My Genealogy Hound

William F. Beene, a member of the firm of Beene & Talbott, merchants and millers of Star of the West, Pike County, Ark., was born in Itawamba County, Miss., on June 19, 1855, and was the sixth of eight children born to Jesse and Matilda (Stephenson) Beene, natives of Tennessee. The parents were married in Mississippi, but afterward moved to Arkansas, and settled in what is now Howard County (then part of Sevier) in 1859. The father was a Democrat, and was quite active in politics. He died in 1863 at the age of fifty-six years. The maternal grandfather of our subject came to this country from Ireland when a young man. William F. Beene was reared in this State and was left fatherless when quite young. On this account he failed to obtain a good education, and when twenty-two years of age started out for himself as a farmer. He is at present the owner of considerable land, though for the last five years he has turned his attention to merchandising. He has been quite successful in this last venture and does an annual business of about $8,000. He was married in 1885 to Miss Fannie Richmond, a native of this State, and the daughter of Smiley Richmond, a resident of Howard County, Ark. Three children are the fruits of this union, only one now living, Walter Ray. Like his father, Mr. Beene takes an interest in politics, and is also Democratic in his views. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, which he joined in 1889, Star of the West Lodge No. 210. He and Mrs. Beene are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, holding membership at the New Hope Baptist Church.