My Genealogy Hound

Samuel Spencer Semmes, eldest son of Admiral Raphael and Ann E. (Spencer) Semmes, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, March 4, 1838. While a youth he received his education at the Jesuit College (Spring Hill), near Mobile, Ala., from which institution he graduated in 1855. He was reared in South Alabama, and was admitted to the bar in Washington County, of that State, in 1859, subsequently graduating at the law school in New Orleans, La., in 1860, in which city he was residing and practicing his profession when the war broke out. True to his convictions, he enlisted in the Confederate service, as second lieutenant in the First Regiment of Louisiana Infantry (regulars), commanded by the late Gen. A. H. Gladden, and was promoted to the rank of captain. He went through the war under Gen. Bragg, in the Army of the Tennessee, and was a participant in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, etc. At the close of the war he engaged in agricultural pursuits in South Alabama, and in the practice of law, which he continued until 1874; then he removed to Mississippi County, Ark., where he has since resided, occupied in the practice of his profession. He was elected county judge in 1882, and held the office one term. Mr. Semmes was married to Miss Pauline Semmes, a daughter of the late Gen. Paul J. Semmes, of Columbus, Ga. (who was killed at the battle of Gettysburg), in 1863, and the fruits of this union are five children, three sons, Paul J., Raphael and Oliver, and two daughters, Mary and Anna. The first two named are living in Osceola, Ark., and Oliver is at Macon, Ga., where he is studying for the priesthood as a Jesuit. Mr. Semmes lost his wife in 1877, and his second marriage took place in 1881, to his present wife, who was originally Miss Frances H. Morris, daughter of the late Rev. F. C. Morris., a Presbyterian minister of Osceola, Ark. To this union were born three children: Spencer, Frank Morris, and Catherine. Mr. Semmes’ home, just outside the town of Osceola, is one of the most comfortable and attractive in Northeast Arkansas, and is a fine example of what can be accomplished in the way of ornament and usefulness by a little taste and industry. His father was the late Admiral Raphael Semmes, of Confederate fame, whose ancestors came to America with Lord Baltimore, and settled in Maryland. Admiral Semmes entered the United States Navy as a lad of fourteen, where he remained until he resigned his commission, to take part in the late war, in behalf of the Confederates. At that time he was commander, and on duty at Washington as a member of the lighthouse board. His career as commander of the Confederate States steamers “Sumter” and “Alabama” have already become a matter of history. The mother of the subject of this sketch is a daughter of the late Rev. Oliver M. Spencer, of Cincinnati, Ohio, whose father removed to that place as one of the pioneer settlers from Elizabeth, N. J., in the latter part of the last century. Mrs. Semmes (the mother) resides in Mobile, Ala. Capt. Semmes is the eldest of six children born to his parents. His eldest brother, Oliver J. Semmes, and eldest sister, Mrs. Colston, reside in Mobile, Ala. His next two sisters, Mrs. Luke E. Wright and Mrs. Charles B. Bryan, and youngest brother, Raphael Semmes, live in Memphis, Tenn. It is not strange that during the years of Capt. Semmes’ residence in Mississippi County, he should have become one of its best known and most valued citizens. Gifted by nature with an indomitable spirit of perseverance, and a refined taste, a thorough and complete collegiate education expanded these, teaching him to see a beauty and harmony in nature, while the study of law and the practice of that profession illustrated by many valuable examples the study of mankind. It was with an education thus completed, and a fortune shattered in the Civil War, as qualifications for future usefulness, that he turned his steps toward Mississippi County. Here, amid an impoverished population, and where strife and turmoil reigned for many years, fortune was hard to win, and many trials lay beside his path; yet, from the first, his ability, moral courage, purity and truth of character were recognized by all. His indomitable will soon won him a leading place at the Osceola bar, while his election to the office of county judge was an unsought expression of the people’s confidence and esteem. The economy in the administration of the county affairs during his term of office, in which time the court-house was erected under his supervision, was the redeemed pledge of his faithfulness and care. Now, as the years are rolling by, a glance at the home life of Capt., or Judge Semmes, as he is familiarly called, would reveal a pleasant cottage, which his horticultural tastes have literally surrounded with ornamental plants and flowers, an interesting family, presided over by Mrs. Semmes, a lady of education, with many refined and pleasing graces, happy children, whose merriment dashes across the path of troubled life like sunshine through the rift of drifting clouds. And so, amid an atmosphere of peace, respected and esteemed by all, diligently pursuing his professional duties, while perhaps finding greater pleasure during his leisure hours in the cultivation of his garden, and the adornment of his home, the subject of this sketch (and of the accompanying portrait) passes his days, receiving the well-earned praises of his fellow men.