> From Peggy in Tulsa on another List >Capt. Joseph Thompson McCracken > >Capt. Joseph Thompson McCracken. Among the well-known farmers and stock >dealers of Marion County, Ark., none has a better or more thoroughly >cultivated farm than he whose name is here given. He is a product of >Murfreesboro, Tenn., where he was born November 29, 1830, a son of Joseph R. >and Isabelle (Thompson) McCracken, the former born in North Carolina in 1776, >and the latter in Virginia about 1780. They were taken to Rutherford County, >Tenn., in their youth and were there reared, married and made their home >until 1851, when they came by wagon to Marion County, Ark., the journey >thither occupying three weeks. The father purchased a small farm on James >Creek, on which he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1865. His wife died >in Tennessee and later he married a Miss Lorance, who died in 1862. He was a >slave holder, a man of unblemished reputation, was for some time sheriff of >Rutherford County, Tenn., and for many years was treasurer of Marion County, >Ark., which office he was filling at the time of his death. He was a soldier >of the War of 1812 under Gen. Jackson, and was with him at the famous battle >of New Orleans. He was a Southern sympathizer during the Civil War, but took >no active part in the struggle. His father, John McCracken, was a North >Carolinian, where he spent all his days, and his wife, Sarah Luck, also died >in that State. The great-grandfather McCracken was an Irishman and is >supposed to have passed from this life in the Old North State. The maternal >grandfather, Joseph Thompson, was a Virginian, but an early settler of >Tennessee and followed the calling of a farmer in Rutherford County until his >death. He was of Scotch descent and became a soldier of the War of 1812. > >The children of Joseph and Isabelle Thompson are as follows: Sarah, widow of >John Pace, resided in Texas; Isabelle became the wife of Willis Sanford and >died in Rutherford County, Tenn.; Elizabeth is the wife of F. D. Hall of >Rutherford County; Minerva is the widow of Hugh Bell of Conway County, Ark.; >Emily died in Marion County, Ark., the wife of W[illiam] C[arroll] Pace; >Caroline is the wife of John Gum of Rutherford County, Tenn.; Joseph Thompson >and Eliza Ann, widow of John Brown. > >The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm in Tennessee and >unfortunately received but meager educational advantages. He came with his >parents to Arkansas and was married in 1854 to Josephine, daughter of John >and Hannah Kellough, the former of whom died in Kentucky, after which the >widowed mother came to Arkansas and died at Mountain Home. Mrs. McCracken >was born on Blue Grass soil, and by Mr. McCracken became the mother of his >nine children: Joseph R.; John N.; William, who died at the age of twelve >years; Hannah Ann, wife of Matthew Mitchell; Isabelle, wife of Frank King; >Thompson, Kirk; Emma and Helen. Mrs. McCracken has been a resident of Marion >County since 1851. > >When the war broke out he was one of the first to enlist from Marion County, >and in May 1861, became a member of Company A of a Missouri regiment. Soon >after the battle of Wilson's Creek, in which he participated, his company was >disbanded, and he then became a member of Company A, Fourteenth Arkansas >Infantry, with which he served twelve months as orderly sergeant, after which >he was in the battle of Elk Horn, where he commanded his company. His >command was then sent east of the Mississippi River, and he took part in the >engagement at Iuka. Succeeding this he was honorably discharged from the >service on account of ill health, but at the end of about two months he >joined Company F, Col. Suavel's Battalion of Gen. Jo Shelby's command, with >which he remained until the war closed; acting captain the most of the time. >He took part in Price's raid, during which time he participated in many >engagements, and after his captain was killed at Booneville, he was placed in >command of his company and continued to hold this position until the >cessation of hostilities. He was captured once in Marion County, but made >his escape a few hours later. He had two horses shot from under him at >different battles, and without doubt received a hundred bullet holes in his >clothes, but was himself never ever scarred. He surrendered at Jacksonport, >Ark., June 6, 1865, and left the service in very poor health. > >He returned home to find his family in a starving condition, his eldest son >being so weak that he could scarcely stand alone, and had it not been for the >rations Mr. McCracken brought home with him, his son would undoubtedly have >starved to death. Mr. McCracken at once began the work of putting in a crop >and by fall was much improved in circumstances. He has since led a very >active and industrious life and is one of the most prosperous men, >financially, in the country. He has followed farming all his life and for >the past twenty years has been an extensive stock raiser and trader. He is >the owner of several fine White River bottom farms, and a fine stock ranch on >which he resided, fifteen miles north of Yellville. He is a partner in >business with Col. D. N. Fullbright, and together they own about 4,000 acres >of land, much of which is very valuable mineral land. > >During the Brooks-Baxter war Capt. McCracken was commissioned captain of a >company, but was not called into service. He has frequently been solicited >to run for office, but has always refused. He was formerly a Whig in >politics and in 1856 voted for Gen. Fremont, but since the war he has been >with the Democratic Party, of which he is an active supporter. He wields a >wide influence in a political way, but of late years has rather retired from >the political arena and is not an active worker during political campaigns. >He is a prominent member of Yellville Lodge No. 117 of the A. F. & A. M., and >he and his wife have for many years been members of the Christian Church. >Although he has reached the sixty-fourth milestone of his life he is very >active and in robust health, being perfectly preserved. He owns some of the >best saddle horses in Arkansas and frequently makes a horseback trip of sixty >or seventy miles in one day. He is a great lover of fine horseflesh and >takes great pleasure in caring for them and living among them. > >Cite: A Reminiscent History of The Ozark Region. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.: Ramfre >Press, Reprint. 1956), 176-177. >* * *