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George W. Johnstone.  Nowhere in Pope, County, Ark., is there to be found a man of more energy, determined will or force of character than Mr. Johnstone possesses, and no agriculturist is deserving of greater success in the conduct and management of a farm than he.  He was born in the State of New York, April 12, 1844, to Samuel D. and Mary J. (Merchant) Johnstone, both of whom were born in England, the former's birth occurring in 1801, and the latter's in 1807.  They were married in North Carolina, in 1830, and to them two sons and two daughters were born: Ruth A. (wife of Thomas Keiten), James H., Martha (deceased), and George W.  The father emigrated with his family to Louisiana at an early day, and from there to Arkansas in 1888, entering 160 acres of land in Pulaski County, greatly increasing this amount in later years.  He died on June 10, 1873, and his wife in 1846 a member, of the Episcopal Church.  On March 31, 1809, George W. Johnstone was united in the bonds of matrimony to Miss Mary V. Gargiss by whom he became the father of one child, a daughter, Mary J., wife of Robert Laster, of the Cherokee Nation.  The mother died March 27, 1870, an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  Mr. Johnstone's wife, to whom he was married October 6, 1878, was Mrs. Mary J. Clark, a native of Perry County, Ark., born March 1, 1849, a daughter of Reuben and Mary (Hancock) Neele.  She was the widow of James Clark, whom she married in 1864, and by whom she became the mother of six children, two now living: Abie M. and William H.  James, Anna, Sarah and Charles E. are deceased.  Mr. Clark died on September 11, 1877.  Mrs. Johnstone's, parents were born in Pennsylvania, and she is the only child born to their union.  Her father died in 1849 and her mother in 1852.  To her union with Mr. Johnstone, four children have been born: Maggie L., George A. (deceased), Nannie L. 0. and  Albert A.  On March 14, 1864, Mr. Johnstone enlisted in the Federal Army, in the Third Regiment United States regular service, and was on duty for two years, at the end of which time he was discharged and returned home and engaged in farming.  He afterward became surveyor for the Little Rock & Fort Smith Railroad Company for eleven years.  He is the owner of 266 acres of land, 100 acres being under cultivation and excellently improved, the principal crops of which are corn, cotton and wheat.  He is a member of Russellville Lodge No. 272, of the A. F. & A. M., also belongs to the relief association of that order and is a member of the G. A. R.  His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  Josiah Clark and wife, parents of James Clark, Mrs. Johnstone's first husband, moved from Pennsylvania to Pope County, Ark., at an early day, and in that county James Clark was born and died.  By occupation be was a steamboat captain and pilot on the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers.

J. E. Joyner, attorney, Atkins, Ark.  J. E. Joyner is one of Pope County's leading and eminent lawyers.  He owes his nativity to the Palmetto State, born in 1848, and was the eighth of nine children born to his parents.  In 1852 he came with his parents to Arkansas, and in 1870 entered the University of Mississippi, taking the A. B. course, and graduating in 1873.  After this he taught school in Pulaski County, and then for one year was principal of the Dardanelle Institute.  About this time he began reading law, and after two years entered the office of Clark & Williams at Little Rock, with whom he remained until 1878.  He was then admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Arkansas, and afterward came to Atkins, where he has since practiced his profession.  He is a fluent and forcible speaker, sound in his views and has won an enviable reputation among his legal brethren in Arkansas.  By his marriage, which occurred in 1881,to Miss Julia Reynolds, have been born five children, one deceased: Fay, Eddie, May, Lucy (died in infancy) and Maud.  The father of Mrs. Joyner, William Reynolds, is an old settler of this county.  In 1881 Mr. Joyner purchased a farm of ninety-six acres in the bottom lands of Arkansas River, and has added to this until he is now the owner of 350 acres, all bottom land with 240 acres under cultivation.  The balance is well timbered.  He also is the owner of 174 acres in the uplands, with forty acres in cultivation.  He built a good house in Atkins in 1881, and also has a good office.  He is active in town affairs, and has served as alderman.  He is a mem of the Masonic fraternity, the K. of P. and the K. of H.  He is a self-made man, and all his property is the result of hard work and enterprise on his part.  Mrs. Joyner is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  Mr. Joyner's parents, Joel and Rebecca (Gassaway) Joyner, were natives of North Carolina and South Carolina, respectively.  The father was a merchant and farmer and came to Arkansas in 1852, settling in Pulaski County, where he remained but a short time.  He then moved to Brownsville, Prairie County, and was one of the early merchants of the same, remaining there for four years.  He then moved to his farm in Pulaski County, and there remained until his death in 1883.  The mother died in 1868.  Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

