My Genealogy Hound

William M. Kizer, one of the leading citizens of White Oak Township, was born in Morgan County, Mo., April 18, 1837, and is a son of Valentine and Frances (Davis) Kizer, natives of Bedford County, Tenn., and North Carolina, respectively. They were married in the father’s native county, and about 1831 came to Missouri, locating in Salem County, where they resided for a while, and afterward removed to Osage County, where they resided for a while, and afterward removed to Osage County, where they died. They were farmers, and both died at the age of about forty-two years, leaving a family of five small children in destitute circumstances: Nancy H., Susan, William, John D. and Frances. All are living but Frances. They were reared by an uncle, who brought them from Missouri to Franklin County, Ark., in 1854. William began working as a farm laborer after coming to Arkansas, and continued this occupation for four years, when he entered a tract of land, and began farming on his own responsibility. At the end of two years he gave up farming to aid the Southern cause, enlisting in July, 1862, in Company I, Thirty-fourth Arkansas Infantry. At the close of the war his company was disbanded at Marshall, Tex., and he resided in that State, whither his family had previously moved, until November, 1865, when he returned to Franklin County, Ark., and here has since made his home. He was without a penny that he could call his own at the close of the war, but by industry and economy he was soon able to purchase a tract of land, consisting of forty acres, which he has from time to time increased, until he now owns 240 acres of valuable and well-cultivated land. His success in life is due to his indomitable energy, perseverance, and good management, and to his cheerful, practical and intelligent wife. On the 26th of January, 1859, he was married to Miss Thurzy M. Shaver, a daughter of Jacob B. Shaver. She was born in Washington County, Ark., March 13, 1836, and her union with Mr. Kizer resulted in the birth of nine children, six of whom are living: Madora J., wife of W. A. Lloyd; Laura Lorena, wife of T. F. Anderson; John A., Taylor E., Clark M. and Martha M. Those deceased are Jacob V., Sarepta L. and Flora Ann. Mr. and Mrs. Kizer, and all but their youngest child, are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and he is a Democrat in his political views. Mrs. Kizer’s father was a native of North Carolina, but removed to Tennessee at an early day, from which State he came to Washington County, Ark. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, being at the battle of New Orleans, and died in 1883 at the extreme old age of ninety-six.