My Genealogy Hound

John Maynard. Among the many enterprises which have made Randolph County, Ark., noted for its commercial enterprise, may be mentioned the mercantile establishment belonging to Mr. Maynard, which he has been engaged in conducting in the town of Maynard, since 1872. He was born in the “Old Dominion” in 1823, and is a son of Evan and Judith (Ragland) Maynard, both of whom were born in Halifax County, of that State, the former’s birth occurring March 3, 1793, and the latter’s April 5, 1803, and their deaths in 1881 and February 16, 1874, respectively. Their marriage was celebrated July 13, 1820, and in 1847 they came to the State of Tennessee, where the father entered upon the practice of medicine, and he continued this occupation until his death, although he had previously been a farmer. He and his wife were of French-English origin, and he was a soldier in the War of 1812. They were members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and became the parents of eleven children, nine of whom lived to be grown: Harriet (wife of Chris Adams), John, Judith F. (wife of Robert Hart, of Tennessee), Mary A. (wife of Bluford Alexander, a resident of this State), Stith, Patience (wife of Austin Simmons, a resident of Washington County, Ark.), Evan (a resident of Missouri), Rebecca A. (wife of Jeff. Alexander, of Weakley County, Tenn.) and Thomas (who is a resident of Randolph County). John Maynard had but very poor advantages for acquiring an education in his youth, but by close application to his books, and by contact with the world, he has become a well-informed man. He commenced the battle of life for himself, at the age of seventeen years, as clerk in a dry goods establishment, and prior to the war opened a dry goods house of his own; but his labors in this direction being interrupted by the bursting of the war-cloud, which had been for some time lowering over the country, he sold out in order to offer his services to the Confederacy, and was made first lieutenant of Company I, Twenty-seventh Tennessee Infantry, being promoted to the rank of captain for gallant service at the battle of Shiloh. He also took part in a number of minor engagements, and after his company had been reduced to a few men by being killed in battle and captured, he joined the cavalry forces, and was in a company composed entirely of commissioned officers from different infantry regiments. He served as a private in a scouting company until his surrender, at Columbus, Miss., May 16, 1865. He was captured at one time by the Tennessee militia, but succeeded in making his escape the same night. After the war he settled in Jackson, Tenn., and was a clerk in a store until March 20, 1866, when he accepted a position in a dry goods house at Gonzales, Tex., remaining thus employed for three years. Becoming impressed with the belief that Arkansas afforded better inducements for a young man to succeed in life, he came to this State, and located at Dardanelle, Yell County, where he occupied the same position he had held in Texas. During 1871 he traveled through Kansas and the Indian Territory, but since 1872 he has been located at Maynard, where he conducts an excellent general mercantile store, his stock of goods invoicingat about $6,000. He also owns 900 acres of valuable land in the county, all of which property he has acquired by shrewd business management and energy since the war. He is a Democrat in politics, and is a member of the A. F. & A. M. He was married, February 8, 1873, to Miss Rallie W. Adams, a native of Missouri, by whom he has three children: Lafayette, born November 18, 1873; Eugenia, born January 25, 1876, and John, born October 30, 1877. The family attend the Missionary Baptist Church.