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Sumter County |
Sumter County
Alabama
Biographies
GIBBS, Miss Eleanor Churchill, educator, was born in the plantation home of her parents, "Oak Shade," near Livingston, Ala. Being descended from families pre-eminent for many generations for culture, refinement and talent, Miss Gibbs possesses these in a marked degree. The Revolutionary hero, Capt. Churchill Gibbs, of Virginia, was her grandfather. Through her mother she claims as her ancestor Rev. John Thomas, of Culpepper, Va. Her education was given to her principally by her mother, a very brilliant woman. She pursued her studies also in Livingston College. Later she continued her studies in higher mathematics and science under Dr. Hen1y Tutwiler. In 1865 she accepted the position of assistant teacher in Livingston Academy, and in 1870 she was elected principal of the institution. In 1875 she resigned that position in order to take charge of high-school work in Selma, Ala. In 1887 she resigned to accept the position which she now fills as professor of English literature and history in Shorter College, Rome, Ga. Miss Gibbs is an able, earnest, enthusiastic and successful teacher, and stands in the front rank in her chosen profession. She wields a strong and graceful pen and is a paid contributor to leading journals in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and elsewhere.
Source: American Women by Frances Elizabeth Willard, Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, Vol. 1, 1897. Submitted by Marla Snow
LINDSEY, WALLACE HENRY, lawyer, was born October 8, 1872, at Gaston, Sumter County; son of Henry Thompson and Martha Jane (Wallace) Llndsey, the former a native of Greene County, who lived at Desotoville, and served in the C. S. Army as lieutenant of Co. C, Fifty-fourth Alabama infantry regiment, 1861-1865; grandson of Ellis and Martha (Thompson) Lindsey, of DeSotoville, the former who came to Alabama from Georgia in 1820, and of Daniel and Jennie (Kennedy) Wallace, of DeSotoville and Spray, Miss., the former an Irishman, and the latter born in South Carolina, of Irish parents. He obtained his education in the common schools of Choctaw County, and at Chapel Hill academy, DeSotoville. He began the practice of law at Butler, 1905, having read law while clerk of the circuit court of Choctaw County, to which office he was elected in 1898, and re-elected in 1904. He resigned that position in 1905, when he began to practice law. Prior to his election as clerk, he had taught in the public schools of Choctaw County. In 1907, he was appointed deputy solicitor of Choctaw County, a position which he held for some time; was a member of the board of education of that county, and at one time public administrator; and represented his county in the State legislature, 1907. He is a Democrat; a Methodist; a Royal Arch Mason; Knight of Pythias; and a Woodman of the World. Married: December 28, 1904, at Butler, to Maggie, daughter of William B. and Janie (Brewster) Gilmer, of Butler, granddaughter of J. W. Brewster, an early settler of Choctaw County. The Gilmers came from Dallas County, and settled near Mt. Sterling, in Choctaw County. Children: 1. Mary. Residence: Butler.Source: History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owen, Published by The S. J. Clarke publishing company, 1921; Submitted by Barb Ziegenmeyer
LITTLE, WILLIAM G., JR., member of the constitutional convention of 1875, from Sumter County; president of the State senate, 1878-79.
Source: History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie Bankhead Owen, Published by The S. J. Clarke publishing company, 1921; Submitted by Barb Ziegenmeyer
RAPE, JACOB NATHANIEL, M. D., is to be noted as one of the representative members of the medical profession in Jackson county and is located in practice at Mosspoint. Doctor Rape was born in Harperville, Scott county, Miss., Feb. 18, 1859, and is a son of Cyrus M. and Dorcas (Graham) Rape, the former native of Georgia and the latter of South Carolina. The father of the doctor enlisted in a Mississippi regiment of the Confederate forces at the outbreak of the Civil war, and he proceeded to the front with his command, while he died at Gainesville, Ala., just after the battle of Shiloh, as the result of an attack of pneumonia. Doctor Rape secured his early educational training in the schools of his native State, having been for a time a student in Centerville Institute, in Newton county, and he later carried out his well defined plans by entering the medical department of Tulane university, in the city of New Orleans, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, as a member of the class of 1891. Prior to having taken up his work as a student of medicine the doctor had devoted his attention to farming and teaching school. He began the practice of his profession in Tchula, Holmes county, where he remained until 1900, when he located in Mosspoint, where he has built up a representative practice, ramifying throughout this section of Jackson county. He is a member of the American medical association, the Mississippi State medical society and the Jackson county medical society, of which last mentioned he is secretary at the time of the preparation of this sketch. He is a stanch Democrat in his political allegiance and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, while his wife holds membership in the Missionary Baptist church. On Nov. 11, 1897, was solemnized the marriage of Doctor Rape to Miss Bertha Amis, daughter of Capt. Albert and Augusta (Petty) Amis, of Gulfport, Harrison county, and of the children of this union we here enter the names -with respective dates of birth: Cyrus, Jan. 12, 1900; Woodson, Aug. 28, 1902; Jacob N., Jr., Aug. 12, 1904 and Alfonso Gallatin, June 12, 1906.