J. R. Kenney, M. D.  This popular and competent physician has been a resident of Dover since March, 1872, and during this time has won a reputation for ability and efficiency that is excelled by none.  He was born in Lauderdale County, Ala., September 2, 1837, to John Kenney, a mechanic of that county, and although he was only given the advantages of the common schools, he was faithful, studious and painstaking, and became a thoroughly good student.  As his father was a tanner be learned that trade in his youth, and after he had attained his majority he began doing for himself, but made his home with his father for three years thereafter.  In 1863 he entered the Confederate Army, being in Baker's company of Forrest's battalion, and while he was in no extensive engagement, he was in numerous small battles and skirmishes.  On account of ill health he was sent to the hospital shortly after he entered the army, where he remained for a few weeks, and was discharged on account of disability.  After his return home he began the study of medicine, which he continued under the instruction of Dr. B. F. Crittenden, of Center Star, Ala., and in the fall of 1865 he took a course of lectures in the University of Nashville, Tenn., and the following spring commenced practicing at Lexington, Ala., where he remained for two years.  He then opened a tanning business in Charles County, Tenn., which he conducted in addition to his medical practice for about two years, at the end of which time he sold out his business, and went to Wayland Springs, Lawrence County, Tenn., at which place be remained until March 1, 1872, when be became a resident of Dover, Ark.  He has been very successful here in the practice of the healing art, and since 1883 has been the owner of 277 acres of land, lying on the west side of the Illinois Bayou, which he has improved from time to time, until he now has about 160 acres in an excellent state of cultivation, and also has 120 acres on Big Piney Creek, about ten miles northwest of Dover of which forty are improved, and 120 acres, forty being under cultivation, about four miles east of town.  These farms are conducted by tenants.  He is a joint owner with J, A. Pitts, of Dover, in a grist-mill and cotton-gin, under the firm name of Pitts & Co., the plant being worth about $2,000, the work of the cotton-gin amounting to about 425 bales annually, besides the work of the grist-mill.  The Doctor is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and in politics is a Democrat.  Starting in life as he did, he has been wonderfully successful, not only in his practice, but as a business man also, and is one of the leaders in both callings in this section of the country.  He has remained unmarried.

