My Genealogy Hound

Capt. George Marchbanks, planter, Marianna, Ark. Of that sturdy and independent class, the farmers of Arkansas, none are possessed of more genuine merit and a stronger character than he whose name stands at the head of this sketch. He has risen to a more than ordinary degree of success in his calling, and wherever known, he is conceded to be an energetic and progressive tiller of the soil, imbued with all those qualities of go-ahead-ativeness which have characterized his ancestors. He owes his nativity to Middle Tennessee, where his birth occurred on May 25, 1839, and is the son of Judge A. J. Marchbanks, of Warren County, Tenn. The father was a well-educated gentleman, had read law and was a legal practitioner all his life. His father educated him and then disinherited him, and sent him forth to fight his own way in life. He was circuit judge of his district for more than thirty years, and was occupying that position at the breaking out of the war. He was kept a prisoner at Camp Chase, Ohio, during this eventful period, and when peace was declared he was offered the position of judge again. He died in the fall or winter of 1866. The mother was born in McMinnville, Tenn., and was a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Kenion) Savage. She died at the age of twenty-nine years, leaving five children. Capt. George Marchbanks attained his growth in Tennessee, and was sent as a cadet to West Point, to the Federal Military School. He was appointed by old Col. Savage, while the latter was in Congress, and remained at the school until the breaking out of the war. On April 1, 1861, he went South, and entered the Sixteenth Tennessee Regiment as adjutant. He was in the regular Confederate service, commanded a company, and served with the Sixteenth one year as first lieutenant. He was on Gen. Bragg’s staff until late in 1862, and commanded Company K, in the Twenty-fifth Tennessee. After the campaign he was on Gen. Johnston’s staff for some time, and was also on Gen. Bragg’s staff for a year. He was with Maj.-Gen. B. Johnston in Virginia, was at Drury’s Bluff and at the siege of Petersburg. After that campaign he was sent with his command up around Richmond, and subsequently to Wheeler’s command. Later he came to Tennessee on a furlough, and was captured there, and remained in prison until the close of the war. After this he engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1870, when he came to what was then Phillips (now Lee) County, and there has tilled the soil ever since. He was a member of the legislature in 1881 and 1882. In 1883 he married Mrs. Freeman, whose maiden name was Julia Sterdivant. Mr. Marchbanks is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is the owner of 1,500 acres of land, and is also the owner of considerable town property.