My Genealogy Hound

C. H. Triplett, county treasurer of Jefferson County, and one of its best known citizens, was born in that county on the 12th of March, 1850, and is a son of Charles H. and Esthe (Dunlap) Triplett, of Fairfax County, Va., and of Scotch-Irish origin. The paternal grandfather, John Triplett, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, who passed the remainder of his days after that event in Virginia. The old homestead is still in the Triplett family, and has been for over 125 years, and they also possess a large estate in the neighborhood of Mount Vernon. Charles H. Triplett was a cabinet-maker by trade, and an expert in that line. When only eighteen years of age he was foreman over 100 men, and, young as he was, maintained a strict discipline over individuals that were double his years. His son, the principal in this sketch, has some furniture in his house at the present time which was made by his father over fifty years ago, and while visiting the exposition at New Orleans several years ago, the father was shown some furniture that was made by him during the first years of his artisanship. He was one of the men who helped remove George Washington’s remains to their last resting place at Mount Vernon. In 1847 he emigrated to Jefferson County, Ark., where he entered a large tract of land and farmed for a great many years, his death occurring at the home of his son, in 1887. The mother died in 1858. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom three only are living at present: Mrs. Sarah Buck, Mrs. M. D. Lindsay and Charles H. (the subject of this sketch). Mr. Triplett was reared on his father’s farm and received a somewhat limited education in his youth, but this, however, was overcome in later years by a naturally shrewd and intellectual mind. In 1868 he moved to Pine Bluff with the intention of commencing in life on his own account, and was first engaged as clerk in a grocery house at that place with a salary of $1.50 per month. He remained with this firm for two years, and then entered the employ of Mr. Gabe Meyers in the general merchandise business, remaining with him four years. His next venture was to form a partnership with Mr. John L. Buck in the grocery business, but in 1879 the firm met with reverses and were forced to suspend. They closed out their business in an honorable manner, and paid all their debts, though it took almost every cent from Mr. Triplett to do so, and he was again compelled to start in life a poor man. He then turned his attention to farming and speculating, and by good management and tact has accumulated considerable wealth once more, owning 4,000 acres of very fertile land, with several hundred acres under cultivation, and one of the finest residences in Pine Bluff. In politics he is an ardent Democrat and a leader in his party, and in 1888 was elected by them to the office of county treasurer. Besides this office he is commissioner of the sewer district, and secretary of the Board of Health. Mr. Triplett was married in 1880 to Miss Estelle Holland, by whom he has had three children: Charles H., Jr., Gerald and Esta. His wife is a kindly, Christian woman, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. In secret societies Mr. Triplett belongs to the Royal Arcanum, of which body he is financial secretary, also holding that office in the Knights of Honor. He is also a member and secretary of the American Legion of Honor and the Knights and Ladies of Honor.