____________________________________________________________________________
R.F. Smedley, farmer, Murfreesboro, Ark. Personal popularity, it can not be
denied, results largely from industry, perseverance and close attention to
business which a person displays in the management of any particular branch
of trade, and in the case of Mr. Smedley this is certainly true, for he has
adhered so closely to farming, and has aided in so many ways to advance all
worthy interests in this community, that he is held in the highest esteem.
He is a typical Arkansas farmer, substantial, enterprising and progressive.
His birth occurred in Pike County in 1860, and he is the son of William R.
and M. Smedley, natives of Tennessee. The parents came to Arkansas in 1859,
settled in Pike County, and purchased a farm in the northern part of it.
After remaining there a year they removed to Murfreesboro, and the father
opened a hotel and saloon, which he carried on until after the (Civil) war.
He then returned to farming, and for several years carried on his trade,
that of a tanner. In 1875 he bought a farm south of Murfreesboro, where he
resided until his death, in 1877. The mother is still living and resides on
the old farm. R.F. Smedley, as soon as old enough, was taught the duties of
the farm, and after his father's death took charge of the home place,
assisting his mother in rearing the younger children. He remained at home
until twenty-two years of age, and in 1885 was married to Mrs. Adelia
Davis (nee Evans), who bore him three children: Maud, Oscar (who died in
infancy), and David Marcus. Mrs. Smedley had by her former marriage (to
William E. Davis) two children: James Oliver (deceased) and Martha Lucinda.
Mr. Smedley owns a farm of 375 acres, 150 acres of which are under
cultivation, has cleared thirty acres of this and is working at it all the
time. He has a good frame building, four tenant houses, and will average
one-half bale of cotton to the acre. The family resides in Murfreesboro.
____________________________________________________________________________
Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas, 1890, Pike County,
page 337.
____________________________________________________________________________
HTML file and design by David Kelley, 1997. All rights reserved.