Dr. C. L. Kirkscey is the oldest physician and surgeon of Dover, Ark., and has been a resident of this county since 1874, coming from Helena, Ala.  He was born on December 2, 1838, at Alamucha, Lauderdale County, Miss.  His father, John M. C. Kirkscey was a farmer and stock-dealer residing near De Sotoville and Butler, Ala., and on his farm the subject of this sketch was reared to the age of fifteen years, at which time he entered school at Gaston and Providence, Ala.  Up to this time his advantages for acquiring an education were very limited, but his father now resolved to give him every advantage, and after remaining in that institution one year he entered the high school at Eutaw, Ala., remaining in this institution one year also.  He next became a student in the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, which was not only a literary but a military college, and here he remained two and one-half years, being a painstaking and zealous student.  At the end of this time he entered the Confederate Army as third lieutenant and was first sent to Demopolis, Ala., to take charge of a drill camp at that place, and here he entered actual service in Company B, Eleventh Alabama Regiment his uncle S. F. A. Hall being lieutenant-colonel of this regiment.  He was in the battles of Seven Pines, Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, and White Oak Swamp, being wounded and taken prisoner in the latter engagement.  After being sent to his home he was assigned to duty in the Commissary Department, where he remained until the close of the war, when he returned home to find himself without a dollar with which to commence the battle of life.  He then followed school teaching for one year at a salary of $90 per month, at the close of which time lie was prevailed upon to enter the ministry, and was a member of the Alabama conference for two years in the Methodist Episcopal Church South; his first year on Randolph Circuit with three churches, second at Cahaba.  He then returned to college, where he graduated as an M. D. at the Atlanta Medical College in 1874, after which he returned to Helena, Ala., and engaged in practicing, but remained only a short time, emigrating a few months later with his family to Arkansas, and settling at Dover, where he is still living.  He purchased a farm near the town, also some town property, and as at that time there were few physicians in the country, his practice was necessarily large and has continued so up to the present time.  During his career here he has devoted more or less attention to farming, being the owner of land during the entire time, and on his farm he has kept his sons usefully employed.  In 1883 he entered into a copartnership with D. P. Ruff in the practice of medicine and surgery, and the sale of drugs and groceries, employing a man to look after the store, but this venture proved unprofitable and they sold their stock of goods but continued to be associated in their medical practice.  Dr. Kirkscey is the owner of 160 acres of land, 110 of which are improved, and he is now erecting a good house thereon.  He cultivates both cotton and corn, and this year has devoted thirty-five acres to cotton which promises an average yield, sixty-five acres are in corn and will yield an average crop, and in connection with his farming he raises a few horses and mules.  His marriage, which occurred October 3, 1866, was to Miss Mary P. Grace, a daughter of G. B. Grace of Choctaw, Ala., by whom he has four sons: Foster G. (born May 25, 1868, educated in the medical department of the Arkansas Industral University, is now practicing his profession at Athens, Tex., and was married on December 24, 1888, to Miss Addie Dupree of Athens), Madison L., (born December 2, 1869, and is now teaching school in Johnson County, Ark.), Robert J. (born February 20, 1872), and Woodville J., (born on January 20, 1874).  The Doctor with his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, with which church he united in 1856.  He has been a local preacher in that church for the past twenty-two years, and has done much to aid the cause of Christianity.  Socially he is a member of the A. F. & A. M. and the K. of P. and in his political views a Democrat, although he has never been what is called an active politician, preferring to give his time and attention to the practice of his calling.  He is a liberal supporter of schools, churches, etc., and has always been a man of energy and determination of character.  He has been a member of the State Medical Society since the year 1880, and has served on the committee on surgery or medicine every year until the present.

John P. Langford, is a man well known to the people of this community, for he has resided here since 1828, and has been interested in every effort made fro the progress and development of this section.  He was born in Jackson County, Ala., December 14, 1819, to Benjamin and Patsey Langford, who were born in South Carolina, in 1782 and 1780, respectively, moving from their native State to Tennessee after their marriage, and from there to Alabama, in 1819, and coming to Pope County, Ark, in 1828.  This region was then still inhabited by the Indians, and the country was almost a complete wilderness, but Mr. Langford set to work immediately to clear a piece of land, and with the energy and perseverance which characterized the lives of so many of the brave and hardy pioneers.

"He cut, he logged, he cleared his lot,
And into many a dismal spot,                                                             He let the light of day."

On a pioneer farm, in Pope County, the subject of this sketch was reared to manhood, but owing to the newness of the country and the scarcity of good schools, his early advantages were very poor.  He began making his own way in the world in 1840, and as he had been reared to farm life by his father, he determined to follow the latter's footsteps, and to the successful pursuit of this calling has devoted his life.  He was first married in February, 1843, to Eliza J. McCain, a daughter of W. G. and Mary McCain, and to them the following family of children was born : Benjamin F., William M., and George A. deceased, and Mary A. living.  The mother of these children was called from the scene of her early labors in 1864, and in May, 1866, Mr. Langford was united in marriage to Miss Ann E. Waller, her parents being Isaac H. and L.V. Waller.  Mr. Langford has always been a Democrat, and his sons have followed him in this respect.  He has held the office of justice of the peace in this county for four years, and for many years he has been a strict member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, his wife being a worthy member of the Presbyterian Church.  He has been postmaster of Scottsville, Ark., for some time, has proved an able official, and as a citizen, is worthy and honored.  His father was probably the first justice of the peace in Pope County.

