Benton Co., AR - Biographies - Hezekiah Highfill

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Hezekiah Highfill, farmer and stock raiser, was born in McNairy 
County, Tenn., May 2, 1834, and is a son of James and Martha P. 
(Jackson) Highfill, both of whom were born in McNairy County, Tenn., 
the former in 1813, the latter in 1814. They were married in April, 
1833; died in Oregon County, Mo., in 1875 [p.848] and 1870, 
respectively. James Highfill was a farmer and Missionary Baptist 
preacher. His father was Bennett Highfill, who came from England with 
his parents when a child. His parents died soon after their arrival in 
America, leaving Bennett, Hezekiah and one sister, from whom there is 
a very extensive relation, as not one Highfill has been found who did 
not claim to be related to the former ones. Bennett Highfill located 
in North Carolina, but soon removed to Illinois, and afterward to 
Tennessee. His wife was Nancy Heron, a native of North Carolina, but 
of German descent. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Needham 
Jackson, a native of North Carolina. He was a farmer, a soldier of the 
War of 1812, and a relative of Gen. Andrew Jackson. At the age of 
sixteen Hezekiah Highfill was taken by his parents to Dallas County, 
Mo., where he grew to maturity At the breaking out of the Civil War he 
enlisted in the Confederate States army, Eighth Missouri Infantry, and 
was a participant in the battles of Oak Hill, Lexington, Prairie 
Grove, Little Rock and others, the last being Jenkins' Ferry. He was 
neither wounded nor captured during his entire service. He first 
served as orderly sergeant, but was commissioned second lieutenant, 
and afterward as first lieutenant, all of which positions he filled 
with integrity and honor. He was surrendered at Shreveport, La., by 
Gen. Sterling Price. The war being ended, he settled in Franklin 
County, Mo., without money or friends. He engaged in the occupation of 
farming, meeting with success. He was married, February 1, 1866, to 
Mariah S. Mitchell, the daughter of Greenberry Mitchell, a minister of 
the Missionary Baptist Church. Greenberry Mitchell was born in 
Tennessee in 1822, married Sarah D. Williams in 1843, and was ordained 
in 1849. Sarah D. died June 12, 1884, and Mr. Mitchell was next 
married to Mrs. Almary Pickle, who survives him. He died at 
Marshfield, Mo., May 27, 1888. Few ministers have done more preaching 
and work in the corn-field, with greater success for the cause of 
Christ. He has been known to ride on horseback twenty miles Saturday 
morning, preach to the church at 11 A. M., at night, and 11 A. M. 
Sunday, and be at work in the corn-field at home by sunrise Monday 
morning. By his wife, Mariah, Mr. Highfill has became the father of 
ten children: Sarah S., Elisha J., Franklin S., Clarence D., Ora A., 
and Onia F. Sarah was married. November 4, 1888, to Frank Mitchell, of 
Bloomfield, Ark., who is a son of George Mitchell, of the same place. 
Mr. Mitchell is not related to the family of his wife's mother. 
Hezekiah Highfall, the subject of this sketch, now owns 760 acres of 
good land in Benton County, Ark., to which place he removed in 1869. 
He has 170 acres in cultivation, well stocked and furnished. He is a 
Royal Arch Mason, and a man who has the confidence and esteem of all 
who know him. He is noted for his peaceable disposition, his habits of 
temperance, and is a zealous Sabbath-school worker. He is a valuable 
addition to the community in which he resides, always opposing the law 
of retaliation, believing it to be productive of evil only. As a proof 
of this he has been known to give his own ration to prisoners, and 
even pull his shirt off his back, while serving as lieutenant of the 
guard, and give it to a destitute soldier of the opposing army. In 
1878 he was elected assessor of Benton County, afterward clerk of the 
Springtown Baptist Association, also of the convention that formed the 
Benton County Baptist Association; has been superintendent of a 
Sabbath-school in his own school district for several years, and is 
now president of the West Benton County Sabbath-school Association, in 
all of which places he has served with marked ability, and honor to 
himself and credit to constituents. He deems the superintendency of a 
Sabbath-school the highest position he ever occupied. He will die as 
he has lived, loved and respected by all who know him, and it is with 
pleasure that he is considered among the warm friends of the writer, 
Ethan Allyn.