USA > Arkansas > Johnson County > Johnson County, Arkansas, the first hundred years > Part 14
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The Ware families were also extensive land owners, some of which is held by successors still. Mrs. Charley Hays of Scranton is a descendent. The Cotton families were also prom- inent in that country. The Chitwoods too, were in the neigh- boorhood along the stream.
There was Nehemiah Cravens, the father of the honorable Jordan E. Cravens.
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BIOGRAPHIES
William Hill, the father of the distinguished Captain John C. Hill.
In the years just before the Civil War, about 1858, Cleve Ragon from Tennessee came to Morrison's Bluff. He was the father of Mrs. W. J. Basham and other children. The Ragon families of Spadra and Geo. Ragon of Clarksville are descendants of this family.
Just following the close of hostilities, Captain Jack Ragon, a brother of Cleve Ragon, also came. He purchased a farm on Cane Creek two miles from the little village of Dublin. Mrs. Ragon was, before her marriage, Ann Heartsill from the state of Georgia. Captain Jack Ragon was a Con- federate soldier in his native state. He only survived a few years after locating in Arkansas. Mrs. Ragon was born in Tennessee and is the daughter of Hiram and Ann Wright
Heartsill. Her maternal grandfather was Dr. Isaac Wright of Mount Pisgah, Tenn. At Captain Ragon's death there were
Mrs. Ragon was a wise and five small children in the home.
careful mother and today she lives in her declining years to see all of her boys men of affairs, all of whom live in Clarksville. Edgar, the oldest, has always been a farmer, Jess is the general manager of the Clarksville Mercantile Company, Ab is the presi-
dent of the First National Bank of Clarksville. Hon. Heartsill Ragon is an attorney of wide repute, having served in the State Legislature in 1910-14 and was speaker of the House his last term. He has also been Prosecuting Attorney of the Fifth District for two terms, and is an efficient, ready and willing speaker. He stood first in the graduating class of the Wash- ington and Lee University at Lexington, Va. in 1909. William Ragon, the youngest son, is the Clarksville Post Master.
In 1871 Dr. W. A. Heartsill, a brother of Mrs. Ann Ragon, came from Georgia to Morrison's Bluff. He was for twenty- five years one of the leading physicians of Logan county. He is now residing in Texas.
Up the river from Morrison's Bluff there was another stop for the boats. This place was called Patterson's Bluff. James M. Patterson had built a home of some proportions, with a cellar and cistern and all the conveniences of that day. He was also in business, with a partnership, styled "Patterson & Whitaker. Mr. Patterson's farm, or the most of it, lay in the
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
river bottom across the river from his home on the bluff. Horse- head Creek empties into the river on this plantation. James M. Patterson was the grandfather of Hon. G. O. Patterson, a leading attorney of Northwest Arkansas. He resides in Clarks- ville.
In this neighborhood north of the river was Gilbert Hol- land and his wife, Mary Ann. They came to Johnson County from Georgia, in 1843. H. H. Holland, who was a member of Capt. Howell's Artillery company under Gen. Cooper in the Civil War, and who died recently, was their son.
The plantations of the Perry brothers was along the river too. Josiah Perry was the paternal grandfather of Justice Volney Howell.
Still farther up Horsehead Creek in the Harmony settlement were the families whose names were King, Baskin, Laster, Blackburn, Edwards, Reynolds, Coffee, Reed, Ogilvie, Frost, Wilson, Allen, Jacobs, Martin, Porter and Flemmings. These families are represented by so many branches of the name and scores of descendants that their individual biographies are difficult to properly delineate.
The Kings of the Harmony settlement are represented today by farmers, bankers, college instructors and ministers. In Clarksville there are two brothers, Ernest King, Cashier of the Farmers National Bank, and Prof. Gorman B. King of The College of the Ozarks.
J. K. Baskin was a son of J. M. and Malissa Laster Baskin, who came to Arkansas in 1839. The Baskin men are represen- tative as lawyers, business men and farmers. Ex-Judge Chas. H. Baskin is a prominent bearer of the name. There is no im- mediate information at hand concerning them, but the Baskin men and women have always taken a prominent place in the communities in which they reside.
