Shelby County TN

Biography of Samuel Sharper 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

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

Biography of John Maloy

JOHN MALOY, deceased. Although the gentleman whose name heads this sketch has “passed to that bourne whence no traveler returns,” his walk through life was characterized by so much honor and such an earnest desire to benefit his fellows and the section in which he resided, that his memory will remain green in the hearts of the many citizens of Stone County, Arkansas He was born in Bengal, County Tyrone, Ireland, and when but a lad crossed the stormy ocean to America and landed at Quebec, thence to New York, from which place he went to Memphis, Tennessee, and in … Read more

Biography of Hon. Isaiah W. Hope

Hon. Isaiah W. Hope is one of the most prominent men in Malheur County today, and he has been a leader here for many years, having started in the mercantile business with his brother in an early day and building up one of the mammoth establishments of the west, while also in many lines of industry he has brought the fine talent of which he is possessed into play with the gratifying result that he has achieved a general round of success in the realm of merchant, general developer of the country, organizer of the Vale Commercial Company, promoter of … 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 Guy Perry McNaughton, M. D.

Dr. Guy Peery McNaughton, a native son of Oklahoma and a representative of one of the most prominent pioneer families of the state, has been identified with the medical fraternity of Miami since 1912 and has established an enviable reputation as a diagnostician and bacteriologist, being widely known throughout north-eastern Oklahoma as a specialist in those lines of medical science. He was born in Ottawa County, December 18, 1887, his parents being J. P. and Clara E. (Peery) McNaughton. A complete family sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. On the home farm near Miami, Guy Peery McNaughton spent the period … Read more

Slave Narrative of Dan Thomas

Person Interviewed: Dan Thomas Location: Nashville, Tennessee Place of Birth: Memphis, Tennessee Date of Birth: 1847 Place of Residence: 904 Jefferson Street, Nashville, Tennessee “I wuz bawn in slavery in 1847 at Memphis, Tennessee en mah marster wuz Deacon Allays. Mah mammy wuz de cook at de big house. Mah mammy d’ed soon atter I wuz bawn, en de Missis had me raised on a bottle. Marster en Missis treatus all dere slaves kindly en plenty ter eat en eve’y one wuz happy. I dunno nuthin ’bout mah daddy er whar he went. I hab no kin in dis worl’. … 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 Albert N. Earnest, M. D.

Dr. Albert N. Earnest, a surgeon of Muskogee, is numbered among the native sons of Oklahoma and his record as a successful member of the medical profession stands in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is never without honor save in his own country. Dr. Earnest was born near Webbers Falls, in Muskogee county, September 13, 1890, and is a son of J. T. and Ellen (Carlisle) Earnest. The mother is one-fourth Cherokee and was born in Texas, of which state the father is also a native. He came to the Indian Territory when a boy with his … Read more

Slave Narrative of Billy Slaughter

Interviewer: Beulah Van Meter Person Interviewed: Billy Slaughter Location: Jeffersonville, Indiana Place of Birth: Kentucky Date of Birth: Sept. 15, 1858 Beulah Van Meter District 4 Clark County BILLY SLAUGHTER 1123 Watt St. Jeffersonville Billy Slaughter was born Sept. 15, 1858, on the Lincoln Farm near Hodgenville, Ky. The Slaughters who now live between the Dixie Highway and Hodgenville on the right of the road driving toward Hodgenville about four miles off the state highway are the descendants of the old slave’s master. This old slave was sold once and was given away once before he was given his freedom. … Read more

Biography of Ward Smith

Ward Smith, secretary of the Hunter-Robinson Milling & Grain Company and manager of the grain department, was born in Tullahoma, Tennessee, May 22, 1888. His father, Dr. J. Crittenden Smith, was a native of Columbia, Tennessee, and is now in business in Chicago. His father, Dr. T. C. Smith, is still living in Mt. Pleasant, Tennessee. He and his immediate ancestors in the two preceding generations were physicians. The Smith family comes of English lineage. J. Crittenden Smith was united in marriage to Ella Ward, a daughter of John H. Ward, a wholesale furniture dealer of Nashville, Tennessee. He came … Read more