 
Ephraim Lemley, farmer, Appleton, Ark.  Mr. Lemley was born in Fairfield District, S. C., in 1800, and is now ninety years of age.  He is one of the oldest men, if not the oldest, residing in Pope County, and is one of its most esteemed and honored pioneers.  He was left an orphan at an early day, and on that account his educational advantages were not of the best, but he has ever evinced a deep interest in all educational matters.  He entered the War of 1812 as substitute, served during the years 1814 and 1815, and was in the battle of Talladega.  He was in an East Tennessee company, commanded by Capt.  John Howk.  Mr. Lemley came to Morrillton, Ark., in 1838, settled in Griffen Township, and there he has remained ever since. When he first came here there were but few settlers, and he cut the first road from Atkins to Point Remove.  He and John Gray cut the first road from Atkins to Scottsville, the only road prior to that time being Indian trails.  Lewisburg, consisting of one or two stores and a couple of houses, was the nearest town, and that was twenty-five miles distant.  The present site of Russellville was then an unbroken wilderness, and the settlers were obliged to go from thirty to thirty-five miles to mill.  Hawkins Gregory, Duck Griffin, Mose McCarty and John Gray were some of the settlers at that time.  There was no church, but ground was appropriated on the farm of Mr. Lemley, and sermons were occasionally preached.  Game was plentiful, bears, wolves and panthers abounded, and hogs had to be confined in log pens to prevent them from being carried off by wild animals.  There were no schools except where the settlers, living close together, would hire some man to give instruction for a short time during the year, but, as may be supposed, most of the children were reared without any education.  When a house was to be built the whole community would turn out to be at the log rolling, and remain until all was finished.  At that time court was held at Morrillton, and afterward at Dover, but no jail was necessary, for if au undesired neighbor made his appearance among them he was warned to leave, and this he generally did.  Of the early settlers who lived in the neighborhood at that time all are dead and gone but our subject, who is now ninety years of age.  He was married about 1818, and became the father of six children.  After the death of his first wife he married again, and the fruits of this union were fifteen children; eleven of his children are now living.  Mr. Lemley took up eighty acres of land in 1840, but afterward took up 460, of which he has given his children 200 acres in Griffin township, it being the same upon which he settled when first coming to the county.  He has 120 acres under cultivation.  A Baptist Church was established in 1844 or 1845, and a school, previous to this, in 1840.  John Lankwood was the first preacher, and each of the neighbors contributed toward the expense of the school.  Mr. Lemley's father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother of the Old Dominion.  It can be said with truth of Mr. Lemley that "He shunned not labor, when 'twas due,
 He wrought with right good will;
 And for the home he won for them,
 His children bless him still."

William A. Martin, farmer, Potts Station, Ark., Mr. Martin, one of the substantial and progressive agriculturists of Pope County, Ark., first saw the light of day in Wayne County, Tenn., in the year 1843.  His parents, Samuel N. and Rebecca (Lawson) Martin, were both natives of that State.  The father removed from his native State to Pope County, Ark., in 1858, with his family, and is still living on the same place he purchased three miles from Russellville, when first coming to the State.  The maternal grandparents of our subject lived and died in Tennessee.  William A. Martin was principally reared in Arkansas, and in 1863 he enlisted in the Union Army under Col. M. L. Stevenson, Company D, Second Arkansas Infantry, and for the most part was on duty between Little Book and Fort Smith.  He was discharged at Clarksville in 1865, and returned home and engaged in tilling the soil.  In November, 1865, he was married to Miss Rebecca C. Harkey, daughter of Isaac Harkey of Pope County, and to them have been born ten children, viz.: Martha J., Samuel I., Charles E., Lily May, Anna Bell, C1arence Garfield, Mary Cora, Hattie Frances, Jacob Alva and Homer Harrison, all single and living with their parents.  Mr. Martin now owns 166 acres of land, has sixty-five acres under cultivation and raises principally grain, cotton and some stock.  He has been living on his present property since 1870, and although there were but six acres cleared at that time, he has since cleared up about sixty acres and has built a comfortable and tasty residence.  He is making an effort to give his children good education.  In politics he affiliates with the Republican party.  Mrs. Martin is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is an active worker in the same.

