My Genealogy Hound

Arnold Stotts. Joshua and Rebecca (Thomas) Stotts, the paternal grandparents of our subject, were natives of Virginia and North Carolina, respectively, and after their marriage remained some time in Virginia, and in 1810 went to Wilson County, Tenn., and in 1827 went farther west to Perry County, where the husband died the same year. Mrs. Stotts married a second time, and about 1850 came to Arkansas, locating near Jonesboro, now Craighead County, where she died about 1853 at the age of ninety-eight years. Of the nine children born to this union only one is now living, William Stotts, one of the oldest and most highly respected citizens of the island. He was born in Wythe County, Va., in 1802, and, being but a child when his parents moved to Tennessee, grew to manhood in Tennessee. In 1843, he came by wagon to Arkansas, and located in what is now Craighead County, below Jonesboro, where he remained till 1878, when he moved to Buffalo Island, where he has since resided. He was first married in 1830 to Frances Thomason, a native of North Carolina, who died February 12, 1877, aged fifty-three years. By this union there were nine children, four of whom are still living: Arnold, Elizabeth (widow of John Garrett), Wiley and Mrs. Sarah Randson. Those deceased are William, Rebecca A., John and two infants. Mr. Stotts’ second wife was Mrs. Tempie Cannon, nee Morgan, and both of them are members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Stotts has a small farm of forty acres, with twenty-eight under cultivation, which he cultivates himself and upon which he makes his living and clears about $500 per year. Arnold Stotts, the oldest child of William, and the immediate subject of this sketch, is a merchant and farmer of Stottsville and also owner and proprietor of a cotton-gin and saw and grist-mill. He was born in Perry County, Tenn., in October, 1831, and was but twelve years of age when his parents came to this State. July 18, 1851, he was united in marriage with Cynthia Mattox, born near Gainesville, Ark., and daughter of Edward Mattox. This union has been blessed with five children: Mary Ann (wife of J. Tonson), James, Amanda (wife of Richard Mangrum), William and Alabama (wife of Walter Skelton). All are married and live around the home place. After his marriage Mr. Stotts located near Jonesboro, and in 1863 moved to Buffalo Island, and in 1881 to his present place. He owns 580 acres of land, and on his home place 320 acres, with 109 under cultivation. In 1874 he began merchandising, and in 1876 put up a cotton gin, a year later adding a saw and grist-mill. He has also a blacksmith shop. When he located on the island there were but four families residing on it, and he has killed deer and bears in numbers. He raised the first cotton crop ever made on the island, and the first year he built his gin, ginned sixty-five bales of cotton, and in 1888 ginned 378 bales. He is one of the leading citizens of the community, and is eminently a self-made man. Mrs. Stotts is a charitable lady and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.