Pulaski County ArArchives Biographies.....Roots, Logan H. 
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Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 June 3, 2009, 10:20 pm

Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)

COLONEL LOGAN H. ROOTS.
    From the time when he first entered Arkansas, Colonel Logan H. Roots was a
devoted and stalwart champion of the state, an untiring worker for its
advancement, an unfaltering supporter of its highest ideals and a most valuable
contributor to all those forces which have made for the greatness and
advancement of the commonwealth. He came to the state as a veteran of the Civil
war and in fact was still an officer of the U. S. A. when he made investment in
a cotton plantation near Little Rock. He became one of the pioneers in the
development of much of Arkansas' greatness, just as his ancestors had taken part
in laying the foundation for New England's settlement and growth. In tracing the
ancestral line one finds that Josiah Roots, in the year 1634, lauded on the New
England coast after crossing the Atlantic on the old sailing ship, Hercules. The
law requirements of that day necessitated that each emigrant bound for the new
world must produce "certificates from the minister where they last dwelt, of
their conversion and conformity to the orders and discipline of the church and
that they had taken the oath of allegiance and supremacy" before being allowed
to embark. Robert Gorsham, curate of Great Chart, England, under date of the
20th of March, 1634, did certify not only of "ye sayd Josiah Rootes," but also
of "hys familie ancestrie," facts obtained from the "parish records and other
bookes of entrie" and "certify'd," showing that the Rootes family, of Norman
origin, had been largely interfused with Saxon blood and that representatives of
the name were "ever reputed valyant in war and honourabel in peace." Moreover,
the members of the family were represented as men of "great statturs," possessed
of keen minds, inflexible integrity, thrift and independence and practical
godliness. These sterling traits have been marked in each successive generation
down to the present time. Among the descendants of Josiah Rootes in the fourth
generation was the Rev. Peter Philanthropos Roots, A. M., who was a
distinguished Baptist clergyman and the author of a volume on haptism. He also
spent eighteen years in the mission field, preaching in seventeen different
states in the Union and also in Canada, traveling more than two thousand miles
in this work and delivering more than two hundred sermons annually. His life was
one of great usefulness and activity and he died at his home in Mendon, New
York, December 26, 1828, when in the sixty-third year of his age.

    Benajah Guernsey Roots, the youngest son of the Rev. Peter Philanthropos
Roots, was born in Fabius, New York, April 20, 1811, and became a resident of
Illinois in 1838. He left the impress of his individuality in large measure upon
the history of his adopted state, especially in connection with his earnest and
effective championship of the cause of public education. He became the president
of the state board of education of Illinois and at the same time contributed in
large measure to organized efforts for moral development, being an active member
of Bible societies, Sabbath schools and other organizations for religious work.
He was likewise identified with various benevolent societies and, moreover, was
connected with agricultural societies looking to the further material
development of the state. He was married October 20, 1834, to Martha Sibley Holt
of Wilmington, Tolland county, Connecticut, and-they became the parents of three
sons who reached adult age: Oliver Guernsey, who was born in Wilmington,
Connecticut, April 11, 1836, and who died November 3, 1856, at New Orleans,
Louisiana, where he was acting as principal of a high school; Philander Keep,
who was born at Wilmington, Connecticut, June 4, 1838, and who became a valued
resident of Little Rock; and Logan Holt, whose name introduces this review.
Martha, a daughter of the family, is the wife of J. C. Kimzey of Duquoin, Illinois.

    Colonel Logan Holt Roots was born in Tamaroa, Perry county, Illinois, March
26, 1841. His home training had definite effect upon bis character. Into him
were instilled the principles of kindliness and tenderness, as well as of
indomitable integrity and inflexible honor. He was taught courtesy and respect
for his elders and was constantly impressed with the fact that life is a
reality, carrying with it many duties and burdens and that character is best
developed and refined in the university of hard knocks. There were comparatively
few play-days in his youth. He was stimulated to acquire the best education
possible and he early displayed special aptitude in mathematics. When but
fifteen years of age he was occupying a man's position in connection with the
civil engineering corps engaged in railroad location and construction. Ambitious
to further his education he entered the Illinois State Normal University when a
youth in his sixteenth year, being the youngest male student in that
institution. He afterward taught school for a year and then returned to the
university, where he was graduated with valedictorian honors as a member of the
class of 1862. The Civil war was already in progress and his patriotic spirit
prompted immediate enlistment. He joined the army before returning to his home
and became an officer of the Eighty-first Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. His
business qualifications led to his appointment as quartermaster of the regiment
and soon afterward he was transferred to the commissary department of the army,
with which he continued until the close of hostilities, winning rapid promotion.
He served on General Sherman's staff during the notable march from Atlanta to
the sea, having charge of the entire supplies for the vast army under Sherman's
command. As a member of the general's staff he participated in the grand review
in Washington, D. C, in May, 1865, and when General Sherman came west Colonel
Roots was assigned to duty in Arkansas.

