My Genealogy Hound

William H. Baird, another prominent tiller of the soil in Hempstead County, Ark., is a native this county, born on June 27, 1829, a son of John and Sarah (Adams) Baird. The father was born in South Carolina on March 29, 1788, and was reared to farm life in his native State. In starting out on his own responsibility, he selected farming as his occupation, and followed that calling all his life. He was married to Sarah Adams in Georgia, March 11, 1819, and their wedded life was blessed by seven children—five sons and two daughters— three of whom—two sons and one daughter— survive, viz.: Albert C, Cynthia J. (widow of Harvey McClinton) and William H. (our subject). The father emigrated from Georgia to Missouri in 1819; thence to Arkansas, in 1820, locating in what is now Hempstead County. Here he took up wild, uncultivated land, on which he erected a primitive log-cabin, made entirely of logs, and covered with clapboards put on with wooden pegs. This farm he commenced to clear, and had it well improved at the time of his death, in 1835. He was quite prominent in the affairs of the county, and served as justice of the peace for a number of years. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, as was his wife, who received her final summons on October 12, 1865. William Baird (our subject) was reared to maturity in his native county. On December 22, 1851, he was united in wedlock to Miss Mary B. Arnold, born in Alabama, May 14, 1825, and the daughter of William B. and Lucinda P. (Powell) Arnold, and their wedded life resulted in the birth of six children—only four of whom survive: Elmore B., James W., Thomas H. and Albert E. On June 17, 1888, the wife, who was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and an estimable Christian woman, passed away. The marriage of Mr. Baird to his second wife, nee Miss Ninette Gratiot, was consummated in 1890. She was born in Hempstead County, Ark., on December 10, 1864, and was a daughter of John R. and Amanda (Wheat) Gratiot, the former of whom was a native of Missouri, born in 1821, and the latter of Hempstead County, born in 1829. They were married in 1849, and were the parents of four children, two of whom are still living, viz.: Alexander M., and Ninette (our subject’s wife). Her parents still live in Hempstead County. The mother is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Baird owns a fine farm of 200 acres of excellent land, all of which is well improved, and under a high state of cultivation. The principal crops raised on this farm are cotton and corn. Mrs. Baird is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.