White-Jackson County ArArchives Biographies.....Humphreys, Thomas ************************************************ 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 June 19, 2009, 10:47 am Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922) THOMAS HUMPHREYS. Thomas Humphreys, mayor of Bradford, to which office he was called through a recognition of his public spirit and devotion to high municipal ideals, was born in Pike county, Ohio, on the 1st of November, 1864, and is a son of J. F. M. and Nancy (Pillers) Humphreys, who were natives of West Virginia and Ohio, respectively. In tracing the ancestral line it is found that the family has long been established on American soil. The great-grandparents lived in West Virginia, where Howell Humphrey, the grandfather, was born. He was employed in connection with iron work at the furnaces and he also engaged in fiat boating on the rivers. For tome time, however, he was foreman in different iron works in West Virginia, but eventually removed to Ohio, where he carried on farming and fruit raising. He married Edith McCracken, a native of West Virginia and both departed this life in Ohio at an advanced age. The maternal ancestry is one of long connection with the Buckeye state, for the grandfather, Cyrus Pillers, was born in Ohio, where he followed farming and fruit raising and also operated a still, but died in early manhood. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Polly Beakman, lived to an advanced age. In their family were nine daughters and one son and those living are: Abbie, Nancy. Elizabeth, Lou and Cyrus. Both the parents died in Ohio. Having attained his majority, J. F. M. Humphreys, then a resident of Ohio, turned his attention to the sawmill business, which he followed in both Pike and Scioto counties, Ohio. He constructed and operated the mills there and also engaged in general lumber manufacturing. He likewise owned land and followed farming in the Buckeye state and in 1885 he removed to Bradford, Arkansas, bringing a sawmill with him. This he put in operation in Jackson county, where he purchased timber land and cutting the trees, sawed the timber. He also manufactured wagon stocks, shingles and lumber of various kinds and continued the operation of his sawmill until his death, which occurred in 1895, when he was fifty-eight years of age, his natal day having been January 13, 1837. Ere his demise he had cleared a half section of land, which he placed under cultivation, devoting it to general farming and stock raising. He thus contributed to the material development of the county and was a man of marked business enterprise and capability. His wife, who was born in 1833, survived him until 1899. They belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church. South, and Mr. Humphreys always voted with the democratic party. Their family numbered six children, five of whom are living: Edgar _., a farmer of Bradford; P. H., who was a merchant of Bradford for some time but now follows farming; Thomas; Mary, who became the wife of W. S. Clark and died in Ohio; J. F. M., a farmer of Bradford; and Minnie, the wife of T. E. Hickman, a druggist, postmaster and farmer of Pleasant Plains, Arkansas. In the acquirement of his education, Thomas Humphreys attended the country schools of Pike county, Ohio, for two or three months in the year, having to walk about three miles to school, where he studied his lessons sitting on homemade benches of split logs, while the other furnishings of the little schoolhouse were equally primitive. He remained with his parents to the age of twenty-seven years and came with them to Arkansas. He afterward purchased land which was partly improved and began the further development and cultivation of a farm, situated on the White river in Jackson county. There he continued until 1905, when he bought a sawmill in White county and devoted the succeeding six years to its operations and the manufacture of wagon stock. At length he sold his interests in the business to his brother, E. L. Humphreys, and purchased forty acres of land near Bradford, since which time he has engaged extensively in the cultivation of strawberries, employing the most modern and scientific methods in the care of his crops. Mr. Humphreys was married to Miss Margaret Shelley, a native of this state and a daughter of R. J. Shelley, a farmer. They now have four children: Frankie, who is employed as a stenographer by the Frisco Railroad at Springfield, Missouri; Irene, the wife of James W. Durham, a farmer of Bradford; Thelma, who died in 1910 at the age of seven years; and Harold T., who was born in 1912 and completes the family. Mr. and Mrs. Humphreys are consistent followers of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. He has always given his political allegiance to the democratic party and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have frequently called him to office. He served for nine years on the school board and was president of the board of commissioners of White and Jackson counties, having in charge the road improvement in district No. 1. For 10 years he has been the mayor of Bradford, his reelection standing in incontrovertible proof of his capability, fidelity and the trust reposed in him. Over the record of his official career there falls no shadow of wrong nor suspicion of evil, for at all times he has been actuated by a most earnest desire to serve the city, giving to it a practical businesslike administration during which he has introduced many needed reforms and improvements in the methods of managing city affairs. 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/white/bios/humphrey116bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/arfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb