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John F. Davis, merchant and farmer, Murfreesboro, Ark. In the business of
merchandising Mr. Davis is second to no other merchant in this portion of
the county. There ar but few residents who have carried on merchandising
and farming and have made a success of both as has our subject. He is a
native-born resident of this county, his birth occurring where he now lives
in 1850, and is the fifth of seven children, the result of the union of
Abijah and Lucinda (Dickson, nee Brewer) Davis, natives of Illinois and
Missouri, respectively. Abijah Davis moved with his parents to Arkansas in
1822 and in growing up in that day and time received no advantages, so that
in starting out for himself at the age of nineteen, he was absolutely
penniless. He engaged in farming, and was married in 1839. About this time
he bought a small farm of 160 acres, three-fourths of a mile west of
Murfreesboro, which he improved and added to, until at the time of his
death, which occurred in 1873, he was the owner of 680 acres, with 150 acres
under cultivation, all the result of his honest, earnest labor. He took an
active interest in all enterprises for the good of the county and was
willing to lend a helping hand. John F. Davis worked industriously on his
father's farm and attended the public schools of the county until
twenty-one years of age, when he began farming in Muddy Creek Township. He
was married in 1874 to Miss Emily S. Haynes, a native of Georgia, and after
his father's death, returned to the old homestead. He bought considerable
land, inherited some, and now has 500 acres, 150 under cultivation, all of
which he has cleared himself. His land is very productive, and much of it
will make over a bale of cotton to the acre. He has an excellent orchard and
a good place in all respects. In 1881 he bought the mill and gin in town and
after two years sold it. In December 1889, he engaged in merchandising in
Murfreesboro in partnership with Owens & Stevens, but soon bought his
partner out. In February 1890, Mr. Stevens purchased an interest again. They
carry a complete stock of general merchandise valued at $3,000, and are
doing a good business. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Davis have been born
eight children, all of whom are living: Martha and Mary (twins, born in
1872), Abijah (born in 1874), Eletha, Cora Lee, Beulah May, Ida and Joe
Florence. Mr. Davis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his
wife is a member of the Baptist. He is active in his support of churches and
schools, and is director in his school district. He is a member of the
Masonic fraternity, Pike Lodge No. 91, and is senior warden in the same.
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Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas, 1890, Pike County,
pages 324-325.
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