Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas

MONROE COUNTY–TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES–TAXATION, VALUATION, ETC.–BONDED INDEBTEDNESS–PRODUCTIONS–LIVE STOCK–HORTICULTURE–LOOATION–TOPOGRAFHY–VARIETY OF SOIL–DRAINAGE–STREAMS, ETC.–TIMBER–ORIGINAL OCCUPANOY–PIONEER SETTLERS AND FIRST HOMES–COUNTY ORGANIZATION–SEAT OF JUSTICE AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS–LIST OF OFFICIALS–POLITICAL ASPECT–POPULATION–COURT AFFAIRS–CIVIL WAR–TOWNS AND VILLAGES–SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES – PRIVATE MEMOIRS.

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Daniel Wylds, the son of David and Mary Wylds, natives of Georgia and Tennessee, respectively, was born in St. Francis County, Ark., in 1846. David Wylds, when eighteen years of age, enlisted in the War of 1812, serving through the entire period as orderly-sergeant of his company. About the year 1821 he moved to Arkansas, locating in St. Francis County, where he died at the age of seventy-four years, and it can be truly said that no resident of the county ever passed away who was more sincerely mourned than he. A genial and courteous gentleman, he was one whom it was a pleasure to meet, and his absence in business and social circles was always regretted. He was broad shouldered, well proportioned, with a shrewd, kindly face that was more remarkable for its intelligence and keenness than for its beauty of features. He was a sympathetic listener to the sorrows and ills of the poor and needy, and no one ever told his tale in vain, or went from his home empty-handed. At the time of his removal to Arkansas it was almost a wilderness, and had not then reached the dignity of being a State. He began opening a farm, working under difficulties incident to that period, such as few, if any, of the present generation realize. They had to put up bear meat in winter to do them through the summer. It required a man of nerve and indomitable courage to undertake the work that he did, and his thrift and perseverance formed a oundation for the home of beauty and plenty that Daniel Wylds now enjoys. It should be added in this connection, however, that the wealth and accumulation of property was not all inherited by the son, for he began for himself at the age of twenty years. Possessing in a large degree his father's ambition and energy, he chose for his profession that most independent of all vocations–farming, and has continued it ever since. He has been remarkably successful in amassing property, and now owns large landed estates of over 1,168 acres, aside from being an extensive stock raiser. He is considered one of the wealthiest men in the county. When seventeen years of age, Mr. Wylds enlisted in Company K, Dobbin's regiment, Confederate States army, participating in several battles, and receiving a wound at the battle of Jefferson City, Mo.; he was taken prisoner to Illinois, remaining there until March of 1865, when he was exchanged at Eichmond, Va., and again captured in April, 1865, following, then receiving his parole. After the war he started for home, but was obliged to make more than two-thirds of this distance on foot. Mr. Wylds was married in 1872 to Virginia I. Thompson, a daughter of William and Mahala J. Thompson, natives of Virginia. To their union five children were born: Charles A., Wilmoth O., Mary E. (deceased), Daniel T. and Allen G. Mr. Wylds' mother, who was a lovely woman, came to St. Francis County in 1816, when only eight years old, and made it her home until she died, at the age of sixty-six, a Christian and philanthropist. In politics our subject is a Democrat, and in secret [p.506] societies is identified with the Knights of Honor. In religions faith he is a Presbyterian. Mrs. Wylds is a member of the Baptist Church. He has always been a consistent and liberal contributor to the cause of religions and educational movements, and his private charities are numerous and judicious. He has worthily followed in the footsteps of his honored father, whose favorite text was, "God loves the cheerful giver." His ideas of charity are indeed broad.

Ill fares the land, to hastening ill a prey,

Where wealth accumulates and men decay.–Campbell.

MONROE COUNTY has better shipping facilities than any other county in the State. The St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railway enters it from the north and runs thence in a southerly direction, bearing a little westward for a distance of thirty-two miles, passing via Brinkley and Clarendon. The Little Rock & Memphis Railroad crosses the northern portion of the county, its length therein being fifteen miles. The Batesville & Brinkley Railroad commences at Brinkley, and runs in a northerly direction to Newport, its length of line here being about eight miles. The Arkansas Midland Railroad commences at Clarendon and traverses the county a distance of seventeen or eighteen miles in the direction of Helena, its eastern terminus. The Brinkley, Indian Bay & Helena Railroad is completed from Brinkley south to Pine City on the Arkansas Midland, a distance of twenty-five miles, and will have several miles more in the county when finished through. There are now nearly 100 miles of finished railroad within these limits. Aside from the shipping facilities by rail, Monroe has the advantages of the navigation of White River, a most excellent outlet for heavy products.

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In 1880 the real estate of the county was valued for taxation at $836,130, and the personal property at $299,612, making a total of $1,135,-742; and the total taxes charged thereon for all purposes were $36,002. In 1888 the real estate was assessed for taxation at $870,497, and the personal at $858,254, making a total of $1,728,751. This shows that of the real estate the assessed valuation was not much increased from 1880 to 1888, but the value of the personal property nearly thribbled, and the aggregate taxable wealth increased over fifty-two per cent. The total taxes levied in 1888 were $59,222.59. With the personal property of the latter year, the railroads were assessed as follows: St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas, [p.508] $261,570; the Batesville & Brinkley, $29,505; Little Rock & Memphis, $119,390; the Arkansas Midland, $63,020, making a total of $473,485. The assessment of the Brinkley, Indian Bay & Helena line when completed will add largely to the value of railroad property. The property of the Western Union Telegraph Company was assessed for taxation at $2,600.

In accordance with a decision of the people, expressed at a special election held May 23, 1871, the county subscribed $100,000 to the capital stock of the Arkansas Central Railway Company, and bonds to that amount were afterward issued. This has been a burden to the tax payers of Monroe County, but the bonds are mostly paid. The total indebtedness of the county as shown by report for the year ending July 6, 1889, was $53,800.07, and the assets in the treasury amounted to $18,468.81, thus leaving a net indebtedness of $35,331.26. A part of the bonded indebtedness is payable by Lee County, a portion of that county having been embraced in Monroe when the bonds were issued. The Arkansas Central Railway was the former name of the present Arkansas Midland.

In 1880 the census showed Monroe County to have 952 farms and 51,238 acres of improved lands. The value of the farm products for the year 1879 amounted to $783,470, the yield of certain products having been as follows: Cotton, 14,106 bales; Indian corn, 208,667 bushels; oats, 13,995 bushels; wheat, 200 bushels; orchard products, $50.20; hay, 511 tons; Irish potatoes, 6,193 bushels; sweet potatoes, 14,128 bushels; tobacco, 2,590 pounds. These figures show that cotton was then, as now, the staple product, and corn the next in order; also, that but very little attention was then paid to the growing of wheat. This is not surprising, for it is not prudent to try to raise wheat in a country not adapted to its cultivation. These figures will be interesting to compare with the census of 1890, which will show the products of the present year, 1889, and the great increase over those of 1879. With proper cultivation the lands of Monroe County will yield from 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of seed cotton, forty to sixty bushels of corn or oats, Irish or sweet potatoes from 200 to 300 bushels, and turnips 300 bushels per acre. Wheat may occasionally yield from twelve to fifteen bushels per acre, but it is not a certain crop, and would not pay at these figures. Carrots and rutabagas, the best of feed for live stock through the winter months, would "surprise the natives," if sown, with their abundant yield in the rich alluvial soil. Improved farms can be purchased at from $10 to $50 per acre, and unimproved lands at from $1 to $15 per acre, according to location and quality.

In 1880 the county had the following live animals: Horses, 1,459; mules and asses, 1,024; cattle, 8,470; sheep, 405; hogs, 13,318. The number of these animals in the county as assessed for taxation in 1888 were as follows: Horses, 2,222; mules and asses, 1,464; cattle, 8,345; sheep, 708; hogs, 6,749. This shows a large increase in horses, mules and sheep, and a decrease in the number of the other animals, the latter being more apparent than real. To get a more truthful comparison, compare the figures given here for 1880, with those of the forthcoming census of 1890. The raising of live stock for profit has not been developed in Monroe County, but certainly for this industry its advantages are equal to those of any other county in Eastern Arkansas.

Monroe County can produce all the fruits common to its latitude, but not with as good success as locations of higher altitudes. The small fruits and berries, especially strawberries, do exceedingly well. Not much attention is given, however, to horticulture. Cotton is the king which demands and receives the principal attention of the farmers and business men.

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Monroe County, in East Central Arkansas, is bounded on the north by Woodruff and St. Francis Counties, east by Lee and Phillips Counties, southwest and west by Arkansas and Prairie Counties. The base line of the public survey of lands runs east and west through, or near the center of the county, and the fifth principal meridian passes through the southeastern portion thereof. The greatest distance across the county from east to west is twenty-two miles, and from its extreme [p.509] northern to southern boundary is forty-seven miles. It lies partly in the 91stº, but mostly in the 92dº of west longitude. The area of the county is 642 square miles or 410,880 acres, of which about one-eighth is improved and cultivated. Nearly 30,000 acres belong to the State, all of which is subject to donation to actual settlers. The Little Rock & Memphis Railroad Company also owns a large amount. White River touches the county at or near the point where the line between Ranges 3 and 4 west, crosses the base line, and flows thence southeasterly to the southern extremity thereof, forming for many miles the southwestern boundary. Cache River flows through a portion of the northwestern part of the county and empties into the White just above Clarendon. White River is navigable the year round, and the Cache is navigable to points north when the water is high. Big Creek flows southeasterly across the northeast corner and returns into the county in Township 3 south, flowing thence in a southwesterly direction to its junction with White River in Township 5 south. These streams and their tributaries furnish all the drainage for the county. The natural surface is generally level, but sufficiently undulating to furnish good drainage. At no point is it elevated more than forty feet above the water level of White River. Good well water, mostly soft, is obtained at an average depth of twenty-five feet.

Nearly all the land of the county is of alluvial formation, and, with the exception of about fifteen square miles of prairie in the southeastern part, they are covered with timber. The soil is generally a dark loam composed of sand, vegetable mold, etc., and has a substratum of clay, at a depth of from two to three feet. It is very rich and productive, and is especially well adapted to the raising of cotton, corn, oats, clover, timothy, other tame grasses and all kinds of root crops. Clover has been introduced and raised to a limited extent, but the tame grasses, so essential to successful farming, by way of keeping the soil in good condition, have as yet, received but little attention.

In the eastern part of the county there are about 100 square miles covered with excellent pine timber; the bottoms along the streams abound with cypress, sweet gum, sycamore, elm, etc., the cypress being very abundant, and the more elevated lands are covered with nearly all kinds of oak, the white oak being large, thrifty and valuable for lumber. A few factories and several saw-mills have been established, which are cutting the timber, but as yet they have scarcely made an impression upon the native forests.

The settlement of the county, or of the territory composing it, began soon after the beginning of the nineteenth century, and the central and southern portion was settled first. Dedrick Pike settled in the vicinity where Clarendon now stands, about the year 1816, and subsequent pioneer settlers in that neighborhood were: William, John A. and N. T. Harvick, brothers, Alfred Mullens, Henry C. Toms, Samuel Martin and Col. James Harris. Isaiah Walker from Illinois settled about the year 1831 on the Walker Cypress, on the Helena road, and in October, 1855, John W. Kerr, father of B. F. Kerr, now of Clarendon, came from Missouri and settled in Jackson Township, on the Helena road, being the first settler in that vicinity. William J. Edwards, who was one of the first settlers in the Indian Bay country in the southern part of the county, is still living, and over eighty years of age, hale and active, and still hunts and traps. Dr. Duncan was the first settler of the Duncan Prairie settlement, a few miles south, bearing a little east from Clarendon. Other pioneer settlers of this neighborhood were William Pride, from Alabama, John Smith, from South Carolina, William McBride, also Oliver H. Oates, a subsequent secretary of State. Thomas and John Pledger, James F. McLaughlin and Henry F. Overton, from Alabama, were the first settlers of the Pledger settlement, about ten miles south of the present town of Brinkley.

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In what is now Montgomery Township, Indian Bay country, James R. and Robert Jackson, Robert Smalley, Thomas Jackson, Major Johnson, G. W. Baldwin, John Carnagee and George Washington were the pioneer settlers. The first settlers in the vicinity of old Lawrenceville, on Maddox Bay, were Thomas Maddox, F. P. Redmond, a large [p.510] planter who worked from 300 to 400 slaves, Lawrence Mayo, Elijah Kinzie, Simon P. Hughes (since Governor), John Simmons, H. W. Hays, James G. Gay and Clement C. Clark. The latter recently drew $15,000 from the Louisiana Lottery, but now is deceased.

The Daniels' settlement, northeast of Clarendon, was settled by William Daniels, S. P. Jolly and William H. H. Fellows. Capt. Andrew Park and his family, consisting of himself and wife and sons James, William, M. B., Reuben and Andrew, Jr., with three daughters, and H. A. Carter, the latter now of Brinkley, came from Mississippi in 1856, and settled what it known as the Park settlement, about six miles east of Clarendon. Three of the sons and all the daughters of this family are living now (fall of 1889). David Fancher and Thomas J. Brown, from Alabama, were early settlers in this neighborhood. Moses Guthrie was the pioneer settler in the vicinity of Brinkley. William Munn, Alexander White an a Mr. Buchanan were the pioneers of the Munn settlement north of Brinkley. The large planters began to settle in the county early in the fifties. Prior, thereto, the settlement was very slow, but little land was cleared and wild game had continued almost as plentiful as it had ever been. There is still plenty of game, though the deer have become scarce. A few bear linger in the cane brakes along White River.

