Tishomingo County Biographies
Tishomingo County Biographies
Levi Franklin Gable.
The life history of Levi Franklin Gable, now one of the most prosperous and highly esteemed residents of Dawson, is lacking in no detail that makes interesting biography. Beginning life handicapped by lack of educational or other advantages, a soldier when still in his early 'teens, thrown upon his own resources before he had reached man's estate, a pioneer in a new and untried country, gradually fighting his way upward in spite of the most discouraging circumstances, and finally winning financial independence and the respect of his fellow men—such are the salient points in a career crowded with interesting events and characterized at all times by a faithful adherence to high principles.
Mr. Gable has been a resident of Navarro county since September, 1885, when he came hither from Tishomingo county, Mississippi. He was born in Anderson District, South Carolina, July 29, 1847, and in 1852 his parents left that locality and moved to Mississippi, where he secured scarcely any education, the struggle between the South and the North coming on at his most critical school period. His father, Henry Gable, was a small farmer, and became captain of the Home Guard during the Civil War. He was born also in South Carolina, and died in Tishomingo county, Mississippi, at past eighty years of age, while the mother, Martha Hanks, a daughter of George Hanks, passed away at the age of sixty- five years. Their children were as follows: J. Asberry, who died while in the Confederate service; Eveline, who married Paul Finch of Tishomingo county, Mississippi; George, who contracted a disease at Ft. Donaldson as a wearer of the gray and died at Granada, Mississippi; Stacy, who passed through the war in the Confederate service, but died soon after the close of the struggle, in Pemiscot county, Missouri; Levi Franklin of this review; Elizabeth, who married Henry Pitts and resides near Dawson, Texas; Jane, who married William Vinson and lives at Dawson; Cordie, who married Jonathan Boldeu of Lomepa, Texas, and Tina, who married Jack Tankersley of Mississippi.
Levi F. Gable joined the Confederate army in 1864, enlisting in the Seventh Alabama Cavalry, Moreland's regiment and Forrest's command. He saw service in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and took part in a lot of skirmishing; also at Athens, Alabama; Pulaski, Tennessee; Sulphur Trestle and Decatur, Alabama; Monte Valley, and on down to Selma. The command was demoralized during the last campaign, and scattered, and Mr. Gable, with others, made his way home. He never surrendered and never reported to a Federal officer for parole. After the war, Mr. Gable went out to Pemiscot county, Missouri, and remained for three years, accepting such honorable employment as presented itself. He then returned to his home, but again went back to the West, at Fort Smith and the Indian Nation, and one year afterward again went back home, without having accomplished anything worth while. Soon after going home, October 5, 1874, Mr. Gable married Miss Elizabeth Milford, a daughter of John and Frances B. Kay Milford, who was originally from Anderson District, South Carolina.
Mr. Gable began about as humble a married life as could be imagined. He possessed one pony, and rented land on shares, and during the first fall gathered his crop and came out about even with the world. His first home was a log house, furnished with primitive furniture, worth perhaps twenty-five dollars. He was without a rook-stove, a sewing-machine, or a rocking-chair, and for a wagon he spliced in with a neighbor and made a team and vehicle. When he found himself at the close of business the first year just where he started, in the spring he proposed to his wife that they wear their old clothes and eat corn bread and thus stay out of debt the next year, and this she agreed to do. They lived on the same place again, and his record established for paying as he went has been maintained ever since, save for indebtedness made when he purchased his first home in Texas. When he left Mississippi, Mr. Gable sold all of his property and came away with $350. Mr. Gable came out to Texas on a prospecting tour first, at the suggestion of his wife, and, after looking over much of the black-land region of North Texas, as well as the central portion of the state, selected Navarre county, and returned and informed his wife that he could do better in Texas than in Mississippi. She consented to come, and they located at Dawson, the best place he had found on his exploration, and here he achieved his first success.
Mr. Gable's first work on coming to Texas was as a cotton picker on the black land for W. T. Moore at fifty cents a hundred and board for himself and family, while Mrs. Gable helped Mrs. Moore do the work about the house. In his efforts to secure a place on which to live he failed, as did his employer in finding a place for rent, and, about discouraged, was on the point of leaving the locality when Mr. Moore asked him one day if he were willing to take the "Allen Carroll place." Allen Carroll was a Negro in the last stages of consumption, and Mr. Gable hesitated for a time, but finally agreed, because of his desperate situation, and accordingly moved into the little home after thoroughly scouring and scalding it. During the three years he lived there, Mr. Gable declares, he never enjoyed himself more in his life. Wild game was plentiful, turkey and deer abounded, and, as he loved sport with the gun, he lived chiefly on wild game while it lasted. He made money every year on that place, and subsequently moved on the ridge where Mr. Moore had lived, and spent two years there, then going to '' high prairie'' and buying a home of 129 acres, with a good house and barn—the best in the county at that time. He paid eighteen dollars an acre for this land, giving $1,000 down and notes for the balance, payable in one and two years. At the end of the time his land was paid for, and he owed no man, having found it no trouble to make money where there was an earnest will and domestic harmony. In the fall he piled up from forty to eighty bales of cotton from that place, and found himself becoming very independent, so purchased a tract of fifty acres, at twenty-five dollars an acre, spot cash, and in a few years purchased another fifty acres, adjoining, at forty-two and one-half dollars an acre.
