Partee Lovelace Denton (1900-1976)

Portrait from the 1925 Ole Miss yearbook.

   Today marks a return to Mississippi with a brief write-up on longtime Quitman County lawyer Partee Lovelace Denton, so far the only political figure named "Partee" that I've managed to locate. A lifelong Mississippi resident, Denton served two terms as County Attorney of Quitman County and was the nephew of another oddly named Quitman County political figure, Manford Esca Denton (1872-1935), a former state representative and county judge.

  Born in Belen, Mississippi on August 6, 1900, Partee Lovelace Denton was the son of Ira Claude and Birdie Bobo Denton. Denton's early education took place at the Castle Heights Military Academy in Tennessee and later at Vanderbilt University. He earned his bachelor of laws degree from the University of Mississippi in the class of 1925 and his time at that institution was remarked as:

 "A good student, a steady worker, and a winning personality, he should some day grace the bench and add another to our distinguished roll."

   Shortly after his graduation Denton began a brief connection with the Union and Planters Bank in Memphis, Tennessee. After several months in their employ, Denton returned to Mississippi and established a law firm in the town of Marks with his uncle Manford, a practice that would continue until 1928. Partee L. Denton married at an unknown date to Louise Ward (1908-2001), to whom he was wed until his death in 1976. The couple is believed to have remained childless.
   In 1928 Partee L. Denton was elected as Quitman County attorney, being defeated for reelection in November 1931 by Richard M. Boone. Denton was returned to the county attorney's office in 1934, being reappointed to that post in the wake of the death of Arthur A. Pogue, serving until 1938. Following this second term, little could be found on Denton's life except notice of his continuing practice and his being an alternate delegate from Mississippi to the 1948 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia where Harry Truman was nominated for the Presidency. Partee L. Denton's death occurred in March 1976. He was survived by his wife Louise and was interred at the Belen Cemetery in Belen, Mississippi. 

Portrait from the 1924 Ole Miss yearbook.

Ula Barksdale Ross (1869-1947)

From the Official and Statistical Register of Mississippi, 1917.

    A one-term member of the Mississippi legislature and a former Mayor of Lambert, Mississippi, Ula Barksdale Ross can rightly lay claim to being the only man named "Ula" to be elected to state office in Mississippi. Born in Calhoun County, Mississippi on March 3, 1869, Ula Barksdale Ross was the son of George Washington and Sarah Catherine Gedford Ross. Young Ula was a student in the public schools of Calhoun County and married in December 1887 to Myrtis McDowell Linder (1870-1956), also of Calhoun County. The couple were wed for nearly sixty years and had three children, Herman Linder (1889-1962), George Lee (1891-1954), and Thelma Vance (1902-1976).

  For the majority of his life, Ula B. Ross worked in real estate and insurance, while also being a farmer. He would serve as Mayor of Lambert, Mississippi for a short period and in 1909 was an organizer of the Quitman County Bank.  In 1915 he was elected to the Mississippi state legislature as a representative from Quitman County and during his term (1916-1920) served on the committees on Corporations, Public Lands, Mississippi Levees and Roads, and Ferries and Bridges. Ross also chaired the committee on the Penitentiary. 

  Following his one term at the state capitol Ross returned to private life in Quitman County and in 1928 was again a candidate for Mayor of Lambert. Active in several non-political areas in his community, Ross was a member of the local Baptist Church as well as the Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, and Masonic lodges. Ula Barksdale Ross died at age 78 on July 4, 1947, and was interred at the Lambert Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Myrtis, who, following her death in 1956, was interred in the same cemetery as her husband.