INDEPENDENCE COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES INDEX

Arkansas Genealogy Trails

ALLEN, Andrew

ALLEN, Dr. John Farrell

ALLEN, Dr. Sterling W.

ALLEN, William A.

AYDELOTT, John D.

CRAIG, A. J.

GULLEY, Ransom

MC CONNELL, Alexander

ANDREW ALLEN

Source: The Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas, 1889, The Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, p. 633.

Andrew Allen, one of the most extensive planters and landowners of Independence County, resides in Greenbriar Township.  He was born at Arkansas Post January 4, 1827, and when but six weeks old was taken by his parents to Independence County, which county has ever since been his home.  Abraham and Sebella Allen, parents of Andrew, settled six miles east of Batesville, afterward removing to a point south of the river, where the father died May 22, 1873; he was a farmer and blacksmith, and at the time of his death was one of the most wealthy men in the county.  Abraham Allen was born in Orange County, N. C., where he was reared and married; he afterward lived some time in Tennessee before his removal to Arkansas in 1827.  He was of Irish-English descent, served in one of the Indian wars, and was well known and respected.  His father, Samuel Allen, was one of the pioneers of Independence County, where he lived a number of years, but spent the latter part of his life in Texas.  The maternal grandfather of our subject was Andrew Allen, brother of Samuel, and he was also an early settler of Independence County, where he and wife died, leaving several sons and daughters.  The mother of our subject died when he was young, and the father married again.  Andrew received a limited common-school education, and at the age of twenty-one years engaged in farming for himself.  In 1861 he enlisted in Company D, Eighth Arkansas Infantry, and did service in Kentucky and Tennessee until after the battle of Shiloh, when the army was re-organized at Corinth, Miss., and he was discharged.  He later joined Gen. Price's army, and was with him on the raid in Missouri and Arkansas.  In 1867 Mr. Allen married Emily P., daughter of Madison C. and Mary E. Snapp, natives, respectively, of Virginia and East Tennessee.  Mr. and Mrs. Snapp were married in Tennessee, and soon after moved to Arkansas, thence to Polk County, MO, where Mrs. Allen was born.  Mrs. Snapp died in 1871, and Mr. Snapp, in Missouri in February 1889; he was a farmer.  Mr. and Mrs. Allen have one son, Robert Lee.  Mr. Allen has resided on his present farm since the war.  He owns about 1800 acres of land, 1,500 of which are fine bottom land; he inherited a large amount from his father, but has enlarged his property by his own efforts, and is one of the most successful and enterprising farmers in the county.  He devotes some attention to good cattle-breeding, and takes great interest in stock raising.  Mr. Allen's residence is four miles southeast of Batesville.  Politically, he is a Democrat.

DR. JOHN FARRELL ALLEN

Source: The Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas, 1889, The Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, p. 632-633.

Dr. John Farrell Allen, a retired physician of great prominence, now residing in Batesville, was born in New Madrid County, Mo., March 29, 1824.  He is a son of Samuel W. and Cecelia (LeSieur) Allen, his father a native of Alexandria, Va., and his mother a native of Missouri.  The maternal grandfather was a French Canadian, whose ancestors came originally from France to Canada, and from there he moved to the State of Missouri, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, residing in that state until the time of his death.  The paternal grandfather Salathiel, was a Virginian by birth, and a sea captain who was lost at sea from his own vessel, together with a cousin, John Ferrell, for whom our subject was named.  Samuel W. Allen, the father of Dr. John F., died in 1863, followed by the mother in 1868.  They were among the early settlers of Southeast Missouri, and were married in 1823, having but one child, a son.  An incident worth noting is that for four generations only one son has been born to each family.  The doctor was reared in New Madrid County, and received his degree of A. B. in Perry County, at a Roman Catholic college.  At the age of twenty years he began the study of medicine, spending two years under a private instructor, Dr. John Kirkwood.  He then entered the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, Penn., and graduated in the spring of 1847.  From there he came to Batesville, where he remained but a short time, when he moved to New Orleans.  He stopped here only a few months, however, and in 1848 returned to Batesville and began to practice his profession, making this place his permanent home.  The doctor's skill soon received a widespread reputation, as he was earnest in his profession, and made it his study and business.  His practice was at one time probably the largest in Northern Arkansas, but within the last few years he has retired from the practice of his profession.  He has accumulated considerable real estate, and owns several good farms, which are cared for by tenants.  The doctor has the credit of having given the Arkansas College, located at Batesville, its name, and is a trustee of that excellent institution of learning.  He is one of the pioneer physicaians who could append M. D. to his name, and became one of the most popular in Independence County, and the number of his friends are many.  Dr. Allen was married April 25, 1849 to Miss Mary E. Agnew of Pennsylvania, a daughter of Dr. James Agnew of Pittsburg, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1800, twenty-four years before the subject of this sketch was born.  She is a sister of Chief Justice Agnew of Pennsylvania.  The Agnew family are lineal descendants of the Howells, Mrs. Allen's grandfather, Richard Howell, being governor of New Jersey for many consecutive years, and she is also a first cousin of the wife of the Confederate leader, Jeff Davis.  Mrs. Davis is a Howell.  Dr. and Mrs. Allen are the parents of four daughters and one son, only two of whom now survive the mother.  Those yet living are Sarah (Mrs. Theodora Maxfield), Samuel W. and Mary.  The latter and the doctor are members of the Presbyterian church, and he takes great interest in religious matters, as in educational affairs also, at Arkansas College, and has done a great deal for the advancement of school interests in Independence County.  He has been identified with Batesville for forty-three years, as one of its leading spirits, and has the reputation of a skillful physicain, and as far as he himself is concerned, has never been upon a bed of sickness, though now in his sixty-sixth year.  Active and earnest in all he undertakes, he says, jocularly, he could never find time to be sick.  At heart, however, he attributes to God all his blessings, good health being one of the many.

