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Submitted: 1/6/13 • Approved: 2/27/19 • Last Updated: 3/2/19 • R807319-G0-S3
January 6, 1828 - Old Dominion, Albemarle County, Virginia
May 31, 1906
Son of Jacob Bangs and Abigail Lawrence Bangs. His father was a soldier stationed at Fortress Monroe, now known as Fort Monroe, Virginia. Jacob Bangs was killed November 13, 1836, in Florida, during the Second Seminole War (1836-1846) and is buried in the St Augustine, Florida National Cemetery. The regiment more or less adopted Henry and his two brothers. Henry was put in school where he learned to be a wheelwright and cabinet maker. His brother, Benjamin became a bugler for the outfit. Henry's mother and youngest brother, Stephen, moved to Scott County (what is now Logan County).
When Henry became of age, he joined the Civil Service and was ordered to Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, to teach wood working to Cherokee Indians. While enroute, he fell in with a party of Virginians on their way to Kentucky. One was Sarah Walton, who he married on November 8, 1850.
Henry and Sarah made their home in Fort Gibson (now Oklahoma). Henry taught his pupils how to make wagons, plows, spinning wheels, looms, cradles, and furniture. After the birth of their first two children, Henry and Sarah relocated to be near Henry's mother and brother, Stephen. In all, they had ten children: Emily, George Walton, Mary, William, Stephen, Lavina, Cecilia Delia, Lydia, Benjamin, Robert (Bob), Ben Franklin, and Nellie.
Henry Bangs was a highly respected member of his community. He continued his art of cabinet making over the years. At the time of the Civil War, he had a hand-operated grist mill hidden in a cave. He would slip out to grind shelled corn for his neighbors. After the war, he made a trip East and procured blooded livestock, Guernseys and Jerseys. He was well-known for his sorghum having brought the first grain thresher to that region of Arkansas.
Sarah died several years before Henry in 1882. Henry remarried Mrs Willis Sowell Barlow [nee Elfida Caroline Wilson] on February 3, 1887 in Booneville, Logan County, Arkansas. Henry died May 31, 1906 & is buried beside Sarah at Hickory Grove Cemetery. It is on private family land, in Booneville, Logan County, Arkansas. At one time, it was most likely the land of Henry and Sarah Bangs as the only burials are immediate (Bangs/Speer) family members.
The inscription on the gravestone of Henry Bangs suggests that he was a Christian man of faith. It reads as follows: “He followed virtue as his truest guide. Lived as a Christian, as a Christian died.” Sarah’s stone simply says, “wife of H Bangs.” The owners of the cemetery continue to maintain the property and are gracious in allowing family members access for visits.
The following sketch for Henry Bangs was included in the Biographical & Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas, The Southern Publishing Company, Chicago and Nashville - 1891, Logan County, Arkansas:
“Henry Bangs, planter, Booneville, Ark For a number of years, or since his residence in this county, the reputation which Mr. Bangs enjoys has been not only that of a substantial and progressive agriculturist, but of an intelligent and thoroughly posted man in all public affairs. He was born in the Old Dominion on January 6, 1828, and is a son of Jacob and Abigail (Lawrence) Bangs, both natives of Virginia. The father was a soldier in the Florida War, in which he was killed by the Indians. The parents were married at Fortress Monroe, and to them were born three children, of whom our subject is the eldest. The other two, Benjamin and Stephen, are both farmers, and are living in this township. The mother died about 1843. Henry Bangs, at the age of thirteen years, joined the Florida troops, and was in service for five years. He came to Arkansas, and was married in what is now Logan County, in 1850, to Miss Sarah Walton, a native of Kentucky. Of the twelve children born to this union–six sons and six daughters–seven are now living, viz.: George, Emily (wife of John Basinger), Levenia (wife of Andrew Smith), Adelia (wife of A. Starns), Elizabeth (wife of S. Suttles), Franklin and Robert. The mother of these children died in the year 1882. She was a member of the Christian Church. Mr. Bangs married his second wife, Mrs. E. C. Barlow, in 1886, she being a widow with five children, viz.: Alonzo, Ida (wife of Joseph Stanfield), Looney (wife of B. Foster), Callie and Asa. Mr. Bangs has 240 acres of good land, has 80 acres of this under cultivation, and raises corn and hogs principally. He is a member of the Christian and his wife a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.”
Contributed on 1/6/13
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Record #: 807319