Biography of Joseph Warren House, White County, Arkansas *********************************************************** Submitted by: Bonnie Palmer Date: Jun 1997 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ar/white/white.html *********************************************************** From "A Centennial History of Arkansas", edited by Dallas T. Herndon, the Director of the Dept. of Archives & History, published by The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago-Little Rock, 1922. COLONEL JOSEPH WARREN HOUSE The name of Colonel Joseph Warren HOUSE, Sr. is known to nearly everyone throughout the whole of the state of Ark. No man truly or generally beloved by those who know him well. Indeed, the esteem in which he is universally held is closely akin to reverence. He has, during the many years of an eventful life, rounded out a career distinguished by public & private virtues. His outstanding characteristics are a simple & unpretentious manner, a keen sense of humor, a kindly, sympathetic interest in all children, marked chivalry toward women & the highest sense of personal honor. It would seem, therefore, that he comes a near to summing up in himself all the best virtues of the old-fashioned, ideal southern gentleman as ever did any individual. Colonel HOUSE was born June 12, 1847, in Hardeman Co., Tenn., the son of A. B. & Eliza (WILKES) HOUSE, who in 1858 left Tenn. & became residents of White Co., Ark., where their remaining days were passed, the father following the occupation of farming. The son, Joseph Warren HOUSE, attended such country schools as then existed in White Co. & was a youth of but 16 years, when in May, 1863, he responded to the call of the Confederacy & enlisted in Colonel MOSELEY's regiment, with which, with which he served for 2 years, or until after the cessation of hostilities. He then returned to his home & soon afterward entered upon the study of law in the town of West Point, White Co., receiving instruction from an able representative of the bar at that place until admitted to practice in May, 1869. He then entered upon the active work of his profession in Searcy, the county seat of White Co., & in 1885 removed to Little Rock where he has since resided. For 52 years Colonel HOUSE has been a member of the Ark. bar. Advancement in the law is proverbially slow, but surely & steadily Colonel HOUSE worked his way upward, proving his ability by the capable manner in which he handled involved & intricate legal problems. His clientage steadily grew in volume & importance & for many years he has occupied a foremost place in the ranks of the leading lawyers of the commonwealth. Colonel HOUSE has long left the impress of his individuality & his ability upon the political history of the state, yet he has never been a seeker for public office. He has been active in shaping many events which have had to do with political progress in Ark. from the Civil War period on through the days of reconstruction, through the Brooks-Baxter war & in later periods molding the political history of the present decade. In 1871 he was elected to represent his county in the lower house of the state legislature & gave most thoughtful & earnest consideration to all vital questions which came up for settlement while he served in the general assembly. He was elected to the constitutional convention in 1874, being one of the youngest men elected to that now historic body. In spite of his youth he took an active & highly creditable part in framing the fundamental law of Ark., under which the state has been resurrected from the ashes of reconstruction. He is one of 2 or 3 members of that convention who still survive. In 1874-75 he represented the 27th senatorial district, composed of White & Faulkner Counties, in the state senate & during his connection therewith was chairman of the committee on education & as such had a large share in shaping the public school system of the state. He served as US district attorney for the eastern district of ark. during the first & second administrations of Pres. Cleveland & in 1917 he was elected without opposition as delegate to the state constitutional convention, which convened the following year. He delves deep into any question which elicits his attention, studying the problems of the commonwealth from every angle & his support of any measure is based upon a firm belief in its value & efficacy as a factor in good government. The democratic party had long regarded him as one of its ablest exponents in Ark. & there are few men who have figured so long in connection with the political history of the state, while the record of none has been more faultless in honor, fearless in conduct, or stainless in reputation. With establishment of his home in Little Rock in 1885, Col. HOUSE entered upon the active practice of his profession in the capital city, in which he has made a most notable record. His prominence is indicated in the fact that he was honored with the presidency of Ark. State Bar Assoc. for the year 1906-7. For a time he was assoc. with his nephew, Menefee HOUSE, now deceased, in law practice, under the style of HOUSE & HOUSE, but for the greater part of his career he has practiced independently. In 1882 Col. HOUSE was united in marriage to Miss Ina DOWDY, a native of Memphis, Tenn., and to them have been born 2 sons, Joseph W. & Archie F., and 3 daughters, Arline, Mary & Ina. The daughter Arline was married to Alfred M. LUND of the engineering firm of Lund & Hill in Little Rock; Mary became the wife of Horace G. MITCHELL, president of the Democrat Printing & Lithographing Co. of Little Rock; Joseph W., Jr., was married to Julia CLARKE, daughter of the late US senator James P. CLARKE of Little Rock. The family has long occupied a most prominent social position, their residence in Little Rock covering a period of more than a third of a century. Moreover, Col. HOUSE is a representative of one of the old southern families, holding to the high traditions & ideals of the south & ever standing as a splendid example of American manhood & chivalry.