My Genealogy Hound

John A. Ansley, editor of the Arkansaw Dispatch, Prescott, Ark. Mr. Ansley was born in Abbeville County, S. C, April 17, 1840, and spent his early life on a farm. He received a very liberal education, first attending Moffettsville and Asbury Academies, and in 1854 entering Erskine College, graduating from that institution in 1858. He then took charge of Spring Hill Academy, in Montgomery County, Ala., in 1859, and in 1860 settled in Ouachita (now Nevada) County, Ark., and made a crop, returning to the Theological Seminary at Due West, S. C., in December of the same year. June 6, 1861, he enlisted in the Seventh South Carolina Volunteer Infantry, and served until February, 1862, when he was discharged on account of the climate, and in April of the same year returned to Arkansas. In June, 1862, he joined the Thirty-third Arkansas, Company F, was elected first lieutenant, and in December of the same year was promoted to captain, the old captain having been promoted to major. He served with the regiment until the surrender in 1865. August 10, 1865, Mr. Ansley was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie McCelvey, and immediately after this event took place, settled on a farm in Houston County, Tex., and there engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1871. In January, 1872, he returned to his old home in Arkansas, and in 1874 was elected to the Legislature to fill the unexpired term of Hon. C. Thrower. The same year he settled at Prescott, then a new place, built an academy and taught until 1877; then moved to Artesian, four miles west of Prescott, built another academy, and taught until 1885, when he took charge of the Dispatch as editor, and still continues in that capacity. He was elected to the Legislature on the Greenback ticket in 1880, 1882 and 1886, and each time discharged his duties with honor to himself, and credit to his party. The Dispatch was established in 1875, and under Mr. Ansley’s efficient management, it has grown to be one of the most popular sheets in the county.