The county of Monroe was organized under an act of the legislature of Arkansas Territory, approved November 2, 1829. The first section of the act provided: "That all that portion of the country bounded and described as follows: Beginning where the eastern boundary line of Range 1 east, strikes the boundary line between Phillips and Arkansas Counties; thence west on said county line to White River; thence up said river to the mouth of Rock Roe; thence west to the western boundary line of Range 4 west; thence north on said range line to the northern boundary line of Township 3 north; thence with the St. Francis County line to its intersection with the eastern boundary line of Range 1 east; thence south with said range line to the beginning, be laid off and erected into a new county, to be known and called by the name of Monroe." The act also provided that the temporary seat of justice for the county should be at the house of the widow of the late Thomas Maddox, until otherwise provided by law.

By reference to the original boundary lines it will be seen that when created, the county contained territory that has since been cut off and attached to surrounding counties, thus reducing it considerably below its original size.

The original county seat was located at Lawrenceville, on Maddox Bay, a point on White River several miles below the town of Clarendon, and there a small frame court house and a log jail were erected. The seat of justice remained at this place until 1857, when it was removed to Clarendon, where it has ever since remained. Here the walls of a brick court house were erected on the same foundation on which the present one stands, and the building was covered, when the Civil War began and stopped its completion. After the Federal army took possession of this part of the State, the soldiers took the building down and shipped the brick up the river to De Vall's Bluff and there used them in erecting fire-places and chimneys, etc., for their own comfort. Immediately after the close of the war a one-story frame court house, 18x36 feet in size and divided into two rooms, was erected on a corner of the public square at Clarendon, to be used until a more commodious house could be built. It was built by contractors Moses D. Cheek and Henry D. Green.

In February, 1870, the county court appropriated $12,000 for the purpose of building a new court house, and appointed W. S. Whitley commissioner to let the contract and superintend its construction. In July following another thousand dollars was appropriated. The house was finished in 1872 at a cost to the county of a little over $13,000. It is a plain two-story brick structure, with a hall and offices on the first floor and court room on the second, and stands in the center of the public square at Clarendon. On the southeast corner of this square stands the county jail, a common two-story wooden building.

Following is a list of the names of the officers of Monroe County, with dates of service annexed:

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Judges: William Ingram, 1829-32; James Carlton, 1832-36; R. S. Bell, 1836-40; J. B. Lambert, 1840-44; D. D. Ewing, 1844-46; William Harvick, 1846-48; J. R. Dye, 1848-50; William Harvick, 1850-52; E. Black, 1852-54; J. G. Gray, 1854-56; H. D. Green, 1856-58; W. W. Wilkins, 1858-62; P. O. Thweatt, 1862-64; E. Black, 1864-65; W. D. Kerr, 1865-68; Peter Jolly, 1868-72; B. F. Lightle, 1874-76; S. P. Jolly, 1876-80; T. W. Hooper, 1880-84; H. B. Bateman, present incumbent, first elected in 1884.

Clerks: J. C. Montgomery, 1829-32; M. Mitchell, 1832-33; R. S. Bell, 1833-36; W. B. Ezell, 1836-38; Philip Costar, 1838-40; R. S. Bell, 1840-48; H. H. Hays, 1848-50; E. W. Vann, 1850-54; N. T. Harvick, 1854-56; J. P. Vann, 1856-58; J. A. Harvick, 1858-65; D. D. Smellgrove, 1865-66; P. C. Ewan, 1866-68; A. A. Bryan, 1868-72; F. P. Wilson, 1872-74; W. S. Dunlop, 1874-86; C. B. Mills, present clerk elected in 1886 and re-elected in 1888.

Sheriffs: James Eagan, 1829-30; James Carlton, 1830-32; J. R. Dye, 1832-36; W. Walker, 1836-38; J. Dye, 1838-40; Philip Costar, 1840-46; D. L. Jackson, 1846-48; J. A. Harvick, 1848-54; S. P. Hughes (now ex-Governor), 1854-56; George Washington, 1856-60; W. B. Meeks, 1860-62; H. P. Richardson, 1862-66; R. C. Carlton, 1866-68; E. P. Wilson, 1868-72; A. Galligher, 1872-73; Frank Galligher, 1873-74; C. J. Harris, 1874-76; B. N. D. Tannehill, 1876-78; A. McMurtry, 1878-84; J. W. Walker, 1884-86; J. W. B. Robinson, present incumbent, first elected in 1886.

Treasurers: J. Jacobs, 1836-38; S. B. Goodwin, 1838-48; H. D. Green, 1848-52; T. D. Johnson, 1852-56; L. Walker, 1856-60; D. Pike, 1860-72; A. W. Harris, 1872-76; J. A. Garrett, 1876-78; A. W. Harris, 1878-86; R. N. Counts, 1886-88; H. D. Green, present incumbent, elected in 1888.

Coroners: John Maddox, 1829-32; William Ingram, 1832-36; A. D. Nance, 1836-38; E. Frazier, 1838-40; W. B. Fail, 1840-42; W. Walker, 1842-44; D. L. Jackson, 1844-46; H. Watterman, 1846-48; J. S. Danby, 1848-50; V. Vanslyke, 1850-52; Peter Jolly, 1852-54; J. W. Garrett, 1854-56; John Dalvell, 1856-58; W. E. Moore, 1858-60; J. Brown, 1860-62; W. R. Elkins, 1862-64; E. Hennigan, 1864-66; R. F. Kerr, 1866-68; T. Pledger, 1868-72; J. H. Hillman, 1872-74; W. T. Stafford, 1874-76; W. H. Odem, 1876-78; Ed Kelley, 1878-80; W. J. Capps, 1880-82; R. F. Tyler, 1882-84; M. B. Dyer, 1884-86; W. J. Hall, 1886-88; A. J. Smith, present officer, elected in 1888.

Surveyors: Lafayette Jones, 1829-30; J. Jacobs, 1832-38; D. D. Ewing, 1838-44; L. D. Maddox, 1844-46; J. B. McPherson, 1848-50; M. Kelly, 1850-52; D. E. Pointer, 1852-56; H. Garretson, 1856-58; H. P. Richardson, 1858-62; R. T. Shaw, 1862-64; P. W. Halloran, 1864-66; A. A. Bryan, 1866-68; Henry Bonner, 1868-69; A. A. Bryan, 1872-74; John C. Hill, 1874-76; A. J. Houser, 1876-78; W. M. Walker, 1878-80; H. N. Allen, 1880-84; John C. Hill, 1884-88; A. A. Bryan, present incumbent, elected in 1888.

Assessors: H. C. Edrington, 1868-72; P. Mitchell, 1872-73; John Rainey, 1873-74; L. Ward, 1874-76; D. D. Dickson, 1876-78; W. M. Speed, 1878-80; J. A. Lovewell, 1880-82; J. R. Riggins, 1882-36; B. L. Hill, present incumbent, first elected in 1886.

Delegates in State conventions: 1836, Thomas J. Lacy; 1861, William N. Hays; 1868, A. H. Evans; 1874, Simon P. Hughes.

Representatives in legislature: Isaac Taylor, 1836-38; L. D. Maddox, 1838-40; Isaac Taylor, 1840-42; John C. Johnson, 1842-44; J. B. Lambert, 1844-46; Lewis B. Tully, 1846-48; Philip Costar, 1848-50; R. Pyburn, 1850-52; Francis P. Redmond, 1854-56; Oliver H. Oates, 1856-60; Z. P. H. Farr, 1860-62; E. Wilds, 1864-66; S. P. Hughes, 1866-68; F. W. Robinson, 1874-76; J. K. Whitson, 1876-78; Lecil Bobo, 1878-80; J. K. Whitson, 1880-82; John B. Baxter, 1882-86; W. J. Blackwell, 1886-88.

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The vote cast in Monroe County for the candidates for Governor at the September election, 1888, and for President at the succeeding November election was as follows: For Governor, James P. Eagle (Dem.), 965; C. M. Norwood (Com. Opp.), 1,732; for President, Cleveland (Dem.), 784; Harrison [p.512] (Rep.), 1,167; Streeter (U. L.), 15; Fisk (Pro.), 6.

The population of Monroe County, in 1860, was 3,431 white and 2,226 colored, making a total of 5,657; in 1870, 5,135 white and 3,200 colored, making a total of 8,335; in 1880, 4,365 white and 5,209 colored, making a total of 9,574. The population in 1830 was, in the aggregate, 461; in 1840, 936; in 1850, 2,049.

During a portion of the war period, from 1861 to 1865, the courts of Monroe County were suspended. No term of the county court was held after April, 1862, until July, 1865. All other courts were suspended about the same length of time. The several courts convene now in regular session on the following dates: County, first Monday of January, April, July and October of each year; probate, on the second, and common pleas on the fourth Monday of the same months; the circuit on the fourth Monday after the third Monday in February and August. The following named attorneys constitute the legal bar of the county: Grant Green, S. J. Price, J. P. Roberts, M. J. Manning, J. S. Thomas, P. C. Ewan, J. C. Palmer, H. A. Parker, C. W. Brickell, W. J. Mayo, R. E. Johnson, R. C. Lansford and W. T. Tucker.

Upon the approach of the Civil War many citizens of Monroe held out for the Union until the first gun was fired at Charleston, S. C.; then they became solidly united and cast their lot with the proposed Southern Confederacy. In the spring of 1861 the first company of soldiers was organized and commanded by Capt. James T. Harris, of Clarendon, a brother of Senator Isham G. Harris, of Tennessee. This company was called the "Harris Guards." The next company organized, the "Monroe County Blues," was under the charge of Capt. G. W. Baldwin; another company, the "Arkansas Toothpicks," was commanded by Capt. L. Featherstons. Another company was commanded by Capt. Oliver H. Oates. These were all raised in 1861, and in 1862 two other companies were raised and commanded, respectively, by Capts. George Washington and W. J. F. Jones. In the battle of Shiloh the "Harris Guards" and the "Monroe County Blues" suffered very great loss, and soon thereafter they were reorganized and consolidated into one company, of which Parker C. Ewan became the captain. Capt. Harris was killed at that battle. The soldiers furnished by Monroe County, like their comrades in general, fought with great desperation and determination, and many fell to rise no more on earth.

The Federal forces, under Gen. Steele, took possession of Clarendon, in August, 1863, and camped there for some time, and then moved on and took Little Rock on September 10, following. Prior to this the county had not suffered much from the ravishes of war, but now it became foraging ground for the United States army possessing it. On one occasion, in 1864, Gen. Joe Shelby, with a Confederate force, captured the crews of two gunboats in White River, at Clarendon, and sunk the vessels. The next day a detachment of the Federal army went down from De Vall's Bluff, and drove Shelby's forces several miles out on the Helena road to a point from which they made their escape. The Union soldiers then returned to the Bluff. Aside from this fight there was only a few slight skirmishes in the county between guerrillas and scouting parties. However, the county suffered greatly from the ravishes of the war in general. 'Tis over, and one would gladly forget its painful incidents.

Lawrenceville, though for many years the site of the county seat, never gained much size nor importance. The town disappeared long ago, and the site thereof is now in farm lands.

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Clarendon, the county seat of Monroe County, is situated on the eastern bank of White River, near the center of the county north and south. Prominent among the settlers of this place was Samuel Martin, who opened the first store and kept the ferry across the river, and erected the first steam saw-mill. The ferry was established about the year 1836. The next store was opened by Henry M. Couch, who came from Tennessee, and in 1856 it was the only one in the town. Martin died prior to the latter date, and his widow opened and kept the first hotel in the place. Col. James Harris, of Tennessee, brother of Senator Isham G. [p.513] Harris, of that State, settled at Clarendon in 1856, married the widow Martin, finished the new hotel she was then building, and with her continued the business. Harris had the town surveyed and laid out in 1857, the same year it became the county seat. The next merchants were William Granberry and Jesse Brown. Prior to the removal of the county seat to Clarendon, the place was known only by the name of "Mouth of Cache." The next year, 1858, the town took on a more rapid growth, and when the Civil War began it did a large amount of business. During the war the town was entirely destroyed, not a building was left, and at the close of that struggle, the site was completely covered with weeds. Immediately after the war the town began to be rebuilt, and soon became a great cotton market, shipping from 4,000 to 5,000 bales yearly. It now ships from 8,000 to 9,000 bales per year. It contains fourteen general stores, three groceries, two drug stores, a meat market, an undertaking shop, two blacksmith and wagon shops, an extensive feed and farm implement store, where wagons are also kept for sale, two cotton-gins, a grist-mill and machine shop, a large stave factory, run by the White River Stave Company, which was erected in 1888, and where from seventy-five to 100 men are employed, a lumber yard, three hotels and a hotel kept by and for colored folks, several boarding houses, three churches (Methodist, Presbyterian and Cumberland Presbyterian) for the whites, and two churches (Methodist and Baptist) for the blacks, a very large frame school-house for the white people, and a comfortable one for the colored people. In addition to the foregoing, there are the county buildings, railroad depots, express and telegraph offices and several other important places of business.

Of the benevolent orders there are a lodge, Chapter and Council of Masons, and a lodge each of the Knights of Honor, Knights of Pythias and American Legion of Honor. There are seven physicians, and the same number of lawyers, and a population of 800 to 1,000.

The Monroe County Sun, published at Clarendon, was established in 1876 by Capt. P. C. Ewan. It is a seven-column folio, now published by the Sun Printing Company, and edited by W. E. Spencer. Politically it is Democratic.

The principal shipments from Clarendon consist of cotton, cotton-seed, lumber and staves. The town is not incorporated.

