My Genealogy Hound

F. Musick. It is a well-known fact that circumstances in life may make or mar the prospects of man to a certain extent, but a determined spirit will bend even the force of circumstances to its will. The career of Mr. Musick since his arrival upon the stage of human action is abundant proof of this trite saying. He was born in Virginia, and his parents, Russell and Elizabeth (Dowell) Musick, who came from Virginia to Mississippi County, Ark., in 1855, located on Frenchman’s Bayou, where they purchased 160 acres of land, with about five acres cleared. Here, with the help of his sons, six in number, Mr. Musick cleared about eighty acres, but sold out previous to the war, and, in 1864, moved to Alexander County, Ill. There the father and mother passed their last days, dying within four days of each other, and only a short time after reaching Illinois. The children, four sons and one daughter, came back to Mississippi County, in 1865, and here F. Musick, the subject of this sketch, commenced planting cotton. In 1870 he purchased 180 acres of land, with about sixteen acres cleared, to which he afterward added about eighty acres more. This place he sold to Henry Criegher, and then purchased his present property, consisting of 160 acres on the Bayou, with about sixty acres cleared. To this he has since added about eighty acres more, which he has under a fine state of cultivation, and raises about one bale of cotton to the acre. He has built five houses on the place, one barn, and two store buildings, one 16x70, and the other 20x24, in which he carries a well-selected stock of general merchandise, valued at from $3,000 to $7,000. This business he established about seven years ago in company with his brother. In 1885 the firm dissolved partnership, and F. Musick continued the business. His sales run from $8,000 to $10,000 per annum. Mr. Musick’s first marriage was to Miss Martha Barham, daughter of James Barham, a native of Tennessee. Mrs. Musick died in 1874, leaving two children: J. A. F., a young man at home assisting his father in the store, and C. C., who died when seventeen years of age. Mr. Musick’s second marriage was to Mrs. E. M. Young, whom he wedded in October, 1884. She is a daughter of Mrs. Lierley, of Lawrence County, Ark. Two children were the result of this union: Callie (a son) and Clara. Mr. Musick is a member of the Masonic fraternity, also of the K. of H., and he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.