In the year 1831, which was at least twelve months before the Cherokees left this country, Abraham Laster and his wife, Nancy Pucket Laster, moved from Tennessee to the Horsehead neighborhood of Johnson County. Mr. Laster was a North Carolinan by birth. In 1837 his brother, J. H. Laster, and fath- er and mother, Fredrick and Nancy Smith Laster, came on to Johnson from Lawrence County where they had located in thirty-one. Each of these gentlemen took out land. Fredrick
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was a Veteran of the war of 1812. J. H. Laster married Miss Sarah A. Patrick, a daughter of John W. and Susan Lee Patrick, in September, 1841. They were the parents of eleven children. Among them were three sons, Abe, Seth and Seldon, who later became men of affairs.
The children of Mr and Mrs. Abraham Laster were James M., Malvin, Hester Ann, Mary, Thomas, Francis, Washington, Jane and Robert.
In 1859 J. M. Laster married Sarah Sarles. Their children were Elizabeth, Ann, Robert, Frank, Thomas, Lou, Augusta, Fanny, Carl and Conley. The present Mrs. Laster was Mrs. Louisa Turney. Their children are Abraham, Eva, Birdie and Audlie. J. M. Laster recently celebrated his eighty-first birthday. He resides on his father's old homestead. Mr. Laster has an ex- cellent memory and has contributed much information for this volume. He holds and cherishes a number of interesting keep- sakes of the long ago.
Phillip May was an early settler on Horsehead, also. He owned slaves and was active in his community. He died in the early seventies.
Lorenzo Swagerty was the father of the Lorenzo who mar- ried Miss Emma May, a daughter of Capt. Thomas May of the old Pittsburg Settlement.
The Hardgraves were represented in Clarksville for long years by Cager, who lived to be quite old. He was the father of Mrs. J. A. Dowdy of Clarksville and Mrs. W. A. May of St. Louis and a son, whose home is in Argentine, South America. Dr. Hardgraves of Horsehead is also an active descendant of another branch of the family.
Thomas Kendall, a courtly gentleman of Smeadley, has been Johnson County's Representative in the State Legislature on more than one occasion.
Capt. Armstrong, of the Civil War, was a prominent member of that family. Lee Armstrong, a business man and farmer at this time resides at the Armstrong home on Horsehead.
Judge W. W. Floyd came to Clarksville in 1841 to practice law. He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and was the son of Reader S. Floyd, Virginian by birth. He was a descendant of John Floyd, a former governor of Virginia, and whose son, John B. Floyd, was Secretary of War under President Buchanan.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
A brother of John Floyd, who resided in New York and who came to America in 1760 with him, was William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Two of the sons of William served in the United States Congress from New York early in the past century. In the family of Reader S. Floyd was Judge William W., Richard and Edward. The home of all the Floyds, except the Judge, was on Horsehead. A son of Richard Floyd is James Floyd, who is a former Tax Assessor of the county. Mary Floyd, a daughter of Richard, married Eb Rhea, whose father was a wealthy pioneer of Handcock County, Tennessee, and who lived to be more than a century old. William W. Floyd of Clarksville was elected Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit and
served four years. He had many other honors, not given here, conferred upon him. He was twice appointed by the Secretary of War as one of the examiners of West Point Military Acad- emy, first by Hon. Jeff Davis, under President Price, and again by his kinsman, John B. Floyd. Mrs. W. M. Kavanaugh of Little Rock is a daughter of Judge Floyd, and W. E. Floyd, for- mer post-master of Little Rock, and the present chairman of the Arkansas Railroad Commission, is a son.
The oldest settlers of the Wilsons, so far as is known, were James B. and his wife, Peggy, who came from Virginia. They were a high-toned, refined couple. Major Hugh Wilson was a descendant of a generation later. He served his country both in the Mexican and Civil Wars. The late Wm. Wilson, whose family still resides in Clarksville, was a grandson of James B.
L. A. and Nancy Laster Martin were Tennesseeans by birth. They came to Arkansas in 1873. John L. Martin was their son. He married Miss Parmelia Boyer. The late Abe Martin of Lone Pine was one of that family. Frank Martin is a descendant also.
