Wilson Henry Austin (1850 - 1907)

Born 20 Mar 1850 in Bedford, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 25 Nov 1907 at age 57 in Gravette, Benton, Arkansas, United States

Biography

This person was created through the import of Watkins.ged on 04 April 2011. The following data was included in the gedcom. You may wish to edit it for readability.

Burial

Burial:

Place: Bethel Cemetery, Benton, Ar in Section in Plot

User ID

User ID: 8ECA1DC64C911C48B7E545DA80AB201395F4

Note

Note: Willis and Nancy were the only two living children William Bryant

Austin had by his first wife, Angeline (Turpin). When W.B. Austin

remarried Martha Coughran his children were about 7 and 5 years old

respectively. Martha managed to pressure the children out of the home

in a short period of time and they quickly found themselves on their

own. It is not known how their father dealt with this unjust

treatment of his children. Who raised the two children after they

left the home is not known but the children did not remain with their

father and stepmother. Willis came from Tennessee about 1856. When

Willis was about 12 years old, his father enlisted with the

confederate army. Since he was probably not living near his father at

the time the impact of his fathers actions and the war are not know

for sure. When Willis was 26 years old he met and married Martha

Sooter on April 3, 1876. They established their home 2.5 miles south

of Gravette AR on the south prong of Spavinah Creek. Here he raised

7 children and lived until 1907 when he died at the age of 57 years.

During the 1870's the family lived principally on wild game they were

able to shoo in the area around their home. Deer, wild turkey,

squirrels and fish were plentiful in the area. Willis was one of if

not the first nurseryman in Benton County. He budded and grafted his

own nursery stock, thereby adding improved varieties of fruit. In

1904 he entered of of his apple varieties in the St. Louis World's

Fair. He was awarded a medal and certificate and the apple variety

took his name, "Willis Red". His orchards were the first orchards

used by the agricultural departments in that section for expermenting

on effects of pruning and spraying of orchards for crop and quality

improvement. The machinery they used in the experimenting was kept

permanently on his property. In October of 1912, the Gravette New

Herald newspaper made the following comment about Willis Austin. "He

was a former progressive and well-to-do agriculturalist of Benton

County." Willis and his family were quite in community and county

affairs. After his death his wife moved into Gravette where she

remained until 1930. Two of his sons, one daughter and two great

grandsons attended the University of Arkansas nearby.

Data Changed

Data Changed:

Date: 28 May 2002

Time: 21:42:06

Prior to import, this record was last changed 21:42:06 28 May 2002.

Sources

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCDL-VWT : 4 April 2020), Willis H Austin in household of William Austin, Lincoln county, Lincoln, Tennessee, United States; citing family 593, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• Find a Grave, database and images, Find A Grave: Memorial #21410668 for Wilson H “Willis” Austin (20 Mar 1850–1907), Find a Grave Memorial no. 21410668, citing Bethel Cemetery, Gravette, Benton County, Arkansas, USA ; Maintained by Donna Sue Johnson- Coon (contributor 46915598) .