My Genealogy Hound

John Westmoreland, one of the prominent old settlers of Ozan Township, Hempstead County, was born in York District, S. C., May 10,1821. His father, Robert Westmoreland, was born in Westmoreland County, Va., in 1798, and was a son of Edmond Westmoreland, a native of Westmoreland District, England, who came to America before the Revolutionary War, and settled in Virginia, in that county which afterward took his name. He was a very extensive planter, and died in York District, S. C. Robert Westmoreland was married in South Carolina to Miss Susannah Harwell, a native of Virginia, and for a number of years after made his home in Virginia, subsequently moving to South Carolina. In 1833 they moved to Coosa County, Ala., and there made their home until 1855, and then came to Miller County, Ark., where they both passed from life—he in 1861, and she in 1865. They were both worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The father was a successful blacksmith and farmer, and in politics was a stanch Democrat. They were the parents of eight children, four of whom grew to maturity, and two of whom are still living, viz.: John and Freeman. Freeman is a farmer and blacksmith of Miller County, Ark. The subject of this sketch spent his school days in Alabama, and when a boy of seventeen or eighteen left home and went to Lafayette County, Miss., and turned his attention to farming. Two years later he came to Sevier County, Ark., and a few months later to Hempstead County, where he has since resided. From 1840 until the outbreak of the war he was an overseer, but at the close of the war he purchased a farm, and since then has been farming for himself. He owns a farm of 280 acres of good land, with about 100 acres under cultivation. During the late war he was detailed to work as a blacksmith in this part of the State. When he first came to this State he was without means, but by his industry and good management, with the assistance of his excellent wife, who is a practical housekeeper and manager, he has accumulated a good property. His marriage occurred on October 29, 1851, Miss Fredonia Reaves being the contracting party. She was born in this county October 27, 1828, being a daughter of James Reaves, a blacksmith and farmer by occupation, and one of the first settlers in this part of Arkansas. He was born in North Carolina in 1794, subsequently went to Tennessee, then to Missouri, and, in 1818, came to Arkansas, and located in Hempstead County, where he died in May, 1865. To their marriage was born one child—Mary A., who was born in 1863, subsequently becoming the wife of Pleasant H. Sandlin, and died in December, 1883. They have also reared and educated four orphan boys. Mrs. Westmoreland is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.