James C. and Harriett Hester McDaniel came from North Carolina to the Horsehead settlement of Johnson county in 1852. They had eight children in their home. John, William, Martha, Eliza, James, Harriet, Mary and Nancy. W. C. and Ernest have been residents of Clarksville for many years. They are the sons of William McDaniel.
The Flemming's coal mine was located in the fifties in the Harmony neighborhood. The Flemmings were prominent pioneers.
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BIOGRAPHIES
Melvin Coffee came to Johnson county when a young man, from his birth place in Jackson county, Alabama. In 1843 he was married to Jane Laster of the upper Horsehead neighbor- hood. Their children were James G. and Melvina. Melvin Coffee was a soldier in the Mexican War, and died while in the service.
James G. Coffee, who is today an affable and active gentle- man of the old school, was a confederate soldier. He enlisted in 1861, even though just a boy. He was an orderly sergeant. In 1867 he married Miss Clementine Harkreader, a daughter of Samuel and Nancy Harkreader. Their children were Edna and Lester. Mrs. Coffee died in 1882. Mr. Coffee was married a second time, to Miss Sallie Powell, a daughter of Rev. John A. Powell. Their four children were Harland, Dessie, Effie and
Irma. Mr. Coffee is a Mason.
Harland Coffee is a successful Insurance dealer of Clarks- ville.
J. W. Ogilvie and W. S. Ogilvie were two brothers who left Tennessee sometime during the forties. They were descendants of George Ogilvie, who immigrated from Scotland. Mesdames Fannie Poynor, Jennie Wilson and Gulie Poynor were daughters of Will Smith Ogilvie. James W. Ogilvie was the father of Dr. J. W., C. F. and Henry.
John and William Reed were early settlers in the Lone Pine neighborhood. Seth Reed, Mesdames James McCoy and Ella Humphrey are three of the children of John. Seth is, and has been for many years, the manager of the Fraternal Aid Union of Arkansas.
A number of Allen families have, as the years have gone by, moved to Johnson County, but the first were, perhaps, Lewis Allen and his wife, Lucy (Felts) Allen, who came in 1833.
After the Civil War Thomas Allen came from Kentucky and seltled at Harmony. He reared a large family, of which Joe Allen is one of the sons and Mrs. T. D. Molloy and Mrs. J. W. Lewis are daughters.
Dixon Reynolds laid legal claim to land in Johnson county in 1836, soon after his arrival from Tennessee. His son, William, married Miss Elizabeth Baskin, who was also a native of Arkan- sas. Their eldest son, Thomas H., married Miss Wood, and they were the parents of twelve children. Another son, William
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
Reynolds of Clarksville, and Margaret Poteet Reynolds, who re- cently died, were the parents of Sewell and Jess Reynolds, both attorneys-at-law. The former of Oklahoma and the latter, Clarksville. They are both ready speakers. The former has been, within the past few years, connected with the Tax Commis- sion of Arkansas.
Thomas Porter was the pioneer father of J. B., W. F., and E. L. Porter. John B. was the father of John and Jim Porter.
John is an expert cotton buyer, having been in the employ- ment as manager of an establishment of cotton merchants in Memphis and later in Chicago. He is now located in Ft. Smtih.
W. F. became Judge Porter when elected as the County and Probate Judge of Johnson County thirty years ago. He was a splendid gentleman and an efficient judge. His daughter, Una, became Mrs. James W. Ogilvie and his son William, is a leading physician of Ozark.
The family of E. L. Porter, after his death at Harmony, moved to Clarksville. Mrs. Porter, nee Alice Harris, was a daughter of Neal E. Harris. Her children are Arthur, Ed, Will, Jake and Maude, (Mrs. T. W. Hervey).
Back in 1859 a line of immigrants one hundred wagons long, wound its way westward with Ephrim Blackburn and his wife, Lonvina Carpenter Blackburn, in the lead. They were riding in a handsome buggy, on which Mr. Blackburn had spent much energy and time-for he made it, by hand, back in old North Carolina.
