Page 91 - Jefferson County AR 1889 History (Goodspeed)

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202 HISTORY O F ARKANSAS.

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1 ing operations, and now owns a b u t 800 acres in let in his left hand. He was captured a short
Niven Township, with 200 acresunder cultivation, ! distance below Corinth and conhed, but daringly
his principal crop being cotton. He was married 1 made his escape one night amid a shower of lead
in 1852 to Miss Martha Redfern, of North Caro- : from his guards. He afterward took part in the

lina, by whom he has had five children, four of battles of Farmersville, Chickamauga, Missionary

them yet living: John W., Archibald B., Dongal I Ridge, Atlanta, Ga., Ft. Mumford and Perry-

M. and Nora I. The one deceased wan Flora. ville. I n 1807 he came to Pine Bluff and wab

/Mr. Niven owns a beautiful home in Pine Bluff, engaged by I". Gi. Smart as book~keeper,remain.

and has an interexting family to make it one of ing with him for one year. He was then connected

the brightest in that city. He and wife are mem- with varions firms in the same capacity for five

1 brrs of the Presbyterian Church, and are always years, and for six years following embarked in

(active and liberal in their snpport of any charit- general merchandise on his own account. During
/able enterprise. Mr.Niven is a prominent mem- this time he diligently studied law, and in Novem- ,
/ber of the Masonic fraternity. ! ber, 1880, was licensed to practice in the cimnit I

T. J . Ormsby, a well.known ~ttorneyand jue- court. I n November of the following year he was

1tice of the peace in Jefferson County, was born in admitted to the United States court, and in April,

Petersburg, Va., on November 2, 1843, being a 1888, to the supreme court. Mr. Ormsby has
son of Joseph W. and Mary S. (Heath) Ormsby, served as county judge on specid oocasions, and

the former a native of Wells River, Conn., and the , for fonrteen years has held the oilice of justice of

motlier from Petersburg. Va. The Ormsbys are ) the peace, filling that position with dignity and

of Scotch origin, whose forefathers came over in wisdom. During the Bmks-Bruter t ~ ~ n b l hees

the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth Rook,after- received a commission from Gov. Brooks as first

I ward settling in Connecticut, and in later years lieutenant of State militia, and afterward was
spreading throughout New York, New Jersey and ' promoted to the rank of captain, in which capacity

other States. The family have always been people he commanded two companies. For the pant five

of prominence, the father having been one of the or six years he has made the profession of law his

most notable lawyers of his day, and practiced entire study, and to-day stands without a peer in

with such men as Dooglas and Lincoln, the one a Jefferson County. Mr. Ormsby has accnmulated

great statesman and tho other our martyred Presi- considerable real estate in Pine Bluff from which

dent. I n 1845 Joseph W. Ormsby moved to he derives a good income. He has nevnr been

iIllinois and settled in Eaeter, Scott County, where mamed, and from all appearances is too well aon-

he practiced his profession, and became one of the ! tented with his life of bachelor ease to part with it

best criminal lawyers in the State, representing for connubial bliss. I n secret societies be is a

his county in the legislature for several terms. I member of the I. 0 . 0. F., and has represented

His death occurred in Adrian, Mich. On the j his lodge at the grand lodge! besides having passed

I /mi.noVthl.regr'l.snl.sai.de I all the chairs. He also belongs to the Masonic I
the family wereof equal prominence fr.tfmity and takes quite a prominent part in the
They were the parenta of only one
i child. T. J. Ormsby, who remained with his mother , affairs of that order.
until her death a t Pine Bluff. T. J. Omsby first Judge J. W. Owen, county and probate judge,
'came to Arkansas in 1858 and locatad in Ashley Pine Bluff, Ark. Originally from Jefferson Coun-

County. I n 1861, when seventeen years of age, ty, Ill., Judge Owen was born on December 29,
he enlisted in the First Arkansas Regiment, with 1840, and is the son of Edward and Sarah (Allen)
the rank of first lieutenant, and served three : Owen, natives of the Old Dominion. The parents

years through the war. He was wounded at Mur- / were married in Tennessee, and subsequently

Ifreesboro by a rifle ball in the right hand, and moved to Illinois, locding in Jefferson County.

.between Chickamanga and Atlanta received a bul- The father wae a prominent agriculturist, and this

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