Brinkley is sitnated in the northeru part of the county, at the crossing of the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas and the Little Rock & Memphis Railroads, and at the southern terminus of the Batesville & Brinkley Bailroad, and the northern terminus of the Brinkley, Indian Bay & Helena Railroad. It was laid out in the winter of 1869-70, on lands belonging to the Little Rock & Memphis Railroad Company, and the first general sale of lots took place in August of the latter year. M. B. Park and H. A. Carter, under the firm name of M. B. Park & Co., opened the first store (it being also in 1870). Barter & Dillard established the second store (also in the same year). The town assumed a gradual and substantial growth, but has never had a boom. For the last two years, however, its growth has been more rapid than at any time before. The first brick buildings in the place were erected in 1887, and now there are six brick blocks, containing altogether fourteen large store-rooms on the first floor.

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It now consists of the Monroe County Bank, seven general, six grocery, three drug and two jewelry and notion stores, a boot and shoe shop, a furniture and undertaker's store, a millinery store, bakery, feed store, billiard hall, four hotels, a hotel and restaurant kept by colored people, a meat market, a meat market and restaurant, two blacksmith and two barber shope, a pool hall and temperance saloon, the machine and car shops of the Batesville & Brinkley Railroad, two livery stables, two brick-yards, a grist-mill, cotton-gin, Niffen's foundry, the Union Wood Turning Works, Brinkley Oil Mill (employing from fifty to seventy-five men), the Brinkley Car and Manufacturing Works (employing about 200 men), three churches (Methodist, Baptist and Cumberland Presbyterian), also three Baptist churches and one Methodist for the colored people, a public school-house for the whites (the school for colored children being taught in one [p.514] of the church edifices). In addition to the foregoing, there is a lodge, each, of Masons, Knights of Pythias, Knights of Honor, Knights and Ladies of Honor, and two Building & Loan Associations. The town is incorporated, and in August, 1889, the school board took an actual census of the inhabitants within the corporate limits, and found a population of 1,498, and there is said to be several hundred outside of these limits. Brinkley is a railroad center, a good cotton market, and its shipments are extensive.

The Brinkley Argus, a neat seven-column folio newspaper, is now in its seventh volume and is published every Thursday by W. H. Peterson.

Holly Grove, situated on the Arkansas Midland Railroad about ten miles southeast of Clarendon, was laid out and established in 1872, by John Smith and James Kerr. D. B. Renfro opened the first store, and Kerr, Robley & Co. opened the second one. The village now contains one drug and seven general stores, a grocery and restaurant, an undertaker's shop, livery stable, a steam cottongin and grist-mill, a mechanic's shop, two churches (Methodist and Presbyterian) for the whites and churches also for the colored people, a two-story frame school-house, a Masonic lodge, two physicians, and a population of about 300. It is situated in the best cotton growing district in the county and ships a large quantity of that commodity.

Indian Bay, a small village in the southern part of the county, contains three general stores, two cotton-gins, grist and saw mills, and a small population.

Pine City, a station on the Arkansas Midland Railroad, a few miles east of Holly Grove consists of a large saw-mill, where extensive quantities of pine timber is cut into lumber. There are a few small residences.

The following statistics given in the last published report of the State superintendent of public instruction will serve to show the progress of the free school system in Monroe County. Scholastic population: White, males, 999, females, 892, total 1,891; colored, males, 1,449, females, 1,384, total 2,833; number taught in the public schools, white, males, 487, females, 424, total, 911; colored, males, 853, females, 803, total, 1,656. School districts, 38, of which only 26 made any report. Teachers employed: Males, 45, females, 13, total, 58. Amount expended during the year to support the schools: Teachers' salaries, $8,401.50, building and repairing, $2,718.97, purchasing apparatus, $79.55, treasurer's commissions, $112.55, other purposes, $200.65, total, $11,513.22. By comparing the scholastic population with the number reported attending the schools, it will appear that a very large percentage of the children of school age did not attend, but a greater percentage than shown by the figures undoubtedly attended, as twelve of the districts failed to make report.

Of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, there is the Clarendon and Brinkley Station, with a membership, as shown by the last Conference minutes, of 166, with Rev. S. L. Cochran as pastor; the Brinkley Circuit, with a membership of 172, and W. W. Hendrix, pastor; the Holly Grove Circuit, with a membership of 111, and N. E. Skinner, pastor; the Cypress Ridge Circuit, with a membership of 228, and T. Rawlings, pastor; the Howell and Cotton Plant Circuit, with a membership of 168, and M. B. Umstead, pastor. About one half of the latter circuit lies in Woodruff County. All of these belong to the Helena District of the White River Conference.

The Baptist Churches of Monroe County, as shown by the minutes of the session of the Mount Vernon Baptist Association, held at Salem Church in Phillips County, in October, 1888, are as follows with their respective pastors and memberships: Clarendon, G. C. Goodwin, pastor, 45; Mount Gilead, M. A. Thompson, pastor, 23; Brinkley, R. G. Hewlett, pastor, 52; Lone Chapel, G. C. Goodwin, pastor, 35; Ash Grove, S. D. Johns, pastor, 52, and Philadelphia, G. C. Goodwin, pastor, 78.

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The Cumberland Presbyterians have four church organizations within the county, one at Brinkley, with a membership of 25, and Rev. A. B. Forbess, pastor; one at Clarendon, membership 50, and Rev. R. V. Cavot, pastor; one at Valley Grove in the southern part of the county, membership 75, [p.515] and Rev. Cavot, pastor; the other on Cypress Ridge about twelve miles southeast of Brinkley, membership about 50, and Rev. Stewart, pastor. The organization at Brinkley has a new $2,500 brick church edifice, and the one at Clarendon has a fine frame building with the Masonic hall on the upper floor.

The Presbyterians (Old School) have an organization at Clarendon with a membership of about 70, and Rev. W. C. Hagan, pastor; another at Holly Grove with a membership of about 25, and Rev. Hagan, pastor; also an organization at Brinkley with a small membership, Rev. S. I. Reid, of Lonoke, pastor.

The churches in the towns in general have Sunday-schools connected with them, and some of the country churches also conduct Sunday-schools. There is a large Catholic Church with a strong membership at Brinkley; Father McGill is the priest. The people of the county are moral and hospitable, and persons seeking new homes will do well to visit this section of country.

J. T. Andrews, planter at Cotton Plant, is one of the leading planters of Monroe County. Born in Limestone County, Ala., in 1837, he is the son of Daniel and Mary (Morris) Andrews, natives of Virginia and North Carolina, and born in 1814 and 1815, respectively. The parents were married in 1836 and to their union were born two children, a son and daughter: J. T. and Dionitia F. (wife of T. L. Westmoreland). Daniel Andrews died in 1841 and Mrs. Andrews was married the second time in 1843 to J. H. Deaver. By this union she became the mother of five children: Mary A. (wife of Dr. J. W. Westmoreland), Thomas M., Martha J. (widow of Saul Salinger), Bettie M. (wife of H. C. McLaurine) and D. J. (wife of J. R. Whitfield). J. H. Deaver died in 1853, and Mrs. Deaver, who survives her husband, now lives with her widowed daughter, Mrs. Salinger, at Cotton Plant. She is, and has been for many years, a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. J. T. Andrews started in business for himself in 1858 by farming his mother's land in Tennessee, but left that State and immigrated to Arkansas in 1860, locating in Poinsett County. His mother purchased 240 acres of land, which he farmed until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in the infantry under Capt. Westmoreland and

served until July 9, 1863. He was then captured at Port Hudson, taken to Johnson's Island, and there held until February 9, 1864, when he was transferred to Point Lookout. He was there retained until March 3, when he was sent to City Point and was there paroled. After the war he resumed farming and also operated a cotton-gin in Woodruff County. He selected as his companion in life, Miss Martha A. Westmoreland, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Westmoreland, and was united in marriage to her in 1858. This union has been blessed by the birth of three children, but only one now living: Sam (who married a Miss Cattie Keath and resides on a farm in this county). The children deceased were named: Edward and Minnie. Mrs. Andrews was born in Giles County, Tenn., in 1836. Her father died in 1865 and her mother in 1887, both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Andrews is a member of the I. O. O. F. Lodge No. 76, and he and wife have been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for seventeen years. Mr. Andrews is one of the enterprising farmers of the county, and is the owner of 230 acres of land in Woodruff County, Ark., with 120 acres under cultivation and his principal crops are corn and cotton.

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Judge H. B. Bateman, judge of the county and probate and of the court of common pleas of Monroe County, Ark., has been a resident of the county all his life, having been born one and one-half miles from Clarendon, in 1857, and is a worthy descendant of an old and highly respected family. His parents, Baker H. and Jane E. (Harvick), Bateman, were born in North Carolina, but owing to their early removal to Arkansas, they were married in Monroe County. The father died in this county in 1861, aged about forty years, and the mother's death occurred in 1874, aged forty-eight years. She was married three times, Mr. Bateman being her third husband, and by him she became the mother of two sons: H. B. and Thomas T.,

the [p.516] latter being the present deputy sheriff of Monroe County. After passing many of the important years of his life on a farm, and in attending the common schools and the schools of Searcy, Judge H. B. Bateman began clerking in a country store, continuing one year, and in 1879 established a drug store in connection with J. B. Chapline, at Clarendon, the firm continuing business until 1889, under the title of Bateman & Chapline, at which time G. A. Franklin succeeded Mr. Chapline, and the firm is now Bateman & Franklin. Their stock of drugs is valued at $900, and their labors in this direction have met with substantial results, as they have the reputation of being safe, thorough and reliable business men. Judge Bateman has a fair share of this world's goods, and in addition to owning a fine farm of 350 acres, the most of which is under cultivation, he has a fine brick business block in Clarendon. His first presidential vote was cast for Hancock in 1880, and for some years he has been quite prominent in local political matters, and, besides being justice of the peace for about six years, he was elected to his present office in 1884, and has held it by re-election up to the present time. He has made a very efficient officer, and is respected and esteemed for his sterling integrity, sound judgment, broad intelligence and liberal

progressive ideas. He is a man whose decisions are not made without careful and painstaking study of the evidence, and all feel that his judgment can be relied upon. He belongs to Cache Lodge No. 235, of the A. F. & A. M., and he is also a member of the Chapter and Council of Clarendon.

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Maj. John B. Baxter is a real estate and insurance agent at Brinkley. In all business communities the matter of insurance holds a prominent place and deservedly so, for it is a means of stability to all commercial transactions, and is a mainstay against disaster should devastation by fire sweep property away. He was born in Wilson County, Tenn., in 1839, and is a son of George W. and Rebecca A. (Hooker) Baxter, who were born in North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively, and were married in the latter State, their union taking place in Wilson County, about 1833, when the father was nineteen years of age and the mother fifteen. They remained in Wilson County until after the birth of our subject, then removed to La Grange, Tenn., and here the father died May 25, 1844, having been a farmer throughout life. George Baxter, the maternal grandfather, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born in North Carolina, but died in Tennessee. Joshua Hooker, the maternal grandfather, was also born in North Carolina, but after residing many years in Wilson County, Tenn., he removed in 1840 to Fayette County, Tenn., and in 1851 he came to Monroe County, Ark., where he died of small-pox in 1866. He was the father of a large family, a farmer by occupation, and was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was with Jackson at New Orleans. Our subject came with his mother to Monroe County, Ark., in 1851, but soon after removed to Des Are, where they resided until the opening of the war, then returned to Memphis, where the mother's death occurred in July, 1867, she being in full communion with the Methodist Church at that time. Maj. John B. Baxter is the fourth of six children, and only he and his youngest brother, Hon. George W. Baxter, of Hot Springs, Ark., are now living. The former received his education in the common schools of Tennessee and Arkansas, and upon the opening of the war in 1861, he joined Company K, Fifth Arkansas Infantry, and operated in Kentucky. He soon after assisted in organizing Company F of the Twenty-third Arkansas Infantry, of which he remained a member until the fall of Port Hudson, when he was captured and imprisoned at Johnson's Island, Point Lookout, Fort Delaware, Morris' Island off Charleston, Fort Pulaski off Savannah, Ga., and was returned to Fort Delaware just before the close of the war. He was released in June, 1865, and at once went to Memphis, Tenn., where his mother was still living. In 1866 he traveled in Arkansas for a Memphis cotton and wholesale grocery house, but before his marriage, in April, 1866, to Josephine, daughter of William A. and Mary Pickens, he removed to Cotton Plant, Ark., but removed shortly afterward to Clarendon, from which place he entered the army, where he followed mercantile pursuits. [p.517] He next engaged in farming near Cotton Plant, but since 1872 he has lived at Brinkley, and until 1882 was engaged in the practice of law, having prepared himself for this profession prior to the war. He has been a prominent politician since his residence here and served several terms as sergeant-at-arms of the lower house of the State legislature, and in 1882 was elected to represent Monroe County in that body, and was reelected in 1884, serving four years. He has been mayor of Brinkley several terms, and in 1887 was chosen sergeaut-at-arms of the State senate, being elected by the Democratic party to his various official positions. His first presidential vote was cast for Breckenridge. He is Worshipful Master of Brinkley Lodge No. 295, A. F. & A. M., and is Dictator of Brinkley Lodge No. 3127, K. of H., being also a member of the K. & L. of H. Maj. Baxter is one of only three of the original settlers of Brinkley, who are now residing in the town. His wife was born in Mississippi, but her parents were Tennesseeans who moved to that State, and in 1859 came to Cotton Plant, Ark. They both died here during the war.