There were three Blackburn brothers in the procession, but when the Mississippi river was crossed, this train of travelers divided into three sections. Only a fair division of the original line came up the Arkansas river road. But Ephrim came, and at least one of the immigrants with him was John H. Robinson, who was a resident of Clarksville until his death, years after.
Mr. Blackburn purchased land and settled down to the busi- ness of home-making. His children were seven: Ben W., Sam V., John, Pink and Sid, also Mrs. J. M. King and Mrs. Harriett Landthrip.
B. N. Blackburn died recently, at the age of seventy-four. His children are Mrs. R. A. Morgan, Mrs. Mack Williams, Mrs. F. Ogden, Vernon, Walter, Finis and Dillon.
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BIOGRAPHIES
John (Doc) was the father of Luther, Orville, Ada (Mrs Jack Lewis), Alice (Mrs. John Warren) and several other children.
A. V. Blackburn is the son of Sam V. Blackburn.
Richard C. Hunt and family moved from Madison County to Johnson County, Arkansas in 1861. Mr. Hunt had previously immigrated to the first mentioned county from Georgia. He look residence at Lone Pine, but later moved to Horsehead.
Richard C. Hunt was the father of John D. Hunt.
John D. Hunt was the father of Dr. Wm. R. Hunt, today an eminent physician and surgeon of Clarksville. He was also the father of Mrs. Steve Logan Dave Hunt and other children.
Dr. W. R. Hunt is the father of Dr. Earle H. Hunt, a gradu- ate of Tulane University and a widely known practitioner, well versed in the science of medicine and surgery. He is also the father of Dr. W. R. Hunt, Jr., who recently began the practice of the profession of dentistry, and Dr. W. R. Jr., is the father of a small son, Wm. R. Hunt III. There is also an Earle Jr. Dr. W. R. Hunt, Sr., is the father of Lillian (Mrs. E. A. King) .
Mrs. John D. Hunt was a Miss Ogden, and Mrs. Wm. R. Hunt, Sr., Ruth Houston.
The Ogden family came with the Hunt family in 1981, from Madison county. They purchased lands at Lone Pine and that locality is today the home of the Ogdens. The bearers of this name have always represented the county's best citizenship. In the present generation among the many descendants are J. D., Abe, and R. C.
There was one John Phillips who came to Johnson county in 1862. At one time there were three men in the county who bore the cognomen of John Phillips. But this John Phillips of the sixties was the father of Ex-Sheriff Ben Phillips, also of Wm. Phillips, Esq. of Springhill.
In the Hays' Chapel neighborhood is the old Henry B. Hays homestead. Mr. Hays was known to the generation past, as a fine old gentleman. He came from the state of South Carolina. He was in Arkansas during the overflow of the river in 1833. He lost everything he owned that could float away, except his wife and baby. Mr. Hays was a generous man, always ready to lend a helping hand.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
The Hays children who are living are Dr. Annie Hays, Charley Hays and William Hays.
Mrs. Charlotte Susan Howard was for long years a resident of the Spadra vicinity, with a family, of which Thomas and State Howard were sons. Mary Howard was a daughter and was the wife of M. E. Anderson, Clarksville's leading photographer. Charlotte Anderson is their daughter.
There was another Howard family, of which there were several daughters, among them Mesdames Jesse Williams and Will Johnson.
The Harkreader brothers were prominent citizens.
Dr. O. D. Tankersley was a young physician in Johnson county prior to the sixties and served as a member of the Medical Department in the Confederate Army. His home was on Horse- head Creek. He moved to Clarksville in 1890. His children were Toney, Molly, Susan, Newtie, John and Alice.
Mrs. Tankersley was formerly Susan Harrison.
A geneology of Susan Harrison Tankersley, traced by Joe W. Coffman Jr., supplementing one, by Glen McColloch of three families, in which the Harrisons were included, is the most com- plete lineage in this volume. It is as follows, copied verbatim :-
From 1066 to 1911.
