Shelby County TN

Slave Narrative of Rev. Wamble

Interviewer: Archie Koritz Person Interviewed: Rev. Wamble Location: Gary, Indiana Place of Birth: Monroe County, Mississippi, Date of Birth: 1859 Place of Residence: 1827 Madison Street, Gary, Indiana Occupation: Wagon-maker Archie Koritz, Field Worker Federal Writers’ Project Porter County-District #1 Valparaiso, Indiana EX-SLAVES REV. WAMBLE 1827 Madison Street Gary, Indiana [TR: above ‘Wamble’ in handwriting is ‘Womble’] Rev. Wamble was born a slave in Monroe County, Mississippi, in 1859. The Westbrook family owned many slaves in charge of over-seers who managed the farm, on which there were usually two hundred or more slaves. One of the Westbrook daughters married a … Read more

Biography of Samuel Sharpe Davis

In considering those among Rock Island’s citizens whose activities have been directed toward developing that city’s industries, and whose foresight has been rewarded in a most substantial manner, one’s mind instinctively turns to the subject of our present sketch, Samuel Sharpe Davis. He was born February 1, 1858, at Covington, Kentucky, his parents being John, B. and Anna E. (Sharpe) Davis. To this couple three children were born: Thomas B., Samuel S. and Mary. The parents were of Scotch-Irish origin. Thomas Bodley Davis, the paternal grandfather was a native of Pennsylvania. In early life he moved to Kentucky, and for … Read more

Biography of Jacob Kissel

JACOB KISSEL, junior member of the firm of Church & Kissel, began at a very early age to assume the practical duties of a business life, and by diligence, good habits, and a judicious use of natural tact has developed a character which will tell for usefulness in his day and generation. He has acquired a commercial standing which portends for him that prosperity and rank among his fellow-men vouchsafed alone to those who have worthily earned them. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1854, and is a son of Jacob Kissel who was born in Germany, but … Read more

Slave Narrative of Emmett Beal

Interviewer: Miss Irene Robertson Person Interviewed: Emmett Beal Age: 78 Location: Biscoe, Arkansas “I was born in Holloman County, Bolivar, Tennessee. Master Dr. Jim May owned my set er folks. He had two girls and two boys. I reckon he had a wife but I don’t recollect seeing her. Ma suckled me; William May with me. Ely and Seley and Susie was his children. “I churned for mama in slavery. She tied a cloth around the top so no flies get in. I better hadn’t let no fly get in the churn. She take me out to a peach tree … Read more

Oliver, Henry William – Obituary

Henry Oliver Dies At Milton Home Henry William Oliver, 85, a former school teacher and Seventh Day Adventist minister in Wallowa County, passed away Monday, Feb., 23: at his home in Milton following a long illness. He had resided in Milton for about ten years and had lived in Oregon since 1884. Mr. Oliver was born near Memphis, Tenn., on Aug. 10, 1863. Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon from the Adventist church in Milton and burial was in the College Place cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Jessie Oliver at the home; two sons, J. Paul Oliver … Read more

Death of Cyrus Kingsbury

Rev. Cyrus Kingsbury

Early in the year 1820, an English traveler from Liverpool, named Adam Hodgson, who had heard of the Elliot mission when at home, visited the mission, though he had to turn from his main route of travel the distance of sixty miles. He, at one time on his sixty miles route, employed a Choctaw to conduct him ten or twelve miles on his new way, which he did, then received his pay and left him to finish his journey alone. Of this Choctaw guide Mr. Hodgson, as an example of noble benevolence and faithful trust, states: “After going about a … Read more

Biography of Earl C. Bronaugh

Bronaugh, Earl C., one of the most prominent attorneys of the State, was born in Abingdon, Virginia, March 4, 1831. He secured his educational advantages in his native town prior to reaching the age of twelve years, when with his parents he moved to Shelby County, Tennessee. They founded a new home in the woods and endured all the privations of pioneer life at that early day. Here Mr. Bronaugh spent six years of his life, assisting his father in the support of the family, after which becoming imbued with the desire to read law he entered the office of … Read more

Biography of James G. Harris, M. D.

Dr. James G. Harris, a physician and surgeon of Muskogee, who is specializing in urology, was born on the 18th of February, 1889, in Muskogee county, and is a son of P. Collins and Mary A. (Davis) Harris, who were natives of Georgia and of Alabama respectively. The father served for two years with the Confederate army in the Civil war and was taken prisoner, being incarcerated for about a year. Soon after the war, owing to the fact that he was part Cherokee, he received an allotment from the government in Oklahoma, then Indian Territory, and removed to this … Read more

Biography of Earl M. Robinson

Earl M. Robinson is one of the younger business men of Emporia, and his name at once suggests in that section of Kansas the Robinson greenhouses, which have become noted for the perfection of their cut flowers. This is a business which he had built up to extensive proportions, and its product now supplies not only Emporia but a wide surrounding territory. He is an alert and enterprising factor in business circles. Descended from the family of Robinsons that were in Virginia during colonial days, Earl M. Robinson is himself a southerner by birth and was born at Huntsville, Madison … Read more

Biography of Charles W. Vowell, M. D.

Dr. Charles W. Vowell, a leading representative of the medical fraternity of Washington County, has followed his profession in Porum since 1906 and his pronounced ability has won for him an extensive practice. He was born in Collinsville, Grayson County, Texas, in January, 1870, and is a son of James J. and Josephine (Choate) Vowell, both of whom were natives of Missouri. The father was a veteran of the Civil war, serving for three years with a Missouri regiment as a member of the Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee. He devoted his life to the occupation of farming … Read more

Memoirs of John Pitchlynn

Peter Perkins Pitchlynn was the Choctaw Principal Chief from 1864-1866

John Pitchlynn, the name of another white man who at an early day cast his lot among the Choctaws, not to be a curse but a true benefactor. He was contemporaneous with the three Folsom’s, Nathaniel, Ebenezer and Edmond; the three Nails, Henry, Adam and Edwin; the two Le Flores Lewis and Mitchel, and Lewis Durant. John Pitchlynn, as the others, married a Choctaw girl and thus become a bona-fide citizen of the Choctaw Nation. He was commissioned by Washington, as United States Interpreter for the Choctaws in 1786, in which capacity he served them long and faithfully. Whether he … Read more