William L. Benton is a farmer and blacksmith, of Pine Ridge Township, but was born in Jackson County, Ga., in 1834. His parents, Thomas and Sarah (Norman) Benton, were Virginians, spending most of their life in Georgia, in which State Mr. Benton died, September 1, 1889, at the age of eighty-six years, his wife's death occurring in 1872 or 1873, when sixty-seven years old. They were farmers, and of Irish descent. The paternal grandfather, Reason R. Benton, died in Georgia before the war, aged eighty-seven years, and the maternal grandfather's (Joseph Norman) death occurred in the State of Mississippi. William L. Benton is the sixth of fourteen children, and although his educational advantages were of a very limited description, he became a well-informed young man, and when twenty-two years of age went to Mississippi. He was married there in 1857, to Catherine Eavenson, but her death occurred in 1863, after having borne two children, only one now living, named Andrew. His second marriage took place in December, 1865, his wife being a Miss Eliza Latimer, but he was called upon to mourn her loss by death in 1878, she having borne him three sons and three daughters. Mr. Benton's third marriage was consummated June 14, 1884, his wife being a Mrs. Catherine (Aldridge) Graham, by whom he has one son. Mr. Benton resided in Mississippi until 1870, when he came to Monroe County, and in 1872 purchased a woodland farm, comprising 160 acres, of which seventy-five acres are in a state of cultivation. In 1862 he joined Company H, First Mississippi Partisan Rangers, and operated with his command in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, and participated in nearly all the leading battles of those States, among others the battles of Shiloh, Franklin, Nashville, and was all through the Georgia campaign, and in the siege of Vicksburg, and during his entire service was never captured or

wounded, surrendering at Selma, Ala. He is a conservative Democrat in his political views, and his first presidential vote was cast for Buchanan, in 1856. He belongs to Clarendon Lodge No. 2328, of K. of H., and was formerly Vice Dictator in Oak Grove Lodge. He and wife belong to the Christian Church.

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Samuel Langley Black, planter, Indian Bay, Ark. Of that sturdy and independent class, the planters of Arkansas, none are possessed of more genuine merit and a stronger character than he, whose name stands at the head of this sketch; he has risen to a more than ordinary degree of success in his calling of an agriculturist, and wherever known he is conceded to be an energetic and progressive tiller of the soil, imbued with all these qualities of go-aheadativeness which have characterized his ancestors. Mr. Black is the son of John D. and Susan (Langley) Black, the father a native of Virginia and of English descent, and the mother a native of Kentucky. Samuel L. Black owes his nativity to Fayette County, Tenn., where his birth occurred March 22, 1842, and received his education in the high schools of that county, finishing at Bethel College, McLemoresvilie, Tenn. At the age of eighteen years he commenced the study of law at Clarendon, Ark., in the office of Oates, Cocke & Wilburn, there remaining until [p.518] 1861, when he enlisted in Capt. James T. Harris' company, organized at Clarendon, this being the first company organized in this county, and served in the capacity of junior lieutenant in Patrick R. Cleburne's regiment. This regiment was the first one organized in the State for the War of the Rebellion, but through error of the officer, the services of the regiment were tendered to the State service instead of the Confederate State Government, thereby losing the opportunity of being credited with being the first regiment of Arkansas organized in that State, Gen. Fagan's regiment securing that distinction. At Bowling Green, Ky., Mr. Black was made captain of his company in 1861, and his first battle was the famous battle of Shiloh, where, by his bravery and meritorious conduct, he won his spurs. He was immediately elected to the office of lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, and was appointed to the staff of Lieut-Col. Hardee as inspector-general of his corps, in which capacity he served the balance of the war. He participated in Gen. Bragg's invasion in Kentucky, which culminated in his retreat to Knoxville, Tenn.; was at the surrender of the Federal force at Munfordsville and the battle of Perryville. He took a leading part in the battle of Murfreesboro, and was with the Army of Tennessee until its retreat to Chattanooga. He went from there to Enterprise and Meridian, Miss., and served for a time upon the staff of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. He was ordered back to the Army of Tennessee after the battle of Chickamauga, participated in the battle of Missionary Ridge and the retreat to Dalton, and was in all the fights and skirmishes of the Army of Tennessee from Dalton to Atlanta, including the battles around Atlanta and Jonestown. After Hood took command of the Army of Tennessee, he was released with Gen. Hardee and went with him to Charleston, S. C. He was in front of Gen. Sherman in his march from Savannah through the Carolinas; was captured by a squad of his cavalry, but escaped after a few hours by a bold ride. He participated in the battle of Bentonville and soon after surrendered with the balance of the army at Greensboro, N. C., in May, 1865. He returned home on July 4 of the same year, went to work for a firm in Memphis, Tenn., and subsequently was united in marriage to Miss Rosa E. Beasley, daughter of John P. and Eveline T. Beasley. Only one child, John S., was the result of this union, his birth occurring on September 28, 1866. Mr. Black has been constantly engaged in agricultural pursuits since, and was also a member of the firm of Martin & Black from February 1, 1882, to February 1, 1889, when he sold out. Mrs. Black died on June 1, 1886. He has never held any civil office, but at one time was a candidate for the office of secretary of State.

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Mrs. Bena Black, widow of the late Maj. William Black, of Brinkley, was born in the State of New York in 1843, and her parents, John and Matelina (Leanhart) Colless, were natives of Germany. They were married in their native country, and three daughters were the result of this union: Catherine (wife of George Guisler), Julia (wife of John Bowers, of New Orleans), and the subject of this sketch. John Colless died in New Orleans in about 1847, and his wife afterward married a Mr. Frederick Buck, of New Orleans, and became the mother of five children, two sons and three daughters, all of whom are living in New Orleans, Maj. Black was born in Toronto, Canada, November 22, 1836, came to Memphis, Tenn., in 1856, and worked at ship carpentering for awhile, after which he went into the grocery business on Jefferson Street. He carried this on successfully, but subsequently disposed of this business and built a sawmill just south of Brinkley, which business increased so rapidly that a more suitable and convenient place for handling lumber had to be selected, hence the mill was moved to what is now known as "Old Mill," east of town. Again it was located on the site it now occupies, and the present corporation formed, The Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing Company, which, in the meantime, owing to its excellent business management, has developed into the largest manufacturing concern of its kind in the State, and one of the largest in the South. It at several times had large railroad contracts, building about twenty-five miles of the Little Rock & Memphis Railroad, and about forty miles of the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad. [p.519] He built what is known as the W. & B. R. V. Railroad as far as Tupelo, Ark. He built the Brinkley & Helena Railroad, and at the time of hie death was busily engaged in extending the road through to Indian Bay, about twenty miles of which was ready for iron. He was a director and stockholder in the Little Rock & Memphis Railroad, was president and principal owner of the Brinkley Car Works & Manufacturing Company, president of the Monroe County Bank, vice-president of the Brinkley Oil Mill Company, and principal owner of the business of T. H. Jackson & Co., the largest mercantile firm in Eastern Arkansas. About five years ago, through his great business sagacity, he saw an opportunity to start a lumber business in Memphis, and as a result, owned the Brinkley Lumber Company of that city, which is, without doubt, the leading lumber establishment of Memphis, receiving and selling more lumber and doing through his exertions a large and extensive business. Maj. Black served through the war with distinction, participating in all the battles in and around Memphis. Soon after the war he moved to what is now known as Brinkley, then a dense forest. At that time he had to walk twenty miles to the nearest railroad, which was the Memphis & Little Rock, at Palestine, while now, by his indomitable energy, Brinkley can boast of four railroads. Maj. Black was fifty-three years, nine months and twenty-six days old when he returned from Waukesha Springs, and looked the picture of health and vigorous manhood, with the exception of a large carbuncle on the back of his neck near the base of the brain, which caused much uneasiness among his friends, but were met with hopeful assurance from the friends of the family. There were in attendance the most eminent surgeons of Memphis and Little Rock in consultation with local physicians, and all felt hopeful until the fatal day, September 18, 1889, when at the close of a surgical operation, at about 1 P. M., he breathed his last. When the sad news spread among the people that Maj. Black was dead, a hush fell upon the town that will long be remembered. Business houses were closed, a Sabbath-like calmness rested upon the streets and in the dwellings, as if each one paused in the busy walks of life to commune with himself on the uncertainty of life and the awful change, death. On Thursday, September 19, the obsequies took place, and seemingly the whole city followed in mourning to the cemetery where they carried this honored and much-respected citizen. The funeral services took place at the Catholic Church, and were conducted by Rev. Father MeGill, after which the K. of H. lodge took charge of the burial ceremonies. A procession was formed at the church, headed by members of the K. of H., followed by the carriages of the family and immediate friends; next came the employes from the mill, numbering about 100, and as the procession reached the school-houses it was joined by the teachers and pupils from both schools, numbering about 200. After them came numberless carriages and many on foot, variously estimated at from 600 to 1,000 persons. The ceremonies at the grave were impressive, and at their close the school children were each permitted to place a handful of flowers on the coffin–a most touching tribute. Those most intimably acquainted with Maj. Black knew beet his noble traits of character, for, though possessed of wonderful business acumen, yet he was modest and retiring to an unusual degree. Though so active, he never neglected those delicate courtesies which beautify life, but paid the strictest deference to the feelings of all his business associates, instances of which will be kindly remembered by them in years to come. He never took a very active part in politics, although at one time he represented this senatorial district in the State Assembly. He was the founder and leader, as it were, of this flourishing city, and his death produced a shock on every side, making all feel, in the presence of such a calamity, as if the ordinary pursuits of life were vain. When his death was announced at a meeting of the Memphis Lumber Exchange, remarks of profound regret were made, and resolutions of sympathy adopted and sent to the bereaved family–commending his many virtues and his noble life as an example to those whom he left behind. He was the father of twelve children, eight of whom are living at the present time, two sons and six daughters: Lena (wife of T. H. [p.520] Jackson), Katie (wife of H. H. Myers), Anna (wife of Charles Labell), Maggie, Nellie, Garland, Sarah and Willie. Mrs. Black still resides in Brinkley, and is a most estimable lady.

AT. Blaine is another successful merchant of Indian Bay, and since 1882 has been established at his present place of business, the average value of his stock of goods amounting to $2,000. He was born in Worcester County, Md., in 1849, his parents, Thomas J. and Sarah G. (Burnett) Blaine, having been born in Somerset and Worcester Counties, in 1829 and 1833, respectively. They spent their lives in their native State, and the father at the time of his death, in 1884, was engaged in the boot and shoe business. He was a church member, as was his wife, and was a son of James Blaine, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States after becoming grown, and made his home in Maryland. Rixam Burnett, the maternal grandfather, was also born in Ireland, and after coming to the United States, settled in the west of Maryland. He had one son who was a ship carpenter and sailor for many years, on the vessel Ohio, and served in the United States navy during the war, the most of his time being spent on the Mississippi River. A. T. Blaine is the eldest of nine brothers, four of whom are living, and is the only one residing in Monroe County. He was educated in Pocomoke City, Md., attending both the private and public schools, but in 1871 he came to Indian Bay, Ark., and was engaged in clerking until 1882, when he again began business for himself, and as above stated, has done well. He is a Democrat, casting his first vote for Greeley, in 1872, and belongs to Indian Bay Lodge No. 249, A. F. & A. M., in which order he held the positions of Junior Warden and Secretary, and he is also a member of Advance Lodge No. 2491, K. of H., and is now filling the position of Past Dictator. In 1876 he was married to Jennie Rainbolt, who died in 1885, having borne one son and two daughters, and in 1887 he wedded Mrs. Emma (Erwin) Clark, a native of Tennessee, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. He owns 1,000 acres of land, with 500 under cultivation, and since 1885 has been postmaster of Indian Bay.

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William H. Boyce is a planter and cotton ginner of Montgomery Township, and has been a prominent and enterprising resident of Monroe County, Ark., since 1866. He was born in Jackson, Tenn, July 19, 1847, and is a son of Isham and Elizabeth (Tharpe) Boyce, natives respectively of South Carolina and North Carolina. Both removed to Tennessee with their parents when young and were married in Paris of that State, but afterward became residents of Jackson. Mr. Boyce died at Brownsville, Tenn., in 1866, at the age of fifty-four years, and his wife in 1853, aged thirty-four years. After the death of his wife Mr. Boyce married again. William H. is the youngest of seven children born to his first union and received his early education in the common schools of his native State. When the war opened he joined Company , Sixth Tennessee Infantry, and for some time was with Gen. Bragg in Kentucky and Tennessee, participating with that general in the battles of Perryville, Shiloh and Corinth. Just before the battle of Murfreesboro he was transferred to Company G, Ninth Tennessee Cavalry, and was at the battle of Chickamauga and in many skirmishes. He was captured at Panther Springs, Tenn., January 24, 1864, and was kept a prisoner at Ball's Island until just before the close of the war when he was released and rejoined his command and surrendered with it at Gainesville, Als. Mr. Boyce has been very successful in his farming ventures and has an excellent lot of land, comprising 1,400 acres, lying seven miles northeast of Indian Bay. His land was almost wholly covered with timber, but with the energy and push which have ever characterized his efforts, he began energetically to clear his property and now has about 500 acres under cultivation. He keeps his cottongin running almost the year round and finds this a lucrative business. In 1869 he was married to Laura, a daughter of Capt. William M. Mayo, whose sketch will be found in this work, and by her became the father of ten children, three daughters only now living. Mr. Boyce is a Democrat, and his wife is a member in good standing of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He has one sister living, Georgia, the wife of John W. Gates, [p.521] of Jackson, Tenn. William A. Tharpe, the maternal grandfather, was born in North Carolina, and died near Paris, Tenn.

