My Genealogy Hound

John Masters, stock farmer, of Durham Township, Washington Co., Ark., and one of its oldest settlers, was born in the “Palmetto State” September 30, 1820, and is a son of Michael and Elizabeth (Homesley) Masters, and grandson of John Masters, who was of German descent, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving as orderly-sergeant under Gen. Morgan. He was the father of a large family who grew to maturity, and he and wife died in Missouri, at an advanced age. Michael Masters located in Wayne County, Mo., in the spring of 1821, but six years later sold out, and came to Washington County, Ark., being the first man to enter land on Cane Hill. He afterward moved to the White River Valley, where he reared his family, and died about 1831, aged forty years. His wife was born in Virginia, and became the mother of seven children: John, David J. (deceased), Nancy (Mrs. Guthrie), Margaret (Mrs. Hash, deceased), Elizabeth (Mrs. Heiser, deceased), Mary Adaline (deceased) and David, who was a soldier in the Confederate army, and was killed in battle in 1862. The mother of these children, after the death of Mr. Masters, was married to Jesse Hawk, of Tennessee, by whom she had a family of five children, all of whom lived to be grown, and all now dead except George W. and Lucinda E., wife of Andrew Davis. The mother died near Fayetteville, in l867, at the age of sixty­three years, and Mr. Hawk died in Washington County in 1885, whither he had come in 1884 or 1885. John Masters came with his parents to Arkansas in 1827, and here grew to manhood, was educated, and has since made his home. His first investment in real estate was in 1852, and comprised eighty acres of land, on which he now lives. He has continued to add to this until he now has 420 acres of land in all, and has 140 acres under cultivation. In 1846 he was married to Miss Ann Ball, who was born in Kentucky, and came to Arkansas in 1837, and their union has resulted in the birth of ten children: David J., John L. (deceased), William P., George R., Mary F. (deceased), Martha J. (Frits),Nancy A. (Mrs. Drain), Sarah A. (Mrs. Robbins), Narcissa J. (Mrs. Robbins) and Arizona (Mrs. Largen). Mrs. Masters has been a member of the Baptist Church for fifty years. During the war Mr. Masters served as cavalryman in the Confederate army for over three years, and did all in his power to aid the Southern cause. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., K. of H., is a Master Mason, and is a strong supporter of the Democratic party.