My Genealogy Hound

Robert Bell Gartrell, farmer and miller of Center Township, Sebastian Co., Ark., was born in Lumpkin Co., Ga., in 1835, and is a son of William J. and Malinda (Hallum) Gartrell, the father being of French-Welsh descent. They were born in Georgia and South Carolina, in 1791 and 1819, respectively, and were married in Union County, Ga., soon after moving to Lumpkin County, Ga., where the father worked in the gold mines. He moved to Gordon County, Ga., in 1863, where he died four years later, followed by his wife in 1868. They became the parents of twelve children, five of whom are living at the present time, Robert Bell Gartrell being the eldest of the family. He was reared to manhood on a farm, and in the gold mines, the fall and winter seasons being spent in the mines. He made his home with his parents until thirty-three years of age, and in December, 1868, was married to Miss Mary Ward, who was born in Gordon County, Ga., in 1852, and by whom he became the father of seven children: Theophilus, Viola, Gertrude, Lenora Irene, Charles Serastus, Martin Luther, Cora, Sedalia and Robert Franklin. Mr. Gartrell resided in his native State until 1871, when he immigrated to Sebastian County, Ark., and purchased 327 acres of land in Center Township, about seven miles from the county seat, where he located and has since resided. In 1874 he purchased a horse gin, which he operated seven years, the last year converting it into a steam gin, the capacity of which was about 300 bales of cotton per year, and in the fall of 1888 erected a gin at a cost of about $180. He is considered one of the enterprising farmers of the county, and in his political views is a Democrat, casting his first presidential vote for James Buchanan. He is a Master Mason of Hackett Lodge. In April, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Fifty-second Regiment Georgia Infantry, but was afterward transferred to Company I, Eighth Regiment Georgia Infantry. He went out as a private, but was promoted to second lieutenant, and participated in the battles of Missionary Ridge and Perryville, being wounded in the latter engagement by a falling tree, which was shattered by a cannon ball. He was honorably discharged at Cumberland Gap, and returned to his home and the peaceful pursuit of farming.