W. F. Branch, merchant, Holly Grove, Ark. There are in every community some persons who, on account of their industry and practical management of the affairs which fall to their lot, deserve special credit; and such is Mr. Branch. He was originally from Wilson County, Tenn., where his birth occurred in 1849, and is the son of James Branch, who is also a native Tennesseean, born 1817. The elder Mr. Branch was a farmer by occupation, and was married to Miss Eleanor Neele, by whom he had seven children, two of whom only are living: W. F. and Sallie (wife of J. W. Walker, of Clarendon). The father moved from Tennessee to Arkansas in 1859, located in Monroe County, and there his death occurred in 1867. The mother died in 1885. W. F. Branch was married to Miss Ella Walls in 1874, and four children blessed this union, two of whom are living: Bessie and Addie. Mrs. Branch died in 1886. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1888 Mr. Branch took for his second wife Miss Ada Peete, a native of Tennessee, a very estimable lady, and the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Peete, of Memphis. Mr. Branch is a prosperous merchant, and the firm title is Branch & Wall. He opened business in Holly Grove, in 1887, and is doing well. He also owns 600 acres of land. He is a member of the K. of H., and he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.

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Rev. Thomas J. Brickell. No calling in which a man can engage is so truly noble and unselfish as that of the man who devotes his life to the saving of souls, and although Mr. Brickell is a local minister, he has been instrumental in bringing many erring ones to the feet of the Master. He has been established in business in Brinkley since 1885, and deals in furniture and undertaker's goods, his stock being valued at from $1,500 to $2,000. He is a Georgian by birth, born in Palmetto, Coweta County, in 1849, and is a son of Nicholas and Martha J. (Sanders) Brickell, natives of North Carolina, their nuptials being celebrated at Palmetto, Ga. Since 1870 they have resided in Phillips County, Ark., and are there still living, both having been members of the Methodist Church, South, many years. The father, the oldest of a family of four sons and one daughter, was born May 11, 1824. About 1844 he went to Rockford, Surry County, N. C., living with an uncle, J. F. Harrison, and in 1846 moved to Palmetto, Ga. His wife's mother was formerly Fannie Harris. Mr. Brickell upon leaving Palmetto, was located at Franklin several years, and in 1870 moved to Trenton, Phillips County, Ark. He now lives at Poplar Grove in the same county. He served the Confederate cause for three years during the Civil War, as a mechanic in the saltpetre works, being in Georgia most of the time. He belongs to the A. F. & A. M., and is a grandson of John B. Brickell, a Frenchman who came to the United States with Gen. La Fayette during the Revolutionary War. After that conflict he settled in the lower part of North Carolina, subsequently going to Union District, where he died. His wife, Frances Gregory, a Virginian by birth, went to Surry County, N. C., and reared a large family. At that place our subject's grandparents were married. Rev. Thomas J. Brickell is the eldest of nine children, and in addition to attending the common schools in his youth, he worked in his father's cabinet shop. He began for himself as a clerk in 1869, in Atlanta, Ga., but a short time afterward he came to Arkansas, and taught school and farmed for a few years. In 1873 he joined the White River Annual Conference, and for five years was an itinerant preacher of the Methodist Church. On account of his wife's health he then located at Poplar Grove, and was there a partner with his father in business until his removal to Brinkley, where he has established a good home and a profitable business. He owns eighty-five acres of timber land, four miles from Brinkley, together with six town lots, all his property being acquired by his own exertions. He was for some time a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, joining when sixteen years of age, and at the age of twenty, upon removing to Arkansas, united with the Congregational Methodist Church, and was licensed to preach. Some three years after he returned to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and now preaches [p.522] the doctrine of that denomination as a local minister. His wife, whom he married in 1872, and who was born in Alabama, April 16, 1853, was a Miss Martha J. Morriss, a daughter of William D. and Harriet A. (Curry) Morris. She was reared principally in Phillips County, Ark. Her father was born in Lawrence County, Ala., November 28, 1820, subsequently moving to Phillips County, Ark. His wife was born in Maury County, Tenn., September 17, 1823, Mr. Morris died May 21, 1888, but his widow still survives him. Our subject and his wife have one son, now sixteen years of age.

Elijah C. Brown has passed his entire life in an industrious manner and his efforts have not been without substantial evidences of success, as will be seen from a glance at his present possessions. He was born in Fayette County, Tenn., in 1851, and is the third of four children born to Thomas J. and Frances (Branch) Brown, natives respectively of South Carolina and Tennessee. They were married in Fayette County, of the latter State, where Mrs. Brown was reared from infancy, and there their home continued to be until 1859, when they settled in Monroe County, Ark. They opened a farm in what is now Pine Ridge Township, and here Mr. Brown's life expired on January 6, 1866, his wife following him to his long home August 22, 1874. The maternal grandfather, Benjamin Branch, was born in Tennessee and spent his entire life in Fayette County, having served in the capacity of sheriff and clerk. His wife was a native of the Blue Grass State, and died in Tennessee also. Elijah C. Brown has one brother and two sisters: Sarah (wife of Dr. William Parks), Thomas M. and Eva Lillian (wife of E. T. Dyer). Elijah C. started out in life for himself with a limited education, but after the war he determined to remedy this defect and accordingly entered Hickory Withe Academy of Fayette County, Tenn., and upon leaving this institution was much better prepared to fight the battle of life. He followed the slow but sure way of making money by

farming until 1874, then spent two years in Clarendon, engaged in clerking, after which he returned to his farm and he and a brother opened a store and put up a steam cotton-gin, successfully operating both until 1883, when our subject sold out to his brother, and in 1884 came to Brinkley. Here he has since made his home and in addition to managing his farm he trades in stock and real estate. He has 582 acres of fine land with about 300 under the plow, and he also owns considerable real estate in Brinkley. He is a Democrat, a member of the K. of H. and his wife, whom he married December 16, 1874, and whose maiden name was Jennie Davidson, is a member of the Methodist Church. They have had eight children, but three sons and four daughters are now living. Mrs. Brown is a daughter of James B. and Harriet Davidson, native Tennesseeans. born. reared and married in that State. Before the opening of the Civil War they came to Arkansas and Mr. Davidson was sheriff of Poinsett County for nine years. He was a large mail contractor and died in Cross County in March, 1862, while serving as captain of a company belonging to the Confederate States army. His wife died in Craighead County in 1873.

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W. D. Burge has been a successful merchant of Indian Bay since 1876, F. J. Robinson also constituting a member of the firm until 1887, when he retired. Mr. Burge's stock of goods is valued at about $2,500, and his annual sales net him a handsome profit. His native birthplace is Rutherford County, N. C., where he was born in 1848, and he is a son of Woody and Dulcinea (McIntire) Burge, who removed to the State of Mississippi, when their son, W. D., was about two years old. Here the father died in 1877, having been a farmer throughout life, his wife's death occurring in 1865. W. D. Burge was the eighth of eleven children, and received his education in the common schools, and at the age of seventeen years he began for himself, his occupation being that of clerking. His life occupation has been merchandising and farming, and he has been successful in both occupations, and besides his store he is the owner of 400 acres of land in different tracts. He has been a resident of Indian Bay since 1871, and since 1877 has been a married man, his wife being Lila, daughter of Hon. F. M. and E. A. Robinson, a sketch of whom appears in this work. Mrs. Burge was born in the [p.523] State of Tennessee, and has borne Mr. Burge a son and a daughter. Mr. Burge is a Democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Horace Greeley in 1872. He belongs to advance Lodge No. 2491, K. of H., and has held the office of Past Dictator in that order. His wife is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Capt. Hilliard A. Carter is a planter and a retired merchant of Brinkley and was born in Wilcox County, Ala., in 1833, being one of seven surviving members of a family of fourteen children born to Aaron B. and Elizabeth (Lee) Carter, both of whom were born, reared and married in Fairfield District, S. C., removing in 1825 to Alabama and in 1835 to La Fayette County, Miss. In 1865 they removed to Hopkins County, Tex., and the following year Mr. Carter died. His wife's death occurred in Lamar County, Tex., in 1877, at the age of seventy-five years, both having been members of the Presbyterian Church for many years. The father was a successful planter and socially was a member of the A. F. & A. M. The paternal grandfather, John Carter, was a planter and a blacksmith and spent all his life in South Carolina. He served in the Revolutionary War. His parents were born in Ireland and were among the first settlers of South Carolina. The maternal grandfather, John Lee, being also one of the early settlers of that State and a Revolutionary soldier. Capt. Hilliard A. Carter is the only one of his family residing in Monroe County, Ark., and although he received little early schooling he became versed with the world's ways at an early day and was intelligent and well posted on all current topics. In 1856 he came to Monroe County, and until the opening of the war acted in the capacity of an overseer, but gave up this work and in 1862 joined Company E, A. W. Johnson's Regiment of Infantry and held the positions of sergeant and lieutenant until 1863, when he was made captain of his company. About a year later he and fourteen other men were detailed to look up absentees, and after securing sufficient men he and his followers were called Company C. He afterward raised another company, which he commanded until the close of the war and surrendered at Helena with a portion of his men. After his return from the war he resumed his farming operations, but in 1868 gave this up to engage in mercantile pursuits at Clarendon, which he continued until 1870, then came to Brinkley where he was in business until September, 1887, at which time his property was destroyed by fire and has never rebuilt, but has given his attention to his real estate, being the owner of about 1,000 acres. He has over 400 acres under cultivation, besides valuable property in Brinkley, all of which is the result of his own hard work and good management, as he started in life for himself a poor boy. In his political views he has been a Democrat all his life and is also a Mason, having been a member of Brinkley Lodge No. 295 for the past twelve or fourteen years. In 1884 he was married to Elizabeth, a daughter of William and Elizabeth Hawkins, who were Mississippians and removed to Monroe County, Ark., prior to the war, the mother dying in 1864, and the father in 1876. Mrs. Carter was born in Jefferson County, Ala., her parents being also natives of that State.

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James Allen Cocke, planter, Arkansas. That a life-time spent in pursuing one occupation will, in the end, result in substantial success, where energy and perseverance are applied, can not for a moment be doubted, and such is found to be the case with Mr. Cocke. He was born in Monroe County, Miss., on February 10, 1837, and is the son of Jester and Eliza C. (Atkins) Cocke, whose marriage occurred in 1828. The father was a native of Virginia, of English ancestors, who came to America prior to the Revolutionary War. To Mr. and Mrs. Cocke were born four children: Mary E., John B., James Allen and Sarah E. The father died in Monroe County, Miss., in 1841. After his death the mother married John M. Smith, and in 1845 came to Arkansas. James Allen Cocke was reared to agricultural pursuits, and received a limited education in the subscription schools of Monroe County. On November 6, 1866, he was wedded to Miss Nancy A. Youngblood, a native of Alabama, and a daughter of Ephraim A. and Mary A. (Bagby) Youngblood. The fruits of this union were three children: Jester Andrew (born June 28, 1868), [p.524] John Benjamin (born April 26, 1870) and Lucy Adaline (born October 26, 1871). Mrs. Cocke died on November 10, 1871, and on May 8, 1872, Mr. Cocke married Miss Elizabeth Virginia Hess, a native of Alabama, and the daughter of David and Louisiana (Kerr) Hess, the father a native of Holland, and the mother of Scotch-Irish descent. To this marriage six children were born: Sarah F. (born March 10, 1873), Thomas (born January 7, 1875), Ada Beulah (born December 5, 1878), Helen Bertha (born December 9, 1880), Anna Laura (born March 5, 1882) and David Hess (born October 12, 1885). During the late war Mr. Cocke enlisted in Company A, Fifteenth Regiment Arkansas Volunteer Infantry (the first company organized in Monroe County), and participated in the battles of Shiloh, Richmond, Perryville, Murfreesboro and Chickamauga. He was captured at the last-named place, on September 19, 1863; was a prisoner for about two months before finally reaching Camp Douglas, Ill., where he remained for eighteen months. On May 28, 1865, he was liberated at the landing below Vicksburg, and left on the first boat for home, where he arrived June 4, 1865, just a month from the time he left Camp Douglas. After this he rented land, and also carried on the carpenter's business until 1871. He then bought 160 acres of land, and now has forty-five acres under cultivation. He and wife, and his children, Benjamin and Sarah, hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Cocke is a member of Kerr Lodge No. 195, Holly Grove, A. F. & A. M.; Chapter No. 16, R. A. M.; Blakely Council No. 19, Clarendon, Monroe County, Ark. He was made a Mason in 1866, and united with the Chapter in 1869, the Council the same year, and has served his lodge as W. M., the Chapter as Capt. of H., and has also served in all the offices in the Council.

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John W. Cooper. For a period now approaching forty-five years, this honored resident of Monroe County, Ark., has been identified with the agricultural interests of this region, having settled here with his parents, Benson and Delphia (Lindsey) Cooper, in 1845. He, like his father, was born in Spartanburg District, S. C., his birth occurring in 1843, and there the latter's marriage occurred, his wife having been born in Lawrence County, N. C. Upon their arrival in Arkansas they spent the first year in Crittenden County, afterward locating on a woodland farm in Monroe County. The father died on his farm, three miles below Brinkley, in 1863, his wife having also died there three years earlier. They had been members of the Baptist Church for many years, and the father was of Irish descent and a son of Matthew Cooper, who probably spent all his life in South Carolina. John W. Cooper is the fourth of seven children, and spent his youth in the wilds of Monroe County, receiving but few advantages for acquiring an education, as the schools of that day were few and far between. In 1861 he espoused the Southern cause and joined Company E, Twenty-fifth Arkansas Infantry, and operated in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Virginia, and was a participant in eighteen different engagements, among which may be mentioned Shiloh, Richmond, New Hope, Peach Tree Creek, Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge and Chickamauga, and was all through the Atlanta campaign. He returned with Hood to Tennessee and was in the engagements at Franklin and Nashville, but was captured at the last-named place and taken to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he was retained until after Lee's surrender. On being released he went to Fort Riley, Kan., but soon after returned home, and, in August, 1866, was married to Rachel, a daughter of Samuel and Rachel A. Martin, natives, respectively, of North and South Carolina. After the war they came to Faulkner County, Ark., where the mother died in 1846. Mr. Martin married again and in 1860 settled in Monroe County, where his demise occurred seven years later. He was a member of the Methodist Church, a farmer by occupation, and held the office of justice of the peace for some years prior to his death. Mrs. Cooper was born in what is now Faulkner County, in 1844, and has borne Mr. Cooper a family of nine children, three sons and two daughters now living. Mr. Cooper has resided in different parts of Brinkley Township, and has improved four good farms and is now putting in a tillable condition [p.525] his fifth farm, which comprises 520 acres, 200 acres of which are under cultivation, but a considerable portion of his land is devoted to stock raising. He has been a resident of Brinkley for six years, in order to give his children the advantages of the town schools, and is considered one of the wide-awake and public-spirited citizens of the place. He is a Democrat and a member of the K. of H. and the I. O. O. F. At the time of his marriage Mr. Cooper was $75 in debt, but by many years of hard labor he is now in affluent circumstances. He and his elder brother, Dillard L., served together throughout the war, and during their entire service were never separated but eight days, and that was while our subject was in the hospital, after being wounded at the battle of Murfreesboro.

