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Dr. D. P. Bourland, physician and druggist of Curtis, Ark., was born in
Ozark, Franklin County, Ark., in 1839, and is a son of Ebenezer J. and
Polly (Hester) Bourland, who were born in Illinois and North Carolina in
1813 and 1812 respectively. Both were taken in their youth to Franklin
County, Ala.., where they were reared to maturity and married, afterward
moving to Franklin county, Ark., taking up their abode in the latter
State in 1833. In 1844 they came to Clark County, and after remaining
here until after they had improved a farm, they moved near to Okolona,
and afterward to Arkadelphia, where Mr. Bourland was engaged in
merchandising for some time. During the war he refugeed to Texas, and
in the "Lone Star State" both he and his wife died in 1864, having been
earnest members of the Missionary Baptist Church for many years. Mr.
Bourland was a farmer and was internal improvement commissioner of Clark
County, Ark., while that office was in existence. He filled the
position of justice of the peace for some
years, and was a member of the A. F. & A. M. His father, Dewbart
Bourland, was probably born in Ireland, and when a young man came to the
United States and settled in South Carolina, and later moved to
Illinois, thence to Kentucky, then to Alabama, and became one of the
early settlers of Franklin County, Ark., where he tilled the soil and
spent the remainder of his days. He was a soldier in the war of 1812,
and for some time was judge of Franklin County. The maternal
grandfather, Roland Hester, died at Tuscumbia, Ala. Dr. J. P.
Bourland was the fifth of five sons and six daughters, four sons and two
daughters now living, and until he reached the age of fifteen years he
resided on a farm, but received the principal part of his education in
Arkadelphia and Camden. At the above mentioned age he began the study
of pharmacy at Arkadelphia, and soon after engaged in the drug business
in that place, continuing until the opening of the war, where he joined
Company B, First Arkansas Infantry, and served one
year in the Army of Virginia, participating in the fight at Manassas.
He was afterward transferred to the Army of Tennessee, and was wounded
at the bloody combat at Shiloh. After spending some time in the
quartermaster's department he was transferred to the ordnance
department, in which he served until the close of the hostilities. Some
of the other important engagements in which he participated are Corinth,
Perryville, Ky.; Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, and the engagements in the
Atlanta campaign. He then returned with Hood into Tennessee, and took
parts in the engagements at Franklin and Nashville. He surrendered in
South Carolina in the month of April 1865, and at once went to
Mississippi, where he was married to Miss. Melverta, a daughter of
Wesley and Eliza Bates. They were born in south Carolina and Kentucky,
respectively, were married in Alabama, but afterward moved to
Mississippi, and still later to Texas, Mr. Bates dying in this state in
1869 , two years after locating there. His widow now lives
in Mississippi, in which Mrs. Bourland was born. She has borne the
doctor one son and five daughters, and since 1866 their home has been in
Clark County, Ark., where they own and live on a fine farm of 320 acres.
The Doctor also owns a good planning mill, which has a capacity of
25,000 feet per day; this has been in operation four or five years. the
drug business has received his attention for many years, and he is
considered one of the leading pharmacists in this section of the State.
Soon after the war he took up the study of medicine, and in 1868
commenced the practice, and this calling has since followed with
success. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church and he
belongs to the A. F. & A. M.
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