    The natural advantages of the state at once attracted him and before
resigning his position as an officer of the army he had purchased a cotton
plantation. He greatly developed his property, making it a paying investment,
and as the years passed he came more and more into prominence as a public
official. In 1872 he was elected to the presidency of the Merchants' National
Bank and instituted a most safe and conservative policy, yet one that did not
interfere with substantial progress and growth. In tact, under his guidance the
hank developed so continuously that it became the foremost financial institution
of the state and its thorough reliability was impregnable. It was his great
ambition to aid materially in the development and upbuilding of the southwest
and to this end he became closely associated with various banking institutions,
which constitute the real heart of the commercial body, indicating the
healthfulness of trade. He was quick to extend aid to manufactories and this aid
was always based upon a firm belief in the value of the enterprise. His judgment
was particularly sound and his discrimination keen. Beyond his banking business
he had large investments in cotton-seed oil mills and in many manufacturing
enterprises of Arkansas. He was a member of the directorate of the gas light,
cotton mills, waterworks, state fair association, cooperate interests and other
important companies having to do with the steady development of the
commonwealth. He was likewise one of the directors and a member of the executive
committee of the Texas & St. Louis Railroad and he became the president and
largest stockholder of the Southwestern Telegraph & Telephone Company, which
company was the licensee of all telephone exchanges in Galveston, Houston, San
Antonio, Austin, Waco, Dallas and Fort Worth. In fact Colonel Roots was the
father of the telephone system of the southwest and the value of his service in
this connection cannot be overestimated.

    On the 9th of August, 1871, Colonel Roots was married to Miss Emily M.
Blakeslee, daughter of Lyman C. Blakeslee and a native of western New York, born
in 1844. She represented one of the old families of the Empire state, several
generations of the name having there resided. Her father became the
superintendent of the largest oil producing company in the oil regions of
Pennsylvania, with headquarters at Bradford. Her mother was a sister of C. D.
Angell, the originator of Angell's Belt Theory, in the oil regions. In young
womanhood Mrs. Roots taught school in southern Illinois from 1864 until 1866
inclusive. She always adhered to the faith of the Episcopal church, with which
her ancestors were connected through several generations, and she became the
president of the Ladies' Aid Society of the Episcopal church in Little Rock,
thus instituting much splendid work.

    Colonel and Mrs. Roots became the parents of seven children, but four sons
are deceased. Those living are: Frances Emily, born March 23, 1874; Miriam, born
June 11, 1879; and Lois Helen, born October 18, 1884.

    Like his wife, Colonel Roots belonged to the Episcopal church and was a
generous contributor to its work. Politically he was a republican and he was
identified with several fraternal and social organizations. He had been a
resident of Arkansas for only a brief period when he was appointed collector of
internal revenue without his solicitation and held the office until elected to
represent Arkansas in congress, serving as the youngest member of both the
fortieth and forty-first congresses. He was most loyal to the interests of his
adopted state and stanchly and effectively championed plans and measures of
great benefit to the commonwealth. While at all times he kept in close touch
with the trend of political thought and progress, he was never a politician in
the sense of office seeking and the positions which he filled came to him as a
tribute iu his ability and to his loyalty in all matters of citizenship. He
inherited the sterling traits of his character and he developed these traits
through a life of great activity and usefulness. His prominence is shown through
the fact that the military post located just outside of Little Rock, and which
he was largely instrumental in securing, was named in his honor. His last
journey to Washington and Chicago was made in the interests of the military
post. There are, indeed, many evidences of his loyalty to his adopted city and
state and of his devotion to those causes which contributed most to its
upbuilding and progress. He continued a resident of Little Rock until his
demise, which occurred May 30, 1893, when he was fifty-two years of age. With
his forcefulness and resourcefulness he combined high standards that made his
labor of great benefit and, looking beyond the exigencies of the moment, he
worked for the future with its boundless opportunities. Colonel Roots was a
gentleman of most obliging disposition and genial nature and it has been said
that he never spoke an unkind word of anyone. Life with him was real and earnest
and he left the world better for his having lived.


Additional Comments:

Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


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