Joshua and Rebecca (Thomas) Stotts, the
paternal grandparents of our subject, were natives of Virginia and North
Carolina, respectively, and after their marriage remained some time in
Virginia, and in 1810 went to Wilson County, Tenn., and in 1827 went
farther west to PERRY COUNTY, where the husband died the same year. Mrs.
Stotts married a second time, and about 1850 came to Arkansas, locating
near Jonesboro, now Craighead County, where she died about 1853 at the age
of ninety-eight years. Of the nine children born to this union only one is
now living, William Stotts, one of the oldest and most highly respected
citizens of the island. He was born in Wythe County, Va., in 1802, and,
being but a child when his parents moved to Tennessee, grew to manhood in
Tennessee. In 1843, he came by wagon to Arkansas, and located in what is
now Craighead County, below Jonesboro, where he remained till 1878, when
he moved to Buffalo Island, where he has since resided. He was first
married in 1830 to Frances Thomason, a native of North Carolina, who died
February 12, 1877, aged fifty-three years. By this union there were nine
children, four of whom are still living: Arnold, Elizabeth (widow of John
Garrett), Wiley and Mrs. Sarah Randson. Those deceased are William,
Rebecca A., John and two infants. Mr. Stotts' second wife was Mrs. Tempie
Cannon, nee Morgan, and both of them are members of the Baptist Church.
Mr. Stotts has a small farm of forty acres, with twenty-eight under
cultivation, which he cultivates himself and upon which he makes his
living and clears about $500 per year. Arnold Stotts, the oldest child of
William, and the immediate subject of this sketch, is a merchant and
farmer of Stottsville and also owner and proprietor of a cotton-gin and
saw and grist-mill. He was born in Perry County, Tenn., in October, 1831,
and was but twelve years of age when his parents came to this State. July
18, 1851, he was united in marriage with Cynthia Mattox, born near
Gainesville, [p.358] Ark., and daughter of Edward Mattox. This union has
been blessed with five children: Mary Ann (wife of J. Tonson), James,
Amands (wife of Richard Mangrum), William and Alabama (wife of Walter
Skelton). All are married and live around the home place. After his
marriage Mr. Stotts located near Jonesboro, and in 1863 moved to Buffalo
Island, and in 1881 to his present place. He owns 580 acres of land, and
on his home place 320 acres, with 109 under cultivation. In 1874 he began
merchandising, and in 1876 put up a cotton gin, a year later adding a saw
and grist-mill. He has also a blacksmith shop. When he located on the
island there were but four families residing on it, and he has killed deer
and bears in numbers. He raised the first cotton crop ever made on the
island, and the first year he built his gin, ginned sixty-five bales of
cotton, and in 1888 ginned 378 bales. He is one of the leading citizens of
the community, and is eminently a self-made man. Mrs. Stotts is a
charitable lady and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. |