My Genealogy Hound

Francis M. Nixon, of Mulberry Township, Franklin Co., Ark., is a son of John C. and Nancy E. (Keese) Nixon, and was born in Franklin County on the 19th of September, 1837. The parents were farmers by occupation, and were born in 1804 in Kentucky and South Carolina, respectively. They were members of the Primitive Baptist Church, in which the father has been a deacon for fifty years, and were married in Middle Tennessee, and in 1835 came to Franklin County, Ark., where he purchased 500 acres of some of the best land in the county. The father died October 18, 1874, and his wife in 1852. The grandfather, Francis Nixon, was born in the “Palmetto State,” and removed to Kentucky with Daniel Boone, being one of the very earliest settlers of the country. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, was in a number of Indian Wars, and died in 1864 at the advanced age of ninety-eight years. His father was a Continental soldier, and was killed in the Revolutionary War. Francis M. Nixon remained under the paternal roof until 1861, when he joined the Confederate cavalry, and for a time served as lieutenant of Capt. Davidson’s company, First Arkansas Battalion, and also served as musician until the siege of Vicksburg, when he joined the ranks. He participated in the battles of Oak Hill, Elk Horn, Corinth, Baldwin, Port Gibson, Baker’s Creek, Black River, Vicksburg, Poison Springs, Jenkin’s Ferry, and many other engagements, and after the close of the war returned home and remained with his parents until February 28, 1867, when he was married to Eliza, a daughter of David Mahan. She was born in Alabama and died in Franklin County, Ark., August 18, 1870, leaving two children: William A., who was born June 7, 1868, and Ann E., who died when an infant. Mr. Nixon was again married, his wife’s maiden name being Caroline C. Stuart, a daughter of William and Eliza Stuart. She was born in Mississippi, April 22, 1851, and is the mother of four living children: Charley, David A., Myrtie P. and Thomas G. Those deceased are James and Wilford E. Mr. Nixon is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, a member of the Mason fraternity, and in his political views is a Democrat. For the past two years he has been justice of the peace, but is now giving his attention to farming and stock raising.