My Genealogy Hound

Jefferson J. and Frank Stratton are prosperous farmers and cotton ginners, residing at Barrettsville, and are natives of the county in which they are now residing, and sons of James E. and Comfort (Sparks) Stratton. The father was a Tennesseean, born in 1829, and his juvenile days were spent at farm work in his native State, and in attending the old time subscription schools. About 1858 he wedded the daughter of David and Comfort Sparks, Tennesseeans, and in 1856, came to Prairie County, Ark., and settled in Totten Township, and here reared his family, which consists of the following children: Thomas B. (who died in 1864), Jefferson, Frank, Lou, Dora (who died in 1880) and Eddie. The father of these children was a well-to-do and prosperous farmer, and died in Lonoke County, Ark., in 1873. He and wife were members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and his widow still survives him, and has been a resident of Center Township since 1886. He was a soldier all through the war, enlisting in 1861. Their sons, Jefferson J. and Frank, were born in 1861 and 1864, respectively, and are now young men of enterprise and push, their outlook for the future being bright and promising. In 1887 they began operating a cotton-gin, which has a capacity of twelve bales per day. Jefferson owns 160 acres of land, and has eighty acres under cultivation, while Frank lives with his mother and manages her farm of 160 acres, of which sixty acres are under the plow. Their sister Lou is now Mrs. M. L. McCune, and has three children: Quinton, Birney and Frank.