My Genealogy Hound

J. B. Gean, a familiar figure in public life, and a prosperous planter of Grant County, was born in North Carolina, September 22, 1850, and is a son of Bird and Sarah (Brantley) Gean. The father was first married, in 1834, to Miss Martha Seymour, but this lady died in 1837, without leaving any issue, and his second marriage was in 1842, to a daughter of Kirk and Flora C. Brantley, by whom he had six children, of whom there are four still living, and all reside in Grant County. The father was a prominent farmer of North Carolina, who left his native State and came to Arkansas in 1856, locating in Jefferson, and now resides with his son, the principal of this sketch. His estimable wife died on May 11, 1883, a devout Christian woman, and a member of the Baptist Church, to which persuasion her husband also belonged. His father was William Gean, a native of North Carolina, and a hero of many battles during the Revolution. His death occurred in that State in the year 1848. J. B. Gean was educated in the schools near Sheridan, in Grant County. April 8, 1871, he was married to Miss Eliza Rhoden, a daughter of Simpson and Eliza Rhoden, well-known residents of Grant County. This union was a happy one in every respect, and was blessed with one child, Emma E., but a sadness, almost impenetrable in its deepness, was cast over the kind husband and father, when his excellent wife died on September 3 of the following year. He remained a widower until October 8, 1876, when his heart was captured by Miss Mary R. Gordon, a daughter of James and Mary Gordon, by whom he had five children, three of them still living, and all residing at home: Mary A., John H., Clara B., Lillie I. and Oris B. Mr. Gean is a man of great popularity in his community, and enjoys the confidence of his fellow-citizens to an exalted degree. His integrity, industry and honor have placed him among the leading men of Grant County, and his activity in all public and private enterprises that have a tendency to develop and improve the county makes him a valuable and influential resident. He now owns about 540 acres of very productive land, with about ninety-five acres under cultivation, all of it being the result of his steady industry, business tact and good management. In secret societies he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has held the offices of Senior and Junior Warden, and has belonged to the Masons for over eighteen years. He filled the office of justice of the peace for four years, in a highly satisfactory manner, and left it then under the vigorous protests of his constituents. Mrs. Gean is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and both are liberal contributors to all religious and educational matters.