Little River County Attorneys
From Research by
Judge John C. Finley lll
1. Joseph J. Taaffe - Died Little River County – Practiced 1866 to 1872 in Little River
County – Rocky Comfort. College education
2. A. D. Hawkins – Born 1827 in North Carolina – Practiced Rocky Comfort from
1860’s to 1903. – Educated at Jefferson College, Pa.
3. W. D. C. Hankins – Born 1838 in Little River County – Practiced in Rocky
Comfort – 1869 to 1880 – Educated at Monticello College, AR
4. J. C. Head – Born 1828 and died 1902 – Practiced law at Richmond 1868 to 1898.
Studied law
5. Hindman Head – Born 1860 died about 1898 - Practiced law at Richmond 1882 to
1898 – college education.
6. James D. Head – Born 1872 died 1946 – Practiced 1898 through 1940 – Richmond,
DeQueen and Texarkana.
7. Judge James S. Dollarhide – Born 1815 – Admitted to Bar 1866 – studied law –
Practiced in Rocky Comfort until 1883. Was County and Probate Judge.
8. Ed. W. Dollarhide – Born in Little River County – studied law – Practiced in Rocky
Comfort from 1880 until 1892.
9. Judge L. J. Joyner – born 1822 in Tennessee. Admitted to Bar in 1845 – Educated
at Brownsville Institute. Studied law after graduation – Practiced law in Richmond
1861 until about 1900.
10. William F. Joyner – born 1830 in Tennessee. Studied law, admitted to Bar in 1876.
Practiced law in Richmond until the 1890’s.
11. Ralph E. Phelps – born 1833 in Virginia. Admitted to Bar in 1855. Practiced in
Rocky Comfort from about 1868 until the 1880’s.
12. S. L. Anderson – born 1843 in Texas. Admitted to bar in 1873. A teacher and real
estate business in Richmond.
13. Lewis Davis – died 1907. Practiced law at Rocky Comfort from about 1860 until
moved to Dover, Pope County, Arkansas in1878. His son, Jeff Davis was an
attorney, Governor of Arkansas and Senator.
14. W. S. Curran – no information available
15. Gen. Robert G. Shaver – born 1830 – Educated at Ernovy and Senry College,
Virginia, admitted to Bar 1850. Practiced until his death in 1915 in several counties
including Sevier and Little River County. Died in Foreman, AR.
16. “Bee” Smith – College of law, New Orleans and England. Moved to Little River
County after the Civil War but never practiced law.
17. T. G. T. Steel born 1816 in Virginia. Studied law after coming to Arkansas. Circuit
Judge 1873-1874 in Sevier County.
18. A. P. Steel – born 1880, admitted to Bar 1903 and practiced in several counties.
19. Judge J. S. Steel – born 1850 and died 1934. Admitted to Bar 1875 and practiced
in several counties.
20. Judge George Steel – born 1890 and died 1943. Admitted to Bar 1912, moved to
Ashdown in 1910 and to Nashville in 1924.
21. Walter Hopson – County Judge – listed in Martindale Directory in 1890-1891.
22. P. B. Williams – Born 1854 in South Carolina and was admitted to Bar 1872.
Educated at Virginia Military Institute. Practiced in Foreman from 1872 until his
death in 1921.
23. James D. Shaver – born 1861 and admitted to Bar in 1884 in Little River County.
President of Arkansas Bar from 1912-1913. Practiced in Ashdown until his death
about 1925.
24. Judge Jefferson T. Cowling – born 1862 in Arkansas and died in 1917 in Ashdown.
Admitted to Bar in 1885. Educated at Peabody Normal College, then studied law.
Started at Richmond, then the first attorney listed in Ashdown in Martindale’s 1900
Edition.
25. F. H. Taylor – born 1855 – Admitted to Bar in 1885.
26. Lon T. Jones – born 1880 in Lockesburg and was admitted to the Bar. Did not
actively practice.
27. C. E. Jones and Ernest Fair, first lawyers to establish offices in Millkin (Wilton) in
the 1890’s.
