Capt. John B. Cloud from his earliest youth has
applied himself with industry, perseverance and energy to the calling of
a farmer, and is now one of the leading stock men and agriculturists of
this county. He is a native of the "Blue Grass State," born in Logan
County in November, 1836, his parents, John B. and Elizabeth
(Rutherford) Cloud, being also born there, the former in 1807 and the
latter in 1809. John B. Cloud was a tiller of the soil and filled the
position of Sheriff and deputy sheriff for some years. He and his wife
were members of the Missionary Baptist church, and their respective
deaths occurred in August 1840, and May 10, 1889. Daniel Cloud, the
grandfather, was a scotchman, who came to the United States when a young
man, married and spent the rest of his life in Logan County, Ky., and
here followed the occupation of farming. He served in one of the early
Indian wars. He was accompanied to this country by two brothers who
settled in Virginia and North Carolina, respectively. Stephen
Rutherford, the mother's father, was born, reared and married in
Rutherford County, Tenn., and from there went to Logan County, Ky.,
where he spent the rest of his life, becoming a prominent and wealthy
stock man. Mrs. Elizabeth (Rutherford) Cloud became the mother of five
sons and three daughters by Mr. Cloud, of whom the subject of this
sketch is the sixth, but after the death of her husband she married
again, her second union resulting in the birth of two children. The
early life of Capt. John B. cloud was marked by the hard labor upon a
farm, but he was so fortunate as to acquire a good common school
education. In 1854 he came with a brother to Pike County, Ark., and
here, on the 28th of August two years later, his marriage to Amanda, a
daughter of Rev. Elijah and Elizabeth Kelley took place (see Elijah Kelley Biography. The father
was born in Alabama, and when a boy was taken by his parents to
Illinois, and in 1815, when fifteen years of age, came with them to what
is now Pike County, and in the southwest part of this State his marriage
occurred. From that time until his death in 1884 he made his home is
Pike County, becoming a prominent and well-known citizen. He was a
member of the first constitutional convention of Arkansas, in 1856-58,
represented Pike County in the General Assembly of Arkansas and
afterward filled the honorable and responsible position of county judge.
He was a minister of the Christian Church for over sixty years, and
throughout life, endeavored to practice what he preached, and was an
earnest follower of the Golden Rule. His wife's demise occurred in
1837. Their daughter, Mrs. Cloud, was born in Pike County, and her
union with Mr. Cloud resulted in the birth of seven children, two sons
and four daughters of whom are living. Mr. Cloud joined Company H,
sixteenth Arkansas Infantry, C.S.A., in 1861, and in the month of April,
1862 was made Captain of his company, a position he held until the close
of the war, and took part in the engagements at Pea Ridge, Corinth,
Farmington, Iuka, and Port Hudson, besides numerous skirmishes. He was
captured at Port Hudson and was imprisoned at Johnson's Island, Ohio,
for nine months, but was exchanged in March, 1864, and returned home.
He soon after joined the Trans-Mississippi Department, after which his
operations were confined to the State of Arkansas. In the fall of 1865
he came to Clark County, and has since been engaged in farming in the
vicinity of Okolona. he has given much attention to raising fine stock,
and is especially interested in the purchase and sale of mules. Mr.
Cloud started in life a poor boy, but through his own exertions has
placed himself in his present position. He is a Democrat in politics,
his first Presidential vote being cast for Breckenridge in 1860, and
socially he has been a member of the A.F.& A.M. since 1869, but now
belongs to the Robert Morris Lodge No. 106, of Okolona. In this order
he has attained to the Chapter and Council degrees at Gurdon. He and
five of his children are members of the Christian Church, his wife
having also been a member for a number of years prior to her death,
which took place May 10, 1885.
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