HON. H. C. TIPTON. It has been said by the great Bacon that “the greatest trust between man and man is the trust of giving counsel.” Thus the profession of law is the most momentous and important of human callings, and he who assumes the practice of it takes upon himself the weightiest responsibilities that the confidence and trust of his fellowman can put upon his shoulders. One of the leading attorneys of northwest Arkansas is Hon. H. C. Tipton, who was born in Tennessee in 1840, a son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Anderson) Tipton, the former of whom was a native of Carter County,Tennessee, and a son of John Tipton also of that county.
The family tree took root on American soil during Colonial days, the first member of the family coming thither with Lord Baltimore and settling in Maryland. From there they drifted to different States, and became prominently connected with the early history of Tennessee, some of the members of the family enlisting in the Mexican War from that State. After some years’ residence in the State of his birth, Isaac Tipton removed to Mississippi, and died in De Soto County, in 1853, his wife, who was a daughter of Thomas Anderson, of Tennessee, also dying there. Mr. Tipton was a farmer and a man of prominence.
The subject of this sketch was the youngest of twelve children born to his parents, of whom only three are living at the present time: Hon. H. C., and two sisters. He was reared on a farm and fortunately received excellent educational advantages in his youth, graduating from the La Grange (Tennessee) Commercial College July 4, 1860. Following this he served four years in the Confederate Army, as a private of Company A, Tenth Mississippi Regiment, which was a part of the Army of the Tennessee. He was at Shiloh, Chickamauga, Murfreesboro, and was in the Georgia campaign, at Atlanta, New Hope Church, Jonesboro and Franklin. He was wounded by a gunshot and captured at Murfreesboro, but was soon paroled and sent south. After the cessation of hostilities, he returned to De Soto County, Miss., and at once took up the duties of civil life, not stopping to bewail the altered condition of affairs in the South, and was engaged in farming there until 1871, when he removed to Sharp County, Arkansas, and resided in Melbourne for a time. In 1886 he came to Harrison, but previously, in 1876, had been elected to the State Senate from the Twenty-third District of Arkansas, and was an honored member of that body for eight years, two of which (1881-82) he was president of the Senate. In 1885 he was appointed United States Registrar of the Land Office at Harrison, Arkansas, and as above stated took up his home here the following year. Before he was elected to the Senate he was a successful dry goods merchant, but is now giving his attention to the duties of his office and the practice of law, for which he seems to have a natural aptitude. He has always been a Democrat of pronounced type, is a popular, public-spirited and wide-awake citizen, is a member of Harrison Lodge of the A. F. & A. M., and he and his worthy wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. His wife was formerly Miss Alice Lawrason, a daughter of Dr. James T. Lawrason, of Fernando, Miss. Their union has resulted in the birth of seven children: James T., Leonard M., Robert N., Ernest, William, Henrietta and Ida May.