My Genealogy Hound

John T. Souter is a South Carolinian, his birth having occurred in that State in 1846, being the fifth of ten children born to G. W. and Priscilla (Turnipseed) Souter, also of that State. They moved to Fayette County, Ga., in 1848, where the father was engaged in farming until 1871, at which time he moved to the farm on which he is now residing in Columbia County, Ark. His land was unimproved at the time, but he has been exceptionally successful and is now one of the most extensive real estate holders in this section of the country. He was in the Georgia State Militia during the Rebellion, but only served a short time. He lost numerous slaves by the Emancipation Act, also a great deal of other property, but since that time has fully retrieved his losses. The children that in time gathered around his hearthstone are as follows: Mary A. (wife of M. G. Snider), H. G., Fannie (wife of Rev. J. H. Elder, of Spalding County, Ga.), Susanna and Martha (deceased), J. T., J. D., W. W., J. W., and Edward (deceased). The mother of these children, who was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, died in 1882. Mr. Souter is a member of the A. F. & A. M. John T. Souter, after attending the common schools and assisting his father in tilling the home farm until he was eighteen years of age, joined Company B, Twenty-second Georgia Battalion, and was in the battle of Bentonville and numerous minor engagements until his capture at Raleigh, N. C, but only remained in prison a short time, as the war soon terminated. He began farming on his own land upon his return home, and in 1866 was married to Miss M. E. Williamson, a daughter of G. W. and Harriet E. (Buckelew) Williamson, Georgians, Mrs. Souter being also born in that State. Mr. Souter remained and farmed in Georgia until 1871, at which time he pitched his tent in Columbia County, Ark., purchasing a farm partially improved, consisting of 450 acres, and has since increased the cultivated land from seventy to 150 acres, on which is erected a neat and charming farm residence, his other buildings being among the best to be found in the county. He has a very fine cotton-gin, with a steam saw and grist mill attached, and gins about 300 bales of cotton each year, his own farm yielding about fifty bales. His saw-mill has a capacity of 10,000 feet of lumber daily, but this mill he does not run regularly, as he only saws for local trade. Besides his home farm he is the owner of 120 acres of land in Louisiana. Although he has suffered some reverses of fortune, he has, in the main, been successful, and is now in independent circumstances. He is a liberal contributor of his means to worthy enterprises, and has always shown himself to be thoroughly public spirited. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and are the parents of the following children: J. A. (a farmer), Hattie (wife of A. M. Kirkpatrick), Maggie (wife of Dr. C. E. Wilburn), Thomas and Arthur, all of whom are resident of the county. Emma B., G. W. and two children unnamed are deceased.