselves in the endeavor to save human muscle, the contingency based on labor here did not demand this. The average capacity of the negroes of the South to manage and comprehend extended only to the most primitive agricultural implements, and with these they could produce a sufficient amount of cotton and corn to supply the wants and even luxuries of the planter. To minerals, fruits, stocks, timber and grass, they did not care to give attention, save in quantities for domestic purposes. The war destroying this system of labor, and impoverishing the planter, his power of recuperation has been slow; yet it would seam marvelous were one not to take into consideration the wonderful conditions of soil and climate that exist in this southland.

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The average temperature of this section is about 62º, rarely reaching 100º in the summer months or falling below 42º in the winter. The average rain fall is not far from forty-five inches, the rains being [p.570] generally seasonable and propitious. There has never been known an entire failure of crops in the county since its first settlement. Here the soil responds kindly and liberally to the husbandman's labors, and will yield abundant returns for his labor. A single fountain in the desert is more highly appreciated than a thousand limpid streams, bursting from every hillside in a land more favored. So in other countries a single avenue to wealth is crowded and pressed with more tenacity than are the hundred open pathways of a land which affords so much. Lee County needs further and higher development, every department of business and life demanding reinforcement. Its people are generous and hospitable, and welcome all from the North, South, East and West. The material advancement of their county is their ambition. Political affiliations are not a primary consideration, neither does denominational prejudice prove a hindrance to progress.

The invitation is to all, come and look at the fertile lands of the county, and mingle with its people.

Stock raising is rapidly coming to the front, and the general adaptation of the soil to the growth of all forage grasses will in the near future advance this industry to an important rank. That portion of the county known as "Bear Creek Bot. tom," in the southeast part, is a veritable paradise for stock. A large growth of clover and other fine grasses grow spontaneously and cover the entire valley. With a skirt of cane on either side, cattle, running at large in this bottom, keep fat enough for beef. The valley has the protection of the high lands of Crowley's Ridge which is covered with an immense growth of oak, hickory, beech and walnut trees, furnishing ample and never-failing mast on which hogs thrive and keep in good condition the year round.

The timber of this country is of the finest kind, and embraces the different varieties of oak, poplar, walnut, gum and ash. There are several fine sawmill plants here, the products of which add materially to the wealth of the county. The timber, however, has scarcely been touched, three-fourths of the county still being virgin forest.

Marianna, the principal town and trade center, of Lee County, and its seat of justice, is beautifully situated on the L'Anguille River, at the head of steamboat navigation. It is on a level plain with sufficient fall for good drainage. The Knobel branch of the Iron Mountain Railroad gives the town connection north and south with all the great railroad systems of the country, and makes it easily accessible to the principal markets outside. The elevation of the place is twenty-five feet above the highest water ever known in the Mississippi Valley.

Marianna was first settled about forty years ago, and perhaps a brief sketch of the origin of its location and name may not be out of place in this connection. Col. Walter H. Otey, nearly a half century ago, purchased of Mr. Harvey Harland, familiarly known as "Uncle Harvey," a tract of land situated on L'Anguille River, about three miles above the site of the present town. When the transfer was to be made it was discovered that "Uncle Harvey," from some cause, had forgotten or neglected to apprise his better half, "Aunt Mary Ann," of the proposed sale. She became quite indignant and flatly refused to sign the necessary papers to complete the transfer. After every argument and persuasion had been exhansted in the fruitless endeavor to induce the old lady to add her signature, Col. Otey struck upon the expedient of having Rev. Matt Cox, a gentleman in whom Mrs. Harland had the greatest confidence, to prevail upon her if possible to do the necessary "signing." After his persuasive eloquence had proven unsuccessful he was forced to adopt subterfuge, and suggested that Col. Otey, in consideration of her signature, should name the city, which he proposed founding, for her. This last bait was effective, and "Mary Ann" was easily changed to Marianna. Marianna No. 1 was abandoned in 1857. In 1858 the firm of Worsham & Green of the old town settled and built on the present site of the place, the legislature having declared the L'Anguille River navigable to this point. The land covering the site of the present town was owned by Dr. Green.

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The growth of Marianna has kept pace with the development of the State, and it is now in a flourishing condition, doing as large, if not a larger, business in proportion to population than any other town in Arkansas. Its present population exceeds 1,500.

The new town was first incorporated August 7, 1877, and re-incorporated July 5, 1888. Being comparatively so young its rapid increase in population and wealth speaks volumes for the enterprise and pluck of the citizens and the natural productiveness of the country surrounding. In 1869 there were only five families located here, numbering twenty-two souls, and only three business houses, with an aggregate trade of $8,000. What a change in twenty years! It would seem as though the magician's wand had touched the place. The town is well and substantially built, having three large brick blocks–two-story buildings, and the trade is represented by twenty-five or thirty representative establishments, carrying stocks of from $3,000 to $40,000, with an annual patronage of $500,000. The leading firms are Lesser & Bro., Johnson & Grove, Jarratt & Co., P. E. Northern, Becker & Co., L. Shane & Co., Breckey Bros., general merchants; Fleming & Co., J. E. Stevenson, druggists; L. Benham, Hayes & Benthal, T. C. Merwin, family grocers. There are also two millinery and dress-making establishments and numerous restaurants and eating houses; a large brick livery stable furnishes as fine turnouts as any in the State. Although the hotel accommodations would seem ample for a place of this size, the Phœnix and the Jones House, both of good size, fail to meet the requirements of the traveling public, and there is no better opening anywhere for a large first-class hotel.

Among other industries are three blacksmith and machine shops, one wagon and plow shop with steam power, two good steam gins with grist-mill attachments, one large saw and planing-mill plant with a capital of $40,000, cutting 40,000 feet of lumber per day, employing seventy-five men and adding greatly to the wealth and prosperity of the place.

The legal and medical professions number in their ranks some of the most prominent in these callings in the State.

The Index, published weekly, is a newsy, well-conducted sheet, and its editor, Mr. W. P. Weld, is a live citizen in the advocacy of all that materially helps to develop his town and county.

The secret orders are represented by the Masonic, I. O. O. F., K. of P., K. of H., K. & L. of H. and I. O. G. T., all in a flourishing condition, with good memberships.

This favored town is fully alive to the importance of religions advancement, and though its church buildings are not of the finest, they are neat and comfortable, an evidence of the existence of that spirit which stamps the moral character and excellence of the people. As a church going and church loving community it stands to-day on a plane far above a proportionate population in many older localities. The Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians each have houses of worship, and the Christian Church has an organization and contemplates building in the near future, having the funds in hand for that purpose.

The colored people have three church edifices, two Baptist and one Methodist. They also have a hall and an organized lodge of A. F. & A. M.

The Lee County Bank is owned and operated by Mr. J. Lesser, who is also county treasurer. He enjoys to a high degree the confidence and support of the citizens of the county.

There was shipped from this point in 1888, 12,000 bales of cotton and several million feet of lumber. The new court house previously referred to and just completed at a cost of $15,500, is a magnificent pressed brick structure, and being situated on a commanding eminence, makes a creditable appearance. A new jail costing, when finished, $6,500 is nearing completion.

From an educational point of view, literary advantages are superior. There is located here a college and normal institute, conducted by Prof. Thomas A. Futrall, who ranks among the beet educators of the South.

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Haynes, the second town in population and importance in the county, is situated in the north central portion, on the Knobel branch of the Iron Mountain Railroad, one mile from the St. Francis County line and two miles from the L'Anguille River, midway between Forrest City and Marianna, and about six miles from Crowley's Ridge.

The town has a population of 850, and is one of the most thrifty and progressive of places. Its commercial interests are represented by five general merchandise, two drug and several mixed stores. A hotel is creditably conducted and two blacksmith and wagon shops, one undertaker and a millinery establishment supply needed demands. There are several fine brick stores, and others in course of construction, one of which, now being put up by Hughes & Curtis, will cost $10,000.

There were shipped from this point in 1888, 5,000 bales of cotton. The aggregate business of the town for the last year is placed at $300,000. Also at this point are two steam saw-mills, and three steam cotton-gins.

A. fine Baptist church finished, and a Methodist church nearing completion, are well sustained. A public hall is in connection with the school-house.

The colored people also have churches and school-houses.

P. H. Adams, a farmer and stock-dealer, was born in Lee County, Ark., in 1844, being the son of Henry and Nancy (Rolledge) Adams. Henry Adams was a native of Kentucky, but of English descent, and to his marriage fifteen children were born, only three of them now living: P. H., Thomas J. and Nancy (the wife of Thomas Kemp, a prosperous farmer of this county). Mr. Adams died in St. Francis County, in 1862, where he had resided for many years. His wife received her final summons some years previous. P. H. Adams was married to Miss Mary Upton, of Lee County, in 1866, and by her became the father of two children (both deceased). Mrs. Adams having died, for his second and present wife Mr. Adams chose Mrs. Mary J. Glidley, who bore him flve children: Martha C. (the wife of J. Bowman of this county), Allie S., Mary C., Belle E. and Francis R. Mr. Adams owns 240 acres of land, with 100 improved, giving evidence of a careful and thorough cultivation. He is a Mason, and belongs to Baxton Lodge, No. 242. In his religious faith he clings to the Baptist doctrine, being a member of that denomination. Mrs. Adams is a member of the Methodist Church, South. She is a native of Illinois, and was born in 1844, the daughter of Ames and Martha A. Smith. Her parents died in 1886 and 1887, respectively.

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DeWitt Anderson has been prominently identified with the farming interests of Lee County, Ark., since 1881, and is now the owner of a fine farm comprising 400 acres. He was born in Wilson County, Tenn., in 1848, and is a son of Gen. Paulding Anderson and Martha T. (Horde) Anderson, the former of Tennessee and the latter of Virginia. She was a relative of the Morehead family, of North Carolina, and came with her parents to Tennessee when a small girl. She was a member of the Baptist Church, and at the time of her death, in 1861, was fifty-six years old. Her brother, Jesse Horde, was a leading minister of the Methodist Church, in Texas. Frank Anderson, the paternal grandfather, was a Virginian, and his father and mother were from Scotland, and settled in this country at a very early day. Paulding Anderson, the father of our subject, was one of a large family, and was reared in Tennessee, where he became well-known and arose to prominence in political matters. He held the various offices of his county, with the exception of county clerk, and was a member of both houses of the legislature several terms. He served in the Confederate army, and, after the Federals took possession of the State, he went to the South with Gov. Harris, and was an active participant in the Rebellion until 1863, at which time he was captured, and, after being kept a prisoner at Nashville for months, was released on parole. In his early life he commanded the Central State militia, and during a big rally he commanded 10,000 men, being made general at that time. He was very active in church and school matters in his youth, and for many years was one of the chief props of his church. He was finely educated, was a great reader, and up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1882, at the age of seventy-nine years, he kept thoroughly posted with the current literature [p.573] of the day. He and his wife were blessed in the birth of eleven children, nine of whom lived to be grown. DeWitt Anderson is the ninth in order of birth, and is one of the three who are now living. Six of the seven sons served in the Confederate army, also two nephews and eight first cousins, and only one of the entire lot was killed, Capt. Dick Anderson, who lost his life at the battle of Murfreesboro. None of the rest were even wounded. DeWitt Anderson commanded a company the first three years of the war, being first lieutenant of Company K, Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, and participated in the battles of Shiloh, the first and second battles of Murfreesboro, Chickamanga and Perryville; was in the Georgia campaign, and was taken prisoner near Rome, Ga., being kept in captivity at Johnson's Island for nine months. After the surrender he was released and came home, again taking up his farming implements. He is now one of the prosperous farmers of Arkansas, and, as shove stated, his home farm consists of 400 acres, although he owns 6,000 acres in the State, a considerable portion of which is rich bottom land. This property has all been acquired since coming to this State, as he then had no capital whatever, but his native energy and pluck. He was married in 1868 to Miss Chloe Davis, daughter of James Davis, a leading resident of Wilson County, Tenn., but he was called upon to mourn her death in 1870, her infant daughter dying soon after, at the age of six weeks. She was a consistent Christian, being a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a faithful, loving and helpful wife–so much so, that Mr. Anderson has since remained faithful to her memory, and is a widower.