At that time Mr. Gable had reached a point where the education of his children became a matter of concern, and, as the facilities in this locality were very poor, he moved to Dawson and purchased the B. B. Marsh residence for $1500 spot cash. He continued to farm actively and to add to his holdings, and prospered all the way along the road. Mr. Gable is a Democrat, but has not bothered with politics and no secret order has troubled him with its wiles. He has built several cottages in Dawson, which contribute to his income. His religious connection is with the Methodist church, which he has supported generously.
Mr. Gable's children are as follows:
George Warren of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, president of the State Normal School; Oscar E., a teacher in Wesley College, Greenville, Texas; Ellis, superintendent of the schools of Forney, Texas; Maud, the wife of Felix Davis, a farmer near Dawson; May, the widow of Dr. Frank Smith of Dawson; Ethel, who married W. J. Eochelle of Corsicana, Texas; Miss Tina, an English teacher in the Devine (Texas) High School; James J. and Blanche, a junior at Southwestern. Mr. Gable's achievements have been many and notable, yet what he considers the best work of his life has been the education of his children, all of whom have been well fitted for the places in life, which they have been called upon to fill, and all of whom are proving themselves worthy of their education and training. George Warren is a graduate of Georgetown and Chicago Universities and began teaching in the country. His graded school work was done at Groesbeck, Frost and Kerens, in Texas, and at Duncan and Checota, Oklahoma, where he was principal, following which he was appointed to his present high position. Oscar is a graduate of Georgetown University, as is Ellis. Maud was a teacher for eight years before her marriage and received a thorough training. May was well educated and was a teacher of elocution for several years. Ethel was a teacher for five years prior to her marriage. Miss Tina is a graduate of Georgetown University, James J. is a student of the class of 1915 in a medical college at Oklahoma City and Miss Blanche holds a state teacher's certificate.
[Source: "A History of Texas and Texans" By Francis White Johnson, Eugene Campbell Barker, Ernest William Winkler, Published by American Historical Society, 1914 - Transcribed by K. Torp]
JOHN MARSHALL STONE
THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR STONE.
John M. Stone, a native of the neighboring State of Tennessee, born in Giles county in the year 1830, but for many years a citizen of Tishomingo county, Mississippi, became the twenty-first Governor of the commonwealth, and the fourth under the Constitution formulated in 1868 and adopted in 1869.
John M. Stone entered the Confederate service as a company commander in the Second Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, and after the resignation of Col. Wm. C. Falkner became the Colonel of that regiment. He served throughout the entire war, and earned the reputation of being a courageous, zealous and patriotic soldier. On more than one occasion he commanded the brigade to which his regiment was attached, in action with the enemy.
At the close of the war Col. Stone was elected by the people to the position of Treasurer of Tishomingo county. In 1875. the year of the great redemption of Mississippi, he was elected by the people of Tishomingo county as their representative in the State Senate. When the Legislature assembled in January, 1876, Senator Stone was elected President pro tempore of the Senate, and after the conviction and removal of Lieutenant-Governor Davis, and the resignation of Governor Ames—under charges of impeachment—succeeded to the chief magistracy of the commonwealth.
Col. Stone became Governor at the termination of a great revolution, after seven years of misrule, outrage and robbery. It was no easy task to bring order out of the chaos which was characteristic of the governments of the Southern States during the period of reconstruction. For the most part, the public offices of the State, and a large number of the county offices were filled with men whose only object seemed to be to outrage, oppress and to plunder the people. The Governor, however, was a calm, resolute, sensible and honest man, and he was zealously sustained by an exceedingly intelligent, able and patriotic Legislature. Before the united and harmonious co-operation of the legislative and executive branches of the government, all difficulties disappeared as rapidly as mist before the morning sun.
The two years incumbency of Governor Stone was so satisfactory to the people in the peace and order that had fallen upon every county in the State, in the reduction of the ruinous rates of taxation, and in the economy which had been enforced in every department of the government, that Governor Stone was nominated for election to the office of chief magistrate for the full constitutional term of four years. He was elected in November, 1877, and was inducted into office in January, 1878.
How Jno. M. Stone performed the onerous duties imposed upon him, the people of Mississippi know full well. He gave to the State able, learned and honest judges, as well of the inferior courts, as of the supreme tribunal of the last resort. Governor Stone by his judicial appointments elevated the character of the courts of the State to a plane they had not known since the accursed reign of radicalism began.
During the administration of Governor Stone the Legislature established the Agricultural and Mechanical College, near Starkville, and it was immediately put in operation under the able supervision of its President, General Stephen D. Lee, under whose wise management it has attained phenomenal success, and has led to the organization of many similar institutions, particularly in the Southern States of the Union.
Governor Stone, after an interval of eight years, was elected to the chief magistracy of the commonwealth in November, 1889, as the successor of Governor Lowry, and was inducted into office in the January following.
