My Genealogy Hound

Col. W. F. Slemons, attorney, Monticello, Ark. The name of Slemons is identified with the professional standing, the political welfare, material and social happiness of Monticello. Col. Slemons was born in Weakley County, Tenn., March 15, 1830, and has that ease of manner and force of character which makes the sons of Tennessee influential wherever they go. His parents, John B. and Elizabeth (Jones) Slemons, were natives, respectively, of Virginia and East Tennessee, and of Scotch-Irish descent. Ancestors of the Slemons family came to America about 1760, one branch settled in the Old Dominion, and the other in Pennsylvania. The maternal grandfather, Richard Jones, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and the grandparents of both sides were agriculturists. One uncle, Frank Jones, was a member of Congress for several years. John B. Slemons was a farmer, and emigrated to Drew County, Ark., in 1853. He located on a farm six miles east of Monticello, and there died in August, 1866. The mother died one year afterward. They had three children, of whom our subject is the only survivor. He was reared and educated in Tennessee, worked on the farm until nineteen years of age, and then entered Bethel College. He graduated in law from Cumberland University, in Tennessee, in 1854. Previous to this, in 1852, he came to Drew County, Ark., where he subsequently began the practice of law, continuing until the breaking out of the war, and then enlisted in Company A, Second Arkansas Cavalry. He went out as a lieutenant, and was promoted to the rank of colonel, in April, 1862. He was commissioned brigadier-general, but was captured near Fort Scott, Kas., October 25, 1864, and kept a prisoner until June after the surrender, and thus never served as a general, although commanding a division at the date of the surrender. He was in all the principal engagements, and was a brave officer. Returning to Monticello after the war, he was elected prosecuting attorney of the Tenth District, and served until reconstruction. He resumed his practice, which he continued until 1874, when he was elected to Congress from the Second District, and served six years. He then gave up politics, and resumed his practice, which he still continues. He is a fine lawyer, an earnest and forcible speaker, and an able man in his profession. He was married in 1855, to Miss Martha S. Howard and to them were born seven children, four now living: Willie, Wert A., Howard T. and Fredericka. The Colonel is a member of the I. O. O. F., and is one of the prominent men of Southern Arkansas.