Elbert S YARBROUGH

May 30, 1830 - June 3, 1890

Elbert S. Yarbrough is another of the old settlers of Marion Township, having been a resident of this county since 1849. He was born May 30, 1830, in Henry County, Tennessee, a son of William and Lydia (Morris) Yarbrough, natives of North Carolina. William S. Yarbrough was born in September, 1797, in Montgomery County, North Carolina, a son of James Yarbrough, of Irish descent. He was a fifer in the Revolutionary War. William S. Yarbrough was reared on a farm in North Carolina, and followed farming all his life. In 1820, he emigrated from Montgomery County, North Carolina, to Tennessee with his family and household goods in a one-horse wagon and settled first in Montgomery County, Tennessee, where he remained for about one year, then went to Henry County, Tennessee, where he remained until 1849, at which time he again emigrated west, coming to this State and locating in Ouachita County, where he bought a claim of eighty acres of land, about sixty acres of which was cleared. He afterward entered 400 acres on which he resided until his death in 1863. He and wife were both members of the Primitive Baptist Church. He was a Democrat in his political views. He was married to Miss Lydia Morris, who was born in 1798, a daughter of Jeptha Morris. Mr. Morris was a native of Scotland; his parents died while he was still quite young, and while yet a boy, he was brought to this country by a colony of his countrymen and grew up in North Carolina and served in the Revolutionary War. His wife died in 1865. She was the mother of nine children, four of whom are still living, viz: Martha (unmarried and living in Columbia County), Elbert S. (the subject of this sketch), Nathan (a minister of the Primitive Baptist Church), and Ann (who married Mr. Thomas W. A. Yarbrough, a third cousin, and now lives in Columbia County). Mr. Yarbrough came to this county when he was nineteen years of age, and has always taken an active interest in the settlement of this county. He commenced working for himself in 1852 at farm labor. In 1854 he was elected bailiff of Marion Township, and served in that capacity for four years, until 1858, when he was appointed deputy sheriff, and moved to Camden, and filled that office until 1863. He then moved back on the old homestead, where he remained until the death of his mother. Because of ill health, Mr. Yarbrough did not take part in the late war. In 1865 he purchased a farm of 610 acres, which he occupied until 1887, when he sold off part of that place and purchased his present farm on which he now lives. He now owns 530 acres of land, of which 100 are under cultivation, and devotes his attention chiefly to the raising of cotton. He was married, October 27, 1859, to Prudence W. Ross, a native of this county, born in 1841, a daughter of Israel Ross, of this township, and by her was the father of five children, there of whom are still living, viz: Annie E., Ida V. and Asa E., all living at home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Yarbrough are members of the Primitive Baptist Church. Mr. Yarbrough is actively interested in politics and affiliates with the Democratic party, and takes a deep interest in all work for the good of the county. (Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas - 1890 - Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis)

Contributed on 11/9/14 by debbraszymanski
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Record #: 1050527

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