Henry Thomas BLYTHE, SR (FAMOUS)

October 27, 1816 - February 19, 1904

Ordained Preacher Farmer Postmaster Founder of Blytheville Legislatur Mason

Hon, Henry T. Blythe, a prominent citizen of Blythesville, was born in Virginia in 1816, being the fourth in the family of ten
children of John and Elizabeth (Cobb) Blythe, natives of Southampton
County, Va., where the father followed farming. In 1826 the family
moved to Henry County, Tenn., bought a farm and were among the pioneers
to that county. The father put many improvements on his place, and made
it his home mostly till his death in 1839. The mother survived him
several years and died about 1845. Henry T.'s paternal grandfather,
also John Blythe, was a native of Scotland, and emigrated to Virginia
from that country before the independence of the United States. He
served a portion of the time in the Revolutionary War. The maternal
grandmother was a native of Virginia. This man was one of four
brothers, one of whom, David, was the grandfather of Thomas H. Blythe,
who died in California in 1883. Our subject was reared on the farm in
Virginia till ten years of age, when the family moved to Tennessee, and
there he attended [p.468] the common schools till eighteen years of
age, when he went to Mississippi, spending about six years in the early
settlement of the northern part of that State, a part of the time being
among the Indians. In 1841 he returned to Tennessee and settled in
Landerdale County, where he followed farm labor. About twelve years
later he came to Arkansas and located on Crooked Lake, Mississippi
County, settling on a farm in the woods, and cleared about sixty acres,
erected buildings and made many improvements. This was his home till
1873, when he moved on a tract of land previously purchased in
partnership with Mr. Moseley in 1864. This is the tract upon which he
now lives, and where the town of Blythesville has since been built.
Upon the small clearing then made he at once built a steam saw-mill and
gin—the first steam mill in this section. He has since added about 300
acres to this place, and now has a fine tract of 500 acres of some of
the best farming land in the county. Of this 185 acres are under a high
state of cultivation. In 1880 he laid off a tract for a village, which
was named in his honor, Blythesville. He was soon appointed the first
postmaster, and served in that capacity till the summer of 1889, a term
of nearly nine years. Mr. Blythe's saw-mill and cotton-gin were the
first business enterprises here, where now are several stores, and the
pleasant homes of many families. In 1886 Mr. Blythe was elected by the
people of Mississippi County to represent them in the State
legislature, serving one term. During this time he introduced several
bills of importance to the State at large. This family from remote
times have been earnest workers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
our subject was reared under Methodist influence. In 1841 he was given
a license as an exhorter, and was a constant worker in the church till
1862, when he was granted a preacher's license; in due time after this
he was made deacon and elder, which offices he still fills. In 1875 he
was instrumental in building a church at Blythesville, which still
retains the name of Blythe's Chapel, so christened in honor of the
recognized patronage of our subject. He has been married five times,
and has had nine children, seven of whom are yet living. His first
marriage occurred in 1842, to Miss Mary Jane Fisher, a native of
Tennessee. She died in 1844, leaving one child, a boy named William W.,
who died soon after. His second marriage was, in 1851, to Miss
Elizabeth Willis. She lived only about one year, and died without
issue. In 1854 Mrs. Julia A. Young, a native of Tennessee, became his
wife. She died in Arkansas in 1865 without children. In 1868 Mr. Blythe
married Mrs. Amanda Drew, a native of Georgia, who only lived about one
year and left one child, Margaret Ann; the latter also died in her
fourteenth year. In 1871 Mrs. Millie E. Murry became Mr. Blythe's wife.
This lady was a native of Alabama. To their union seven children were
born, all of whom are living: Alice F., Henrietta J., Emma F., Eva
Harris, Henry Thomas, Nola Ada and John Wesley. This interesting family
is the pride of our subject's heart. Coming to him when the weight of
years bore with a heavy hand upon his head, these children renewed his
youth, for in their merriment he threw a bridge across the gulf of
time, and lived again in fancy the freedom of a child. As years have
come and gone these little ones have all passed through infancy and
youth to maturer years, and are now developing in character and mind,
with a purity in which a parent's heart can rejoice, proving sources of
the greatest comfort. They are justly esteemed by all who know them for
their pleasing manners and their winning ways. In the summer of 1889
Mr. Blythe spent three months in the State of California, but in his
journey through other localities he saw no place that pleased him so
well as his home in Arkansas. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity,
was one of the charter members of Chickasawba Lodge No. 134, and was a
member of the committee sent to secure the charter from the Grand Lodge
of the State.
He died in 1904 and is buried in Chickasawba
(aka Founders Park) Cemetery

Source: Bibliography: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas.
Chicago: Goodspeed Publishers, 1890.
Photo Courtesy of Phillip Plotz, MD
Memorial Courtesy of Shiela

Contributed on 7/26/14 by tootied
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Record #: 1026116

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