My Genealogy Hound

Hon. Robert William McFarlane, attorney at law and real estate agent, of Greenwood, Ark., was born in Grayson County, Tex., in 1858, and is a son of Dr. Robert S. and Isabella C. (Norton) McFarlane. The father is of Scotch descent, and was born in Tennessee July 4, 1821, and when about seven years of age was taken to Jackson County, Ala., by his father, Robert McFarlane, where he resided until 1840, when he went to Texas, and for about two years was one of the Texas Rangers. He then returned to Alabama, and from there moved to Arkansas, locating at Dripping Springs, and two years later removed to Sebastian County. He has served as justice of the peace a few years, and was elected to the Arkansas Legislature in 1852, in which body he served with credit. He has been twice married, his first wife, Miss Norton, being born in Tennessee in 1831; she died in 1866. By her he became the father of four children who lived to be grown. He is the descendant of three brothers who emigrated from Scotland to the United States in 1716, two brothers settling in Virginia (from one of whom he is descended) and the other in South Carolina. Hon. Robert William McFarlane is the child and the only son, and received his rudimentary education in the common schools of Sebastian County, supplemented by a course in the State University at Fayetteville, which institution he entered in 1876, and from which he graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1882, the degree of A. M. being conferred upon him two years later. In 1877 he entered the teacher’s profession, his first term being taught in the Indian Territory, and continued that occupation four terms. After leaving college he became a disciple of Blackstone, his studies being carried on under the instructions of Hon. J. S. Little, now circuit judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, and in June, 1885, he was admitted to the bar. He immediately opened an office and entered upon the practice of his profession, and has met with good and well-deserved success. He is well versed in legal lore, and is considered one of the leaders of the legal fraternity in Sebastian County. He is quite an extensive dealer in real estate, which, with his profession, brings him in a handsome annual income. He is a Democrat in politics, and in 1885 was appointed school examiner of Sebastian County, which office he filled to the satisfaction of all for three years. Mr. McFarlane had but $75 when admitted to the bar in 1885, and has since purchased 160 acres of improved farming land and six lots in the heart of Greenwood, upon which he has built a cozy cottage, out of his savings in the law. He is unsuccessful in politics, having, as he remarks, invested $1,000 in politics without any return in the last four years. He is a Master Mason, and is Past Dictator of his lodge in the K. of H. In September, 1885, he became editor and proprietor of the Greenwood Times, but at the end of twelve months he sold the paper to H. T. Hampton, and has since confined himself strictly to the practice of law. November 29, 1887, he was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Harris, who was born in Illinois in 1864, and is a daughter David D. Harris, of Mound City, Ill. She is a worthy and consistent member of the Episcopal Church.