Biography of H M McVeigh, Mississippi Co, AR ********************************************************************* USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free Information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. Submitted by: Michael Brown Date: Sep 1998 ********************************************************************* Bibliography: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas. Chicago: Goodspeed Publishers, 1890. Hon. H. M. McVeigh, attorney, Osceola. Mr. McVeigh is one of those men, too few in number, who fully recognize the truth so often urged by the sages of the law, that of all men, the reading and thought of a lawyer should be the most extended. Systematic reading gives a more comprehensive grasp to the mind, variety and richness to thought, and a clearer perception of the motives of men and the principles of things; indeed, of the very spirit of laws. This he has found most essential in the prosecution of his professional practice. Mr. McVeigh was born in Fauquier County, Va., in 1839, and was the second in a family of ten children born to Hiram and Mary E. (White) McVeigh, both natives of Virginia. The father was engaged in commercial pursuits until his death, in 1865. The mother is still living and resides in her native State. Mr. McVeigh is a self-educated man, having had no advantages other than the common schools. His father, having failed in business, was not able to give him a collegiate education, and, when fourteen years of age, young McVeigh entered a printing office and learned that art. When about eighteen years of age, he began the [p.533] study of law and partly supported himself by acting as local editor of a daily paper. In 1860 and 1861 he studied law at Hannibal, Mo., and was admitted to the bar at that place the summer before he was twenty-one years of age. While pursuing his legal studies he also edited, for a short time, the Hannibal (Mo.) Daily Messenger, and during his experience as a printer he worked at the case in the office of the Hannibal Courier, Quincy (Ill.) Daily Herald, Keokuk (Iowa) Gate City, Palmyra (Mo.) Sentinel, Huntsville (Mo.) Citizen, and the Mexico (Mo.) Ledger; also other papers. During this time he carefully studied the style in which the editors expressed their thoughts, and paid particular attention to the style of the selected matter. When sixteen years of age he began to write paragraphs, which were accepted and printed by the editors. At the outbreak of the late Civil War, being a native Virginian, and trained to believe that his State, like the king, “could do no wrong,” he responded to the call of Gov. Jackson, of Missouri, for troops, and went into camp under Gen. T. Harris, of Northeast Missouri. He was present and participated in several conflicts between the Federal and Confederate troops in Missouri, and after the siege and battle of Lexington, in which he took part, he was appointed assistant ordnance officer, with the rank of lieutenant. Upon the disbanding of the Missouri State Guards, he received authority to recruit a company for the Confederate service, but was captured in Northeast Missouri by a Federal cavalry regiment, and, after remaining a prisoner on parole for nearly a year, was finally exchanged. He again entered the Confederate service, and remained in active duty in the Trans- Mississippi department from the winter of 1862 until the surrender, at which time he was the enrolling officer of Mississippi County. After the close of the conflict, and immediately upon the organization of the courts of Arkansas, Mr. McVeigh began the practice of law in that State. He also began a regular systematic course of study, supplied himself with books, and soon had in his possession translations of all the ancient classics, and the best English standard works on history, poetry and essays. A taste for reading thus acquired he continues to this day, and has thus given himself an education particularly adapted to his situation and circumstances in life. It will be seen from this account, that though without a thorough early education, he has so improved the later years of his life that he is now known throughout the State as a gentleman of literary ability and learning. He was married on November 1, 1864, to Miss Susan Fletcher, a native of Mississippi County, Ark., and the daughter of Col. Elliot H. Fletcher, a distinguished citizen of Arkansas [see sketch]. Mr. McVeigh continued to devote himself exclusively to the practice of law until 1872, when he was nominated by acclamation as the Democratic candidate to represent Mississippi County in the State legislature. He had been nominated by the Democrats in 1870, but, on account of a severe attack of malarial fever, which confined him to his bed, he declined to be a candidate at that time. However, he accepted the nomination in 1872 and at once entered upon his canvass, meeting in debate Judge Charles Fitzpatrick, then the leader of the opposite party in Mississippi County. It was during the fall of this year that the race trouble broke out in this county, resulting in the death of the sheriff and the invasion of the town of Osceola by from 400 to 500 armed negroes, who threatened to burn and destroy the place. Mr. McVeigh was in the town when the negroes entered, and, mounting a platform in front of a store (the same upon which the sheriff had been killed the day before), he called the insurgents around him and addressed them in the interest of peace and order. They listened attentively, although very menacing at first, and at the conclusion of a fifteen minutes' speech he put it to a vote as to whether they should peaceably disperse and go to their homes. They voted in the affirmative, and at the end of a half hour, the town was cleared of their presence, and the threatened damage averted, for at least the time being. It will be seen in the historical portion of the volume the final result of this insurrection. In the fall Mr. McVeigh was elected to the legislature. During the session, which commenced in January, 1873, he introduced the bill to found the Arkansas asylum for the insane, a [p.534] measure which originated with him, and which he had declared his intention to bring about before he went to the capital. The bill was referred to the committee on ways and means, and, after many delays, that committee reported against the passage of the bill. Mr. McVeigh, through a friend, asked for a consideration of the bill in committee of the whole House, and on February 4, 1873, he made a speech in favor of the same that caused his name to be known throughout the State of Arkansas. The committee rose, and unanimously reported in favor of the bill. The next day it passed the House, almost unanimously, passed the Senate by a similar vote, was signed by the governor and became a law. The appropriation, owing to the depreciation of State scrip, in consequence of the Brooks-Baxter war, which immediately followed, was insufficient to carry on the work, and the building was not erected until Mr. McVeigh was returned to the legislature, in 1881. He brought the subject up again, and the legislature made a sufficient appropriation to complete the work. This magnificent structure was opened for the reception of patients in 1882, and the very first article to be placed in the parlor of the asylum was a life size oil painting of Mr. McVeigh, placed there by the board of trustees in acknowledgment of his earnest and successful efforts in behalf of the insane of the State. Mr. McVeigh took a very active interest in the legislature of 1873, always aiming to advance the real interests of the State. He made an effective speech against Brooks' petition to contest the right of Gov. Baxter to hold the office of governor. His speech against the metropolitan police bill, against the so-called civil rights bill and other extreme and revolutionary measures, introduced at this session, were highly commended by all parties at that time. Upon the adjournment of the legislature Mr. McVeigh was appointed prosecuting attorney for the Eleventh judicial circuit, composed of Poinsett, Cross, St. Francis, Crittenden and Mississippi Counties. He held this position for nearly two years, or until the adoption of the present State constitution, and to the entire satisfaction of the good people of the circuit. He continued to practice law with increasing success until the year 1880, when he was again urged to become a candidate for representative. He was elected by a large plurality, and served through the session of 1881. He was an active member of the House, and during the session induced the legislature to adopt the law limiting the right to donate the public lands to actual settlers. The measure was advocated while making his canvass before the electors of Mississippi County. On the 4th of July, 1881, by invitation, he addressed an audience of over 6,000 people at Ozark, Ark., on the subject of Local Option. In 1883 he was appointed by the governor as one of the board of visitors to the State University and there, by invitation of the students of the institution, he delivered the commencement oration. His subject was “The Responsibility of Freemen.” The governor of the State, the president, Gen. D. H. Hill, the faculty of the university, senators and representatives in Congress, judges and distinguished men from different parts of the State were present, besides the students and citizens living in the vicinity. The address was highly commended both by the press and by all present. On September 24, 1883, Mr. McVeigh was proposed and elected a member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, an honor unsought and unexpected by him. He is also a member of the Arkansas Historical Society. He has written the “Primitive History of Arkansas” during the French and Spanish occupation; giving an account of the settlement in the State for the last century, beginning with Henry De Tonti's settlement at Arkansas Post, in 1685. The work is in manuscript and was undertaken merely to preserve the early history of the State, and not from a desire for literary distinction. He has given a full account of the invasion of the country by De Soto, his line of march, and has taken great pains to identify the localities mentioned by the historians who accompanied that expedition. Except the time Mr. McVeigh served in the legislature, he has been engaged exclusively in the practice of law, and no man in Eastern Arkansas has been more assiduous in his devotion to the duties of his profession. His business has always been very good, and he has made it the aim [p.535] of his life to deserve the implicit confidence of his clients. Had Mr. McVeigh's lot been cast in a more central or thickly settled county, his oratorical powers and literary attainments must have placed him in the prominent ranks of noted men; as it is, he is earnestly working in the practice of his profession and only ambitious for the good-will of his fellow-men. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. McVeigh were born nine children: Frances, the eldest daughter, married, June 25, 1889, the Rev. G. H. Smith, of Independence County, Ark., a talented young minister of the Methodist denomination; Elliot, Jesse, Anna Bland, Agnes, Rose, and Susan, are the ones now living; and those deceased are Sallie, at the age of four years, and Mary, who died at the age of fourteen. The family are members of the Episcopal Church.