My Genealogy Hound

Woodson Mosley, circuit and probate clerk, Toledo, Ark. The subject of this sketch needs no introduction to the people of Cleveland County, Ark., for he is a native-born citizen of that county, and a man whose integrity and honesty of purpose is unquestioned. He was born in 1856, and his father, Wiley Mosley, is a native of Aiken, S. C, born in 1820. The latter was married in Calhoun County, Ark., to Miss Jane Elizabeth Brawner, a native of Georgia, born in 1829, and they afterward moved to what is now Cleveland County, Ark., where Mr. Mosley had previously purchased land, and here they still reside. They were among the first settlers of this region, and are much esteemed and respected by all acquainted with them. The father is a successful agriculturist, and has followed this calling the principal part of his life. He served two years in the Confederate army during the latter part of the war, with Capt. Snell, of Gen. Fagan’s command, Trans-Mississippi Department. He was all through Price’s raid, and was wounded near Kansas City. At the time of the surrender he was in Texas. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Kingsland Lodge. His father, Absalom Mosley, was born in Aiken County, S. C, and there spent his life, engaged in tilling the soil. He was of English descent. The maternal grandfather, Tilman Brawner, was a native of Georgia, afterward lived in Alabama, but spent the latter part of his life in Calhoun County, Ark., where he died in 1866. He was a soldier in the early Indian wars, was of English descent, and was a prominent farmer and merchant by occupation. Woodson Mosley, the second of six children, was early taught the arduous duties of the farm, and received his education in the common school. He afterward read law, later attended a law class in Little Rock, and was admitted to the bar there in 1881, but never practiced to any great extent. Here turned home and was engaged in merchandising, which he continued at Kingsland, until he was elected clerk of Cleveland County, in September, 1888. From 1881 until his election as clerk, he was notary public, and was also mayor of Kingsland a number of years. His marriage nuptials were celebrated in 1888, with Miss E. L. Smith, a native of Mississippi, born near Wesson, and the daughter of William M. and Z. J. Smith, who were natives of Mississippi, where they resided until 1881, when they moved to Kingsland. There the father died in 1887, but Mrs. Smith is still living. Mr. Smith followed farming until coming to Arkansas, and since that time has been engaged in a general blacksmith and wagon-making business. He served through the entire war in the Confederate army. Mr. Mosley is a Democrat in politics, and his first vote was cast for Gen. Hancock in 1880. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Kingsland Lodge. He is the owner of 300 acres of timbered land in Cleveland and Ashley Counties. Mrs. Mosley is a member of the Baptist Church.