DR. STERLING W. ALLEN

Source: The Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas, 1889, The Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, p. 632.

The name of Allen is one of the most influential in Floral and one of the most respected in this community. Dr. Allen is a native of Wilson County, Tenn., born February 13, 1822, and received his education in private schools. He then began the study of medicine, graduated from Memphis (Tenn.) Medical College, in 1848, and began practicing the same year. He married Miss Melissa Carter, of South Carolina, born in the year 1825, and the fruits of this union were three living children--Sarah Jane, Mary W. and Martha L.
Dr. Allen was in the late war as a surgeon under Gen. McRhea and participated in the battles of Ironton, Pilot Knob and West Port. Aside from his profession, he is also engaged in agricultural pursuits, and is the owner of 1,260 acres of land. In politics his principles coincide with those of the Democratic party. He and Mrs. Allen are members of the Methodist Church, and are held in high esteem by all acquainted with them. The Doctor is a genial, generous gentleman, and is liberal and progressive in his ideas. His parents, John and Sarah (Craig) Allen, were both natives of South Carolina, but later in life they moved to Fayette County, Tenn., where they passed the remainder of their days. To their marriage were born twelve children, the Doctor being the only survivor. The grandparents were from the Emerald Isle.

WILLIAM A. ALLEN

Source: The Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas, 1889, The Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, p. 634.

William A. Allen, an extensive and high-respected farmer of Batesville, was born in 1842, within eight miles of that place.  His parents were Abraham and Isabella Allen of North Carolina, who on their journey to the West, first settled in Tennessee, and then in the State of Arkansas.  They moved to Independence County in 1827 and located within six miles of Batesville, and afterward to a point south of the river, where the father died in 1873, over eighty years of age.  He left a fortune of $20,000, and considerable landed estate at the time of his death, and had been one of the most successful farmers of that period.  He was upright and honest in all his dealings with mankind, and his name was one that commanded respect in every grade of society.  William A. Allen was the youngest of the family, and remained with his parents until the latter days of the war between the North and South, when he enlisted in Company C, of Col. Dobbins' regiment, and fought for the Confederate cause.  His career through the war was short, but brilliant, and though not on the victorious side, after the surrender at Jacksonport, he still bore the honors of a brave soldier.  In 1866 he was married to Miss Nancy A., daughter of Joel and Matilda McClendon of Mississippi.  Mrs. McClendon, the mother, died three years after her arrival in Independence County, and the father survived her for four years, leaving four sons and six daughters at the time of his death, of whom five are yet living.  Mr. Allen and his wife have had their union blessed with six children, although one of them has since died.  The names of those living are:  Abraham, Andrew, George William, Ida and Emily.  The family resided on the old farm south of the river until February 1889 and then moved to Batesville, where Mr. Allen has a fine residence.  He owns three tracts of land comprising about 840 acres, and has some 300 acres under cultivation.  Part of his land he inherited from his father, and his own good judgment and natural ability have added the rest.  He is a Democrat in politics and a strong upholder of the principles of that party, and is a member of Neill Lodge No. 285, A. F. & A. M., of Jamestown.  Mr. Allen also belongs to the I. O. O. F., being a member of the Batesville Lodge.  He is one of the leading farmers of Independence County, and a man whose opinion and advice are always received with the fullest confidence. Mrs. Allen is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and is well known for her generosity and the interest she takes in all matters pertaining to that church.

JOHN D. AYDELOTT

Source: The Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas, 1889, The Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, p. 634-635.

John D. Aydelott, a successful farmer of Oil Trough, is the son of A. P. Aydelott and Martha J. Aydelott, who were the parents of twelve children, John D. being the fourth child.  Five lived to be grown:  M. J., J. D., A. W., S. E., and A. P. Aydelott, Jr., who is also a successful farmer in Oil Trough.  A. P. Aydelott, Sr., was one of the oldest settlers of Oil Trough Bottom, coming to Oil Trough in 1844, bringing the first stock of goods that was sold in Oil Tough.  He bought 240 acres of land from Joe Egner, and cleared 200, and farmed and made stock raising a success.  At the beginning of the Civil War Mr. A. P. Aydelott was opposed to the States seceding, but after they did he cast his lot with the Confederacy.  In politics before the war he was a Whig, but afterward a Democrat.  A. P. came to Arkansas from Tennessee in 1836, first settling in Little Rock, afterward Elizabeth, thence to Oil Trough, where he and his wife (whom he married in 1844), Martha J. Birdsong, also of TN, lived happily together until death claimed the father and husband, October 16, 1880.  His widow and the mother of our subject, followed August 26, 1884.  They were buried in the family graveyard on the farm.  They were both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.  The five children living are all doing well.  One girl, S. E., is an invalid, and lives with the youngest brother.

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