[Source: "A History of Mississippi: From the Discovery of the Great River by Hernando DeSoto, Including the Earliest Settlement Made by the French Under Iberville, to the Death of Jefferson Davis" By Robert Lowry, William H. McCardle; Published by R.H. Henry & Co., 1891 - Transcribed by K. Torp]
PERRY HENDERSON, of Athens, representative in the Legislature, 1915, from Limestone county, was born Nov. 23, 1841, in Tishomingo county, Mississippi, and is the son of Robert McNiece and Sarah (Alexander) Henderson, and the grandson of Richard and Mary (Tinsley) Henderson, and of William Alexander, of Tishomingo county. The Hendersons were immigrants from South Carolina to Wilson county, Tennessee. Thence after a year's residence, Richard Henderson moved to Limestone county in territorial times, and there lived as a farmer until his death. Robert M. Henderson was born and reared in Limestone county ; lived for some years in Tishomingo county, Miss., where he married ; and returned to Limestone county, where he lived until his death. He was a school teacher. Representative Henderson was educated in the common schools of Limestone county. He enlisted in Co. H. 9th Ala. Inf. Regt., C. S. A., May, 1861, and served throughout the war. He is a farmer ; was county surveyor 1884-94 ; tax assessor 1894-1907: and city clerk of Athens, 1907-1910. He is a Democrat; is a Baptist, and for twenty-two years clerk of the Liberty Baptist Association, excepting 1907, when he was its moderator; and is a Mason and a Knight of Pythias. He was married in Limestone county, July 27, 1867, to Mrs. Martha Tennessee (Black) Neil, the daughter of John and Martha T. (Morris) Black, who first lived in Giles county, Tennessee, but later in Limestone county.
[Source: "Alabama Official and Statistical Register" By Alabama Dept. of Archives and History, Thomas McAdory Owen; Compiled by Thomas McAdory Owen. Published by State of Alabama, Dept. of Archives and History, 1915 - Transcribed by K. Torp]
Judge R. A. Hill, who had been a member of the Whig party before the war, was an influential Republican leader throughout the reconstruction period. He was born in North Carolina in 1811; moved from Tennessee to Tishomingo county, Mississippi, in 1855, and engaged in the practice of law. In 1858 he was elected probate judge, which position he held even during the war "by the consent of both sides," but with a restricted jurisdiction. He was appointed judge of the United States court of Mississippi, May 1, 1866. After the war closed, Judge Hill was appointed chancellor of his district by Provisional Governor Sharkey. He held this office until he was appointed on the Federal bench by President Johnson, who knew him personally.
Judge Hill was opposed to secession and considered it most unfortunate, but no man did more to alleviate the sufferings and sorrows that fell on his people as a result of this step. He was an honest, upright man, and had none of the traits common to most scalawags. Unionists and secessionists had equal confidence in him, and he knew no difference between them in his sympathies. There were few judges who passed through such troublous times and met with so many difficult problems as did Judge Hill. He was district judge with the powers of circuit judge, in the northern district of Mississippi, in which no other judge exercised jurisdiction until May 1, 1889. He took an active part in framing the constitution of 1868, though not a member of the convention. For a number of years he was a trustee of the university. His impartial and enlightened course on the bench secured for him universal confidence and respect
[Source: "Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society" v. 13, By Mississippi Historical Society, Published 1913 - Transcribed by K. Torp]
Col. W. H. H. Tyson was born in Jackson County, Alabama, November 6, 1822, and was killed at Baldwyn December 4, 1882. When he was a small boy his father removed to Tishomingo County, Mississippi. Colonel Tyson was a self-made man, having obtained most of his education at odd times while working as a saddler. At the age of twenty-three he began the publication of the Eastport Republican at Carrollville, now an extinct town. It was while editing this paper that he made his strong fight against know-nothingism in Mississippi. In 1856 he was elected to represent Tishomingo County in the Legislature. In 1850 he was appointed by President Buchanan as United States Marshal for the Northern District of Mississippi. In his application for this position he had the support of his life-long friend, Hon. Jacob Thompson.
When the war broke out he organized a company, the "Jacob Thompson Guards," which became part of the Nineteenth regiment of Mississippi volunteers. After serving a year in Virginia he was made colonel of the Thirty-second Mississippi volunteers. He was in many important battles in Virginia and Georgia, being wounded once at Resaca and once at Franklin. As a soldier throughout the entire period he won an enviable reputation.
After the war Colonel Tyson was in the lead in North Mississippi fighting the reconstruction measures. He was disfranchised for years, but he was nevertheless the strongest worker in Mississippi against the Constitution framed by the carpetbaggers, and submitted to the people for ratification. He probably did more towards the impeachment of Governor Ames than did any other man. After his disabilities were removed he was elected to represent Lee County in the Legislature, and was successively re-elected until his death. He was at the time of his death Speaker of the House of Representatives. Perhaps no other man has rendered more faithful service in the State Legislature than Colonel Tyson, as is shown by the journal of the lower house at that time. For fuller account of this illustrious man, see Goodspeed's Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi, Vol. II, p. 913.
[Source: "Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society" v. 10, By Mississippi Historical Society - pub. 1909 -- Transcribed by K. Torp]
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