My Genealogy Hound

James L. Townsend. in connection with his farming operations, has given considerable attention to the manufacture of tile, his farm and manufactory being situated three miles northeast of Okolona. He was born in Dallas County, Ala., in 1840, being the sixth of eleven children—four sons and seven daughters—born to the marriage of Allen Townsend and Susan Ross, both of whom were born in Logan County, of the Blue Grass State, the former in 1807 and the latter in 1809. They were married in Alabama, where they made their home until 1841, then came to Clark County, and settled on a woodland farm. Mrs. Townsend died in 1854, but her husband still survives her, and is now living in Hood County, Tex. He was a tanner in early life, but later became a farmer. He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the Christian Church, and has filled the office of justice of the peace. Jabez Townsend, the paternal grandfather, was born in North Carolina, from which State he moved to Kentucky, where he spent the rest of his life. He was of Scotch descent. The maternal grandfather, Peter Ross, was one of the early settlers of Clark County. James L. Townsend was reared on a farm in the wilds of Clark County, Ark., and besides attending the common schools of Arkansas was for two years an attendant in an excellent educational institution in Adairsville. On the 5th of March, 1862, he joined Company B, First Arkansas Infantry, and after being in the service eleven months and participating in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Chickamauga, and with Bragg on his raid in Kentucky, he left a substitute and returned home. He soon after joined the State troops and was at Elkins' Ferry, Poison Springs and Mark's Mill. Emma M., a daughter of Samuel and Fannie Graves, became his wife in 1861, her birth having occurred in Springfield, Robertson County, Tenn., where she met and married Mr. Townsend. After the war Mr. Townsend lived for three years in Bowie County, Tex., after which he again came to Clark County, and from 1869 to 1876 he worked at the saddler's trade in Okolona. Since then he has given the most of his attention to farming, his land amounting to eighty acres, and besides being interested in managing a warehouse in Okolona for the last three years, he is also engaged in the manufacture of under-drain tile. The eight years following 1874 he filled the office of justice of the peace, and ever since he has reached a proper age for voting he has affiliated with the Democrat party, his first presidential vote being cast for Bell in 1860. Mrs. Townsend's father and mother were born in Davidson and Robertson Counties, Tenn., respectively, and both died near Nashville prior to the war. In 1882 Mrs. Townsend died, and in 1883 Mr. Townsend was married to Miss K. K. Brent, she being a daughter of Michael W. Brent and Sallie Brent, of Holmesville, Miss.