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Re: Jehoiada B. Jeffery

Ginger Jones (View posts)
Posted: 2 Jun 2005 3:36PM GMT
Classification: Query
This is from the book by Dale Hanks, "Jeffery Pioneers in the Ozarks"
DANIEL MASON JEFFERY

Daniel M. Jeffery, son of Jehoiada and Mary Ware Jeffery, was born at Mt. Olive, Arkansas on April 2, 1822. He married Nancy Lawrence, May 2, 1844. They had 12 children: Jehoiada B., Lucretia Ann, Sarah Elizabeth, Samantha, J. Curran, Henry Bone, Mary Lavina, Asa David, Daniel Mason, Jr., Eliza Dixon, and Nancy Caroline.

He was called “Little Daniel” so as not to get him mixed up with his uncle Daniel, the Sheriff, Little Daniel was a farmer and a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. He settled one mile east of Mount Olive, Arkansas on Pelham Creek near a mountain known as “Devil’s Knob.” He operated quite a large farm there.

The house Daniel built in the 1840’s stood as a prominent landmark in the area for almost 150 years until it was destroyed by fire in 1984. Daniel’s house was built on the order of the one built on White River by his father, Jehoiada. These were red cedar log houses with thick walnut ceiling beams and oak shingles for the roof. The house was rectangular in shape with rooms on either end separated by a “dog trot”. Each end had two rooms, with fireplaces on both ends of the house. Additional space was added in later years which gave the house an “L” shape. A fine well, log barn, and orchard added to the comforts of the place.

Daniel enlisted in the Confederate Army during the Civil War at Pocahontas on September 23, 1861. He is described in Confederate Army records as being 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with blue eyes, a fair complexion, and light hair. He served in the “new” Company G, 8th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. This Company was formed by the consolidation of Company A and Company D of the 9th Regiment Mounted Arkansas Infantry. In the spring of 1862, Daniel ended up in the hospital at Tupelo, Mississippi. He was diagnosed as having granular degeneration of the kidneys and was discharged from the Southern Army at Tupelo on July 15, 1862. His pay was $11 a month as a private soldier. He drew a travel allowance of $20 to return from Tupelo back to Pocahontas where he was mustered out of the army on July 26, 1862.

Owen Dixon, writing in 1938, said that Daniel joined the White River Presbytery, and became an ordained Presbyterian minister. He served a number of different congregations in the White River Valley.

Dixon recalls how Daniel invariably closed his prayers with the words: “And when Thou art done with us here, hand our bodies to the grave in perfect peace with Thee and all mankind.”

Dixon noted that Daniel’s main prayer was answered as he died shouting happy in the pulpit in the old brick house at Mount Olive after having preached a sermon on the first day of April, 1888. He was exactly 66 years old when he died.

The “old brick house” was a building in Mount Olive where church services and school were both held. It housed the famous Mount Olive Male and Female Academy, an educational showplace for that time.

Little Daniel is buried in the original burial grounds on his father’s old home place about two miles north of Mount Olive. After his death, his son, Daniel Mason, Jr. and his family, occupied the house Little Daniel built. This house was owned during its almost 150 year existence by members of the Jeffery family.
SubjectAuthorDate Posted
susannolan64 9 Mar 2000 9:32PM GMT 
GingerJones62 22 Jul 2000 10:53AM GMT 
brooksvilla1 2 Jun 2005 7:12PM GMT 
Ginger Jones 2 Jun 2005 9:03PM GMT 
Ginger Jones 2 Jun 2005 9:36PM GMT 
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