My Genealogy Hound

William C. Hilliard, an enterprising farmer of Talladega Township, was born in Fairfield County, S. C., being the son of A. D. and Savilla (Woodward) Hilliard, also natives of that State. The father was born in 1819, and followed the general occupation of a merchant in the State of his birth until the late war, his occupation being varied until his death in 1878. He was a Mason, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and served as major in the late war. The mother died in Louisiana in 1867, at the age of thirty-three years. William C. Hilliard, the subject of this sketch, was the sixth in a family of seven children born to his parents’ union. In 1870 he came to Drew County, Ark., where he attended school, and subsequently taught in adjoining counties; he also engaged in farming, and in 1886 came to Jefferson County, settling on the place where he now resides, and turning his attention largely to fruit growing, raising peaches, apples, grapes and figs. He has a fine farm well under cultivation, and is known as one of the prominent citizens of this county. He is one of the young and energetic men in the Democratic party, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1885 he married Miss Johnie Blackwell, a native of this county; and they have three children: William W., Walter B. and Erne. Mrs. Hilliard’s father, G. L. Blackwell, a farmer of Jefferson County, was born in Elbert County, Ga., in 1834, and came to Arkansas in 1868. He owns about 440 acres of good land, 175 of which are under cultivation. He has been a Mason for thirty years, and has held the offices of tyler and senior warden. He has also held the office of justice of the peace for ten years. In 1862 he enlisted under Col. Bradley in the Ninth Arkansas Regiment, but becoming ill remained in the hospital until his discharge in 1862, at Bernsville, Miss. In July of that year he again entered the service under Col. Darson, of the Nineteenth Regiment, his first hard fight being at Jenkins’ Ferry. He was discharged in 1865 at Jacksonport, when he returned home and engaged in farming. Mr. Blackwell is a member of the Baptist Church, and is a liberal contributor to all charitable enterprises. November 16, 1854, he married Ademia Pruett, a native of Georgia. She had one child, who died in infancy, and July 26, 1859, she departed this life. On June 28, 1860, Mr. Blackwell married Katie Griffin, of Mississippi. To this union were born nine children, five of whom are still living.