My Genealogy Hound

James A. Bush, planter, Latour, Ark. Of that sturdy and independent class, the farmers of Arkansas, none are possessed of more genuine merit and a stronger character than he whose name stands at the head of this sketch; he has risen to more than an ordinary degree of success in his calling of an agriculturist and stock man, and wherever known, he is conceded to be an energetic and progressive tiller of the soil, imbued with all those qualities of go-a-head-ativeness which have characterized his ancestors. His birth occurred in Knoxville, Tenn., January 2, 1832, and he is of German descent. He remained with his parents until eighteen years of age, when he commenced to learn the blacksmith trade, working at his trade until 1860, and accumulating considerable money. He then commenced to speculate, and has continued this ever since. During the late war he served some time in Dobbin’s regiment, and was in a number of sharp skirmishes. He was on picket duty when the first gunboat passed Helena, and was a brave and gallant soldier. He was discharged three times for sickness before leaving the army. His property was burned and otherwise destroyed during the late war, and he was a heavy loser. He was the owner of twenty-seven picked slaves, worth on an average of $1,500 apiece. After the war he commenced to farm, which occupation he has since continued. He is now the owner of 1,800 acres, with 1,200 under cultivation, and uses convict labor of Phillips, Monroe, Lee and St. Francis Counties. He has used this kind of labor for six years, and during that time has used 2,000 negroes, only losing one by death, and he meeting his death by burning, while trying to escape. In 1860 Mr. Bush married Miss Jennie McKinsick, a native of Marshall County, Miss., born in 1834, and the daughter of Robert McKinsick. The fruits of this union have been five living children: Lucy C. (wife of John D. Binley, of Covington, Ky., merchant, formerly traveling for a firm in St. Louis), James E. (with the East Arkansas Hedge Company, in the capacity of book-keeper), Jesse and Walter (twins, both at home) and Maude (at school, in Memphis). Mr. Bush was formerly a Whig in politics, and is one of the enterprising citizens of the county. Although be commenced without means, by his energy and good business ability he has become one of the most successful and substantial men of the county. He is a liberal contributor to all laudable enterprises, and has recently donated a house to be used as a Union Church. He is the son of Andrew and Nancy (Agnew) Bush, and the grandson of George Bush, who was one of the most substantial men of Tennessee, and died in Knox County of that State. Andrew Bush and wife were natives of Knox County, Tenn., and North Carolina, respectively, and were married in Knoxville, Tenn., where they remained until their son, James A., was eleven years of age. Then they moved to Northern Alabama, Madison County, and later came to Arkansas, where they passed the remainder of their lives, the father dying in 1860, when sixty years of age, and the mother dying in 1878, at the age of seventy-eight years. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and he was a Whig in politics. He had followed agricultural pursuits all his life, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was in the battle of the Horse Shoe. To his marriage were born seven children, all now deceased but the subject of this sketch.