1. Robert de Breus, a Norman Knight who accompanied WVm. the Conquerer.
2. Adam de Breus, son of the above.
3. Robert de Brus, of Cleveland, first Lord of Annandale.
4. Robert de Bruse, second Lord of Annandale.
5. William de Bruce, son of the above.
6. Robert de Bruce, fourth Lord of Annandale.
7. Robert de Bruce, fifth Lord of Annandale.
8. Robert I (Bruce), King of Scotland.
9. Marjory Bruce, daughter of Robert Bruce.
10. Robert II of Scotland, founder of the Stuart line of Kings.
11. Robert III, King of Scotland.
12. James I, King of Scotland.
13. James II, King of Scotland.
14. James III, King of Scotland.
15. James IV, King of Scotland.
16. John Stewart, younger son of James IV.
17. Henry Stewart, son of the above.
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BIOGRAPHIES
18. Elizabeth Stewart, daughter of Henry Stewart and mother of Oliver Cromwell.
19. Oliver Cromwell, Protector of the Commonwealth.
20. Henry Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell.
21. Elizabeth Cromwell, daughter of the above.
22. Catherine Allen, daughter of Elizabeth Cromwell.
23. Lorcas Towson, daughter of Catherine Allen.
24. Prudence Sater, daughter of Lorcas Towson.
25. Rebecca Howard, daughter of Prudence Sater.
26. Rebecca Mira Dyer, daughter of Rebecca Howard.
27. Sarah Ellen Harrison, daughter of Rebecca Mira Dyer.
28. Susan Tankersley, daughter of Sarah Ellen Harrison.
29. Joe Coffman, Susie Coffman, Harrison Coffman, Cather- ine Coffman, children of Susan Tankersley.
Nearer the site of Clarksville, around Little Spadra, were the homesteads of those whose names were Garrett, Harris, Boyd, Lemons, Crowley, Denning, Dorcey and Walton.
No name in the county is more widely known than that of Garrett. Each generation has produced a goodly number of sons. They are citizens of influence. Wesley Garrett, the pioneer of 1828 a North Carolinan by birth, was a coroner of Pope county in territorial days, when the Indians were still here, and was in the legislature of 1833, and gave the county its name.
William C. Garrett, a son of Wesley, married Martha Lemons, a native of Arkansas. ... She was the daughter of Samuel Lemons. Mr. Garrett who resided on his father's homestead, died in 1887, leaving eleven children. Wesley, of Oklahoma; F. G., Harlow and Mrs. C. Davis of Clarksville, also Alec and Seth were of that number. Ethel and Dessie are daughters of Alec; Earl, the son of Seth. Wesley, Swagerty, Ora, Mary, Elmer and Maude were children of Wesley Jr., who married E'menia Swagerty, a daughter of Lorenza Swagerty, and daughter of Mrs. Polly Swagerty Ward.
F. G. Garrett married Miss Martha Mann, a sister of the late John Mann. Their children are: Mrs. Carl Laster of California, Elbert of Russellville, Edgar, Roy, Joel, Eugene, Felix G., Lucy, Bessie and Pauline of Clarksville.
Harlow Garrett married Anna Williams, a daughter of John Williams.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
There are many more Garretts whose names are not at hand. The Garretts are farmers, politicians and business men.
On the banks of Little Spadra, west of Clarksville, lived Capt. John C. Harris, whose family genealogy descends from Virginia, of the branch known as the West Harris line. Thomas Harris of the Isle of Wight County, Virginia, died in 1688. His son, Edward Harris, was the father of West Harris. The latter two moved to North Carolina and died near Saulsbury. Allen Harris
was the grandson of Edward and the son of West. John C. Harris was the son of Allen and was born in North Carolina near Saulsbury. His mother was Linnie Wood, who was the daughter
of John Wood. John Wood was a grandson of Col. West Harris, a field officer in the Continental Army. (See Wheeler's History of N. C. Vol. 2). With his mother, who was a widow, he went to Alabama, and later Tennessee. Leaving his mother there, he went on to Texas. He came to Arkansas in 1832, but did not move to this state until 1834, at which time he went to Tennessee and returned with his uncle, Blont Ward, and his mother and family.
