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My great grandfather, John Ellison Horton, was born August 7, 1858, in Wayne County, Tennessee, the son of Nathaniel H. "Than" Horton and Mary Margaret "Peggy" Berry. John Ellison was probably named for his mother's brother, James Ellison Berry.
John Ellison married my great grandmother, Sarah Jane Woody, on October 5, 1877, in Wayne County. Sarah Jane Woody was born February 12, 1861, in Wayne County, the sixth of eleven children born to John J. Woody and Nancy Jane Stanfield.
John Ellison appears on the 1880 Wayne County census with his wife and their son, James W., age one year. James, who was my grandfather, was the only one of their children to be born in Tennessee.
John Ellison moved his family to Searcy County, Arkansas, about 1881. Several families made the move together. An article in the Marshall Mountain Wave, July 4, 1941, 1:2/3, by Dan W. McInturff, states, "There were 25 or 30 people in the group that trekked over hills, through valleys and canebrakes, through swamps, and over the famous Crowley's Ridge. Some had mule teams and others had oxen. They left Wayne County, Tennessee, September 23, 1881, and arrived at their destination November 26, 1881. It is believed that John Ellison's family was in that wagon train.
The 1900 Searcy County census shows John Ellison's family living in Sulpher Spring Township. The census shows John E., age 41, born August 1858, in Tennessee, married 22 years; Sarah J., age 40, born February 1860, in Tennessee, married 22 years; John G., age 18, born January 1882, born in Arkansas; Magnolia I., age 15, born June 1884, in Arkansas; McClure L., age 7, born October 1892, in Arkansas; and Clyde A., age 5, born May 1895, in Arkansas. Their oldest son, Will, age 21, born November 1878, in Tennessee, was boarding with the Joseph Loyd family in Sulpher Spring Township.
For a short time John Ellison ran the post office at Ella, in Searcy County, Arkansas. Both the town of Ella and the old post office, have long since disappeared.
On October 11, 1909 John Ellison acquired a land patent on 78.64 acres of land in Pope County. The legal description is given as the "southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 19, and the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 10, in Township 12 North, Range 17 West". Records show the patent was later cancelled.
John Ellison built a house for his family, which was later passed down to his oldest daughter, Nola, when John moved to Missouri, around 1911-1914.
John moved his family to Douglas County, Missouri, around 1908, and settled along Fox Creek, where he farmed for a time. Later he exchanged his farm for a mercantile business at Pryor, Missouri. John owned and operated this dry goods store for many years, until failing health forced him to turn the operation over to other family members.
The 1920 Douglas County census shows John E. Horton, 62 and Sarah J., wife, 59 living at Ava. Boarding with them was Goldie M. Hopper, 7 born in Missouri, father and mother born in Missouri. Living next door to John and Sarah was the family of their daughter Clure. The census shows Thomas H. E. Mathis, 26; McClure E., wife, 27; and Evelyn, daughter, 1 year 7 months old. Goldie Hopper was raised by John and Sarah. She married Leland Earl "Bill" Penner in 1933, in Missouri.
Sarah Jane died at Pryor on March 3, 1936. John Ellison followed her in death three months later, on June 7, 1936. They are buried in the VanZant Cemetery near Pryor.
Children of John Horton and Sarah Woody
1. James William Monroe Horton, b. 1878, Wayne Co, TN (my line)
2. John Edmondson Garfield Horton, b. 1882, Searcy Co, AR
3. Mary Magnolia Icephene "Nola" Horton, b. 1884, Searcy Co, AR
4. Gertrude P. Horton, b. Oct 17, 1889, Searcy Co, AR; d. 1898, Searcy Co; bur. Watts Cemetery, Searcy Co. (Gertrude's is the only covered grave in the cemetery.)
5. Elmore McClure Horton, b. 1892, Searcy Co, AR
6. Clyde Alexander Horton, b. 1895, Searcy Co, AR