My Genealogy Hound

Benjamin F. Steele, an extensive farmer in Missouri Township, and one of the most extensive in the county, was born near Oxford, Miss., March 15, 1846, a son of J. P. and Christiana (Bargar) Steele, natives of North Carolina. They were married in Tennessee, and resided there for some time after, then moved to Mississippi, remaining there until 1848, when they came to Arkansas, locating in Ouachita County, and here the father died in 1850, in his fifty-second year. After his death his widow married Hiram Medlock, who lived but two years, dying in 1858. Mrs. Medlock moved from Ouachita County to Pike County, in 1858, and the following year came to Nevada County (then Hempstead), where she remained until her death in 1877, dying at the age of sixty-seven years. Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Steele were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and took an active interest in all church affairs. It was at his house that the first Methodist Episcopal Church in this part of Ouachita County was organized, and this house is known as Steele’s Chapel until this day. Politically he was a Whig. He learned the millwright’s trade when a young man, and afterward worked at it for a good many years, taking contracts, etc. He was also a silent partner in a tannery in Mississippi. The latter part of his life he devoted exclusively to farming. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Steele were born twelve children, five of whom still survive, viz.: Col. William T. (a farmer of this county, and one of its prominent citizens), Sarah E. (wife of J. T. W. Gill, also a farmer of this county), Amanda C. (wife of David F. Garrett, a farmer of this county), Benjamin F. (our subject), and Luther C. (also engaged in tilling the soil in this county). Those dead are: Thomas H. (died in Ouachita County, before the war, in his twenty-third year), John G. (died in Ouachita County, in 1860, when twenty-five years of age), James L. (died at the age of twenty-two years, in Ouachita County, near the beginning of the war), Victoria C. (married Robert James, and died in Pike County, Ark.), Washington J. (died in Ouachita County when about twenty-six years of age), and David A. (died at Little Rock, Ark., in infancy). The immediate subject of this sketch spent his school days in Ouachita, Columbia and Hempstead Counties. In September, 1863, he enlisted in the Confederate army, joining Monoee’s regiment of cavalry, and served until the close of the war, participating in a great many battles, the principal ones being Pine Bluff, Poison Springs and Mark’s Mill. In 1865 on account of the exposure he had undergone, he was taken ill, and left with a relative until the close of the war. In the meantime his regiment surrendered. He then joined his family who had refugeed to Texas, but in 1865 returned to Ouachita County, Ark. The same year he worked on the farm, went to school in 1866 and soon commenced to farm for himself, though being destitute of means. He came to this county (then Hempstead), in 1872, and purchased 160 acres of land, and has since sold this and purchased other lands near by amounting to 420 acres, 250 acres being in an excellent state of cultivation. His success in life is due solely to his own efforts, he having been diligent in business, using industry and economy—the sure road to success and happiness. September 19, 1869, Miss Mary M. Cross, daughter of Henry C. Cross, became his wife, and June 22, 1880, she died; leaving him five children. She was born in Ouachita County, in 1846. Their children are: Emma S., Lissie C., John P., Josie J. and Mary D., all at home. In 1880 Miss Lou A., daughter of J. D. and Nancy Davis, of this county, a native of Mississippi, born in 1848, became his wife. By this later marriage he is the father of seven children, six of whom survive, viz.: Ruth, Bessie F., Leola and Viola (twins), Andrew N. and a baby daughter. Both Mr. and Mrs. Steele are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, as was the first Mrs. Steele. Mr. Steele joined the church in 1868, and since that he has taken a very active interest in church work, serving in an official capacity most of the time. He is a member of the Alliance, and in politics is Independent, voting most of the time with the Prohibition party.