Robert J. Bickerstaff is a native of Georgia, in which State he remained until thirteen years of age, going thence to Chambers County, Ala. After a twenty-three years' residence there he came to Arkansas, and settled in this county (then a part of Monroe), arriving February 26, 1859. Here he first engaged in farming, but later carried on the mercantile business in Moro, from 1871 to 1874, since which time he has resumed tilling the soil. Mr. Bickerstaff was born in Jasper County November 28, 1823, and was a son of Robert and Nancy (Roberson) Bickerstaff. Robert Bickerstaff was born in the State of Pennsylvania in 1774, but removed to Georgia about 1790, where he was married in 1797 or 1798. He was a son of a colonel in the Revolutionary War, and he himself was a soldier in the Indian War under Gen. Jackson, and was killed by the Indians at Fort Henderson in May, 1836. Mrs. Bickerstaff was born in Ireland in 1778, came to this country at the age of fourteen, and died in Georgia in 1834. They were the parents of fifteen children, six sons and nine daughters; two of the sons only are living, the subject of this sketch, and Pollard B., a farmer of Montgomery County, Ala. Robert J. Bickerstaff was married in Alabama, on January 31, 1848, to Miss Mary Dazier, of the same county as himself, she having been born June 28, 1828, as a daughter of Woody and Eliza (Compton) Dazier. They became the parents of eight children, seven sons and one daughter, four of whom are still living: Herschel, Robert, Mary L. (wife of John H. Sims) and Andrew, all farmers of this county, though the latter is also employed in Government work. Mr. Bickerstaff enlisted in 1862 in Company C. of the Twenty-third Arkansas Infantry, and after the reorganization was in the Trans-Mississippi Department, serving until the close of the war, having been thrice captured but each time made his escape. Mr. Bickerstaff owns a 240-acre farm, covered with valuable timber, with the exception of ninety acres under cultivation, and he also owns land in Van Zandt County, Tex. Although not taking an active part in politics, Mr. Bickerstaff has held the office of justice of the peace for the past two years. He has been a member of the Masonic order for forty years, and has also belonged to the Missionary Baptist Church the same length of time. Mrs. Bickerstaff is connected with the same church.

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Virgil C. Bigham owes his nativity to Tennessee, though he commenced farming at the age of nineteen years in Monroe County, Ark., and has been engaged in this occupation to the present. He has also carried on the mercantile business since November, 1888. Mr. Bigham now owns 380 acres of land, with eighty acres under cultivation. [p.574] He was born December 17, 1835, a son of Martin Bigham and Sallie (Breeding) Bigham, natives of the State of Tennessee. They were the parents of seven children, Virgil C. being the only one living. The father died in 1854, ten years after the death of his wife. Virgil C. Bigham was married in December, 1857, in Monroe County, to Miss Rachel Breeding, who died in 1858, leaving two children, both deceased. He married his second wife, formerly Miss Eli****beth Caplinn, of this State, in 1863. She became the mother of one daughter, also deceased. Mr. Bigham enlisted in the Confederate army, in 1862, in Company B, of the First Arkansas Battalion (Infantry), and took part in several hard fought battles, but was mostly on scout duty. He has been postmaster of Moro since October, 1889. He is well-known throughout the township as an honest and upright man.

S. A. Bishop, the subject of this sketch, was born in New Berne, N. C., April 11, 1835, his parents being Samuel and Phœbe (Hilbert) Bishop, both of New Berne, N. C., the latter dying in New Berne, N. C., at the advanced age of sighty-three years. S. A. Bishop received a high school education, and at the age of nineteen accepted a position as chief salesman in his brother's furniture store at New Berne, where he remained until December, 1857, after which he removed to Haywood County, Tenn. There on April 13, 1858, he was married to Miss Sarah W. Jones, of New Berne, N. C., she being the daughter of Dr. William M. and Rouncy Jones, nee Miss Rouncy Cooper, the two last named of Haywood County, Tenn. The result of this union was one daughter who, in 1878, married Mr. T. E. Bond, of Brownsville, Tenn., where they now reside. Mrs. Sarah W. Bishop died December 24, 1872. On October 15, 1873, Mr. Bishop was married to Miss Ida Peebles, at Brownsville, Tenn., she being the daughter of Mr. Bobert and Mrs. Ann Peebles. The result of this union was four children, viz.: Samuel A. (born July 21, 1874), Luey C. (born March 7, 1877), Robert P. (born July 14, 1879), and Ann Hilbert (born October 20, 1881). Mrs. Ida Bishop died at Marianna, Ark., October 6, 1888, and was buried at Brownsville, Tenn. Robert P. Bishop died August 3, 1885; the other children are living, Samuel' being a student of the Christian Brothers' College, St. Louis, Mo., and Lucy C. and Ann H. are with their aunt, Mrs. Lelia A. Blackwell, of Dallas, Tex. Mr. Bishop was engaged in the mercantile business first in 1865, at Dancyville, Tenn., remaining there until the spring of 1872, when he removed to Brownsville, Tenn., and continued merchandising. In the spring of 1883 he removed to Marianna, Ark., where he did a profitable and prosperous business until 1889, when he retired from business and is now engaged in collecting up his claims and winding up his business affairs. He is an example of a successful business man, of high social qualities, and is an honorable and affable gentleman.

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George W. Bonner, who is one of the most successful farmers in Spring Creek Township, has been a resident of this county since 1869. He is a native of Tennessee, and the son of Williamson and Maria (Reddith) Bonner, originally from Virginia and North Carolina, respectively. Mr. Bonner was a man of considerable education, and for a number of years followed the occupation of school-teaching, during his latter days being recognized as a public man of considerable importance. For many years he was an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. John Bouner, his father, a Virginian by birth, and a farmer and mechanic by occupation, lived to the age of eighty years. He participated in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Bonner was the daughter of Aquilla Reddith, a native of North Carolina, who lived in that State until his death, at the age of ninety years. The subject of this sketch was born in Wilson County, Tenn., in 1828, but his early boyhood was spent in Shelby County, where his father had moved in 1882. He learned the carpenter's trade in youth, and followed that occupation for thirty years, but since that time has been engaged in farming. During the Mexican War he served seven months in Taylor's division. In 1869, moving to Arkansas, Mr. Bonner settled in what was then a part of Phillips (now Lee) County, and three years later located on the farm [p.575] which he has since occupied. He was married, in 1854, to Miss Oliva A. F. Mason, who died nine years after their marriage, leaving four children, one of whom, Williamson E., only is living. Mr. Bonner was later married to Miss Mary E. Newsom, in 1865, a daughter of David Newsom, of Virginia. She was the mother of seven children at the time of her death, in 1881, six of whom are living: David T., George W., Charles Henry J., Carra A., Claudius H. and Fredonia L. He married his third and present wife, Mrs. Elizabeth J. Robertson (nee Tiller), daughter of Benjamin and Ann Tiller, natives of Alabama, in 1882. Mr. Bonner owns a farm of eighty acres, and has about fifty acres under cultivation, giving his attention to stock raising to a large extent. Himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which he has belonged for over forty years, and of which he has been a local minister for fifteen years. He has also been a member of the Masonic fraternity for thirty-nine years. A Democrat in polities, he takes an active interest in enterprises for the good of the community, to all of which he contributes largely, and is considered one of the leading farmers of Lee County.

Francis M. Bowdon is a native of Tennessee, and a son of Thomas and Parmelia (Jenkins) Bowdon, natives of South Carolina. The father was engaged in farming in Western Tennessee for a number of years, and move from there to Landerdale County, Ala., when our subject was a small boy, there acting as deputy sheriff. In 1841 he went to De Soto County, Miss., and remained eight years, then coming to Arkansas and locating in Lee County, where he bought timbered land and cleared up a good farm. He was a prominent politician of his community, holding the office of justice of the peace in Mississippi and also in this county. He died in Evanston, Ind., while on a trip to Lexington, Ky. He and wife were members of the Baptist Church, and were the parents of eleven children, three of whom are still living: Benjamin F. (a farmer of Randolph County, Ark.), Columbia (wife of John J. Felton, a farmer of this county) and Francis M. The latter, the principal of this sketch, and the eldest of those now living, was born in Bedford County, Tenn., on May 23, 1827. He was married in 1855 to Miss Caroline Elders, a native of Mississippi, who died in 1862, leaving four children, one son, H. J., being the only one living, and who now has charge of his father's farm. Marish Gilbert became his next wife, but died three years after without issue. Mr. Bowdon was married again to Miss Mollie Arnold, in 1867, who was the mother of three children: Ethel B., Francis M. and James L. He married Melvina. Bertran, a native of this county, in 1869. Mr. Bowdon owns 580 acres in the county, 300 acres in the farm on which he lives, 150 acres in a good state of cultivation and well improved. All this he has made himself, by hard work and close economy.

David W. Boykin, son of Edwin and Elizabeth J. Boykin, was born in Smithfield, N. C., in August, 1839. He was educated at Trinity College, of that State, and enlisted in the Confederate army in 1862, receiving his discharge in 1865, at Appomattox Court-House, Va. In September, 1866, he removed to Arkansas and settled in Marianna, Lee County, then Phillips County, where he was for several years employed as book-keeper and salesman in a general dry-goods and grocery business. Mr. Boykin has now been living upon a fine and productive farm in Lee County, owned by his brother, Edwin A. Boykin, and himself, and is engaged in general farming and stock-raising. He has been twice married; first, to Miss Agnes Snead, of Smithfield, N. C.; next, to Mrs. Joanna M. Saunders, of Brownsville, Tenn. Mr. Boykin is of Irish descent.

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William S. Bradford, M. D., prominently identified with the professional affairs of this section, owes his nativity to Tennessee, being a son of John W. and Emily (Nuckols) Bradford, also originally from that State. The Bradfords are an old family, and can trace their ancestors back to the time of their arrival in the Mayflower. William S. Bradord, the only son in a family of three children, was born in Hardeman County, Tenn., February 11, 1859. He spent his early life on the farm, and at the age of sixteen commenced clerking in a store in that county, becoming, when eighteen, proprietor of a grocery, in which business he was engaged [p.576] for two years. During that time he studied medicine, and the next year attended a course of lectures at Vanderbilt College. He subsequently turned his attention to traveling, and was employed by a publishing company for eighteen months in selling their publications through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee. In the spring of 1882 he went to Parker County, Tex., where he was engaged in the practice of medicine for a short time. Returning to Tennessee, he followed his profession in Hardeman County one year, and in the winter of 1883-84 attended a course of lectures at Vanderbilt College, from which he graduated in March, 1884. He then came to Arkansas and located in Lee County, where he has since been successfully occupied in the duties of his adopted calling. Dr. Bradford was married on December 2, 1885, to Miss Ida F. Halton, of Nevada County, Ark. They have one son, Wiley E. Dr. Bradford has a large and lucrative practice, and is highly thought of by the citizens of Lee County. He is a member of the Knights of Honor, and also of the Lee County Medical Association, and of the State Medical Society, having represented his county in the spring of 1888 at Fort Smith.

