Thomas J Warren (1814 - 1899)

Born 22 Sep 1814 in Edgecombe Co, NC

Ancestors

Husband of Rebecca Buska (Wright) Warren — married 1833 in West Tennessee

Descendants

Died 15 May 1899 at age 84 in Little Rock, AR, USA

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Biography

Thomas was born in 1814. He is the son of Caleb Warren and Sallie Vann. He passed away in 1899.

He moved from North Carolina to Tennessee at about the age of 6. He then moved to Royal Colony, Arkansas at the age of 42. Purchased 160 acres of wild land, on which they built a double log house, first seen in the colony. Plus land deeded to him by father Caleb.

He married Rebecca Buska Wright and they had ten children. His obituary mentions these ten children, saying only three were still alive at his death.

From Goodspeed's Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas: Thomas Warren. He whose name heads this brief sketch, is one of White County's pioneers, and is an active and enterprising agriculturist, alive to all current issues, public spirited and progressive in all matters tending to benefit the community. His life has been an active one, and by his own industry and intelligent management, has secured a substantial footing among the citizens of White County. He was born in Edgecombe, County, N. C., September 22, 1814, and about the year 1820 he removed with his father, Caleb Warren, to the State of Tennessee, and was there reared to farm life. The schools of Tennessee were not of the best at this time, and were only conspicuous for their scarcity, therefore the educational advantages which Thomas received were of the most meager description. He learned to read a little, but never did an example in arithmetic in his life. In the year 1834 he was wedded to Miss Rebecca Wright, a daughter of John Harrison and Nancy (Whitiss) Wright, and a native of North Carolina, born on June 16, 1815. Their marriage resulted in the birth of ten children, whose names are as follows: Martha Ann (born November 22, 1834; was married December 31, 1853, to William J. Canada, who was killed while serving in the army. His wife died in 1869, leaving three children: Martha J., born in November, 1855, Thomas, born in December, 1857, and Joseph, born in 1859), Sarah E. (was born September 25, 1837, married Isaac Dougan, and bore him two children, both deceased), Caleb P. (born January 22, 1840), Matilda N. (born on March 22, 1842, and married Dr. M. Costen, of El Paso), Clarissa E. (birth occurred on the 31st of August, 1844, and her marriage took place in 1861; she and her husband had two children, William P. and Barbara), Nancy C. (was born March 31, 1847, and in 1862 she was married to Joseph Grissard; she died in September, [p.260] 1869), William T. (the next in order of birth, was born August 17, 1849, and died in infancy), Josiah W. (was born June 21, 1851, and died five years later), Mary K. (was born December 31, 1853, and died in December, 1856), Rebecca T. (was born April 18, 1856, was married to Rufus Blake in 1872, and became the mother of eight children, four of whom are living). Prior to leaving Tennessee, Mr. Warren purchased three slaves, paying $600 and $800 apiece for two women, and $1,000 for a man, but on coming to Arkansas in 1856, his slaves had increased to six. He located on a quarter section of land which had been deeded to him by his father, and subsequently added, by purchase, three other quarter sections of land, and at the opening of the Rebellion was the owner of large landed estates, and had fourteen slaves. At the time of his location in Arkansas the country was in a very wild and unsettled condition, but, with the energy which has ever characterized the early pioneers, he set to work and soon had a good double log-cabin erected on his land, also negro cabins and a horse cotton-gin, the latter being the first erected within a radius of twenty miles. After a few years he put up a steam cottongin and grist-mill, at a cost of about $3,500, and hauled his machinery from Des Arc, a distance of thirty-five miles. In 1867, he, in partnership with his son Caleb P., engaged in the mercantile business in El Paso, and the latter is now one of the wealthiest merchants of the State. Mr. and Mrs. Warren are now seventy-five and seventy-four years old, respectively, and the latter has been a member of the Missionary Baptist Church for nearly seventy years. Mr. Warren has belonged to the same church for about forty years, all their children being members of the same, and those who are deceased died in full communion with the church, and with the hope and belief of immortality. Mrs. Warren is an active member of the Ladies' Aid Society, and she and her husband are ever ready with open purse to aid the needy and afflicted, and when their Master calls will be found ready and waiting to pass "over the river." The paternal ancestors of Mr. Warren came to the United States prior to the Revolutionary War, and took sides with the Colonists in that struggle. Of his maternal ancestors he has no knowledge.

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Sources

• 1840 United States Federal Census, Haywood Co TN
• 1850 United States Federal Census, Haywood Co TN
• 1880 United States Federal Census, El Paso, White Co AR
• Goodspeed's Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas, pgs 259-260
• http://www.argenweb.net/white/cems/Grissard_Cemetery_files/grissard_cemetery_el_paso.htm
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=68160708