My Genealogy Hound

Hon. John N. Tillman, present State senator from the Fifth Senatorial District of the State of Arkansas, although but a young man, ranks among the prominent citizens of Northwestern Arkansas. He was born near Springfield, Mo., December 13, 1859. His parents, Newton J. and Mary (Mullins) Tillman, were natives of Tennessee and South Carolina, respectively, although the ancestors of both were early settlers of the latter State. The Tillmans are of Scotch-Irish descent. The parents of our subject came to Arkansas from Missouri when John N. was but a child. Here he grew to manhood and received a common-school education. He then entered the Arkansas Industrial University, from which he graduated in 1880. Wishing to become a disciple of Blackstone he taught school two years in order to accumulate the means to enable him to study. He then studied in the office of Judge J. M. Pittman until the latter was elected judge of the circuit court of his district, after which he read with Holsinger and Wall. He was admitted to the bar of Arkansas July 3, 1883, and immediately began the practice of law. In 1882 he was appointed county examiner of the schools of Washington County, which position he filled with so much credit that in 1884, as the Democratic nominee, he was elected circuit clerk. In 1886 he was re-elected to the latter position, and in 1888, at the age of twenty-eight, he was elected State senator from the Fifth Senatorial District. He is a lawyer of marked ability, and is one of the leading members of the Arkansas bar. He is an encampment member of the I. O. O. F., a Royal Arch Mason, and a Knight of the Uniform Division of the Knights of Pythias. On March 4, 1885, Mr. Tillman married Miss Tempy Walker, daughter of M. K. Walker, Esq., and they have one son, John N., Jr.