My Genealogy Hound

Dr. William Bennett Waldrip is a native of Mississippi, his birth occurring in De Soto County (near Belmont), March 9, 1846. His father, S. G. Waldrip, of North Carolina, was born in 1818, and at an early age was apprenticed to a brick-mason, in which trade he became very proficient, in connection with farming, the latter being his principal occupation through life. He was married to Miss Martha J. Smart, of Mississippi, and by her became the father of five children, four now living: James M. (a resident farmer and brick-layer of Tate County, Miss.), William B. (our subject), Henry L. (of Tate County, Miss.), Elizabeth J. (widow of Ned Casey, now Mrs. John Gray, residing in Wheetley), Mary F. (Mrs. Henderson Freeman, died in 1885). Mr. Waldrip removed to Arkansas in 1874 and settled in St. Francis County, where he passed away in 1885. He was a member of the Masonic order, and in political views was a Whig until the death of that party, after which he became a Democrat. In his religious belief he was a Baptist, being a member of the Primitive Baptist Church. Mrs. Waldrip died in Wheetley, Ark., in 1883, having passed her sixty-seventh birthday. William B. Waldrip was reared in Mississippi, where he obtained a liberal common school education, and in 1869 began the study of his chosen profession, that of medicine—first, under the able instruction of Dr. J. M. Richro, and afterward attending the Medical Institute at Cincinnati, where he was graduated with high honors in the class of 1870. He first began to alleviate the sufferings of humanity in Marshall County, Miss., but one year later moved to Arkansas, locating in Monroe (now Lee) County in the town of Wheetley. Here he rapidly gained the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens, both as an efficient physician and friend. Some years later he moved to his present location, which is situated six miles southeast of Wheetley, and though here but a few years many improvements that owe their existence to his presence show him to be a man of enterprise and progress. In connection with his practice he is engaged in farming and stock-raising, in which he has been unusually successful. He owns 1,600 acres of valuable land with 240 under cultivation, and the general appearance of his farm and its appointments is of thrift and prosperity. The Doctor was married in Monroe County, August 31, 1871, to Ada, daughter of Peter W. and Martha W. (Bladen) Hollaran, of Alabama. Mrs. Waldrip died in 1882, having become the mother of four children, one now living, Frederick E. Dr. Waldrip was again married on September 20, 1888, to Miss Katie Henley, of Illinois, and the daughter of Elijah and Emma (Crutchfield) Henley (residents of Marianna). Dr. Waldrip is a Master Mason and in politics a Democrat. He is liberal and charitable, contributing to all worthy enterprises, as far as his limited time and means will permit.