My Genealogy Hound

William Clay Kuykendall, retired farmer of Washington County, Ark., and a native of Union County, Ky., was born on the 18th of May, 1838, and is a son of William F. and Lucy (Wallace) Kuykendall, and grandson of Simeon T. Kuykendall, who was of German descent, and was born in the “Palmetto State.” He removed to Kentucky when it was a Territory, and became an extensive farmer and breeder of blooded horses, owning at one time one of the finest race-horses of his day. His son, William F., was born and reared in Union County, Ky., and after his marriage, which occurred in 1831, began tilling the soil on his own responsibility. He was also an extensive stock-raiser and dealt largely in horses and mules. At the breaking out of the war he was strongly opposed to secession, but when he found that opposition was of no avail he and four sons joined the Southern army, and he was on active duty until the close of the war. He died in 1881, lamented by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. His wife was a daughter of James Wallace, who was one of the first settlers of Union County, Ky., and an extensive farmer and stock dealer, noted for his hospitality. Mr. Kuykendall and wife became the parents of four sons and four daughters. The mother died in 1878. William Clay Kuykendall was educated in the common schools of Union County, and in 1850 went to Mississippi and took charge of his uncle’s, Jacob Kuykendall’s, plantation and negroes for two years. He was then overseer of different plantations in Louisiana until the breaking out of the war, when he immediately enlisted in a Louisiana regiment, and was afterward transferred to the First Kentucky Cavalry. In 1862 he went to Southern Kentucky, raised a company, and was appointed its captain. He afterward returned and organized another company, 156 strong, and again went to the front. While in Gen. Lyon’s brigade he was promoted to the command of the regiment, but resigned in 1864 and returned to the command of his company. He was in the battle of Shiloh, and during his entire service was almost constantly engaged as a scout. After the war he returned home and took charge of his father’s farm, also going in debt $5,000 for a farm of his own. This he paid off by his own industry and good management. In 1871 he was married to Mrs. Nannie Brooks, widow of John A. Brooks, a leading attorney of Webster County, Ky., and daughter of James Rice, a prominent farmer of Hopkins County. Mrs. Kuykendall became the mother of two children by her first marriage: Sidney J., deputy clerk of Dallas County, Tex., and a young man of marked ability, and Jennie, who resides with her mother. Mr. and Mrs. Kuykendall are the parents of one child, Rice, who is sixteen years of age. In 1875 Mr. Kuykendall went to the Hot Springs for the health of his family, and while there was engaged in running a hack between that place and Malvern. He next went to Brown County, Tex., where he was engaged in the stock business, and in 1880 came to Washington County, Ark., where he has since been engaged in farming. He owns 2,800 acres of land in Texas, and is a man of excellent business qualifications. The family attend the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and he is a member of Viney Grove Lodge No. 265, A. F. & A. M., and Columbus Lodge No. 200, I. O. O. F., at Clay, Ky.