My Genealogy Hound

Maj. J. R. Wimberly is one of the foremost farmers of the county of Hempstead, Ark., and is a native Georgian, his birth having occurred in 1838. His father, Dr. H. S. Wimberly, in addition to practicing his profession, followed the calling of a planter, and was well and favorably known in Houston and Twiggs Counties. He was very finely educated, and besides graduating from the State University of Georgia, he graduated from the Medical College of Philadelphia, Penn., a classmate of Robert Toombs. He is still residing in his native State, his home being in Twiggs County. His father was a soldier in the Creek and Seminole Wars. The subject of this sketch was well educated in his youth, being favored with the advantages of an excellent private school, and in 1860 he began an independent career as a school teacher, and in connection with this was engaged in tilling the soil up to 1863. In the latter year he joined the Confederate army and was a member of battalion until it was disbanded in 1864, after which he was not a regular member of any command. The last year of the war he was in the quartermaster’s department. During his term of active service he was in the fight between Bragg and Rosecrans in Georgia, and was in every other engagement in which Johnston participated, being in Hardee’s corps. His company was disbanded in North Carolina, every man taking the nearest route home, but as Mr. Wimberly possessed a horse he was not compelled to make his way on foot. He was slightly wounded at Savannah. He entered the army as a captain, was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, after the battle of Atlanta, and in the quartermaster’s department became major. Upon his return home from the war, he again began following the plow in Georgia, but in 1886 came to Arkansas, and here has since become the owner of 850 acres of land, which yields good crops. His marriage took place in 1860, his wife being Miss Eugenia M. Brown, of Houston County, Ga., a daughter of Dempsie Brown, a cotton planter, born in North Carolina. By industry and good management he became very wealthy, and before his death, which occurred in 1864, he had accumulated a fortune of $500,000. He was a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. To Mr. Wimberly and his wife a family of nine children have been born: Carrie D. (Mrs. J. W. Marshal, of Waycross, Ga.), Walter H., John R., Joseph W., Daisy Dean, Dempsey Brown, Laura L., Cora Delia and Louise, all of whom are at home with the exception of the married daughter. Mr. Wimberly has always supported the principles of the Democratic party, and on that ticket was elected to the State Legislature of Georgia in 1875, and was re-elected in 1877, a position he filled with ability and with honesty to his party. He is a public-spirited citizen, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and belongs to the A. F. & A. M.