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EDMOND URQUH.\RT, manufacturer, one of the pioneers in the creation of the
valuable cotton seed oil industry in the United States, is a native of the old city of
Kingston, in the province of Ontario, Canada. He was born outside, but under the
guns, of Fort Henry, April 5, 1834. His father, Edward Urquhart, was a conspicuous
officer in the British army and held the rank of Quartermaster General. Both the
father and Elizabeth, the mother of the subject of this biography, as indeed all of his
ancestors, were natives of Scotland and Wales, and from them he inherited the spirit of
restless enterprise, the purity of character, and keenness of mind,.for which he has
always been distinguished.

The lad applied himself to his books in the district schools of Kingston until he
had reached the age of twelve. Destined to a practical career, his father having died
when the boy was quite young, he was apprenticed to a forwarding and shipping firm
in Hamilton, Ont. This early start in practical affairs proved of very great advantage
to the ambitious youth, because, at the age of eighteen, when his apprenticeship was
over, and when such lads as are favored with wealthy parents are yet attending school,
young Mr. Urquhart had already become well grounded in the requirements of busi¬
ness pursuits. He then entered upon the career which was to lead him on to fortune.
At the end of his five years, released from his indenture, he secured a position as con¬
tractor's paymaster during the construction of The Great Western Railroad from Sus¬
pension bridge at Niagara Falls to Detroit, Mich., a very responsible position for so
young a man. The Great Western Railroad is now the Southern division of The Grand
Trunk Railroad. During the three years of this service, Mr. Urquhart gained a valua¬
ble experience and acquired the habit of accuracy and the strength to endure respon¬
sibility. After leaving The Great Western Railroad, he established the shipping house
of Urquhart & Bowen in St. Catherine's, Canada, where be built several vessels to
engage in the grain trade between the upper lakes and Montreal.

Mr. Urquhart then removed to St. Louis, Mo., and engaged in the rectifying of
liquors until 1861, when he went to Memphis, Tenn., in which city he remained during
the great four years' war. After the surrender of the Southern armies in 1865, he was
■one of the first to apply himself toward a revival of the prostrated interests of the South
and promptly undertook the hardware business and the manufacture of cotton seed oil
in Memphis. He met with excellent success from the start. For the latter industry,
he utilized an old government building in the Navy Yard, which was fitted up with
special machinery for crushing and extracting oil from the cotton seed. He paid the
elosest attention to his business, developed it step by step, spared himself no labor of
any kind, and had the satisfaction of witnessing the constant growth of his trade.

Finally, finding it necessary to increase his operations, he removed to Little Rock,
Ark., in 1876, and there established The Little Rock Oil Works, becoming president
of the company and among the pioneers of the cotton seed oil industry in Arkansas.
His energy produced an effect almost electrical in this old State. Cotton fields
covered a large part of the territory of Arkansas and cotton seed could be obtained
in ample supply.     His mill in Little Rock provided a local market for the seed, gave