James Harris, a brother of John C., went to Texas from Arkansas in 1842. Mr. Harris operated a Tannery on little Spadra for long years, beginning back in territory days and ex- tending into the sixties. It was burned, together with other buildings, in 1863. An old shed, however, and other evidences of a once tan yard, stood on the old spot even into the eighties. Mr. Harris went to California in 1849, and came back two years later with much money. He purchased Confederate Bonds and land warrants, called Arkansas War Bonds, to the amount of $50,000. This was, however, a complete loss, with the exception of a small amount of interest on the land warrants. Mr. Harris was com- pelled to leave home during the struggle, joining a cavalry. He was fifty years of age.
Captain Harris was twice married, the first time to Susan Hargraves, a daughter of Louis Hargraves. Wallace Harris was a son of this marriage. £ In 1853 Capt. Harris was married again, this time to Malinda Popham, a lineal descendant of Sir John Popham, of Colonial days. Among their nine children were €. Harris, W. S. Harris, Mrs. Wm. Pegg, Mrs. A. G. Wolfe, Mrs. J. M. Hays, Mrs. W. H. Logan and Mrs. Z. A. Woods, whose home is in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.
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BIOGRAPHIES
There are a number of Crowleys in the county. The late J. B. Crowley, was perhaps the best known one in the business world. His father, Wm. Crowley, and his other brothers are well known. Mrs. Nat Clark is the daughter of Joe Crowley, who is now quite old.
Loftis Walton, of whom Lark Walton, who is residing on the old farm today, was the oldest son, came from North Carolina in a schooner wagon in 1849, bringing with him his family and slaves. There are other brothers, Robert and Pointer.
On Spadra to the west, were the Pryors, Kings, Lees, Bash- ams, Patricks, Wards, James Cravens, Moreau Rose, Thomas Powers and Labon Howell.
There were two Pryor brothers who came from Tennessee to Arkansas in 1834. Ellis Pryor, who has been a long termed con- stable, and Dr. R. L. Pryor are present day representatives of those old veterans who lie buried in the Lee graveyard. They are the sons of N. C. Pryor. Dr. R. L. Pryor is a Veterinary sur- geon, one of the best in the state. He is the dean of veterinary surgery of northwest Arkansas, and deputy surgeon of Arkansas.
The lineal biography of the King families of Johnson County is hard to trace. There are perhaps more persons bearing the name of King than any other in the county. There was Johnathan King, Alfred King, Reuben King, Thomas King, James King and Joseph King, all pioneers. J. L. King and Mrs. A. F. Ward of Clarksville are representatives of one branch of the King family, while Lee King is of another branch.
There were several brothers of the Lee family. The present representive on the old Cader Lee homestead is his grandson, Buck Lee. Mrs. R. O. Brinks was also a Lee.
In matter of location, immediately south of the village of old Chief John Jolly on Spadra creek, was a track of land on which lived a gentleman, John W. Patrick, who was one of the first pioneers, having located there as early as 1828. The Indians were his neighbors and the fox, the wolf and the wild cat his prey. Mr. Patrick was by birth a South Carolinian. He was the son of George Lewis Patrick and the grandson of Henry Patrick, from Strasburg on the Rhine. Mr. Patrick's mother was Hanna Lee, the daughter of Andrew Lee, from Virginia. John W. Lee was a brother of Hanna. Mr. Patrick was a man of intelligence and his children and grandchildren have made some of the best of
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
the county's citizens. - His only son, who bore his grandfather's name, John Lewis Patrick, was left ill in an army camp by a comrade during the Civil War and was never heard from again. His duaghters were Mrs. Olinver Basham, Mrs. J. H. Laster and Mrs. Thomas King.
Colonel George Washington Patrick, who was a brother of John Patrick and was also possessed with a pioneering spirit, as was their father before them, went into the territory of Ala- bama, among the Indians in 1817, came on to Arkansas in 1843 from Alabama. In this latter state he was Captain of a volunteer company, mustered into the United States service to operate against the hostile Creek Indians in south Alabama. And when the Mexican War opened in 1846, he volunteered and was elected captain of one of the Johnson County companies that operated under Colonel Archibald Yell's mounted regiment of Arkansas.
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