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Dr. T. J. Brasher. An undeniable truth is that the life of any man, temperately lived, is of great benefit to the community in which he resides, when all his efforts are directed to advancing its interests, and whose career is according to the higher principles of what he conceives to be right, helping others and caring for those who are unable to do for themselves. Such a man is Dr. Brasher. Born in Christian County, Ky., on November 1, 1835, he is a son of Alexander and Margaret (Brown) Brasher, natives of Kentucky and North Carolina, respectively. The father's birth occurred in the year 1811, and during life he was engaged in that most important occupation to Kentuckians, the breeding and rearing of fine blooded horses. Being a wide-awake and prominent man, he took an active part in politics, and for many years filled the offices of probate judge and justice of the peace. He belonged to the Christian Church, and was a Mason of high degree. To him and wife were born a family of seven children, as follows: Alonzo W. (a prominent practicing physician of Hopkins County, Ky.), Rachel (the widow of Dr. T. A. Yarrell, of Kentucky), the immediate subject of this sketch, Melissa (wife of Dr. James M. Long, of Crofton, Ky.), William A., M. D. (killed at the battle of Franklin, Tenn.), Elbridge Gerry (a colonel in the Confederate army, who was killed at the battle of Shelbyville, Ky.) and Altazera (wife of David Wooldridge, a wealthy ranchman of Oregon). T. J. Brasher grew to manhood in Hopkins County, of the Blue Grass State, and after receiving a thorough practical education in the subordinate schools, took a classical course at Georgetown College, and later a medical course in the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, which graduated him with honors at the age of twenty-one years. After practicing his profession in the neighborhood of his nativity for about five years, he removed to Arkansas, in 1860, and located in Lee County, a portion of which at that time belonged to Monroe County. He was not long permitted to follow his peaceful pursuits, but in 1861 enrolled his services for the Confederate cause, and was made a first lieutenant in Company D. of Hindman's Legion. He participated in the engagements of Shiloh, Perryville, Franklin, Clarksville, Uniontown, and many other hotly contested battles, and in the first and two last mentioned actions received severe wounds. Because of these injuries he was rendered unfit for further active military duty, but on account of his recognized ability and worth, was appointed under Jefferson Davis, to a position in the secret service of the treasury department of the Confederate States. This important position he filled with credit to himself and honor to the cause, displaying great adaptability to the important duties devolved upon him. The year following the end of the great conflict, Dr. Brasher wedded Miss Nannie L. Edwards, a native of Tennessee, and a daughter of Charles A. Edwards. One daughter, Kate A. (the wife of James M. Maclin, of the firm of P. E. Northern & Co., of Marianna), is the result of this union. Since being a resident of Arkansas, the Doctor has practiced his profession, farmed and merchandised, and in a financial way, as well as otherwise, has made his life a success. His portrait appropriately graces this volume. In addition to his other interests he has found time to enter quite actively into literary pursuits, contributing frequently to all local newspapers. He has also attained to considerable reputation as a writer upon romance, the woodpecker, squirrel, dog, highland terrapin, opossum, etc., these articles being widely copied throughout the Southern States.

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[p.579] Jesse Briley came to Arkansas in the fall of 1851, first locating in St. Francis County, and later in Lee County, being employed as a farm hand for seven or eight years. In 1859 he bought a quarter section of land, on which he lived until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in the Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry, but was soon after transferred to the Second Arkansas Cavalry, serving in Price's raid through Missouri. After the war he returned to his farm, which he found badly dilapidated, and was obliged to start from the bottom of the ladder, but has been very successful, now owning 700 acres of land, with 400 acres under cultivation. Besides this he owns a house and lot at Haynes, and is a stockholder in the Haynes Mercantile Company. Mr. Briley was born in North Carolina, in 1834, and was married in 1859, to Miss Emma Daniel. They are the parents of four children: Sallie, Laniar, Katie and Ida. He is a member of the Masonic order, and also of the Knights of Honor. He is a Democrat in politics, and is well known and highly respected as a citizen.

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John A. Brittain is a progressive agriculturist and stockman of Union Township, Lee County, Ark., but was born in Franklin County, Tenn, in 1828, being the eldest of four children born to James and Frances (Stoveall) Brittain, who were also Tennesseeans. The family first came to St. Francis County, Ark., in 1845, and here Mr. Brittain purchased a farm on which a few improvements had been made, it being situated about one-half mile from Forrest City, which was then called Mt. Vernon. He lived in this settlement until his death April 9, 1849. He had been married twice, his first wife being the mother of our subject, but she died in 18*6, and of her four children three are yet living: John A., Susan (wife of Abram Noah, resides in Texas) and Frances (the widow of Rufus Williams, lives in Tennessee). Benjamin died in 1881, and his family still reside in Lee County. After the death of his first wife Mr. Brittain was married, in 1838, to Miss Annie Staples, of Tennessee, and the three children which were born to them are now deceased: Martha A. was the wife of Aaron G. McDaniels, and died in 1867, and the other two died in infancy. Mrs. Brittain died in September, 1844. John A. Brittain remained in the county of his birth, acquiring there a fair education, until 1845, when he came to this State with his father, and, after assisting him on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, he followed clerking for a short while. Since that time he has followed the life of a farmer, and in 1851 purchased a portion of the farm on which he now resides, then consisting of forty acres. Very few improvements had at that time been made upon it, but he has since erected buildings, fences, etc., and now has his farm in a splendid condition for agricultural purposes. He has added 120 acres and has eighty acres under the plow. Cotton and corn are among his main products, but he also gives much of his attention to the propagation of stock. He was married in 1849 to Miss Mary McDaniel, a native of Arkansas, born in 1835. She has lived in three counties in this State, without having moved. She was born in Phillips County, which afterward became St. Francis County, and is now Lee County. She is a daughter of Archibald G. and Mary (Davis) McDaniel, who were born in Kentucky and moved to Arkansas in 1828, being among the first settlers of Phillips County, Mr. McDaniel being also one of the first postmasters in this portion of the State, a position he held until 1857. He and wife became the parents of thirteen children, eleven of whom lived to be over fourteen years of age, only two of whom are now living: Mary (Mrs. Brittain) and Harriett (the widow of Robert Shell). Mrs. McDaniel died in 1869. An uncle of Mrs. Brittain's, John Calvert, was one of the first settlers of this region, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. Her mother came from Kentucky to Arkansas via Memphis, Tenn., [p.580] which at that time was only a camp, said to be one of the camps of the noted bandit Murrell. Mr. and Mrs. Brittain are the parents of ten children, G. B., Robert McD., Mary W., M. L., and Eliza A. being the only ones living. A. T. died at the age of twenty years, and J. B. when twenty-four years of age. In 1864 Mr. Brittain joined the Confederate army, becoming a member of Company C, Dobbins' Regiment, and was with Gen. Price through Missouri, and was in the battles of Pilot Knob, Lexington, and in numerous skirmishes. He was paroled in June, 1865, at Wittsburg,

Ark. He and wife are worthy members of society and his wife is a member of the Methodist Church.

William J. Broadley is a son of Samuel W. Broadley, a native of Liverpool, England, whose father, Ferrell Broadley, also came originally from England, being proprietor of the "Fax Hall Spinning Company;" of the interests of that concern, still extensive and profitable, our subject is one of the heirs. Samuel Broadley came to America in 1849, a few years after his marriage, and was occupied in the mercantile business in the State of New York the following year. He then took the "gold fever" and went to California, leaving his family in New York, and engaged in the mining of the precious metal until 1853, when he was killed by an accident in a mine in which he was working. He was married in Liverpool to Miss Phœbe Covington, a native of that country and a daughter of Frederick Covington, a merchant, and, at the time of his death, at an advanced age, a man of considerable means. Mrs. Broadley is still living and a resident of New Orleans. She also has a brother in this country, a member of the firm of Covington & Co., of Salt Lake City. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Broadley, five are still living: Ida (wife of Frank S. Snell, a prominent real estate agent and broker of Denver, Colo.), Alice M. (wife of a Mr. Patton, a merchant of Memphis, Tenn.), William T. (an attorney of New Orleans), Henry J. (who is in the employ of the Government as a chemist) and William J. (the principal of this sketch). The latter was born in Steuben County, N. Y., in 1852. After his father's death his mother moved from New York, going to several places, and finally, in 1862, to Memphis, Tenn., where they lived one year; later she became located at New Orleans and still lives there. Mr. Broadley learned the trade of a machinist when a young man, at which he worked in different States, but finally settled in Lee County, where he was employed at his chosen occupation until 1887. Then he purchased his present farm, and has since turned his attention to farming. He was married, in 1879, to Miss Lorena O'Kelley, a daughter of Overton and Mary O'Kelley, natives of Alabama and Georgia, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Broadley have four children: Frederick C., Charles O., Ida L. and William S. (now deceased). Mr. Broadley owns a fine farm of 440 acres, with nearly 300 acres under cultivation, and is engaged in raising stock. He and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. He is a Democrat in politics, and is a prominent man of Spring Creek Township. He belongs to no secret societies, but before entering the agricultural list of Lee County, belonged to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

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George W. Bullard ranks among the leading agriculturists of Lee County, and although he was born in Tennessee in 1853, he has been a resident of Arkansas since he was three years old, at which time his father and mother, George T. and Elizabeth (Curts) Bullard, came here from their native State of Tennessee. They settled in St. Francis County and bought some unimproved land at $5 and $7 per acre, but rented land the first year of his stay. On this farm he resided until his death in 1875, and witnessed many changes in the growth and prosperity of the county as it was a very wild and unsettled region at the time of his locating. During the Civil War he suffered much at the hands of bushrangers who claimed to belong to the Union and Confederate armies, but did not himself serve in either army. Seven of his ten children lived to be grown and five are living at the present time: George W., Mattie J. (wife of John Lindsey), Octavia A. (wife of W. T. Inge), Margaret H. (wife of F. C. Danerhougher) and Alice L. The mother of these children still resides on the old homestead and manages her farm successfully. She is, as was her husband, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and he was a member of Bethel Lodge No. 254, A. F. & A. M. George W. Bullard attended the common schools near his home in his youth and in 1870 entered Abernathy's School in Montgomery County, Tenn., where he acquired a sufficiently good education to fit him for the toils and cares of business life. At the age of twenty-one years he commenced the battle of life for himself but did not leave home until he was married, in 1882, to Miss Ella Davis, she being a daughter of J. P. and Mollie (Jackson) Davis, of Alabama, who came to Arkansas about 1870. She was born in 1865 and is one of two surviving members of their family of three children: Ella, Willie and James, the latter being deceased. Mr. Davis died in 1879 and Mrs. Davis in 1877, both being worthy members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the former also a member of

the I. O. O. F. Mr. and Mrs. Bullard have a family of three children: George W. (who was born February 11, 1884, and died Angust 23, 1886), Daisy Lee (born February 1, 1886) and Renben E. (born October 21, 1889). Mr.Bullard owns a fine farm of 240 acres, of which 175 acres are nicely improved with good buildings of all descriptions. He raises annually from sixty to seventy-five bales of cotton, besides plenty of corn and hay, stock-raising also receiving a considerable portion of his attention. He is a rising young farmer and in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the county he is deeply interested. He is a member of Bethel Lodge No. 254, of the A. F. and A. M., and Lodge No. 1861, of the K. of H., at Haynes. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

