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The Percefull Family in the Piney Woods [Hamilton] Community
Researched and written by my dad James Ronald (Ron) Percefull
John Percefull arrived in Arkansas from Kentucky about 1820 and settled in Prairie
County near what was the Brownsville Community. He was one of the early
settlers in Prairie County and acquired a considerable amount of land in the
area.
His second son, John House Percefull, was born in 1826, in Prairie County; and
according to Goodspeed’s History of Eastern Arkansas, was the first man
born in then Prairie County. In 1848, he bought 160 acres of land south of
present Carlisle, in the Piney Woods Community. This farm is located northeast
of what is today the north intersection of Highway 13 and the Hamilton Loop
Road. John House Percefull lived the remainder of his life here. He married
Cordelia Shouse in 1853, and to them was born two sons - John Hamilton and
Alexander Campbell. Cordelia died in 1861. Her burial location is not known.
In 1862, John House married Catherine Valentine Leonard and
to them was born nine children - five daughters; Clementine, Lillie, Lullia,
Annie, and Cora Lee; and four sons: George William David, Julian Marshall,
James Forest and Grover Cleveland.
Ofthe daughters, Lullia born (1867) and Annie (born 1869) died as children.
Clementine (born 1862) married Johnnie Young. Lillie (born1864) married Samuel
Carson. Cora lee (born 1881) married Ed Ray. They all lived in the Piney
Woods/Hamilton area
Of the sons, John Hamilton (born 1856) married Florence Young and lived in the
Russellville Area.
Alexander Campbell(born 1859) married Jamie Hill Young (sister of Florence) and they lived in the
Russellville area, also. George William (born 1873) married Ida Hicks and lived
in the present Lonoke area. Grover Cleveland (born 1887) married Annie Hunt and
lived in the Prairie County area.
James Forest was born 1878 and died in 1883.
Julian Marshall (born 1876) married Pearl Rice (who lived nearby) and lived on the
Percefull farm, south of present Carlisle. He built a house near the original
Percefull homestead built by his father. This home still stands today, in 2005,
although having been remodeled several times. He lived there his entire life,
farmed the family farm, and ran a grocery store and blacksmith shop for part of
his life as well. He and Pearl had 11
children, ten of which lived to adulthood.
Today we know the burial places of the following ---
John Hamilton - Russellville
George William David - Lonoke
Julian
Marshall - Hamilton
Grover
Cleveland - Little Rock
Lillie-
Hamilton
Celia
Cora Lee - Hamilton
Marshall
died in 1953, and is buried at the Hamilton
Cemetery. Pearl died in 1983, and is buried at the Hamilton Cemetery,
also.
The
children of Julian Marshall and Pearl were all born at the family home and are
as follows:
Julian
Doyne - born 1910, attended Carlisle high school, married Yolande Atachley Barr of Carlisle. He moved away at an
early age and lived in Texarkana and North Little Rock. He died in 1993, and is
buried at North Little Rock.
John
Edwin - born 1911,attended Carlisle high school, married Ivan Way of Lonoke.
They lived on the Percefull Family farm south of Carlisle and farmed there
until 1996, when they moved to Little Rock. Ed still lives there in 2005. They
had one son , Larry, who also farmed with his dad on the Percefull Farm for
several years, prior to moving to Little Rock. Larry first married Billie Sue
Robbins, of the Hamilton Community, and they had two children.
Francis Bernice - born 1913, attended Carlisle high
school, married Kermit Bennett of Carlisle. They lived for a short while in the
Piney Woods community and then moved to a farm north of Carlisle. They had one
daughter, Dorothy. They lived on this farm for their entire working life and
after Kermit’s death in 1983, Bernice moved into Carlisle and lived there until
2004. She moved to Little Rock in 2004, and lives there in 2005.
William
Howard - born 1914. Left the area after
high school at Carlisle and moved to Los Angeles, California. He first married Mary Berberet of Los
Angeles and they had two children. He worked for Bell Telephone Company there
for his entire career and after retirement, moved to Alaska. He died there in 1992, and is buried at
Coopers Landing, Alaska.
Neta Lee - born 1916, attended Lonoke high
school. Moved to Los Angeles, California and worked her entire career there
with a Savings and Loan company. She Married Bob Foster while in Los Angeles
and they moved to San Diego after retirement. She died in 1984, and is buried
at Shelbyville, Illinois, the hometown of her husband, Bob.
Lynn
Wilson, born 1918 - died 1920. Is buried at Hamilton Cemetery.
Marshall
Jr. - born 1920. Attended high school at Carlisle. Worked in Shreveport,
Louisiana for a while and entered the Army in World War 11 and served four
years. After returning to Carlisle
after the war, he married Wilma Isbell of Carlisle and they moved to Detroit,
Michigan. They had four children. He
worked there for Ford Motor Company his entire career and moved to Gaylord,
Michigan at retirement. He died in 2003, and is buried at Gaylord, Michigan.
Dorothy
Marie - born 1923, attended Lonoke high school and married Clarence Albert
Lilly of Lonoke. They had 4 children.
They lived on a farm north of Lonoke and farmed there until about 1965. After a
divorce, she married Theron Morgan of Little Rock and moved there. She died in
2004, and is buried in Lonoke Cemetery.
Robert
Ray -- born 1925, attended Lonoke high school. After high school he entered the Marine Corps and served two years
during World War II. Returned to Carlisle after the war and attended the
University of Arkansas. After graduation, he enter the Amy for two years. After
serving in the Army, he moved to Detroit, married Dorothy Jones Stewart, and worked his entire career for Standard
Register Company in Detroit. He died 1998, and is buried at Royal Oak,
Michigan.
Samuel
Eugene - born1928 , attended Hamilton and Carlisle high school. After high
school, he entered the Marine Corps and
died in an automobile accident at San Bernardino California in 1947. He is
buried at Hamilton Cemetery.
James
Ronald - born in 1929, attended high school at Hamilton and Carlisle, and the
University of Arkansas He married Marilyn Moore of Little Rock. They had 4
children. After graduation, entered the Army for 2 years. After leaving the
army, he worked for Citgo Petroleum for
most of his career and was self-employed in Tulsa, Oklahoma for 8 years. He
lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2005.
All
of the Percefull children attended the Piney Woods elementary school. It had
classes through the 8th grade. Some then attended Carlisle, Lonoke and Hamilton
high school. The Hamilton and Piney Woods schools were consolidated with
Carlisle in 1944, and all students transferred there. The old Piney Woods and
Hamilton school buildings were torn down. The Hamilton school building stood
just south of the existing Methodist church. The Piney Woods building stood on the southeast corner of Highway13 and
Hamilton Loop Road, where a house stands today. The land reverted to the
Percefull estate, as Marshall had provided the land originally for the school.
The old bell from the school was removed and installed in the bell tower at the
existing Hamilton Baptist Church.
In
the early days , the Percefull land was used primarily for cattle grazing and
later most of it was cleared and cotton and corn became the primary crop. About 1940, the use was changed to raising
rice and soybeans. This is the primary use today.
Four
generations of Percefulls lived on the land acquired originally by John House
Percefull in 1848. They were John
House, Julian Marshall, John Edwin, and Larry. Additional land was acquired and
some lost and sold during this span but the original tract was held and finally
sold in 1996. Twenty three members of
the Percefull family were born on this farm.
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