My Genealogy Hound

Capt. J. G. Sands, a farmer by occupation, and a man admired by all for his untiring efforts to promote the best interests of the county in which he lives, was born in Tennessee in 1829, and was the fourth and youngest child of John and Jane (Reid) Sands, natives of Illinois. John Sands had been previously married, and had reared two children, Susan and Martha, who are now dead. When our subject was only six days old his mother died. The father then married Mrs. Betsie Pounds, who died in 1841, and after her death he again married, Miss Sarah Summers becoming his wife. This union was blessed by three children, all now deceased. Mr. Sands moved to this county in 1843, and settled here while it was almost a wilderness. He followed overseeing, and rented land for his children to cultivate; was a brave soldier in the bloody Black Hawk War, and died in 1849. When Capt. Sands was three years old his father moved to Illinois, where he lived till coming to this county. At the age of sixteen he commenced business for himself in rafting logs, together with running a store and steamboats on the Mississippi River till 1861. His store-boats were floating general stores, and three steamboats ran from Mound City to Memphis, Hatchie River to Memphis, Osceola to Memphis, and on the St. Francis River to Memphis. At one time he owned an interest in seven flat-boats and store-boats. In 1861 he enlisted in Company F, of the First Regiment, Arkansas Cavalry, which was stationed west of the Mississippi River throughout the war. Capt. Sands fought in the battle of Helena, besides a number of smaller battles and skirmishes, and was captured in 1863. His captors started with him to Alton, but at the head of Island No. 40 he jumped from the boat and escaped to his home, although he broke his thigh in the fall, after which he never did any regular service. He, with twenty-seven of his company, out of eighty-six original members, surrendered at Memphis, Tenn. At the close of the war Capt. Sands returned home, and commenced farming and land trading, and in 1867 he moved to Mound City, where he engaged in the mercantile business, which he continues to the present day. He also has about 500 acres of good land in cultivation, 300 acres of which he rents; besides this he owns 2,100 acres in all of wild and improved land, of which about 500 acres could be cultivated without draining. At the close of the war Capt. Sands’ possessions were valued at $100, and in 1868, when he was again getting a start, he was robbed of his mules and cattle, and his store was rummaged, leaving him in the same condition that he was at the close of the war. By his untiring efforts, however, he has made a fortune for himself, and has gained a prominence among his fellows in Crittenden County worthy of emulation. Mr. Sands was first married to Miss Casandra James, who was the mother of four children, all of whom died while young. Mrs. Sands was an ardent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She died in November of 1860. Mr. Sands was the third time married to Mrs. Mattie (Wallace) Osborn, and they were the parents of only one child, who is now dead; the mother died in 1864. In 1865 he was married to Miss Mary C. West, and by her was the father of three children, of whom one is now living, Gertrude Lyon (wife of John Stevens), residing with her father. Mrs. Sands died in 1879, and in the same year the Captain was married to Mrs. Sue (Kirbie) Dennis, to whom has been born one child, deceased. Capt. Sands is a member of Lone Star Masonic Lodge of Crawfordsville, Ark. He is a Democrat in politics, and favors all public improvement and white emigration. He has ever been a leading citizen, and is foremost in every movement for the up-building of the locality in which he lives.