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Capt. William H. Clark, of Marianna, Ark., was born in North Carolina in 1841, and in 1846 moved with his parents (James and Virginia L. (Pinnell) Clark), to Memphis, Tenn., and from there, in 1857, to Walnut Bend, Ark., where the father purchased land. The latter was born in Guilford County, N. C., in 1816, and was a painter by trade. This he followed until after he moved to Walnut Bend, where he resided up to 1867, when he died of yellow fever. He followed merchandising, and owned some land in Walnut Bend. Clark's Landing was named in honor of him, and he owned the same. The mother was born in Virginia, in 1824, and died in Memphis, Tenn., in 1854. They were the parents of three children, Capt. William H. Clark being the eldest; and the second, James Preston, was captured in Walnut Bend during the war, and died from a fever contracted in prison. He was a member of Capt. Cowley's company, C. S. A. The youngest child died when young. Capt. William H. Clark was reared and educated in Memphis. He commenced steamboating in 1856, as clerk on the steamer Katie Frishee, and followed this in different capacities until 1861, when he joined the Confederate army at Memphis. Previous to this, in 1859, he was appointed route agent for the United States mail, between Memphis, Tenn., and Vicksburg, Miss., and was serving in that capacity when the war broke out. He joined the One Hundred Fifty-fourth Senior Tennessee Regiment as private, in Company B (Bluff City Greys), was a clerk in Adj.-Gen. Bragg's office, of the Army of Tennessee, under command of Gens. Bragg, J. E. Johnston and Hood, at department headquarters, and served from May, 1863, until the close of the war. He participated in the battles of Belmont, Shiloh, Corinth, Richmond (Ky.) and Perryville, with his company, the Bluff City Greys. During the fight at Richmond there were seventy-five in the company, and they captured from 125 to 150 of the enemy, and were in front all day. After the battle nearly all had their clothes torn by bullets, but no man of the company was wounded. They were sharp-shooters of Gen. Preston Smith's brigade. Capt. Clark was with the Army of Tennessee while under the commands of Gens. Braxton Bragg, J. E. Johnston, John B. Hood, G. T. Beauregard and Dick Taylor, from Murfreesboro, Tenn., to the surrender at Greensboro, N. C., serving continually in the adjutant-general's office under the different commanders. After the surrender he returned to Memphis and followed steamboating until 1876, part of the time being engaged in the cottn seed business. He was married in 1866, to Miss Maggie Harrison, who was born in Paducah, Ky. Her grandfather moved to Christian County, [p.582] Ky., in 1809 from Virginia, and was one of the owners and founders of Paducah. Her grandfather and William H. Harrison were first cousins, and the subject of this sketch was named for that president. Capt. Clark came here in 1876, and engaged in the receiving and forwarding business. By his marriage he became the father of seven children: William H., Jr., Dudley S., Emma, Maggie, Benigna, Ruth and Charles Preston. Capt. Clark is a member of the Masonic fraternity–Chapter, Council and Commandery–K. of H., and K. & L. of H. and K. of P. He and wife and all the family are members of the Episcopal Church. G. F. Clark was born in Guilford County, N. C., and was a first cousin of Abraham Clark, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and was of Scotch descent. The grandmother on his father's side was a Lilly, and a relative of the Lillys of Halifax County, Va. The Carringtons, of Cumberland County, were relatives to the wife's father.

J. P. Curtis belongs to the firm of Hughes & Curtis, of Haynes, Ark., general merchants, the former being also engaged in farming. He was the fifth of eight children born to William and Mary (Porchman) Curtis, natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively, the former of whom came to Arkansas in 1856, and settled in what was then St. Francis County, but is now Lee, where he improved an excellent farm, on which he died in 1878. Of his eight children only two are living: Elisabeth (Mrs. Bullard of Lee County) and J. P. Curtis. Two children died in infancy, and three died between the ages of thirteen and twenty-one. A sister, Mary, was the wife of Buck Dawson at the time of her death. The mother of these children died in 1875, she and her husband having been earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at the time of their death. J. P. Curtis was sixteen years of age upon his removal to this State, but the most of his education was received in Lee County. He was in his twenty-first year at the breaking out of the late war, and he immediately donned a suit of gray clothes, and became a member of Company D, Fortieth Tennessee, and was on active duty with the Army of Tennessee, until 1862, when he was transferred to the Fifteenth Arkansas In. fantry, and served on the east side of the Mississippi River, until the fall of Port Hudson. He was captured at Island No. 10, and was sent to Camp Butler, Ill., but at the end of six months was exchanged at Vicksburg, and rejoined his command near that place. He surrendered, and was paroled at Port Hudson, July 8, 1863, and reached home on the 23d day of the same month. After remaining at home for eight months, he, in 1864, joined Col. Dobbins' command, and was with Gen. Price on his raid through Missouri, participating in a number of engagements in that State. He surrendered at Wittsburg, in January, 1865, and returned to his home, where he commenced to cultivate his father's farm, and continued so to do until the latter's death. In February, 1889, he became a member of the above named firm, doing an annual business of about $35,000, and in addition to this they also deal in cotton, and in the year 1888 ginned 1,300 bales, but only ginned about 800 bales last year, on account of poor crops. Mr. Curtis was married in 1867, to Miss M. C. Castell, of St. Fraucis County, a daughter of Calloway and Isabel (Simpson) Castell, who were among the early settlers of the county, and by her has reared a family of five children, three dying when small. Those living are: Mary (wife of Charles Higginbotham, of this county), Walter B. (who is attending school in Madisonville, Ky.), William, A. E. and B. E. Mr. Curtis belongs to Bethel Lodge No. 2168, of the K. of H.

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D. W. Davis, one of the old settlers of this county, and son of David W. Davis, who came to this State in 1829, was born in the Old Dominion in 1816, and accompanied his father to Arkansas in the above mentioned year, settling where the younger Davis is now living. This was at that time a wilderness, and there were, in what is now Lee County, about forty families on the east side of the L'Anguille, and none on the west. In about 1835 Hardy Williams and brother, Jefferson Ezell, and two brothers, and one Mr. Burris, settled west of Haynes, in what is now Texas Township. The remaining portion of the county was an unbroken [p.583] wilderness, filled with deer, bear, buffalo and many other wild animals. Where Marianna now stands there lived at that time two old Poles, Duskinuski and Coluski by name, and just south of them lived John Patterson, who was born in Helena in 1800. He lived to be eighty years of age. His sister, who was born previous to 1800, was the first white child born in Helena. Of all the early settlers of the county, Mr. Davis is the only one of the original families who is still living. He was one of eleven children born to his parents, five sons and six daughters, and is the only one surviving, although all lived to be grown and reared large families, except one sister and D. W. These children were named as follows: Mary (deceased, was the wife of A. G. McDaniel, family now resides in this and Monroe County), Solomon (deceased, family resides in Illinois), Nancy (deceased, wife of John W. Calvert, family deceased), Cornelius (deceased, family resides in this county and Arizona), Benjamin (deceased, family resides in St. Francis County), Rebecca (deceased), Rachel (deceased, wife of William West, family resides in Kansas), D. W., W. H. (deceased, family resides with D. W. Davis, except one daughter, Elizabeth, who married G. L. Rodgers), Harriet (deceased, wife of T. R. Harris) and Eliza (deceased, wife of Bryant Lynch, family resides in Lee County, Ark.). David W. Davis, Sr., died in 1837. He was born in

1761, and participated in the Revolutionary War. He was on a war ship with Capt. Peterson during the principal part of the war, and was with Gen. Wayne in the war with the Indians, being wounded in the shoulder in the last engagements. His wife was born in 1777, and died in 1861. Our subject, D. W. Davis, was educated in the subscription schools of Kentucky, and after coming to Arkansas received instruction from his father, who was an unusually good scholar for his day, and a fine mathematician. After the death of his father D. W. remained at home and took care of his mother. He was not in the war himself, but his family supplied quite a number of soldiers for the Sonth. His father held the right of pre-emption on the and which he entered in 1836, there being about 160 acres in the original homestead, but to this our subject has added 300 acres more, which belongs to him and the heirs of W. H. Davis. The Davis family, while being among the prominent ones of the county, never aspired to office, though one, J. C. Davis, is sheriff of St. Francis County. He is a nephew of D. W. Davis (subject). While Mr. Davis does not seek for official prominence he still manifests considerable interest in the local elections, and is a thorough Democrat. He is a liberal contributor to all matters relating to the good of the county, and is a man

universally respected. Amanda Davis, widow of W. H. Davis, and daughter of Noah and Mary (Hearty) Reed, natives, respectively, of Massachusetts and Kentucky, was one of two children born to her parents. The other child, Elizabeth, married J. L. Rowland. Previous to her marriage to Mr. Reed, Mrs. Reed had married a man by the name of Ramage, and by him became the mother of two children: Lucinda (deceased, wife of Beujamin Travis), and James (who resides in Paducah, Ky.). Mr. Reed died in 1845, and Mrs. Reed in 1842. Mrs. Amanda Davis was born in 1833, and came with her father to Arkansas when quite small. She had very limited educational advantages, and at the age of twenty-two years was united in marriage to George Halbert. The result of this union was one child, W. H., who resides in Haynes. Mr. Halbert died December 17, 1856, and in July, 1858, his widow married W. H. Davis, who died November 23, 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were the parents of seven children, five now living; Richard (died at the age of twenty-five years), T. Jefferson (died at the age of fifteen months), Mary E., Annie, George B., William H. and Harriet A. Mr. Davis and his brother, D. W., had always remained together, and the business interests still continue as before his death. W. H. Davis had been married previous to his union with Mrs. Halbert, to Miss Sarah J. Boon, and by her became the father of five children, only two now living: Mrs. Rodgers, of Texas, and David R., who resides in Lee County, Ark. Mrs. Davis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

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Robert C. Davis has been a resident of Arkansas since a short time after the close of the Civil War, in which conflict he took part on the Confederate [p.584] side, enlisting in Company A, of the Twenty seventh Mississippi Infantry, in 1861, when only seventeen years of age. After the close of hostilities he returned to Mississippi, his native State, where he remained until 1869, then coming to this State and locating in Phillips County, and in 1880 he came to Lee County and settled upon his present farm. Mr. Davis was born in Attala County, Miss., in 1843, being a son of J. G. A. and Elizabeth J. Davis, natives of Illinois and Tennessee, respectively. His educational advantages were limited to a few months' attendance at the common schools in each year. Mr. Davis has been twice married; first, in 1866, to Miss Sarah J. Cornish, daughter of William and Elizabeth Cornish, natives of North Carolina and Georgia, respectively. Mrs. Davis died in 1871, leaving three children, two of whom are still living: Cornish R. and Rightor C. He was married to his present wife, Miss Luivia J. Alexander, in 1872. He owns 560 acres of land, 130 acres cleared and in a good state of cultivation, with good improvements upon his place. Mr. Davis is a Democrat in politics, and was appointed postmaster of Lee in 1884, having held the office since that time. He and wife are members of the Primitive Baptist Church, in which they take an active part.