Richard N. Counts is a general merchant and cotton buyer of Clarendon, and although he has only been established in business at this place since October, 1888, he has deservedly acquired the reputation of being a safe, thorough and reliable man of business. He is a native of the State, having been born in Independence County, in 1851, and he is the youngest of eight children born to the marriage of Richard N. Counts and Mary A. Tucker, who were born, reared and married in the State of Missouri, afterward removing to Independence County, where the father followed the occupation of husbandry, and died in 1858. His wife died when our subject was about one year old, and after his father's death he was left to depend on his own resources, and from 1860 has made his home in Prairie and Monroe Counties, receiving a common-school education. For about six years he followed book-keeping and clerking for B. F. Johnson, and the following five years worked in the same capacity for J. M. Wheelock, by this means acquiring sufficient means to enable him to engage in his present business, which has proven a decided success. His property has been acquired by his own exertions, and in addition to his store he has a fine farm of 320 acres, of which 160 acres are in a good state of cultivation. He is a Democrat, casting his first vote for Tilden, in 1876, and in March, 1885, he was elected to fill an unexpired term of county treasurer, and in 1886 was re-elected, serving in all nearly four years. He has been a member of the A. F. & A. M., Cache Lodge at Clarendon, also the K. of P. and the K. of H., and for several years has been financial reporter of the latter order. He also belongs to the A. O. U. W., and he and his wife, whom he married in 1885, and whose maiden name was Lucy Bonner, are members of the Methodist Church. They have one daughter. Mrs. Counts was born in North Carolina, and is a daughter of W. H. Bonner, a Tennesseean, who came to Monroe County, Ark., in 1859, and here died in 1888, having been an assessor and farmer, his wife's death occurring in 1881. Mr. Counts had previously married in 1873 Fannie E., a daughter of James H. and Eleanor Branch. She was born in Tennessee, and died in 1879, at Clarendon, leaving two children, a son and a daughter. Mr. Counts is of Irish descent, and has a brother and two sisters living: William A. (a hardware merchant of Little Rock), L. J. (Mrs. Meeks, of Brinkley) and Linnie (Mrs. Loving, of Pine Bluff).

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Robert Craig, planter and ginner, Brinkley, Ark. There are many citizens of foreign birth represented within the pages of this volume, but none are more deserving of mention than Robert Craig, who was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1852. His father, John Craig, was a native also of Glasgow, Scotland, was a farmer and stock raiser for many years, and was also engaged in merchandising in Belfast for several years. He was married to Miss Ann Cruitle, of Scotland, in 1822, and they became the parents of eleven children, six sons and three daughters now living: James, Sarah, Mary (wife of John Curry, and still living in the old country), John, Annie (wife of James Hamilton), Robert, George, Thomas and Alexander. The father is still living and resides in Scotland. Robert Craig crossed the ocean to America in 1867, located in Arkansas, and was united in marriage to Miss Lou Stall in 1875. She was born in Arkansas in 1853, and her parents, George and Catharine Stall, were natives of Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Craig were born three children: George R., Anna B. and Mary L. [p.526] Mr. Craig is the owner of 247 acres of land, with about 100 acres under cultivation, and his principal crops are cotton and corn. He erected a good cotton-gin in 1883, and has since added a cornmill, with a capacity for forty bushels per hour. He is one of the most progressive and energetic farmers of this section, and his farm buildings are neat, commodious and substantial. He has also two tenant houses. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and his wife is a member of the Baptist Church.

S. W. Davis, planter, Cotton Plant, Ark. The subject of this sketch needs no introduction to the people of Monroe County, for a long residence here, and above all a career of usefulness and prominence, have given him an acquaintance which shall last for years. He was born in La Fayette County, Miss., in 1845, to the union of Chesley and Mary E. (Simpson) Davis, natives of South Carolina and Alabama, respectively. Eight children were the fruits of this union, two daughters and six sons, three of whom only are living: S. W., Mary E. (wife of Ben Glover) and R. S. Chesley Davis was reared to agricultural pursuits and this was his chief occupation during life. He immigrated from Mississippi to Arkansas in 1851, locating in St. Francis County, and there entered and traded for land until he had 380 acres. He was a member of the A. F. & A. M.; was justice of the peace for several years, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and died in Woodruff County in 1859. His wife died in 1865 and was a member of the Baptist Church. S. W. Davis began life upon his own resources in 1867 and hired to work in a gin-house. In 1868 he began farming on rented land, continued at this until 1872, when he fell heir to some land from his father's estate. He was married, in 1867, to Miss Mollie C. Harbour, a native of Tennessee, born in 1851, and the daughter of and Eliza B. Harbour, of Woodruff County, Tenn. The result of this union were eight children, six of whom are now living: E. B., Samuel T., John C., William A., Mattie and an infant not yet named. The parents of Mrs. Davis are originally from Kentucky, immigrating from that State to Tennessee, thence to Mississippi and finally settling in Arkansas, where they both died; E. B. died in 1861 and his wife in 1879. During the late war, or in 1864, Mr. Davis was in the Confederate cavalry, Company B, under Captain Wilson, and served until the surrender at Wittsburg, Ark., in 1865. After this he resumed farming and has followed this pursuit ever since. He is one of the prosperous and leading citizens of this township, has a fairly improved farm of 160 acres and has 109 acres under cultivation. He was justice of the peace for eight years and was appointed deputy sheriff in 1886. He erected a large gin in 1885 and this he has run ever since.

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J. H. Dial, merchant and planter, Holly Grove, Ark. In the business of merchandising Mr. Dial is second to none in Duncan Township, and in connection is also extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits. A native of Greene County, Ala., he was born June 28, 1821. His father, David M. Dial, was born in South Carolina in 1785, was married to Miss Jennette Spence in 1801, and successfully tilled the soil all his life. His wife was born in Newberry District, S. C., in 1783. To them were given thirteen children, only two now living: J. H. (the subject of this sketch) and his sister, Rebecca (the wife of George Rix, of Keokuk, Iowa). David M. Dial was an elder in the Old School Presbyterian Church. His wife was a member of the same church. They immigrated from South Carolina to Greene County, Ala., in 1818, where the father died in 1834, the mother in 1855. At the age of sixteen J. H. Dial started out for himself, and began farming on a tract of land he owned in Sumter County, Ala. In the year 1853 he moved to this State and purchased land in Monroe County. When the late war broke out he enlisted in the Confederate army, Company E, Thirty-first Regiment Infantry, under Capt. O. H. Oates, and was wounded in the battle of Stone River, Tenn., December 31, 1862. He was first taken to the field hospital and remained there ten days, then being removed to Nashville in a six-horse wagon, going as fast as it could over the rough roads. There he was put in the guard house and three days later in the penitentiary, where he was kept four or five [p.527] days and then taken to the hospital. It was found necessary to amputate his right arm, which operation was performed by Surgeon Massy, and he was then removed to Mr. Robinson's, a private house, where he was nursed and taken care of for three months by two noble ladies, Mrs. Cartright and Miss Mary Hadley. Being taken to Louisville (Ky.) as a prisoner, he and his companions were there robbed of all their clothes and money. Later, going to Baltimore, Md., and thence to Petersburg, he was finally released and from there went to Shelbyville, Tenn., where he received his discharge. Starting on a tramp for home he walked the entire distance from West Point, Miss. In 1864 he was again taken prisoner when at Clarendon on some business, had his wagon and mules taken from him and was put in prison at Devall's Bluff and kept for a week or ten days. Had it not been for the kindness of Mr. Steele and Mr. Phillip Trice he would have suffered, but they furnished him clothes and money and he fared sumptuously for a prisoner. Mr. Dial was married to Miss Letitia Caulfield, a daughter of Henry and Isabella (Watson) Caulfield, on November 2, 1858. She was born in Greene County, Ala., her parents being from Ireland. Her father came to this country in 1821. He was a successful and energetic farmer and died in Greene County October 16, 1867. The mother died March 15, 1870. They were the parents of six children, two daughters now being the only living members of the family: Bessie (the wife of Jere Horn, of San Marcos, Tex.) and the present Mrs. Dial. J. H. Dial and wife had a family of eight children, of whom six survive at this time: Belle (the wife of T. G. Trice, of Holly Grove, Ark.), Mary V. (widow of Dr. C. H. Boyd, of Holly Grove, Ark.), Margie (wife of W. M. Harrison of Pine Bluff, Ark.), their sons, David M., Thomas G. and Jere H., all live in Holly Grove, Ark. Mr. Dial owns a valuable farm and is a successful farmer. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.

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Capt. Parker C. Ewan is a member of that substantial and successful law firm of Ewan & Thomas, of Clarendon. The senior member of the firm, Capt. Ewan, was born in New Jersey, in 1837, and is a son of John and Sylvia H. (Hankins) Ewan, who were also born in that State, the former in 1800, and the latter in 1804. After their marriage they moved to Clermont County, Ohio, in which place Mr. Ewan died of cholera, in 1849. His wife died in Cincinnati, Ohio, twenty-eight years later. He was a farmer, and was a son of Evan Ewan, a native of New Jersey, who died there, at about the age of eighty years, having been an iron manufacturer by trade. He was a captain in the Revolutionary War, and traced his ancestors back to Sir Raleigh Ewan, a Scotchman. Many of the family now in this country have changed the name to Ewing. Richard Hankins, the maternal grandfather, was of Irish extraction, a farmer by occupation, a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and spent his entire life in the State of New Jersey. The immediate subject of this biography is one of a family of ten children, all of whom are living, with the exception of one, who was killed by a train in Texas, in January, 1888, and in youth he became familiar with farm life by assisting his father. Until twelve years of age he attended the common country schools, then entered the Bantam (Ohio) High School, and two years later the College Hill Academy, near Cincinnati, but in 1854 left school and went South, and for a short time was engaged in flat-boating on the Mississippi River. In 1855 he began teaching school, in Phillips County, Ark., at which time the country was in a very wild and unsettled condition, the timber being full of wild animals, and at one time he stood in his school-house door and shot a panther. In 1857 he came to Monroe County, and taught school until the opening of the Civil War, then dropped the ferrule to take up the musket, and joined Company E, First Arkansas Infantry, afterward the Fifteenth Arkansas, commanded by Col. (afterward Gen.) Cleburne. His first experience in warfare was in the battle of Shiloh, and still later he was made captain of his company, and participated in the battles of Richmond and Perryville (Ky.) and Murfreesboro, (Tenn.), when he was again severely wounded, and was compelled to give up his command. After recovering he was placed in command of the post at [p.528] West Point, Ga., was made provost marshal, and when the news of the final surrender reached him he was on post duty at Macon, Ga. After his return to Monroe County he farmed one year, then began filling the duties of county clerk, to which position he had been elected in 1866, serving with ability for two years. His first experience in the practice of law was with Jeremiah Marston, and in 1872 the firm became Marston, Ewan & Bobo, which continued until the death of Mr. Marston, about ten years later. From that time until 1886 Mr. Ewan continued alone, and was then associated with Mr. Palmer for two years, after which Mr. Thomas became a member of the firm. Mr. Palmer withdrew in 1888, and the firm is now Ewan & Thomas, one of the strongest and most thorough law firms in Eastern Arkansas. Mr. Ewan was county attorney from 1868 to 1872, and is one of the leading members of the Democratic party in his county and State. He has been a delegate from Monroe County to nearly every Democratic State convention, and has never voted outside of Monroe County. He has been a member of the A. F. & A. M. since 1862, Cache Lodge No. 235, and he also belongs to the K. of P., Cowan Lodge No. 39. By his own indomitable energy and methodical business habits he has become one of the wealthiest men of the State, and is the owner of about 70,000 acres of land in Monroe, Phillips, Lee, Arkansas and Prairie Counties. He has thirty-five improved farms, ranging from eighty to 1,600 acres each, and also owns seven cotton-gins, two saw-mills, and one-half interest in a railroad, all of which he has earned since the war, and, unlike many wealthy men, he can truthfully say that he never intentionally wronged a man out of a dollar. That he is one of the honored and trusted men of the county can readily be seen. He owns the Monroe County Sun, a newspaper which he founded in 1876, and has since controlled. In 1865 he was united in marriage to Miss M. L. Rayston, who was born in Mississippi, and left her husband a widower in 1868, with a daughter to care for, named Carrie L., now the wife of W. N. Johnson. Mr. Ewan celebrated his second marriage in 1870, his wife being Maggie H., a sister of his first wife, also born in Mississippi. After bearing him one child, who is now deceased, he was again left a widower, January 4, 1872. September 21, 1874, he married his third wife, Julia C., a daughter of Prof. Frank S. Connor, of Abbeville, S. C. His wife is a Methodist, and has borne him four children, Parker C., Jr., aged eleven years, being the only one living.