28. B. J. Stuart – Practice law in Winthrop and moved to Mena, AR prior to 1914
29. George N. Cannon – Admitted to Practice Law in Little River County in 1912.
Moved to Stephens, AR about 1914.
30. J. L. Livesay – born 1871 Missouri. Admitted to Bar in 1894 and practiced in
Foreman from 1907 until about 1930’s.
31. Otis Gilleylen – born 1884 and died 1955. Admitted to Bar in 1904. Practiced in
Foreman, AR until his death.
32. June R. Morrell – born 1886 and died about 1935. Admitted to Bar in 1909.
Practiced in Ashdown from 1911 until his death.
33. Seth C. Reynolds – Born 1878 in Faulkner, Co., AR and died in Ashdown in 1966.
Educated at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Admitted to Bar in 1907.
Practiced in Ashdown from 1907 until the 1960’s except from 1933-1939 which he
spent in Washington, DC.
34. A. D. DuLaney – born 1877 in Ben Lomond, AR and died in Ashdown in 1953.
Educated at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Admitted to Bar in 1904.
Opened office in Ashdown in 1905 and practiced here until 1930. In the 1930’s and
1940’s in Little Rock, AR.
35. John J. DuLaney – born 1885 in Ben Lomond, AR. Educated at Vanderbilt
University Law School. Admitted to Bar in 1913 and practiced in Ashdown from
1917 until 1945.
36. Frank M. Locke – born 1886 in Little River County. Educated at Vanderbilt
University Law School. Admitted to Bar in 1914. Practiced in Ashdown one year.
Managed a plantation.
37. James H. Williams – born 1883 in Foreman and died in Ashdown in 1964.
Admitted to Bar in 1923. Studied law and actively practiced law in Ashdown from
1923 until his retirement. He was a member of the Shaver, Shaver and Williams
law firm.
38. Judge Cecil E. Johnson, Sr. - Born 1888 in Lockesburg, AR. Died in 1955.
Admitted to the Bar in 1911. Practiced in Ashdown from 1918-1922. Chancellor
Judge from 1922 – 1933. Chief Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court 1933-1934.
Studied law in an office. Practiced again in Ashdown from 1940 until his death.
39. Judge Ben Shaver – born 1888 in Howard County, died in 1969 in Texarkana.
Educated in University of Arkansas School of Law and admitted to Bar in 1914.
Practiced 54 years in Miller, Hempstead, and Little River Counties.
40. R. Coker Thomas – Born in 1915 in Ashdown and died in 1955 in Ashdown.
Educated at Cumberland University in Tennessee. Admitted to Bar in 1947.
Practiced in Ashdown from 1947 until 1955.
41. Robert Tipton – born 1914 in Oklahoma and died in 1973 in Foreman, AR.
Educated at University of Arkansas Law School and admitted to Bar in 1948.
Practiced in Foreman and taught college in Oklahoma.
42. Sam A. Davis – Practiced here less than 5 years, coming from Little Rock and Hot
Springs to Ashdown.
LAWYERS OF LITTLE RIVER COUNTY
1975
1. Cecil E. Johnson, Jr. – Graduated University of Arkansas School of Law in 1941.
Opened his office with his father in Ashdown in 1941.
2. John C. Finley, Jr. – Graduated from College of Ozarks, 1935 and the University of
Arkansas School of Law, 1938. Opened his law office in Ashdown, in January
1938 and practiced continuously except during his service in World War II. He
died in 1994.
3. John C. Finley, III – Graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in 1971 and the
University of Arkansas School of Law in 1974 and began his practice of law with
his father in Ashdown.
4. Fred Embry Pickett – Graduated from A. and M. College in Monticello, AR and the
University of Arkansas School of Law in 1964l. Opened his law office in Ashdown
in 1965.
5. Eric Bishop – Graduated from Centenary College and the University of Arkansas
School of Law in 1969. He opened his office in Ashdown in 1972
6. Ted C. Capeheart – graduated from Henderson State in 1969 and the University of
Arkansas School of Law in 1975. He opened his office in Ashdown in March
1975.
The above articles are for information only and may contain erroneous information.
published in the LRCGS Journal