W. T. Derrick, well known as the popular clerk of the circuit court of Lee County, is a native of Alabama, and a son of H. B. and Evaline (Beal) Derrick. H. B. Derrick is still living, a resident of this county, seventy-one years of age. His wife died in 1885, at the age of fifty-eight. W. T. Derrick was born in 1842, and came to Lee County with his father when a boy. He served four years in the Confederate army during the war, holding the position of lieutenant in the Army of Tennessee, and participated in seventeen different engagements. After the war be returned to this county and carried on farming until 1884, when he was elected county and circuit clerk, and was re-elected in 1886, and again in 1888, filling the offices with great credit to himself and satisfaction to his fellow-citizens. Mr. Derrick's wife was formerly Miss Mary S. Jones, also of Alabama origin. They are the parents of two children: Maria and Robert L. He is a member of the K. of P. and of the K. of H. It is unnecessary to add that Mr. Derrick is one of the leading Democrats of the county, having held prominent offices for the past six years. He is also highly esteemed not only by those of the same political party, but by all good citizens throughout this locality.

H. B. Derrick, Jr., liveryman, Mariauna, Ark. Among the active enterprises of a town like Marianna, the business of a livery stable occupies necessarily an important place, contributing as they do to the pleasure, convenience and actual necessities of the community. Among the most notable of this class in Marianna is that conducted by Mr. Derrick, which was established at this place in 1873. Mr. Derrick was born September 30, 1852, in Alabama and emigrated with his father from that State to Arkansas in 1859. Here he grew to manhood and received his education in the common schools, and at Florence and Huntsville, Ala. He first engaged in tilling the soil but later entered a store as clerk. As above stated, he opened the livery business at Marianna in December, 1873, and was very successful at this until a snow storm came and crushed in his stable. He then rebuilt and in 1876, as misfortune seemed to cling to him, he had his stable destroyed by fire, sustaining a loss of about $1,500, and in 1883 the stable was again destroyed by fire with a loss much heavier than before. Neither disheartened nor discouraged he again engaged in the business, built a brick barn and now has the best livery business in Eastern Arkansas. He also had a farm of 300 acres, after having sold some, and is one of the most practical business men of the county. He was married first in 1876 to Mrs. Ella Campbell, who is deceased. The children by this marriage are also deceased. Mr. Derrick afterward married Miss Emma Longley. Mr. Derrick is the son of H. B., Sr., and Evalyn Beal, the father a native of Alabama, born April 10, 1819. He is a farmer by occupation but is now living with his son. The latter is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

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Eli T. Diamond. Of all the old settlers in Arkansas there is no one more deserving of a place in the history of his State than Eli T. Diamond, [p.585] who is also a descendant of Revolutionary heroes. His grandfather, John Diamond, was a native of Ireland and came to America in his boyhood days, being one of the first to respond to the call of his adopted country, and serving in the war for freedom until its close. He was a member of Gen. Marion's famous band in all of its brilliant achievements. After the close of the war he returned to his home in South Carolina, but, being surrounded by Tories, and unpleasantly and dangerously situated, he removed to Georgia and settled on the site of the present city of Milledgeville, once the capital, and where Robert Diamond, the father of our subject, was reared, he having been born in South Carolina during the stormy times of the Revolution. After his marriage Robert Diamond removed to Robertson County, Tenn., and then to Illinois, in 1816, under the Territorial Government, and settled in Bond County, where he died in 1852. He was one of the early settlers of that State. Nancy (Rice) Diamond, the mother of the principal of this sketch, was a daughter of James Rice, an Englishman. She was born in Virginia, on the banks of the Potomac River, and was there reared and educated, but later removed to Georgia, where she met, captured and married the father of Eli T. She died in Illinois in 1857, having borne eleven children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the only survivor. He was born in Robertson County, Tenn., April 22, 1807, and accompanied his parents to Illinois at the age of eight years, where he was brought up and educated. At the age of twenty years he went to Natchez, Miss., and lived with an uncle. Two years later he became employed as an overseer on a Mississippi plantation, being engaged in that occupation for eight years, when he bought an interest in a plantation in Washington County, Miss., but, putting too much confidence in his partner, he was bankrupted. He then moved to Chicot County, Ark., in 1840, where he was employed as overseer of a plantation until 1842, at which ime he went to Desha County, again becoming interested in a large plantation. For awhile he succeeded very well, but, another financial crash overtaking him, he again lost the greater part of the earnings of years of labor. He then (in 1844) removed to Walnut Bend, on the Mississippi River, in Phillips County. Here he lived for twenty-four years, clearing up one of the best-improved farms in that section of country, owning 700 acres of land, and while here he secured a large tract of land in the western part of Phillips (now Lee) County. A large negro debt swallowed up his Walnut Bend property, and for the third time he was sent adrift in the financial world. He then set out for his wild and untenanted home in the wilderness of Phillips County. In 1860 he bought a family of negroes, expecting to pay for them when he could sell cotton, as he had two crops unsold. When the war came on the cotton was burned by the Confederates, and the debt accumulated during the war. That struggle found him with a good home surrounded by every convenience and comfort. In 1862 Mr. Diamond brought hands to this section, which was then a wilderness, and improved some of his wild land, where he now lives, but still retained his home on the river. But the ravages of the war and the accumulation of debt compelled him to a compromise in giving up his river place, when he came west. Older in years, and with burdens and misfortunes sufficient to have paralyzed many a younger man, he began anew the work of making a home for his family, and soon the wilderness blossomed under his skill and husbandry. But the guns of Sumter were the death-knell of his high ambitions. The war gave freedom to his most valuable property, the negro, and the close of the war found him destitute of everything but the shattered remains of what had once been a magnificent property, and of which there only remains one-quarter section of land, on which he now lives with his son and his tenants, calmly awaiting the end of a well-spent life. Mr. Diamond has been twice married; first, in 1846, to Elizabeth Hall, a native of North Carolina, who died in 1857, leaving six children, three of whom survive: William H., Eli T. and Alford S. His second marriage was in February, 1868, to Miss Anna Owen, of Phillips County, who died in 1870. Mr. Diamond is a Democrat in politics, is a member of the Masonic order and of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to [p.586] which he has belonged since twelve years of age. He is esteemed by all who know him for his goodness of heart, and for his Christian character in every day life. He has kept a diary of public events since 1844, noting down all public events. There are several large volumes of the work, and many are the facts and statements therein contained, which, in time to come, and even now, are very valuable.

James J. Dozier came originally from Georgia, being a son of Woody and Eliza (Compton) Dozier, also natives of that State. The senior Dozier was born in Warren County in 1804, and his wife four years later in Jasper County. They were married in 1828, and became the parents of ten children, seven of whom are still living: Mary C. (wife of R. J. Bickerstaff, whose biography appears in this work), Sallie F. (Mrs. Sutton, of Forrest City), Emily V. (wife of R. P. Danart, a resident of Texas), Anna C. (wife of Rev. W. H. Pasley, also a resident of Forrest City), James J., the principal of this sketch), Elizabeth (the wife of Andrew C. Wood, a farmer of St. Francis County) and Annette E. (widow of William Henderson). James J. Dozier was born in Jasper County, Ga., on July 1, 1843, but passed his boyhood days in what is now Lee County, Ala. He enlisted in the Confederate army in July, 1861, in the Thirteenth Regiment Alabama Volunteers, in which he served until the close of the war, serving as a non-commissioned officer. He participated in the battles of Seven Pines, the seven days' fight before Richmond, South Mountain, Antietam, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Chancelloraville and Gettysburg, at which battle he was wounded by the explosion of a shell; he was also slightly wounded at the battle of the Wilderness. He took part in the engagements of Spottsylvania Court-House, Petersburg, Turkey Ridge, and a number of others, and was captured at High Bridge, three days before Lee's surrender, being held for three months. He came to Arkansas in January, 1867, and settled near Moro, where he now resides, on a farm of 220 acres, with bout forty acres under cultivation. Mr. Dozier returned to Alabama in 1869, and was there married to Miss Olive I. Crabbe, of that State, and a daughter of Richard and Matilda (Love) Crabbe. Mr. and Mrs. Dozier are the parents of nine children, seven living: Nina, Charles E., Emma, Grover C., James R., Nora and Mattie. Mr. Dozier held the office of deputy sheriff during the years from 1880 to 1885. He is a member of the County Wheel.

J. P. Dunham was born in Effingham County, Ill., in 1845, but was reared in Shelby County, and up to the breaking out of the late war his time was occupied in attending the common schools. He dropped his books to join the Federal army and protect the grand old stars and stripes, and was a member of the First Illinois Cavalry, but at the end of one year was transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department, and was on detached service under Steele, and was with him at the fall of Little Rock. He went from there to Pilot Knob, and shortly after the close of the war he went to Kansas and embarked in the lumber business, and also owned and operated a saw-mill on Marie des Cygnes River. In 1875 he came to Arkansas and settled in Phillips County, where he operated a saw-mill for two and a half years, which enterprise did not prove a financial success. From that time until 1888 he owned and operated a mill in Lee County, his business partner being R. D. Griffis, who was connected with him for eleven years, or until 1888, after which they sold out to a lumber company, and Mr. Dunham has since remained its manager. He owns a good house and lot, and 13,000 acres of land on Spring Creek, and is also in the lumber business. He is a Republican, a member of the Episcopal Church, and belongs to the A. F. & A. M., being a Knight Templar, and is also a member of the Royal Arcanum and the Knights of Honor and the Knights and Ladies of Honor. He was married while a resident of Kansas, to Miss Kate Rouse, by whom he has one child, Capitola. He is a son of Hy. and Mary (Ramsey) Dunham, the former of whom was born in Tennessee and is now a resident of

Shelby County, Ill., a farmer by occupation.

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William P. Fleming, M. D. Among the names which give standing to Marianna and conduce to the welfare of society, is that of Dr. Fleming, [p.587] for he not only dispenses drugs, but also deals in hardware and furniture. He was born in Haywood County, Tenn., in 1856, but was reared in Crockett County, and received his literary education in Dyersburg Institute, of Tennessee, and the University of Louisville, Ky., graduating from the latter institution in March, 1877. He practiced medicine at Bell's Depot, Tenn., for three years, being also engaged in the drug business, but sold out in 1883 and came to Marianna, Ark., where he has since confined himself solely to the sale of drugs, his partner, Mr. Plummer, having charge of the hardware and furniture department. His store-room is 120x25 feet, and his stock of drugs is valued at about $10,000, and nets him a fair annual income. His stock of goods is quite complete, and it is safe to say that a call for any article will be promptly and accurately filled, for Dr. Fleming has few equals as a pharmacist. He was married in Memphis, Tenn., to Miss May Townsend, a daughter of D. H. Townsend, a farmer of that State, and by her has the following little family: Patrick, Guy and Walter. The Doctor is a son of Jacob and Mariah (Turpin) Fleming, the former a native of Illinois, reared in Tennessee. He is now a retired merchant and land owner near Bell's Depot, Tenn., and is sixty-five years of age. His wife was born in Tennessee, and died in 1888, aged fifty years. Anderson Turpin, the maternal grandfather, was a Tennesseean by birth.