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S. E. Fitzhugh, farmer, Brinkley, Ark. This comparatively young agriculturist is the son of a man who, during his residence here, was intimately and permanently associated with the county's interest, and whose memory is cherished by a host of those acquainted with him while living. S. H. Fitzhugh was a native of Dyer County, Tenn., born in 1815, was reared on a farm and followed tilling of the soil all his life. He was married to Miss Martha S. Christy, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abisha Christy, of South Carolina, and became the father of ten children, two of whom are now living: S. E. and Susan M. (wife of G. W. Hullom, of Monroe County). Mr. Fitzhugh immigrated from Tennessee to Arkansas in 1846 or 1847, locating in Monroe County, and there purchased 100 acres of land. He built a log-cabin and improved his farm. He died in this county on May 17, 1886, and his wife died on March 18, 1883. Both had been members of the Baptist Church for many years. S. E. Fitzhugh now lives on the farm where his father first settled on coming to Monroe County. He started out to earn a living for himself, and first engaged in agricultural pursuits when nineteen years of age on his father's land. Here he remained until after the death of his father, when the land was divided by will, and he received 120 acres, with about sixty acres under cultivation. He married, in 1869, Miss Sarah F. Capolenor, a native of Phillips County, Ark., born January 8, 1842, and the daughter of John and Martha Capolenor, of Monroe County. They are the parents of six children, four daughters and two sons: Rilda J., James H., Joseph N., Tennessee F., Laura E. and Lulu. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzhugh are members of the Baptist Church. As she was quite young when her parents died, Mrs. Fitzhugh [p.529] knows very little of the descent of her ancestors or of her parentage. She has a brother and sister living: T. C. (of Cotton Plant) and Martha (wife of John H. Tomlinson, also of this State). Mr. Fitzhugh is one of the leading planters of his township, and is a genial and clever gentleman.

J. M. and A. Flora. The business interests of this portion of the country are well represented by these gentlemen, who have been located in the town (since 1883) long enough to become thoroughly established. Their stock of goods is valued at some $6,500, the annual sales reach $20,000 and the establishment is conducted with ability and success. J. M. and A. Flora, the proprietors, were born in Shelby County, Tenn., in 1852 and 1861, respectively, and J. M. is a son of William and Elizabeth (Wood) Flora, the former a native of North Carolina, and the latter of Virginia. Their union was consummated in Shelby County, Tenn., and there Mrs. Flora died when her children were small. Mr. Flora afterward married Sallie E. White, by whom he became the father of A. Flora, one of the members of the above-named firm. Mr. Flora was a farmer by occupation, and died in 1864. J. M. Flora, the youngest of the four children born to his first union, was denied the privilege of more than a common-school education, but by contact with the world and close application to business he has added to his early schooling and has become thoroughly posted on the current topics of the day. In 1881 he began merchandising at Henning, Tenn., continuing until 1884, and he then became connected with his brother, A. Flora, who had established their present mercantile establishment in Brinkley in 1883. Their union has been very prosperous and their stock of goods is of excellent quality and is sold at reasonable prices. In 1888 they built a two-story brick business block, containing two store-rooms, which are well and conveniently fitted up. Both these gentlemen were reared to farm life and have acquired the greater portion of their property since 1881. J. M. Flora is a Democrat, a member of the Christian Church, and of the children born to his parents, one brother only is now living, John. A. Flora has one sister living, who is Mrs. Bettie Rogers, of Shelby County, Tenn. Micager Wood, the maternal grandfather of J. M. Flora, was a pioneer farmer of West Tennessee, and died there.

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J. M. Folkes is a successful real-estate and collecting agent at Brinkley, and no name is more prominently identified with this business than his. His judgment is thoroughly relied upon as to the value and nature of real estate, and he is an energetic and thorough-going man of business, and is strictly honest in all his transactions. He is a Kentuckian by birth, born in Pendleton County in 1851, his parents, Henry Harrison and Mary E. (Woodyard) Folkes, being also natives of that State and county, where they were reared, married and spent their lives. They were members of the Methodist Church of many years' standing, and the father was very successful in his farming operations, as he started in life with little or no capital and at the time of his death left an estate valued at $30,000. The grandfather, Jerome Folkes, was born in Harrison County, Ky., and there died, having been a life-long farmer. His parents were Virginians. J. M. Folkes, our immediate subject, was the third of nine children, and is the only one now living so far as he knows. His early life was spent in attending the common schools and following the plow, and upon attaining the age of fifteen years he went to Ohio, and began clerking in a store in Xenia, which occupation he continued to follow for four or five years. His education not being sufficient to satisfy him, he, during this time, attended night school and graduated therefrom. After clerking in Cincinnati, Ohio, for two years he began traveling for Frank Loeb & Block of that city, and continued thus for six years, after which he clerked for some time in different counties of Texas. He kept books for T. H. Jackson & Co., and managed a commission store for Black & Co. at Gray's Station. Mr. Folkes is quite an extensive traveler, and in 1871-72 made a trip around the world, his journey being varied by many interesting incidents. He is now settled down to hard work, and is doing a prosperous business, his home in the town of Brinkley being commodious and comfortable. He was married in Memphis November 30, 1886, to Miss [p.530] Libbie J., a daughter of John and Elizabeth Davis, of Brooklyn, N. Y., the father being a wholesale oyster dealer of that city, having succeeded his father, who was also in that business. He died in October, 1889, but his widow is still living. Mr. Folkes is a Democrat, and socially is a member of the K. of H., the K. & L. of H. and the K. of P., being Vice-Chancellor in the latter order. His wife is a finely educated and accomplished lady, and is a member of the Episcopalian Church of Brooklyn, N. Y.

Dr. J. W. Frazer is a physician of more than ordinary ability, located at Clarendon, Ark., and is engaged in farming and selling drugs at that place. From an early age he displayed an eagerness for study and desire for professional life, and after attending the common schools and laboring on a farm until eighteen years of age, he took a three years' course in the Jacksonville (Ill.) College, obtaining in this institution a thorough education. He then spent some time in farming, and during leisure moments pursued the study of medicine, beginning his practice in Union County, Ark., after having taken a course of lectures in the University of Louisville in 1848-49. In 1860 he graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Louisiana, at New Orleans, and from that time until 1887 was in the active practice of his profession at Tupelo, Miss., coming then to Clarendon, Ark., where he has since devoted his attention to the practice of medicine, selling drugs and farming. During about three years of the war he served as surgeon in Confederate hospitals in Mississippi and Alabama, and since the war has been conservative in his political views, although formerly a Whig. He is a member of the Masonic order, and since 1850 has been a member of the Presbyterian Church; his wife, whom he married in that year, and whose maiden name was Margaret A. Wiley, was also a member of the Presbyterian Church. She was born in Perry County, Ala., in 1830, and died in Tupelo, Miss., in 1887, childless. Dr. Frazer wedded his present wife in February, 1888, she being a Mrs. Lucy N. (Mullens) Youngblood, born near Clarendon in 1848, a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and the mother of one child, about fourteen years of age, named Beulah M. Youngblood. The doctor was born in Autauga County, Ala., in 1826, and is a son of Walter and Nancy (Brann) Frazer, both of whom were born in Mecklenburg County, Va., and were there reared and married. About 1818 they removed to Alabama, where the father's death occurred in 1831, he having been a successful farmer. He was a lientenant in the War of 1812, and was a son of Rev. James Frazer, who was born in Scotland, and came to America when a young man, marrying and settling in Virginia, but returned to his native land about the commencement of the American Revolution. He was a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and died in **** His family remained in America.

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Alfred J. Gannon is a son of John Porter Gannon, who was born in North Carolina in 1813, and immigrated to Tennessee in 1823 with his father, George Gannon. He was married in 1837 to Miss Elizabeth Hayes, a native of Virginia, and of English descent. The family of Gannon is of Irish ancestry. Elizabeth died in 1858, leaving seven children, four sons and three daughters: Martha A. (wife of Nathan McBroon, now of Delta County, Tex.), Alfred J., William C., John Q., Joanna (wife of William A. Sullivan), Fannie T. (wife of N. J. Mason) and James B. He was married a second time in 1859 to Miss Travis. They were the parents of three children, two of whom are still living: Isaac and Samuel L. He was a captain in the Mexican War. Capt. John P. Gannon followed farming and stock raising all his life. He was a strict member of the Christian Church, and a strong temperance advocate never allowing whisky to enter his house only in the form of medicine. His life was an exemplary one, both as a Christian gentleman and as a member of society. He died in August, 1870. Alfred J. Gannon was born in Cannon County, Tenn., on April 19, 1842, and being raised on a farm was taught farming and stock raising until the war between the States in 1861. He was among the first to enlist in his State, and joined the company

known as the "Woodbury Guards," afterward called Company A, Eighteenth Regiment Tennessee Volunteers [p.531] (Joseph B, Palmer, colonel). Mr. Gannon was in the Kentucky campaign of 1861, and was captured at the fall of Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862. He was sent to Camp Butler, Springfield, Ill., and was there confined in close prison for seven months, and was then sent down the Mississippi River to Vicksburg for exchange in the transport steamer A. McDowell, Commodore Farragut's fleet. Here he was exchanged and went to Montgomery, Ala., and re-enlisted in the war. Mr. Gannon was in the battle of Murfreesboro and was one of the participants in the celebrated Breckenridge charge on the evening of January 2, 1863. He was also in the battle of Chickamauga, and here received a wound in his right arm, by reason of which he was honorably discharged from service. He had many narrow escapes during the war. He immigrated to this State in 1872, and was married to Miss Maggie L. Palmer on January 19, 1876. who was born in Phillips County on May 29, 1854. They have a family of five children: Katie L., John Hayes (who died on October 7, 1886, in the seventh year of his age), Maggie C., Alfred J., Jr., and Ellett Hewitt. His wife is the second daughter of John C. and Margret E. Palmer, of this State, and a granddaughter of Jesse J. Shell, one of the early settlers of the State. Mr. Gannon is a member of the Christian Church and his wife belongs to the Catholic Church. He owns a fine farm of 160 acres of land with good buildings, orchard, etc., and is also a breeder of fine cattle. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and a stanch Democrat, as his father and grandfather were before him.

William H. Govan is the son of Andrew R. Govan, who was born in Orangeburg District, S. C., in 1796. His parents, Daniel and Elizabeth (Roach) Govan, were of Scotch descent. Andrew was a large planter of that State, which he represented in Congress in 1824. He was married to the mother of our subject, Miss Mary P. Jones, a daughter of J. Morgan and Sallie (Davis) Jones, in 1824. They reared a family of eight children, six of whom are still living: D. C. (a brigadier-general in the Civil War, who is now a resident of Helena), John J. (a farmer of Lee County), George M. (now secretary of State of Mississippi), Sarah (the wife of John M. Billups, of Columbus, Miss.), Bettie and William H. (our subject, and the next to the oldest). Andrew R. Govan moved from North Carolina in 1831, and settled in Western Tennessee, near Summerville, going five years later to Mississippi, where he died in 1841. His wife was a native of New Berne, N. C., and was born in 1802, and died on July 12, 1888, in Mississippi. William H. Govan was born in Northampton County, N. C., in 1831. He was married in 1878 to Miss Jennie Jackson, daughter of John S. and Isabella R. (Rhodes) Jackson, natives of Tennessee and Mississippi, respectively. She was born in Louisiana, in 1834. Mr. Govan moved to Arkansas in 1858, and bought a farm in Phillips County, where he lived until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in the Second Arkansas Infantry, serving as quartermaster and paymaster. At the close of the conflict he embarked in the mercantile business with Maj. W. E. Moore, and the following year sold out and entered into partnership with Hon. H. L. Hawley and Oliver H. Oates, in the practice of law at Helena. The next year he returned to Phillips County, and engaged in farming, but in 1874, resumed the practice of law with Hon. John H. Huett, at Mariana, where he remained until 1878. Moving to Monroe County, he purchased a farm of 500 acres, with over 300 acres under cultivation. The house he now occupies is one of the oldest in the county, having been built by Dr. Duncan in 1834. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., and of the K. of H. Mrs. Govan is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

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Grant Green is a member of the law firm of Price & Green, of Clarendon, Ark. The profession of law is one of the most important of human callings, and he who takes upon himself the practice of it, assumes the weightiest responsibilities that his fellow-man can put upon his shoulders. As a copartnership, whose honor is above criticism, and whose ability places it among the leading law firms of the West, is the above named. Mr. Green, the junior member, was born in Monroe County, Ark., in 1850, and is the son of Dr. Henry D. and Martha H. (Lambert) Green, who were born in [p.532] Henderson County, Ky., in 1824 and 1832, respectively. In 1847 Dr. Green removed to Montgomery Point, Ark., but after a short time returned to his former home, and in 1848 came to Monroe County, Ark., where he was married in 1849, being among its early settlers, and one of its most prominent physicians for many years. He was an influential and public-spirited citizen, and did a great deal toward developing the country and improving the morality of the community in which he resided. His medical education was acquired in Louisville, and during the Rebellion he was assistant surgeon in the Confederate States army. He served as county judge of Monroe County, and filled the office of county treasurer two terms. He was a prominent Mason, a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and died in 1879. His father, John W. Green, was born in Kentucky, in all probability, and was killed while serving in the Mexican War. Dr. Green's wife bore him two sons and one daughter, and from a child she was reared in Monroe County, Ark., and left him a widower in 1857. She was a daughter of Rev. Jordan B. Lambert, who was a Kentuckian, but was one of the early settlers of Monroe County, having come here in 1839. He represented Monroe County in the State legislature, was at one time judge of the county, and was an influential citizen and a prosperous farmer. Dr. Green was married a second time, in 1859, to Miss Minnie I, Swift, in Fayette County, Tenn., who bore him four sons and two daughters, all of whom, including herself, are still living. Their eldest son is Henry D. Green, Jr., the present treasurer of Monroe County, and an energetic and successful young merchant

at Clarendon. Mr. Lambert was a minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Grant Green, our immediate subject, was educated in the local schools of Monroe County and West Tennessee, and for one year was an attendant of the Jesuit School of St. Louis. At the age of nineteen years he entered the Law Department of the Cumberland University of Lebanon, Tenn., attending two terms, and after teaching school a few terms, and pursuing the study of law in the meantime, he was admitted to the bar in 1870, but did not enter actively upon his practice until two years later. Since then he has been actively engaged in practice; two years, 1875 and 1876, he was at Helena. He has been one of the leading members of the Monroe County bar for a number of years, and since 1882 has been associated with Mr. Price. He is one of the well-to-do men of the county, and is the owner of a fine farm comprising 1,000 acres, eight miles from Clarendon, of which 400 acres are under cultivation. Mr. Green voted first for Greeley in 1872, and has always been a Democrat in his political views. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., the Knights of Honor and the Knights of Pythias, and has been presiding officer in all these orders. June 1, 1875, he was married to Miss Loula M., a daughter of Dr. Henry G. Jackson, of Monroe County, Ark., but she left him a widower in 1876. Mr. Green's second marriage was celebrated at Somerville, Tenn., in 1883, his wife being Mrs. Willie Word, a daughter of Maj. W. E. Winfield, of Fayette County, Tenn., who obtained his title while serving in the Confederate army under Gen. Johnston. Mrs. Green was born in West Tennessee, and she and Mr. Green have two children, a son and a daughter. They are members of the church, Mr. Green being a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and Mrs. Green of the Old School Presbyterian Church.