Source: Mississippi: Contemporary Biography Edited By Dunbar Rowland, 1907 – Submitted by Therman Kellar
YARBROUGH, HON. JAMESForty-five fleeting years have wrought wondrous changes in the conditions prevailing in Oklahoma,for in that time the primitive pioneer becomes the modern citizen and the warring natives become peaceful and law-abiding. When the present popular mayor of Durant went out to work in the fields in the morning as a boy, in company with his father and brothers in old Pinola County, in the Chickasaw Nation, it was no uncommon sight to find a lifeless form lying beside the road, the victim of a drunken enemy. The Yarbrough Farm lay on the road to Preston Bend, Texas, headquarters for cheap whiskey, and a rendezvous for gamblers and bad men in general, so that trouble was the order of the day, even among those who loved peace and quiet. Today all is changed. The mayor steps out into a peaceful city, and walks in unbroken security to his office in the city hall. And where in his boyhood he followed the oxen behind the plow in the cultivation of the unbroken soil, today the giant tractor turns multiple furrows with untiring precision. James Yarbrough has lived through the greatest period of growth the district will probably know. He is a native of Texas by birth, but by marriage and adoption is claimed by Oklahoma. He was born in Panola County, Texas, on July 29, 1861, and he was ten years old when he came with his parents to Panola County in the Chickasaw Nation. Since that time he has been a loyal Oklahoman, and the staunch friend of the Indian, as was his father before him. Indeed, Mr. Yarbrough says that his father's house was ' . a favorite haunt of the Indians of the Chickasaw Nation, and that a great friendship existed between the elder Yarbrough and many of the Indians. Mr. Yarbrough bears an especial regard for them and is quoted as saying: "When I see an old Indian woman wandering aimlessly through the streets with a following of youngsters, or seated somewhere with a look of dejection upon her face, my heart goes out to her with sympathy."
James Yarbrough was the first white child born in Sumpter County, Alabama. His birth occurred on February 28, 1818. He married Elizabeth Smalley, who was born in Tennessee in 1824, and who came of a family that furnished a great number of ministers to the cause of religion. The Yarbroughs moved to Panola County, Texas, after they married, and later moved to Johnston County, Texas. The children born to them were: Harvey; James, who died in infancy; George, who lives in Oregon; John, who married Belle Colbert, a sister of Clarence Colbert; Mollie Elizabeth, and James of this review.
The Yarbrough family is English in its origin, and the American founder came from England to America in young manhood and settled in the Choctaw District in Alabama, in about 1812. He was the grandsire of the subject. His family was reared on the shores of the Tombigbee River, and James died in what was known as Coffey Bend on the Red River in the Chickasaw Nation in 1875. His widow survived him until 1896.
James Yarbrough had his early education in the common schools of Johnson County, Texas, in the schools of the old Chickasaw Nation, and in the schools of Sherman, Texas. He was early trained to the business of fanning and has followed successfully in the steps of his father in that respect. He came into some property from his father, and to that he has added a considerable, so that he is a man of independent fortune today. He has lived in Durant for twenty-two years, and gives much of his time to the superintending of his various farms. He is well known for his skill in the breeding of blooded livestock, and his accomplishments along the lines of thoroughbred poultry are indeed varied. At one time Mr. Yarbrough ran a sales stable in Durant, where he disposed of much of the products of his lands, but he discontinued that phase of his business some years ago. He was for some years vice president of the old Choctaw-Chickasaw National Bank.
In the days of the Choctaw Nation Mr. Yarbrough was never a candidate for office, but since statehood he has been quite active in a political way. He was chairman of the board of county commissioners during one term, and in 1914 he ran for the office of sheriff of Bryan County, but was defeated. In 1915 he was nominated on the democratic ticket for the office of mayor and was elected for a term of two years. He entered upon his official duties on March 21, 1915, and his service thus far has reflected only credit upon him. He has always been a staunch and loyal democrat. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World.
In 1893 Mr. Yarbrough was married to Miss Annie Bouton, of Caddo. She is a daughter of Mrs. Mat Bouton, now the wife of Christine Bates of Durant. Mrs. Yarbrough is the granddaughter of Rev. Israel Folsom, who was a son of Nathaniel Folsom and a brother of the grandfather of Mrs. Grover Cleveland. Nathaniel Folsom was a white man, born in North Carolina, and his father came from Massachusetts.
To Mr. and Mrs. Yarbrough six children have been born. La Vere, aged eighteen, is a student in the Southeastern Normal in Durant; Julian, aged sixteen; Nowita, twelve, and Ingram, aged nine, are attending the public schools of Durant; Madeline is five years old and Edmund is now thirteen months old.
Source: A Standard History of Oklahoma Volume 4 By Joseph Bradfield Thoburn- Submitted by Barb Z.