M. H. Ford, planter and land-holder of Independence Township, is one of four children, reared by Charles F. and Betty (Hewett) Ford, his birth occurring in 1859. Charles Ford, a native of Virginia, was born in 1824, of parents who were among the F. F. V's. He passed his younger days in Virginia, where he became engaged in the mercantile business and was recognized as a man of unusual business aptitude. He was married in 1854 to Betty, daughter of John M. Hewett, of Kentucky, and to their union the following children were born: Minnie (now Mrs. Frank Govan of Marianna, and the mother of four children), Charlie (married to Miss Jessie Jackson, and resides at Marianna and they have three children), M. H. (the subject of this sketch) and William (unmarried, the deputy clerk of Lee County). Mr. Ford immigrated to Arkansas and later on came to Lee County, where he purchased a large amount of property and became very popular, being considered as a public-spirited and progressive man, always ready to lend his substantial support to anything for the growth and eventual good of the county. He died in 1867 in Lee County, and his wife followed him about five years later. They were members of the Christian Church and highly respected by all who knew them. M. H. Ford passed his boyhood days in Arkansas, Kentucky and Quincy, Ill., his education being completed at the Gem City Business College of the latter place. Soon after he came to Arkansas and in 1881 was appointed marshal of Marianna, which position he held with creditable distinction for seven years. After retiring from office he engaged in farming and now has about 320 acres of good land on which his residence is situated, and in addition to that has over 1,000 acres, with a total of 600 acres well improved and under cultivation. Mr. Ford was married in 1885 to Miss Carrie Foreman, of Independence Township, Lee County, Ark., and to their union three children have been born: Twins (deceased) and Carrie Louise. Mr. Ford is a Democrat in his political views, and in secret societies is a member of the Knights of Pythias (charter member) and the Knights of Honor. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and his wife a communicant of the Episcopal Church.

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Col. John I. Foreman, who was born in North Carolina, in 1829, was one of two children resulting from the union of William S. and Elizabeth E. (Williams) Foreman. The father's birth occurred in 1806, in North Carolina, where he became identified with the most prominent and wealthy planters of Pitt County, also belonging to one of the first families of that State. He was married in 1828, to Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Williams, an eminent physician of North Carolina, who served as surgeon in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Foreman died in 1836, leaving to a young widow the management of his large fortune, which was willed without condition to her. She again married, her [p.588] second husband being E. B. Freeman, clerk of the supreme court of North Carolina for many years. Mrs. Freeman having received a large fortune from her former husband, turned her attention to the education of her two sons, both of them being sent to Princeton, N. ., and graduating from the prominent college of that place. She closed her eyes to the scenes of this world in 1848. In 1851 John I. was elected to the legislature, from Pitt County, N. C., in which he served two years, and had he chose to remain, could have occupied a most enviable position in the political field. This, however, he did not care to do. Having previonsly paid a visit to Eastern Arkansas, he concluded that that was the place for his future home, and in 1853 he came to what is now Lee (then Phillips) County, to join his brother, who had immigrated to the State a year previous, bringing with him into the primeval forest a vast number of slaves and other property. He had purchased a large tract of land, and by the help of the slaves soon brought it from its embryo state, to that of cultivation. This property was equally enjoyed and shared by the two brothers, where they lived in great contentment until the breaking out of the war between the States. During that time they added much to their wealth, and became widely recognized as the most prosperous and popular planters in the State. They were known far and near for their generosity and support to all educational enterprises, and in fact to all movements that betokened the good and growth of the county. When the war was declared, John Foreman believing the South to be right, as a leader of the people with whom he lived, raised a company of soldiers for the Confederate army, and was attached to the Second Arkansas, Govan's regiment. Being transferred east of the Mississippi, he fought in the battle of Perryville (Ky.), and then returned to the Trans-Mississippi Department, where he was attached to Gen. Marsh Walker's staff. He was with this command at the date of Gen. Walker's death, in a duel with a wellknown general. After this Mr. Foreman was not in active service, and at the closing of hostilities he returned home to find that his plantation and all his valuable property had been destroyed by the ravages of war. Let it not for a moment be supposed that his great loss overpowered him, for he set to work with redoubled courage and a determination to succeed, and a few years witnessed the recovery of his fortunes, and an addition to his property lost. Here in this vicinity he lived for many years, occupying a warm place in the hearts of the entire community, by whom he was honored and revered, as a leading and popular citizen of this county. A mean action or an unkind word was something perfectly foreign to his loyal and generous nature. His death, which occurred in 1879, was sincerely mourned by all who knew him, and his work, which was of a lifetime in doing good to man, well deserved its reward in the commendation, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." Col. Foreman was married in 1855 to Miss Arabella Armstrong, of New York City, a daughter of William and Martha Armstrong, early settlers of that city, where her father died in 1834. Her mother then immigrated to Tennessee, and then to Arkansas. Mr. and Mrs. Foreman had eight children: William H., Robert L. (M. D.), J. I., Jr., E. W., Jane, Arabells, M. K. and Bessie.

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R. R. Foreman, residing in Independence Township, was born in North Carolina in 1831, being the son of William S. and Elizabeth E. (Williams) Foreman. The father was also a native of North Carolina, his birth occurring in 1806. He followed farming and merchandising with success, and was married in 1828 to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Robert Williams, of North Carolina, a very prominent man and surgeon in the Revolutionary War, who was residing in the old North State at the date of his death. There were only two children born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Foreman: R. R. (the subject of this sketch) and John. Mr. Foreman died in Pitt County, North Carolina, in 1836, respected and esteemed by all who knew him. Mrs. Foreman was again married, her second choice being E. B. Freeman, who was for many years previous to his death, and at that data, a clerk of the supreme court of North Carolina. Mrs. Freeman died in 1848 in her native State. R. R. Foreman received his [p.589] education in the schools of North Carolina, afterward attending school at Princeton, N. J. In 1852 he came to Lee (then Phillips) County, and located on a farm about three miles from Marianna, this farm consisting of 360 acres, besides a large amount of property in another portion. He was married in 1853 to Frances C. Williams, a daughter of Dr. R. F. Williams, of North Carolina, a prominent physician who died in that State in 1852. To Mr. and Mrs. Foreman two children have been born: Elizabeth L. (born in 1861) and Mary C. (born in 1866, now the wife of M. H. Ford, of Lee County). Mr. Foreman is a member of Lodge No. 171 of the Masonic order at Marianna, of Chapter No. 54, and also a K. of H. For some years he was Worshipful Master and a charter member of the Blue Lodge, and also High Priest of the order. Mr. Foreman and family are members of the Episcopal Church. He is a man who takes a great interest in the growth of the county, and is lending his substantial support toward gaining this end, and especially is he interested in educational and religious matters, to which he contributes liberally.

G. F. Foster, M. D. Noah Foster, a native of Tennessee, was born in 1809 and passed his younger days in the schools of that State. In 1833 he moved to Panola County, Miss., where he met and married Miss Lodiska Spaulding, daughter of a prominent planter, Gideon Spaulding. Mr. Foster settled in Mississippi, where he and his wife are now residing. He has been very successful as a farmer, and is now enjoying the fruits of his industry, from which he accumulated a large property. He is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest in public enterprises. To himself and wife a family of ten children were born: Delila (now Mrs. Parker, residing in Lonoke County), Nancy (Mrs. Ruby, of Lonoke County), Elizabeth (deceased), John (dead), Thomas (living in Panola County, Mississippi, married and has a family of six children), Davis (unmarried and lives in Lee County, engaged in the mercantile business with his brother G. F., the subject of this sketch), and two children unnamed. G. F. Foster was born in Mississippi in 1847, and received a good common-school education in the schools of his native State, afterward entering the Eclectic Medical College of Mississippi, from which he graduated in 1884. He then moved to St. Francis County, Ark., where he practiced his profession with manifest success. In 1887 he embarked in the mercantile business, and by his courteous and obliging manners has won a liberal patronage from the surrounding community. His practice is among the best and wealthy class of people, by whom he is recognized as an efficient physician, and a credit to the profession. He also owns 200 acres of valuable land under a thrifty state of cultivation. Dr. Foster was married in 1884 to Miss Bradford Watson, a daughter of John and Betty Watson. Her parents were natives of Mississippi, but moved to Arkansas at an early date, about the year 1847 or 1850. To Dr. and Mrs. Foster two children have been born. The Doctor is a Democrat, and in secret societies is identified with the Masonic order, being a member of La Grange Lodge No. 108. He is a member of and an earnest worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church and lends valuable aid to all enterprises for the good of the county.

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Thomas Foster was born within one mile of La Grange, the place where he now lives, on August 19, 1849, and was a son of Golden and Elizabeth Foster, natives of Mississippi. Mr. Golden Foster moved to Arkansas from Mississippi, and from there to Texas, but came back to Arkansas in 1841, where he died twenty years later. He was a large planter and acquired some property. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and were the parents of twelve children, two of whom are still living: Malissa (wife of Rev. Thomas Craig, now stationed at Desha, Independence County), and Thomas (the principal of this sketch, and the youngest in the family). There is living also a half-sister to these children, Miss Mattie Foster, the issue of their father's second marriage. Thomas Foster had three brothers in the Confederate army, one of whom was killed at Shiloh, one died from the wounds received at Gettysburg, and one while serving in the Indian Territory. Soon after the war he commenced working to support his mother and sisters, and was employed [p.590] by a Mr. Lownsbery at a small salary. In 1873 he began farming for himself, and with the push and energy, which are his principal characteristics, has been very successful as a cotton planter. In 1876 he was married to Miss Vionna Hickey, a daughter of C. W. and Elizabeth Hickey, of La Grange. They are the parents of these children: Frank U., Bettie Lou, Cleols, Thomas, Mattie May, Gustavus W., and one deceased. Mr. Foster, while not a member of any church, is the son of Methodist parents, and his leaning is toward that denomination. He is a member of the following secret orders: Masons, K. of H. and A. O. U. W. Mrs. Foster is a member of the Baptist Church.

J. T. Friar is a member of the Haynes' Mercantile Association, and was born within three miles of where he now lives, in 1844, being the fifth of six children born to J. T. and Perlyxie (Burk) Friar, natives of Tennessee, from near Knoxville. The father removed to Arkansas at an early day (about 1830), and in addition to farming also dealt in land. After his wife's death, in 1848, he married Miss Lucretia Seaborn, by her becoming the father of two children. His death occurred in 1856. His children by his first wife now only number two: Narcissus (wife of J. W. Byers) and our subject. The two half-brothers are also deceased. J. T. Friar was reared and educated in what is now Lee County, and at the early age of seventeen years entered the Confederate army, being in Capt. Dunn's company, known as the "Dead-shot" Company from St. Francis County. He served east of the Mississippi River for four years, and was in the following engagements: Shiloh, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and from Dalton to Atlants, Ga. He was also at Jonesboro, Springfield, Franklin, Nashville, and in numerous skirmishes. He surrendered at Greenville, N. C., and returned home. He was wounded by a minie ball in the thigh at the battle of Shiloh, and is still troubled by his wound. He first began working as a farm hand at $20 per month, continuing until 1867, when he was married to Mrs. Frances (McDaniel) Hughes, a daughter of Arch. McDaniel, but Mr. Friar was called upon to mourn her death about one year later, she having borne him a child, who is also deceased. In 1868 Mr. Friar purchased eighty acres of slightly improved land, and has since added 200 acres, making him one of the best farms in the county, and in addition to this he owns some valuable town property, all of which he has made by industry and good management since the war. In 1888 he became associated with the Haynes' Mercantile Association, which is composed of farmers, and does a business of some $30,000. Mr. Friar has been careful and painstaking in the management of his farm and, indeed, is thorough in regard to everything connected with its advancement, as he is in every business to which he gives his attention. In 1869 he was married to Miss Martha Tipton, of Tennessee, a daughter of Benjamin and Mary Tipton, of that State, and by her has had eight children, four of whom are now living: Aggie, Nannie, Custer and J. T. Mr. and Mrs. Friar are members of the Baptist Church, and Mr. Friar belongs to Bethel Lodge No. 2168, K. of H.