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Henry D. Green, treasurer of Monroe County, Ark., is the son of Dr. H. D. Green, who was married twice, his last wife being the mother of our subject. His grandfather Swift, was a Tennesseean, who died in Fayette County. Henry D. Green was born in Monroe County, Ark., in 1863, the fifth of ten children, six sons and four daughters, and as he grew up he was daily instructed into the mysteries of farm life. Although he only attended school for about eighteen months he made the most of the advantages offered him and later by reading and contact with the business affairs of life, has become one of the well informed and intelligent young men of the county. Upon the death of his father he began the battle of life for imself, and until 1884 was engaged in tilling the soil. From that time until 1885 he clerked in a [p.533] store in Clarendon, then engaged in general merchandising on his own responsibility and has a stock of goods valued at $1,000, the firm being known as H. D. Green & Co. He was notary public for four years or until 1888, then was elected to the office of treasurer of Monroe County by the Democratic party, of which he has long been a member, and is now filling the duties of this position. He is a member of the K. of H., of Clarendon Lodge No. 2328, and he and wife, whom he married in 1888, and whose maiden name was Kate Blake, are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Green was born in Hendereon County, Ky., and she and Mr. Green are the parents of a daughter. Her parents, Augustus and Gertrude Blake, were born in Henderson County, Ky.

William Jasper Hall, planter and stockman, Holly Grove, Ark. This prominent agriculturist is the son of Thomas and Mournen (Stephens) Hall, the father of Scotch-Irish and English descent. The ancestors of the Hall family came to America prior to the Revolutionary War, and the grandfather Hall, who was probably a native of North Carolina, served in this war. The maternal ancestors were of French-Scotch descent, and the parents of Mrs. Hall, Willoughby and Margaret (Littleton) Stephens, were natives of North Carolina, their ancestors having emigrated to America previous to the War of 1776, William Jasper Hall was born on January 31, 1844, in Onslow County, N. C., and received the rudiments of an education in a private school at Mill Run, Onslow County, completing his education at Jacksonville, the same ounty. He was early initiated into the duties of farm life and remained at home until the early part of 1862, when he enlisted in Company C, Fourth Regiment North Carolina Cavalry. The command was called up after the battle of Gettysburg to cover the retreat of the Confederate army after their defeat in that battle, and the regiment dismounting at a bridge on the Hagerstown road, were surrounded by Federal forces and were cut off from their horses and lost nearly all of them. The command remained on the north side of the Potomac for about three weeks after the battle, in consequence of the high water. They finally forded the river at Williamsport, a number being drowned in the attempt, and joined their comrades. Mr. Hall was with his command nearly all the time, except when driven out of Culpeper, and was paroled at New Berne, N. C., in April, 1865. He walked from New Berne to his home the latter part of April, and engaged in tilling the soil, which occupation he continued until 1870, when he came to Arkansas, locating near Indian Bay, Monroe County, where he worked for Samuel Pointer, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. He returned to North Carolina about Christmas of the same year, and was united in marriage to Miss Sallie L. Stephens, the daughter of Enoch and Mary (Tatum) Stephens. Mr. and Mrs, Hall arrived in Arkansas on February 16, 1871, rented a farm on shares, and, after remaining there one year, moved on the John Walker farm, Jackson Township, Monroe County. He made his first purchase of land in 1879, a tract of 200 acres with no improvements, and has added to this until he now is the owner of 600 acres, 480 acres in one body and 275 acres under cultivation. He principally raises cotton, but also raises good corn, and has a good young orchard. He is quite a stockman and raises cattle and hogs. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall have been born eight children, seven now living: Florence Geraldine (born January 1, 1872), William Enoch, Samuel Norman, Beatrice Rosa, Paul Ransom (deceased), Paula E., Mary M. and Sallie Edith. Mrs. Hall died in Jackson Township, in November, 1887. Mr. Hall takes a deep interest in all educational matters, and is determined to give his children all the advantages possible in that direction. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Indian Bay Lodge No. 256, and also holds membership in the K. of H. Lodge No. 16, Indian Bay, and is a charter member of the L. of H. In 1886 he was elected to the office of county coroner, but never qualified, having been elected without being consulted.

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William Hooker. Among the many enterprises necessary to complete the commercial resources of a town or city, none is of more importance than that of the grocer, as he is one of the main factors [p.534] in the furnishing of our food supplies. Prominent in this trade is Mr. Hooker, who has been established here in business since October, 1889, his stock of goods being valued at about $1,500. He was born in Shelby County, Tenn., in 1856, and is a son of Joseph W. and Fannie A. (Jones) Hooker, the former a Tennesseean and the latter a native of South Carolina. Their marriage took place at Memphis, and prior to the war they came to Arkansas, and opened a farm on White River. During the struggle between the North and South they returned to Tennessee, coming again to Arkansas after the war had closed. From that time until his death he kept a hotel at Clarendon, and in the latter years of his life also an eating-house at Brinkley, and one at Black Fish for the Little Bock & Memphis Railroad. He met a violent death, being killed in a railroad accident in 1879. He was a soldier for three years in the Confederate army, being a member of an Arkansas regiment. His widow survives him, and is a member of the Methodist Church. William Hooker is the second of seven children, three now living, and received his early education in the city of Memphis, his higher education being acquired in Leddin Commercial College. After clerking for nine years for Walker Bros. & Co., of that city, then the largest mercantile house in the South, he became a bookkeeper for Saul Alinger, of Saulsbury, with whom he remained eighteen months, then clerked for Gunn & Black, until they sold out. During 1883 he associated himself with Louis Salinger, in the general mercantile business, continuing until 1887, then began trading in real estate. Mr. Hooker is a Democrat politically, and has shown his approval of secret organizations by joining the Knights of Honor and the Knights and Ladies of Honor. On March 12, 1887, he was married to Emma, a daughter of John A. McDonald. She was born in Jackson County, Ark.

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Wesley H. Hughen, farmer and stockman, Holly Grove, Ark. Mr. Hughen was born May 19, 1824, in Abbeville District, S. C., and received a limited education in Coweta County, Ga., whither his parents had moved in 1831. Later they moved to Rome, and there Wesley attended the male academy for about two years. He was early initiated into the duties of farm life, and on December 21, 1845, he was married in Floyd County, Ga., to Miss Elizabeth Mann, who was born November 14, 1825, and who was the daughter of Young and Mary A. (Garrison) Mann, natives of North Carolina and Georgia, respectively. After marrying Mr. Hughen engaged with his brother and father in farming, and the following year immigrated to Alabama. To his marriage were born these children: Martha A. (born August 6, 1847), Mary L. B. (born July 21, 1849), Sarah A. (born December 17, 1850), Robert A. (born August 22, 1853) and William R. (born August 22, 1855). The mother of these children died September 4, 1866, and was buried in Floyd County, Ga. While living in Alabama Mr. Hughen followed agricultural pursuits, and in 1855, he moved to Gordon County, Ga., where he engaged in the milling business with Mr. Mann (his father-in-law), and erected a flouring and saw mill. By a freshet, the property was badly damaged, but they rebuilt and had gotten fairly started again, when the Rebellion broke forth, and put nother stop to their operations. In May, 1863, Mr. Hughen enlisted as a soldier, and was assigned to duty in the First Georgia Regiment Infantry, serving from that time until December, 1865. He participated in two engagements: Stone River, and during the siege of Fort Sumter he frequently went into the fort to witness the manner of defense. On the 5th day of December, 1864, while on duty, he was captured by the Union soldiers and taken to New York, being confined for thirteen days. He then took the oath of allegiance to the United States, and afterward went to Edgewood, Ill., where he engaged in milling, following this until the close of the war. He then returned to his home in Georgia, where he was employed for some time in endeavoring to repair the damages done during the war, and working at various occupations, until the fll of 1869, when he came to Arkansas. He rented land for three or four years, and in 1873 bought the land upon which he now lives, and where he has since made his home. The tract contains sixty-six acres of wild, woody land, upon [p.535] which not an improvement had been made. At the present time Mr. Hughen has forty-seven acres under cultivation, and has good buildings, orchards, etc. On October 3, 1867, he took for his second wife Mrs. Eliza Moore, who bore him one child, Ida Lee, whose birth occurred July 9, 1868. At the present time, five of Mr. Hughen's children are living, and all are married: Martha A. (wife of Mr. Knowlis, who became the mother of four children. Her second marriage was to Mr. Bonner, of Texarkana), Mary L. B. (married Jasper Lampley. She died in 1883, and left children), Sarah (married twice, first to Zeke Meeks, by whom she had one child, and second to Mr. Fitzhugh, by whom she had four children, all deceased. She died in 1884), Robert A. (died at Little Rock, in 1885), William R. (died on December 9, 1887, and left four children, the result of his union with Miss Elizabeth Chrisp), Ida Lee (became the wife of Elihu Williams, and has one child). Mr. and Mrs. Hughen are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Mr. Hughen has been a local preacher since 1883. He has been a member of that church for thirty-eight years. He is inclined to be Democratic in his political views. He is the son of James and Elizabeth (Anthony) Hughen, the father born and reared in South Carolina, and of Irish descent. His ancestors came to America, previous to the Revolutionary War, located in South Carolina, and the paternal grandfather, R. A. Hughen, was a commanding officer in the Revolutionary War. His uniform was seen by the subject of this sketch, in the clerk's office at Coweta, Ga., thirty years ago, at which time it was in a good state of preservation. Others of this family participated in the Florida War. James Hughen and Miss Elizabeth Anthony were married August 31, 1822, in Anderson District, S. C., and became the parents of seven children, all of whom grew to mature years. Mrs. Elizabeth (Anthony) Hughen was the daughter of Joel and Mary (Bratton) Anthony.

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James Benton Hughes, planter, Lamberton, Ark. On August 8, 1841, there was born to Joshua and Nancy (Bookout) Hughes, a son, James Benton Hughes, who was one of a family of thirteen children, the result of their union. The father was born in Tennessee in 1814, and was of English descent, his ancestors having emigrated to America previous to the Revolutionary War. The Grandfather Hughes participated in the struggle. James Benton Hughes' birth occurred in De Kalb County, Ala., and of the large family of which he was a member, only eight are now living. He was educated in the subscription schools of his native county, and subsequently attended Sulphur Springs Academy. He was reared to the arduous duties of the farm, and this has been his principal occupation during life, although for about three or four years he was engaged in rafting on the White River, between Indian Bay and New Orleans, their cargo being cypress logs. In 1859 Mr. Hughes went to Texas, where he was engaged in farming and herding for a year or two. He contracted with the Government to deliver supplies to the troops at Fort Colorado, and in March, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Twenty-fourth Texas Cavalry, afterward the Twenty-fourth Texas Infantry, serving until the close of the war. He participated in the battle of Helena, was in the Missouri raid under Gen. Price, and at Pilot Knob, where he received a wound in the hand. He was also in a number of skirmishes previous to the Missouri raid. He went from his home to take the oath of allegiance at Jacksonport, but was not successful. In 1866 he worked on Dr. Washington's farm on shares, for one year, and then engaged in rafting as before mentioned. On March 5, 1871, he was united in marriage to Mrs. Sallie (Simmons) Stunson, the daughter of John and Jennie Simmons, who were among the first settlers of Eastern Arkansas. One child, Rosabell, was born to this union, her birth occurring on August 16, 1872, and her death on November 1, 1885. Mrs. Hughes died on April 14, 1876. Mr. Hughes made his first purchase of land, a tract comprising forty acres of wild land, in 1873, and has since added to this, until he now owns 380 acres, with about ninety acres under cultivation, his principal crops having been corn and cotton. He has a fine young apple and peach orchard, and raises as fine peaches as can be found anywhere. In his political views he coincides with [p.536] the Democratic party. He officiated in the capacity of deputy sheriff for eight years by appointment, and was a capable and efficient officer. He is a member of the K. of H., Indian Bay Lodge No. 2491, and is also a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

G. W. Hurst, at the early age of fifteen, was made overseer of an extensive plantation, and had the