Crawford Co., AR - Biographies - Benjamin Dyer

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SOURCE: History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford,
Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed 
Publishing Co., 1889.
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Benjamin Dyer, farmer and stock raiser, was born in East Tennessee, 
hear the Tennessee River, February 29, 1832, and when but a few weeks 
old was brought by his parents to Crawford County, which was then a 
vast wilderness inhabited by wild animals, game and Indians. He 
naturally had no educational opportunities when young, and his 
literary knowledge has all been obtained since by personal effort. He 
was married December 16, 1851, to Mary Ann Etherly, a native of 
Tennessee, who had just come to this county. She died in 1858, leaving 
two sons and one daughter, all of whom are now living near home. In 
1859 Mr. Dyer married Sirviller, daughter of Sudeth D. and Sarah 
Turner, [p.1144] natives of Kentucky, who came to Arkansas in 1842, 
when Mrs. Dyer was but a year old. They first located in Washington 
County, but afterward went to Franklin County, where the father died 
in 1855. The mother died in 1873 in Crawford County. Mr. Turner served 
for some time as justice of the peace, and was surveyor of what is now 
Floyd County, Ky. To Mr. Dyer and his second wife ten children have 
been born, of whom four sons and five daughters are living. After his 
first marriage Mr. Dyer lived a year in Washington County. He then 
moved to Frog Bayou, but for twenty-nine years has lived on Little 
Mulberry, where he has a nice farm of 180 acres. For three years after 
his first marriage he engaged in blacksmithing, but since 1860 he has 
been engaged in fruit distilling. Before the war he was a Democrat, 
and cast his first presidential vote for Buchanan. but since then has 
been a Republican. He is a public-spirited citizen, and from 1864 
until 1866 served as justice of the peace. He has belonged to the 
Masonic fraternity for nineteen years, and was formerly a member of 
the Pleasant Hill and Clear Creek Lodges; now, however, he is a member 
of the Graphic Lodge, No. 454. Himself and wife have been identified 
with the Baptist Church since 1855, to which church his first wife 
also belonged. During the late war Mr. Dyer served in 1864 in the 
Thirteenth Kansas as quartermaster, being stationed at Van Buren and 
Fort Smith, under Sidney Smith, in the quartermaster's department. Mr. 
Dyer's parents, Benjamin and Martha (Pogue) Dyer, were born in North 
Carolina in 1798 and 1806, respectively. They were married in their 
native State, and soon after went to Tennessee. In 1832 they came to 
this county, where the father died in 1835. He was a farmer, 
blacksmith and distiller, and it is thought he served in one of the 
early wars. The mother was a Baptist and a devoted Christian. Caleb 
Dyer, the grandfather, was born in North Carolina, and died in the 
East. His wife, Rebecca, came to this county in 1833, where she died 
in 1836.