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E. F. Friend, miller and ginner, Marianna, Ark. This wide-awake and enterprising resident was originally from Alabama, where his birth occurred in 1838, and in that State hereached years of maturity, and received his education. He learned the carriage-maker's trade, but when the war broke out he cast aside his implements of peace and took up the weapons of warfare, enlisting in the Confederate service. He participated in the following prominent battles: Corinth, Shiloh, all the battles of Gens. Bragg and Johnston, and during his service never received a wound. After the war he returned to his home, and in 1871 moved to Arkansas. Previous to this he was married in Alabama to Miss Mary E. Gilbert, a native of that State, and after this union he moved to Marianna, where he worked at his trade for fifteen years, being the owner of a regular carriage and wagon shop for that length of time. He had a full plant of steam machinery for his business, and after the fire had but four left. The loss was at least $8,000. After this he embarked in the ginning and milling business, and will introduce a full line of rollers for grinding by the first of the year 1890. He still owns his farm of 320 acres, and is a prosperous [p.591] and progressive citizen. To his marriage were born six children: Anns, Ola, Brent, Julia, Matie and Samuel. Mr. Friend is a member of the K. of H. and K. & L. of H., and Royal Arcanum. He is the son of David H. and Amanda (Hendricks) Friend, natives of Virginia and Alabama, respectively, the father born in 1800 and he mother in 1812. The father was one of the pioneers of Alabama, and lived to be about eighty years of age. He was a jeweler, a silversmith and a farmer by occupation. The mother died at the age of forty-five years.

Thomas A. Futrall, A. M., principal of the Marianna Male and Female Institute, located at Marianna, Ark., is one of the most prominent educators in the South. He was born in the "Old North State," in 1842, and was educated in the best schools of the East, having been at one time a pupil of the famous William J. Bingham. About the time he finished his academic course, in 1860, a war cloud appeared above the horizon, and very soon thereafter he joined the Southern army as a volunteer, and served with distinction as an officer of Gen. John R. Cooke's North Carolina Brigade of the Army of Northern Virginia during the late war between the States. He took part in all the great battles in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, and was paroled with the remnant of Gen. Lee's army at Appomattox Court House. At the close of the war he immigrated to West Tennessee, and established a classical and scientific school, which soon took rank with the best institutions of learning in the country, and gained for him a widespread reputation as a scholar and an educator, so much so, that in 1884 he was tendered his present position in the flourishing town of Marianna, Prof. Futrall has made this institution one of the most thorough and practical schools in the State, from which young men and women go out well prepared for the active duties of life. Beginning the work when comparatively young, Prof, Futrall has made teaching the business of his life, and has taught successfully for twenty-five consecutive years. In 1887, at the Chicago meeting of the National Educational Association of the United States, he was elected vice-president of the association, and was re-elected to the same position in Nashville, Tenn., in 1889, and is now, 1890, manager for the association in the State of Arkansas. He is a quiet, courteous, thoroughly posted gentleman, a ripe scholar, and is familiar with the best methods of instruction. In 1867 he was married to Miss Emma R. Headen, of Chatham County, N. C. A young family of seven interesting children, four girls and three boys, gather around the hearthstone.

Dr. J. H. Gibson, physician and surgeon. The subject of this sketch was born in Iredell County, N. C., in the year 1830. He attended the common schools of the neighborhood, and was graduated from Davidson College, a literary institution in Mecklenburg County, N. C., in the year 1853, after which he spent several years in teaching in the State of Florida. He then commenced reading medicine, and was graduated from the Medical University of Georgia, receiving the degree of M. D. in the year 1858. Subsequently entering upon the practice of his profession in his native State, he remained there until shortly before the breaking out of the late Civil War, when he came to the State of Arkansas, and located in Independence County, but the following year he enlisted in the Twenty-second Arkansas as surgeon. At the close of the war he came to Lee County, and resumed the practice of his adopted calling at La Grange, where he has since resided, and built up a large practice. In 1868 the Doctor was married to Miss Eliza Burke, a daughter of Elisha and Eliza Burke, natives of North Carolina, and who came to Arkansas in 1840. Her father represented Phillips County for a number of years in the State legislature. Dr. Gibson and wife are the parents of five children: Belo, Estelle, Burke, Minnie and Willie. Dr. Gibson is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He also belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and is Worshipful Master of the lodge at La Grange. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church. He is also justice of the peace of Richland Township, and one of the leading men of the township.

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William Franklin Gill is a son of Nathaniel Y. Gill, a native of Tennessee, who made that State [p.592] his home until 1849, when he removed to Mississippi, locating near Holly Springs. He was married in Tennessee to Miss Susan Bowles, also of that State. In 1854 they came to Arkansas, and engaged in farming on the plantation now owned by Mr. N. L. Graves, near Lexa. He was a hard working man, and a good manager, and in 1861 raised the largest crop of cotton per acre of any ever grown in Eastern Arkansas. Mr. Gill died in December, 1873, at the age of nearly fifty years. His wife was called to her long home in the same month, when forty-five years old. The paternal grandfather of the principal of this sketch, was a native of North Carolina, and of Irish descent, and moved to Tennessee when a young man, where he lived the remainder of his life, following the occupation of a farmer. William Franklin Gill was born near Columbia, Tenn., on January 8, 1846, being the eldest in a family of seven children, six of whom are living: William F., R. O. (also a farmer of this county), Morris (a farmer of Phillips County), John Y. (a merchant of Texas), Isaac S. (a teacher, also in Texas) and Mary P. (the wife of L. G. Howard [see sketch of William T. Howard in this work], the partner of our subject in the mercantile business in La Grange). In 1862 William F. Gill enlisted in Dobbins' regiment of Confederate Cavalry, in which he served until the close of the war, participating in all of the principal battles in Price's raid through Missouri, Kansas and the Indian Territory. After the close of the war, he went on the farm with his father, remaining with him until his marriage, on November 18, 1869. Mr. Gill labored for himself on the farm for one year, and then moved to La Grange, entering into the mercantile business with his father and brother, R. O. Gill. This was continued until his father died, when he and his brother conducted the trade until 1881, and then dissolved. Mr. Gill then went into business with Mr. L. G. Howard, his brother-in-law. They started with a very small capital, but their present large business demonstrates what can be done by true energy, combined with a large stock of common sense, good business management and honest dealings. He was married, on November 18, 1869, to Miss Bettie Underwood, a native of Tennessee, who died in March, 1874, leaving three children, two still living: Mollie and William Y. Mr. Gill married his second and present wife, Rebecca Holland, February 4, 1875. She was born in the State of South Carolina, in 1857, and is the mother of one daughter, Beulah. In addition to his store at La Grange, Mr. Gill owns

800 acres of fine land, of which 450 acres are under cultivation. All this he has made since the war. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum, of the Knights of Honor and is a prominent Democrat of Richland Township.

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Robert O. Gill is one of the prominent residents of Haynes, Ark., is a money lender and a large real estate owner, having become by his own industry the owner of 960 acres of land, with about 260 acres under cultivation. His property is improved with good buildings and fences, and besides his own comfortable and pleasant home in Haynes, he owns another house and lot. He was born in Tennessee, in 1847, and is the second of seven children born to Nathaniel Y. and Susan A. (Bowles) Gill, also native-born citizens of Tennessee. They removed to Phillips County, Ark., in 1851, and settled twelve miles west of Helena, near what is known as Lexa, and there the father was manager of a plantation belonging to his uncle, Isaac Smith, and afterward worked in the same capacity for William Pillow. In 1856 he bought a farm west of Helena, known as Hude Park plantation, but sold out at the end of one year and became general manager of the plantation belonging to Mr. Pillow, remaining with him until the opening of the war, during which time he farmed on what is known as the Grant place. After the war was over he bought what is now known as the H. P. Rogers' place, and here made his home until 1867, when he became the owner of a farm three miles west of Haynes for one year, selling it then to Dr. Wood, moving in the spring of 1869 to La Grange, where he was engaged in the mercantile business until his death, December 16, 1873; his death was caused by pneumonia. His wife died December 3, 1873, and both had been members of the Baptist Church for a number of years. Six of their seven children are now living: W. F. (who is a merchant [p.593] at La Grange), Robert O., Maria M., John Y. (of Texas), I. S. (of Texas), and Mary P. (wife of W. L. Howard, of La Grange). Robert O. Gill was reared and educated in Phillips and Lee Counties. He received only the advantages of a common-school education in his early youth, the turmoils of war placing it beyond the power of his parents to send him to higher institutions of learning, but by self-application and much reading he is one of the best posted and most intelligent men of the county. At the age of twenty-one years, or in 1868, he began life for himself as a farmer, but after farming on rented land for one year he began merchandising in La Grange, his capital stock amounting to $600, which he had earned the previous year. Since 1883 he has been a resident of Haynes, and until the spring of 1889 followed merchandising, but then sold out and has been following his present occupation. He is a man who favors all laudable public enterprises and in his political views is a Democrat. Socially he is a member of the K. of H., La Grange Lodge No. 2166, and has held nearly all the chairs in the local lodge. In the spring of 1875 he was married to Miss Cornelia L. Smith, a daughter of G. B. and Susan S. Smith, natives of Northern Alabama, who removed to Arkansas a few years prior to the late Civil War. Mrs. Smith died in 1888. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Gill, two are now living: Alma L. and Robbie.

Joseph O. Gray. Payton R. Gray, a prominent and wealthy planter of Bear Creek Township, was born in Livingston County, Ky., in 1818, being a son of Presley Gray, also a Kentuckian by birth and a tiller of the soil, as was his father, originally from Virginia. Presley Gray was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and lived until his seventy-second year. His wife, Maria (Hodge) Gray, was connected with the Baptist Church. She was the mother of seven children, all of whom are yet living, five residents of Kentucky, one of Iowa and our immediate subject, who has been a citizen of this State since 1847. He took charge of the old homestead at the age of twenty years, and two years later was married to Mrs. Eliza (Dunn) Thrailkill, who died a year after, leaving one child, which only lived nine months. He then married Miss Maria Woods. She died shortly after his removal to Mississippi, in 1844, leaving three children, all deceased. He was next married to Mrs. Margaret S. Bohanan (nee Dickson), a native of Paris, Ky., who died in 1883. They were the parents of two children: Blanche (widow of John E. Burke, living with her father) and Joseph O. (who was born in Coahoma County, Miss., in 1848.) His father having been drafted for the Confederate service in 1863, our subject went as a substitute, and served in Dobbin's regiment of Confederate cavalry until the close of the war, operating in Eastern Arkansas and Missouri, and receiving his discharge in January, 1865. He was then employed in farming and clerking until 1872, when he entered into the mercantile business at Philips Bayou, in which he has since been engaged, with the exception of the years 1877-78. At that time farming occupied his attention. Mr. Gray married in March, 1875, Miss Mary C. Wilkins, a native of Lee County, Ark., and a daughter of Maj. Wilkins, an officer in the Confederate army, now deceased. They have had one son who is now deceased. Mr. Gray carries a stock of about $5,000, and his annual sales amount to over $40,000. He is also extensively occupied in farming, owning a half interest in 320 acres of fine land, besides some city property, and has the control of over 1,500 acres of land. Mr. Gray is also the postmaster of Philips Bayou, which position he has filled for the past eight years. In connection with his other interests he is engaged in cotton-ginning, operating two steam gins and one horse-power cottongin. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church.

