Biography of Samuel M Wyatt, Independence Co, AR

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SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northeast Arkansas. 
Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889.
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page 725

Samuel M. Wyatt, a genial and popular farmer and stock raiser, of Independence
County, was born in Davidson County, Tenn., in 1837, and is a son of Isaac and
Eleanor (McCutchen) Wyatt, of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively, the
mother dying when Samuel was four years of age. The father moved to Gibson
County, Tenn., the following year after her death, where he resided until 1857,
and then came to Independence County, Ark., spending the balance of his life in
that locality. He was a prosperous and highly-respected farmer at the time of
his death, in 1885, and a member of the A. F. & A. M. His parents both died
when he was still very young, and he was reared by an uncle in Tennessee. After
the death of his wife he sincerely mourned her absence, and remained a widower
all his life. Mrs. Wyatt's parents were natives of Ireland, who emigrated to
America and settled in Tennessee, where they resided until their decease. The
father, John McCutchen, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and tought under Gen.
Jackson, at the battle of New Orleans. Samuel was the fourth child of one son
and four daughters born to his parents, and received a good common school
education in his young days. He moved to Arkansas with his father and sisters,
and has made that State his home ever since. When the war broke out he cast his
lot with the Confederate army, and enlisted in the First Arkansas Mounted
Riflemen, operating through Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama,
Mississippi, Virginia, Florida, and, in fact, all the Confederate States. He
took part in almost all of the principal battles during that memorable period,
besides a great number of skirmishes and minor engagements, and though the
Confederacy had followers for her cause whose names are far better known to the
world, she had no braver soldier than Mr. Wyatt. After his surrender at
Jacksonport, in 1865, he returued to his farm, and again commenced cultivating
the soil. In 1867 he was married, in Independence County, to Mrs. Mary Gainer,
a charming young widow, and a daughter of John and Tobitha Rodman, of famous
old Bourbon County, Ky. Two sons and one daughter were born to this union:
Isaac R., John and Mamie. Immediately after his marriage Mr. Wyatt settled on
White River, and commenced farming in that neighborhood, residing there ever
since. He has become one of the leading farmers in that section, and now owns
about 1,000 acres of land, in different tracts, with about 500 acres under
cultivation. He inherited a portion of his land, but the greater part has been
derived from his own industry and enterprise, and outside of being a practical
farmer he is a wide-awake and energetic business man. In politics he is a
Democrat, and has been a stanch adherent to that party all his life. Mrs. Wyatt
is a member of the Episcopal Church, and a devoted wife and mother, who makes
her home one of the most pleasant in Independence County.