My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Ashley County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

* * * *

W. J. Cammack, farmer, Portland, Ark. The greater portion of the life of our subject has been passed within the borders of Arkansas, whither he moved with his parents in 1848, and under the training and influence of his father he was led to follow agricultural pursuits. He is now recognized as one of the progressive and substantial tillers of the soil in Ashley County. He was born in Bibb County, Ala., on October 6, 1827, and his parents, Lewis and Rhoda (Coleman) Cammack, were natives of Kentucky and Alabama, respectively. The Cammacks are of German extraction. The father moved to Alabama in 1818, was married in 1825, and was engaged in agricultural pursuits in that State, until 1848, when he came to Union County, Ark. Ten years later he moved to Ashley County, and here his death occurred, in 1868. He reared a family of three sons and four daughters, three of whom are now living: Rosamond (wife of Dr. Sherrer) and Mary (widow of Wiley Ruckles). The mother died in 1849. W. J. Cammack passed his boyhood and youth in Alabama, received a common-school education, and came with his father to Arkansas, in 1848, as stated above. He remained under the parental roof until 1855, and then, October 4 of that year, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. George, daughter of Rev. Elias George, of Union Parish, La. Mr. Cammack remained in Union County until the breaking out of the war, and then enlisted in Company I, Thirty-first Louisiana Regiment. He was one of the few privates who went all the way through the battles of Port Hudson, Chickamauga Bayou, siege and surrender of Vicksburg. He was with the army on Red River, and was in many hard-fought battles and severe skirmishes. After the war Mr. Cammack sold out in Union County, moved to Ashley County, and here he has since resided. He rented his farm and moved his family to Hamburg, in 1884, but returned to his plantation in the spring of 1890. He is the father of nine children: Low S. (wife of Robert J. Kilgore, of Union Parish, La.), Anna C. (wife of E. J. Cammack, of South Carolina), Sue M. (wife of George Tucker, of Hamburg), Linn M. (wife of A. B. Macklin, of Texas), May, Rosa Lee, Howard D., W. Daniel and Robert G. Mr. and Mrs. Cammack are members of the Baptist Church, and are well respected in the community. Socially he is a Mason and politically sides with the Democratic party. He has been planting quite extensively, his principal crops being cotton and corn, and averages about a bale of cotton and twenty five bushels of corn to the acre.

* * * *

This family biography is one of 97 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Ashley County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Ashley County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Ashley County, Arkansas family biographies, click here

Use the links at the top right of this page to search or browse thousands of other family biographies.