James B (Bio) RUDD

January 6, 1833 - May 3, 1915


J. B. Rudd has been familiar with farming from his earliest boyhood, learning the details of the work of his father, and he is considered one of the foremost agriculturists and stockmen of this region. He was born in Georgia in 1833, but was brought to this State and county in 1849 by his parents, Pleasant and Martha (Harris) Rudd, and here received his education, which was only such as the common schools afforded. He began his career as an independent farmer at the age of twenty-one years, on land which he had entered in 1854, at a cost of $1.25 per acre, and here he was married in 1855 to Miss Martha, a daughter of William and Martha (Kindrick) Garrard, natives of the Palmetto State. Mrs. Rudd was born in Georgia, and prior to her death, which occurred in 1863, she had borne her husband three children: Willie (wife of P. J. Hayes, of this county), Jimmie G. (wife of James Warren), and Susan F. (wife of B. F. Smith, a farmer of this region). At the opening of the war Mr. Rudd espoused the cause of the Confederacy, becoming a member of Company G, Twenty-sixth Arkansas Infantry, and served on the west side of the Mississippi River, taking part in the battles of Prairie Grove, Fort Smith, Pleasant Hill and Saline. He surrendered with his command at Marshall, Tex., but having a leave of absence was not present at that time. He came home and notwithstanding the fact that his stock had all been driven off, and nothing was left him but his land, he has been prosperous, and is now the owner of about 344 acres of land, with about 100 acres improved and under cultivation. In 1805 he was married to his present wife, Mrs. Mary C. Garrard, a daughter of Riley and Sarah (Hollingsworth) Moody, natives of Georgia, who came to this State in 1845, entering land in Columbia County, which the father tilled until his death in 1889. By his wife, who now resides in Nevada County, he became the father of eleven children, eight being still alive: Dora A., (widow of A. F. Murphy, of Claiborne Parish, La.), Asbury (of Nevada County), Benjamin F. (of Ouachita County), Melinda J. (wife of R. J. Henry), Sarah, Joseph (in Colorado), Agnes (wife of Stephen Wright, of Nevada County), and A. C. (of Texas). The mother of these children is now nearly ninety years of age, but is yet quite strong and active, and gives promise of living a number of years to come. Mrs. Rudd was born in Alabama in 1835, and is the mother of two children: Lula May and Eunice. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rudd are members of the Christian Church, and he belongs to the A. F. & A. M., Columbia Lodge No. 82, and is at the present time worthy master of his lodge. He takes an active interest in educational matters, and is also a warm friend to the cause of Christianity. His father and mother were born in North Carolina and Virginia, respectively, and upon his arrival in this State the former entered land in what was then Lafayette but is now Columbia County, and made his home on this land until his death, which occurred in 1855, his widow’s death occurring in 1868, both being members of the Baptist Church. Their children are as follows: Pleasant G. (who died in Columbia County, Ark.), Caroline (wife of Robert Melton, of Waldo, Ark.), James P. (the subject of this biography), Susanna (wife of C. L. Lane, of Pope County), Sarah (wife of E. T. McDaniel, of Nevada County), Judith (wife of A. J. Hudman, of Columbia County), A. A., and C. R. (of this county), and two that died unnamed. (Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas - Goodspeed Publishing Company - Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis - 1890)

Contributed on 5/8/14 by debbraszymanski
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Record #: 998599

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