My Genealogy Hound

John Casper, farmer and blacksmith, whose work at the forge and anvil has placed him as an expert in his trade, was born in Rowan County, N. C., May 5, 1827. He is a son of George and Nancy (Leonard) Casper, both of the same county and State, who died in their native place. Mr. Casper is one of a family of four sons and four daughters, of whom five are still living, three brothers and two sisters, the latter residing in North Carolina, and the former, David, Jacob Alexander and John, living in Lawrence County. John Casper is the oldest of the three brothers living, and was reared in Rowan County, N. C., where he remained with his father until his twenty-sixth year. He moved west in 1853 and settled in Lawrence County, Ark., where he bought a small section of land and commenced clearing and improving it. On March 8, 1854, he was married to Mrs. Sarah M. Blackwell, a widow lady, of North Carolina, who also possessed a small improvement on government land. Mr. Casper immediately set to work clearing his land, and they now have about seventy-five acres under cultivation. The home place comprises about 380 acres altogether, with a good log house and other buildings built upon it, and an orchard. He also owns 240 acres in other sections, and from the fact that he commenced on almost nothing at all, has done remarkably well. He owes it all to his own thrift and business tact, and is now considered as one of the substantial farmers of Lawrence County. Mr. Casper enlisted in the Confederate army in 1863, and was a member of the Seventh Missouri Cavalry, and afterward transferred to the Seventh Arkansas Infantry. He took part in many a hard fought battle — at Little Rock, Pilot Knob and in Gen. Price’s raids through Missouri, besides several battles of lesser importance. He was paroled at Shreveport, La., at the close of the war, and returned home to resume his labor upon the farm. In 1877 Mr. Casper lost his faithful wife, who died October 4, leaving him one child, George W. He again married, his second wife being Mrs. Harriet E. Harris, a widow, of North Carolina, and has one child by this marriage — Etter E. Mr. Casper is a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church, in which he is an elder, and is also a member of the Agricultural Wheel, being vice-president of the local Wheel. He has been unfortunate in the loss of his second wife, who died February 13, 1884, leaving behind her a record of usefulness and many virtues.