My Genealogy Hound

Peter Kuykendall was born in Buncombe County, N. C., June 7, 1814, and when about ten years old was taken by his parents to Georgia, and from there to McMinn County, Tenn. Four years later they went to Knox County, Ind., and in 1833 the family located opposite Memphis, Tenn., in what is now Arkansas, spending about two years in the southeastern part of the State, during which time Peter carried mail on horseback from the Mississippi River to Little Rock, then but a village. In 1835 the family moved to what is now Crawford County, where the father died in 1846, aged fifty-two, the mother living until her death after the war. Their names were James and Rebecca (Norton) Kuykendall, and they were both natives of Buncombe County, N. C. Mr. Kuykendall was of Dutch descent, and a successful farmer. For some years he served as justice of the peace. His father, James, was a Revolutionary soldier, and died in Georgia. The parents of our subject were for many years connected with the Baptist Church. Peter is the eldest of a family of eight children, only four of whom survive. He was given but a limited education during his youth, and in 1833 was married in Knox County, Ind., to Martha Tague, a native of North Carolina, who died in 1871, leaving seven children, all of whom have since died. In 1873, Mr. Kuykendall was united in marriage to Mrs. Frances Harris, daughter of Cader Woodard. Mr. Woodard was born in North Carolina, and after his marriage went to Alabama, living there until after the war, and then going to Texas, where he died. He served as justice of the peace in Alabama. Mrs. Kuykendall was first married, in Georgia, to Charles P. Harris, in 1856. Her husband served in the Confederate army under J. P. King, and coming to Crawford County in 1861, died in 1872, leaving a widow and four children. Our subject has no living children, but has about sixteen grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. He has been a resident of the county over fifty-three years, having settled upon his present farm on Frog Bayou in 1836. He has accumulated his property since coming here, and now owns 380 acres, and is considered one of the substantial men of the county. He remembers when there was but one store in Van Buren, and when the few settlers were obliged to protect their property and lives against the wild animals which inhabited the forests. He endured all the hardships of pioneer life, and earned the money to buy the first horse he owned by making rails. For many years his corn was ground by hand in a stone mill, and rather than borrow his neighbor’s horse, Mr. Kuykendall used to take his chickens to Van Buren, walking the distance of ten miles. He is a Democrat, and has voted for every presidential candidate on that ticket since 1836, with the exception of war times. Mr. Kuykendall would never accept public office. He was a Southern sympathizer during the war. One son, James, was a private soldier in the war, and was captured at Helena, Ark., and was kept a prisoner at Alton, Ill., for two years. He served under Col. Wallace. His other son, Andrew J., served two years during the latter part of the war. Mr. Kuykendall’s first wife belonged to the Baptist Church, and his present wife is a member of the Christian. When the family first came here from Knox County, Ind., they rowed in a flat-boat down the White River into the Wabash and Ohio, and thence to the Mississippi, landing opposite Memphis, where Mr. Kuykendall ran a ferry across the Mississippi River.