F. D. E. Montgomery.  The estate which this gentleman is so successfully engaged in tilling comprises 300 acres, all of which is the result of his own honest and persistent endeavors, for on commencing the battle of life for himself at the age of fifteen years he possessed not a dollar.  He was born in Monroe County, Ark., in 1838, his parents, John C., who was sheriff and county clerk nine years of Monroe County, Ark., and Matilda Montgomery being natives in Tennessee and Mississippi, respectively.  The mother died at the age of forty-two years and her husband when two years older.  F. D. E. Montgomery moved to Conway County, Ark., in 1844 or 1845 and there remained until 1855, since which time he has been a resident of Pope County.  His early schooling was of a very meager description for he began earning his own living when a mere youth, and although he has given much of his attention to farming, he has also been interested in merchandising, and his stock of goods now amounts to about $1,500.  In both these enterprises he has met with well-deserved success, for he has been faithful to every detail of work and has, at all times, been perfectly upright with the public in his business transactions.  In 1861 he was married to Miss Mary Jane Cheyna, a daughter of S. W. and E. Cheyna, natives of Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively, and to them the following children have been born: William F. (deceased), Mary E., Stephen C. (deceased), Dora K., John A. (deceased), Maud D., Leolen (deceased), Lattie B., Mervin, Leta and Ivy.  In 1861 Mr. Montgomery enlisted in the Confederate Army, and in 1864 was discharged.  He has always been a stanch Democrat, and is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.  He has been a constant and earnest worker in the Sunday-school the most of his life and has reared his family in the fear of the Lord.  He has been superintendent of the Sunday-school for the past twenty-five years and has otherwise taken a deep interest in church work.  He is a man whom all honor, and he has been a peaceful, law-abiding, and strictly honorable citizen; he fully merits the esteem of all.