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J. W. Greer's farm, comprising 160 acres, is one of the best for successful agricultural purposes to be found in this part of the county, and the manner in which it is conducted is in full keeping with the personal characteristics of its owner, a man of great energy and determination and of much perseverance. He was born in Union County, S. C., in 1836, and is a son of J. M. and Sarah A. (Sanders) Greer, the former a native of South Carolina and of English-Irish descent. The paternal [p.594] grandfather, Robert Greer, and his brother, Orpha, served in the American Revolution, and the former was exiled from Ireland on account of his religious views, and after coming to the United States he settled in South Carolina, and there left a large number of descendants, several of whom served in the War of 1812. J. W. Greer spent his youth in his native State, but in 1858 came west and settled near Helena, Ark., on a farm where he remained industriously at work until the Rebellion came up. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate army, Company B, Twenty-third Arkansas, of which he was captain, and participated in the following battles: Corinth and the siege of Port Hudson, in which engagement he lost his left arm, it being shot off by a cannon ball. He was captured on July 9, 1868, and was retained a prisoner until the close of the war at ew

Orleans, Fort La Fayette, Bedloe's Island, Fort McHenry, Fort Delaware, then to Morris Island. After remaining at his old home for a number of years he came to Lee County, Ark., in 1878, and here has become well known and highly esteemed by all. He has been justice of the peace for eight years; is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and has always tried to follow the teachings of the Golden Rule. He was married in 1885 to Mrs. Fannie R. Allen Harris, and by her has one child, Sarah F. He was first married to Elizabeth H. Patterson, who died leaving one child, Jason H.

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Gen. D. C. Govan was born in Northampton County, N. C., July 4, 1829, and is a son of A. R. and M. P. (Jones) Govan, the former of whom was born in Orangeburg, N. C., and was educated in South Carolina College at Columbia, some of his schoolmates being William C. Preston, George McDuff, Langdon C. Chevies, Hugh S. Lagree and other men of the South, who afterward became noted. After graduating from the above-named college he began his career as a planter in Orangeburg District, and was elected to Congress from there about the year 1825. About 1830 he emigrated with his family westward to Tennessee, and there made his home until the removal of the Chickasaw Indians from the State of Mississippi, when he made that State his permanent abode, his death occurring there in 1841, at the age of forty-seven years. His wife was born in North Carolina in 1801, and by Mr. Govan became the mother of a large family of children, her death occurring at the age of eighty-seven years. Gen. D. C. Govan grew to manhood in Northern Mississippi, and was prepared for college by Rev. Francis L. Hawks, and graduated from the Columbia (S. C.) College, in 1848. There was a military company kept in drill at this institution, then the best in the State, and of this company Mr. Govan was a member. Immediately upon graduating he joined his fellow-kinsman, Gen. Ben McCullough, on an expedition to California, their company consisting of twenty-one men, all of whom, with the exception of two or three, were experienced Texan and old Indian fighters. They left Mississippi on October 1 and traveled through Texas and Mexico north to Monterey, thence to the seacoast, where they took passage on board a vessel bound for the Golden Gate, and reached San Francisco late in December. They engaged in hunting and trapping until the next spring, and then found that they had accumulated sufficient money to engage in mining, which they did (with the understanding between our subject and Mr. McCullough that they were to share equally in the results of their western expedition) and fitted out a party to go to the mountains and commence operations. Just at this juncture the Territurial legislature of California passed a law imposing a tax on all foreigners mining in the Territory. California was then divided into two districts and Mr. McCullough received the appointment of collector for the Southern District, a position which he and Mr. Govan supposed would prove fabulously remunerative, and Mr. Govan took charge of the mining expedition and went up the San Joaquin River. He met with fair success in mining, and said that had they not been trying to make a competence in a few days, might have amassed a fortune. He mined on various rivers until he reached the North Fork of the American River, when he received a letter from Gen. McCullough saying that the foreign tax could not be collected, and the law was a failure, and requested him to meet him in Sacramento, where they would [p.595] prepare for another mining expedition. When they reached that place the sheriff of the county had been killed and a special election was being held, whereupon Mr. McCullough became a candidate and was elected. Mr. Govan then sold out his mining outfit and became deputy sheriff, the former gentleman officiating in that capacity from October, 1850, to July, 1855, and did the first legal execution in the State of California after it had been admitted into the Union, hanging three men for highway robbery. He returned to his home in Mississippi immediately after retiring from the sheriff's office, Mr. Govan returning at the same time. The latter was married in Mississippi, in December, 1853, to Miss Mary F. Otey, a daughter of the Rt. Rev. James Otey, of Mississippi, and the following December he came to Arkansas, locating in that part of Phillips County, which subsequently became Lee County. He was a successful planter until the opening of the war, then began raising a company for the Confederate army, which afterward became a part of the Second Arkansas Regiment, under Gen. Hindman. They operated first in Southeastern Missouri, but were soon transferred to the Army of Tennesses, of which they formed the advance under Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston. Mr. Govan was appointed lieutenant-colonel in October, 1861, and at their request acted as colonel in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville and Murfreesboro, after which he was given command of a brigade, and acted as brigadier-general at Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold and other places, receiving his commission after these battles. He was all through the Georgia campaign, and was in some of the bloodiest fights around Atlants, but showed through all great intrepidity and courage. In the memorable fight on July 22d, he captured the Sixteenth Iowa Regiment with its colors, and fractions of other companies. Gen. McPherson was killed in front of his command. After almost twenty years had passed away he still had the colors of the Sixteenth Iowa Regiment, and about this time entered into a correspondence with Gen. Belknap, and upon being invited to attend a Federal soldiers' reunion held at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he did so and returned the colors to the Sixteenth Iowa which he had captured, and received in return a gold-headed cane. In the battle of Chickamauga, the great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson was killed in front of Geo. Govan's command, he being Maj. Sidney Collidge, and his sword fell into the hands of Gen. Govan. It was afterward recaptured, and this led to an inquiry from Collidge's friends as to his whereabouts, and the facts of his death was related to them by Gen. Govan. The name of this intrepid general will live in the hearts of the Southern people as long as they revere the heroes who fought in their service, for he was among the bravest of the brave, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Gen. P. R. Cleburne, Chestham and others, as far as bravery and ability as a commander is concerned. At the close of the war he returned to his plantation and here has lived a quiet and retired life ever since. Although he is very popular and much beloved by all, and could easily obtain any office he might desire and which the people of Arkansas could confer upon him, yet he has never been an aspirant for any civil office, and is of a rather retiring disposition, although he possesses the true courtesy and polished manners for which the people of the South are famous.

Francis H. Govan, intimately associated with the affairs of Lee County, as deputy clerk of the circuit court, was a member of Morgan's terrible band in his raid through Ohio. He was in the Confederate army from the beginning of the war until its close, first in the Northern Virginia division, in which he served until the seven-days' fight around Richmond, when he was transferred to the Western division, remaining in Morgan's cavalry until after his Ohio raid. He was subsequently appointed aid-de-camp on the staff of his uncle, Gen. D. C. Govan, holding that position until the cessation of hostilities, but spending the latter days of the war in the hospital on account of a would received at the battle of Franklin. After his return from the army Mr. Govan attended the University of Mississippi, and in 1867 came to Arkansas, and located in this county, where he engaged in merchandising when not holding office. He was elected county clerk in 1874, and again in [p.596] 1876, and in 1885 was appointed deputy clerk of the circuit court, which office he still occupies. He was married in this county in 1875 to Miss Minnie Ford, who was born in Kentucky in 1855. They are the parents of four children: Bettie H., Laura P., Francis H. and Eaton P. Mr. Govan's birth occurred in Mississippi in 1846, and he was reared at Holly Springs, that State,

there receiving a common-school education. He is a son of E. P. Govan, a native of North Carolina, and of Scotch descent, his great-grandfather having been born in that country, though he emigrated to the United States. His grandfather, of South Carolina origin, was a member of Congress from that State. The father of our subject died in 1882, at the age of fifty-five years. His wife was a native of Connecticut, and a daughter of Rev. Francis L. Hawks, a distinguished Episcopal minister. Mr. Govan is a member of the A. F. & A. M., in which order he has risen to the rank of Knight Templar. He also belongs to the Knights of Honor and the Royal Arcanum. He is a man who enjoys the continued esteem of his acquaintances, and as a county official has discharged the duties connected-with his office with entire satisfaction to all concerned, and the credit of himself. The records in his charge are a model of neatness and accuracy.

Ferdinand Louis Gustavus is one of the men who escorted Jefferson Davis and his cabinet south on their flight from Richmond. He enlisted in 1862, in a company of cavalry, which was made up and mustered in service at Memphis, Tenn., although composed mostly of men from Phillips and St. Francis County. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Iuks, Atlanta, and most of the battles of his division, and was in the command of Gen. J. E. Johnston, at the time of his surrender in May, 1865. Mr. Gustavus was born in Winnebago County, Wis., April 29, 1832, and was the oldest son of John G. and Charlotte A. (Koepner) Gustavus, natives of Prussia. Mr. Gustavus was born in 1806, and was reared within fifteen miles of Berlin, being married in 1830. In 1831 they emigrated to this country, and settled in Wisconsin, where they lived until their respective deaths, in 1862 and 1864. Both were members of the Lutheran Church, and were the parents of seven children, six of whom are living: Ferdinand L., Robert, Bertie, Theodore, Maria and Henry. The paternal grandfather of our subject was a soldier under Napoleon, and held the position of lieutenant in the Prussian army. Mr. Gustavus commenced farming at the age of twenty-two in the State of Wisconsin, but moved to Arkansas in 1856, where he was engaged as an overseer in Phillips County, until his enlistment in the army. After his return from the battlefield, he purchased the farm on which he still resides. The land is well adapted to the growing of cotton, corn, clover, and small grain. He was married April 14, 1867, to Luey A. Rives, of Phillips County, where she was born January 28, 1848, being a daughter of John H. and Jane C. (Bonner) Rives, both deceased. They had a family of eight children, seven of whom survive: Mary F. (wife of C. J. McQuien, a farmer of Lee County), Jane A. (wife of Guss Roesher, also of Lee County), John H., Augusta E., Carrie L., Hattie C. and Frederick L. Mr. Gustavus is a leading Democrat, and has served his party and the people of his township as justice of the peace for the past eight years. He has been a member of the school board of this district since 1868. He and wife and four children are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. He also belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and of the Knights of Honor. Mr. Gustavus, having farmed in the Northern States as well as the Southern States, is capable of forming a correct opinion of both localities in regard to climate, soil, and general advantages and disadvantages for those who follow farming for an occupation, and in his judgment Arkansas can not be excelled.

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Robert E. Hale is a direct descendant of the celebrated Chief Justice Matthew Hale of England. His parents, Richard C. and Driscilla (Mathews) Hale, were natives of Bedford County, Va. The former was born in 1798 and when a young man moved to Alabama, and afterward to Hardin County, Tenn., where he remained about ten years, then going to Pulaski County, Ill. This was the home [p.597] of himself and wife until their death, Mr. Hale dying in 1848 and Mrs. Hale in 1884, at the age of ninety years. He started in life as a brick mason, but during the latter years of his career became a prominent contractor and builder, and was an influential man in Pulaski County, Ill., taking an active part in local politics. During the last four years of his life he held the office of probate judge. He was a son of Richard Hale, whose birth occurred in Virginia shortly before the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Hale was a daughter of Joseph Cromwell Mathews, formerly from South Carolina, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War when a young man. He was married in South Carolina to Miss Penina Crisp, afterward removing to Alabama, then to the States of Tennessee, Kentucky and finally back to Texas in 1835, where they remained until their deaths, which occurred in the year 1858 at the ages of ninety-two and ninety-four

years, respectively. Both were members of the