Pope-Johnson County ArArchives Biographies.....McKennon, G. C. ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ar/arfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 July 29, 2009, 9:02 pm Source: See Additional Comments Below Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922) G. C. McKENNON, D. D. S. A well equipped office and marked skill in practice have enabled Dr. G. C. McKennon to gain a position of prominence in the ranks of the dental fraternity of Russellville, with which he has been identified for over a quarter of a century, being the dean of his profession in Pope county. He is a native son of Arkansas and a member of one of the old and highly respected families of the state. His birth occurred at Clarksville on the 13th of November, 1869, and his parents were A. S. and Virginia (Berry) McKennon, the former of whom was born in Pulaski county, Tennessee, in 1841, while the latter was a native of Virginia. The father received limited educational advantages and when a youth of seventeen came to Arkansas, securing a position as clerk in a store at Carrollton. He was called to public office, serving as sheriff of Carroll county, and later he removed to Clarksville, becoming one of the leading merchants of that place. Subsequently he completed a course in law and successfully followed his profession at Clarksville, building up a large practice and winning recognition as an able attorney. He served as prosecuting attorney and also represented Johnson county in the state legislature, being urged to accept still higher public offices, but refused. He was appointed by President Cleveland a member of the Dawes commission at McAlester, Oklahoma, and for nine years was identified with that body, after which he became attorney for the Seminole Indians, with headquarters at Wewoka, Oklahoma. He also conducted a law office at McAlester, Oklahoma, and was one of the most prominent men of that state and also of Arkansas. While residing in the Bear state he was elected prosecuting attorney of his district, which comprised the western tier of counties lying between Little-Rock and Fort Smith, this being during the early days when lawlessness held sway in the state. He waged a determined warfare against evildoers and within a few years succeeded in eliminating crime from this section, thus reducing the necessity for holding court in these various counties from four weeks per term to a week or ten days. It was also owing to his untiring efforts that every saloon between Little Rock and Van Buren, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles, was forced out of business. He was a strong prohibitionist and did more to promote the cause than any one man either in Arkansas or Oklahoma. Although his educational opportunities were extremely meager during his youth, he was a close student and a keen observer and he became in his later years an exceptionally well informed man. He was a veteran of the Civil war, in which he served as a captain in the Confederate army, and was captured at Port Hudson, being a prisoner on Johnson's island at the close of the conflict. He gave unfaltering support to the democratic party and both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. In Masonry he attained the honorary thirty-third degree and was an exemplary representative of the craft. He was deeply interested in the cause of education and was the first president of the board of trustees of Hendrix College, giving to the students of that institution a medal for high scholarship—a gift that is continued by the subject of this review. He died at McAlester, Oklahoma, on the 20th of September, 1920, at the age of seventy-nine, having for many years survived his first wife, whose demise had occurred in 1874. when she was but thirty-five years of age. She was a sister of Senator James H. Berry of Bentonville. Arkansas, who is represented elsewhere in this work. To the first union were born five children, of whom three survive; Mrs. Minnie Mulcahey, a resident of Chicago, Illinois; G. C. of this review; and Mrs. Gene Towell, whose home is at Hot Springs, Arkansas. Following the death of his first wife. Mr. McKennon married Miss Hannah Basham, a sister of J. H. Basham of Clarksville. and she is also deceased. They became the parents of nine children, of whom five are living, namely: P. D., a leading dentist of Fort Smith, Arkansas: Mrs. Basham Brice. who resides in Colorado; Mrs Rose Leinbach of Onaga, Kansas: Mrs. Louise Mourning, who lives at McAlester, Oklahoma; and Mrs. R. L. Kilgore, a resident of Wichita Falls, Texas. In the acquirement of an education G. C. McKennon attended the grammar and high schools of Clarksville. after which he was for two years a student at the Arkansas State University. He then entered the dental college of Vanderbilt University at Nashville. Tennessee, being graduated therefrom with the class of 1895, and in the same year opened an office in Russellville, although he had previously practiced at points in Texas and Oklahoma during vacation periods. Throughout the intervening period of twenty-seven years he has maintained the same office and has devoted his life to the profession, being the oldest practicing dentist in Pope county. He possesses the mechanical skill and ingenuity which are so essential in this profession and adds thereto a comprehensive knowledge of the broad scientific principles upon which his work rests. As time has passed his practice has enjoyed a continuous growth and it is now one of large proportions. He also has other interests, being a director of the Peoples Exchange Bank, and he likewise owns two valuable pieces of property in the business section of Russellville. In 1895 Dr. McKennon was united in marriage to Miss Rose Griffin, who was born near Clarksville, a daughter of B. F. Griffin, who was at one time county treasurer of Johnson county, Arkansas. They have become the parents of four sons: Frank Archibald, a prominent dentist of Waxahachie. Texas: Berry Peel, who is assistant to the chief clerk of the Rock Island Railroad freight office at Little Rock; George C, Jr., who for the past three years has been a student in the dental college of Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee; and Forrest Lee, who is attending high school. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and they reside in an attractive home standing in the midst of twelve acres of land on the outskirts of Russellville, the property being owned by Dr. McKennon. Like his father, he gives his political allegiance to the democratic party, while his fraternal connections are with the Masons, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights of Pythias, and of the last named organization he has been chancellor commander. When he arrived in Russellville his financial resources were extremely limited and he was obliged to borrow the sum of one hundred dollars in order to furnish his office, but his enterprising spirit, unfaltering purpose and pronounced ability were invaluable assets, and as the years have passed he has worked his way steadily to the front in his profession, being numbered among Russellville's self-made men and most valued citizens. Additional Comments: Citation: Centennial History of Arkansas Volume II Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1922 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/pope/bios/mckennon341bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/arfiles/ File size: 7.7 Kb