Dr. William H. Montgomery, physician, Moreland, Ark.  Dr. Montgomery, one of the many eminent practitioners in Pope County, who has ministered to the wants of the sick and afflicted of the county for many years, is the son of Thomas and Jane E. (Montgomery) Montgomery, the father born in Georgia about 1818, and the mother in North Carolina about 1822.  The parents were married in Kentucky in 1842, and to them were born four children: William H. (born in 1847), Jane W. (born in October, 1850), Agnes (deceased, was born in 1854), and Florazella T. (wife of Z. B. Hedrick, was born in 1856, and is now deceased).  Thomas Montgomery, the father of these children, followed farming all his life, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church.  He died when comparatively a young man in 1858.  The mother, who was a member of the same church, died in July, 1890.  She removed from the Blue Grass State with Dr. Montgomery, and settled in St. Charles County.  There they resided until 1877, when they removed to Boone County, Ark.  Dr. Montgomery was educated in Louisville, Ky., until about fifteen years of age, and received his early education under difficulties, being obliged to work his way.  In 1867 he began studying medicine under Dr. Whitlock, of La Fayette, Ky., but studied principally with Solomon Johnson, whom he claims as his preceptor.  He opened a drug store in Harrison, Boone County, in connection with Dr. Ruth, and afterward purchased that Doctor's interest, subsequently removing the stock to Jasper, Ark.  He there began the practice of medicine.  Although the Doctor has never attended college or taken a course of lectures he is a member of the State Eclectic Medical Association, also the National Association, both of which have conferred upon him honorary degrees and diplomas.  Dr. Montgomery stands very high in the estimation of the medical brethren, and the success which has attended his efforts almost without exception proclaims him a man of more than ordinary notice.  He has an extensive practice, and is frequently called in consultation in all parts of this county, where his opinion and decision carries great weight.  Dr. Montgomery was married to Miss Mary E. Markham, a native of Barren County, Tenn., in 1867, by "Old Preacher Woodward," as he was called, a man well known all over that section.  To this union were born seven children, as follows: Susannah T. (born in 1870, now the wife of Alex Ray, of Pope County), Lavina W. (born in 1870, and the wife of A. C. Freeman, also residing in Pope County), Nancy Miami (born in 1872), L. D. (born in 1874), Ellen May (born in 1877, and died August, 1890), William J. (born in 1879), and Myrtle C. (born in 1883).  Dr. W. H. Montgomery came to Pope County in 1884, purchased a farm of eighty acres, upon which he erected a house, but his practice extending rapidly down the valley he purchased forty acres in Valley Township, whither he removed in 1889.  His principal crops are corn, cotton and hay.  His Valley Township land will yield three-fourths of a bale of cotton or thirty-five bushels of corn to the acre, while his Cross Plains farm will yield one-half bale of cotton or twenty bushels of corn to the acre.  The same systematic condition of affairs about his home is apparent in his course as a man.  Thorough in all that he does, he allows no worthy movement to drag for want of support if in his power to help it.  Dr. Montgomery and wife, as well as all the children, are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  He is a Mason, and assisted in organizing and building up Cross Plains Lodge No. 434, having held principal offices in the lodge, and being chaplain at the present time.  He was also a member of Eastern Star Lodge at Cross Plains, when it was first organized.  He was elected school director of Jasper, Ark., a position he has held about eight years, and he takes decided interest in all educational matters.  He was appointed postmaster at Jasper, Ark., and held this position two years, and resigned only on account of increasing practice.  In the latter part of 1863 he enlisted in the Federal Army, and served about two years.  He was in the battle of Knoxville, Atlanta, and in the First Salt works fight in Virginia, besides numerous skirmishes.  He was captured at Knoxville and retained until 1864, when he was exchanged.  He then returned to his company at Big Shanty, Ga.  For meritorious conduct he received a furlough, and while home was captured by guerrillas, who took him to Tennessee, where he was retained until 1865.  He was wounded in the hip at Sandtown Ferry, Ga., and never received his discharge.

William G. Nordin.  It was on December 7, 1830, in West Tennessee, that the subject of this sketch was ushered into life, and there he resided on a farm, receiving a limited education, until he was twenty-one years of age, at which time he began doing for himself.  After renting a portion of his father's farm for one year he was married and immediately located on a farm which he had rented for four years, at the end of which time he came to Arkansas, and settled on a farm in the township where he is now living, which was then unimproved.  After remaining on this land one year he made a purchase of some land near where the village of London now stands, on which he made his home until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he enlisted in Company B, First Arkansas Cavalry, serving throughout the war and participating in the battles of Pea Ridge (where he was wounded) Corinth, Champion's Hill (where he was again wounded), and many engagements of less importance.  He was taken prisoner at Vicksburg but was soon after paroled and returned to his home where he remained nearly a year, after which he rejoined his command.  After the war was over he farmed on rented land for two years, after which he purchased the farm on which he is now residing, which at that time consisted of 200 acres.  He has made other purchases from time to time and became the owner of about one section of land, but this he divided among his sons and now has 280 acres left.  His property is finely improved, and the cultivated portion is devoted to the raising of cotton and corn.  His marriage, which took place January 9, 1853, was to Miss Mary Ellen Cate, a daughter of Robert and Susan Cate, of Maury County, Tenn., who came to this county in 1859.  Mr. Nordin and his wife have eight children: Susan A., N. B., S. E., J. R., W. L., G. W., M. A., and M. L. --four sons and four daughters.  All are married except the youngest two daughters, and all reside near their father.  The family attend the Christian Church, and Mr. Nordin is a member of the A. F. & A. M., and is a Democrat in politics.  He is a liberal supporter of worthy enterprises and is a high-minded, whole souled gentleman.