Biography of William K Harrison, Mississippi Co, AR ********************************************************************* USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free Information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. Submitted by: Michael Brown Date: Sep 1998 ********************************************************************* Bibliography: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas. Chicago: Goodspeed Publishers, 1890. Dr. William K. Harrison. It is an historical fact that the first English immigrants to Virginia were a superior race, with enlarged views of government, liberty and law, who sought out homes in obedience to impulse prompted by lofty ambition, and sincere desire to benefit their race. From these ancestors sprang men in great numbers, who subsequently became prominent in different localities. The Harrisons are from one of the oldest families of Virginia. Dr. William K. Harrison is a native of Crockett County, Tenn., born in 1849, and is the son of William Harrison and the grandson of William Harrison, who was a native of Virginia, and who was left fatherless when a small boy. William, the father of the subject of this sketch, married Miss Ann Cattles, daughter of Robert Cattles, who, when a boy and while crossing the ocean, was shipwrecked. His father and mother were lost, but his sister and himself were saved, and bound out when very young. The people with whom he lived spelled his name Cattle, but he thought the name was originally Catlet. Dr. Harrison was reared to agricultural pursuits in West Tennessee, and received such educational advantages as the subscription schools of that State afforded. Later he studied medicine and graduated at the University of Medicine at Louisville, Ky., in the class of 1874. The same year he came to Mississippi County, Ark., and settled on Frenchman's Bayon, where he built up a good practice, and his reputation is surpassed by none in the county. The Doctor adds his evidence that Arkansas is as healthy as any State in the Union, and that if the people lived as they do anywhere else, instead of subsisting, for the most part, on bacon and cornbread, with black coffee and whisky, and paying no attention to cleanliness, they would enjoy as good health as in any other State. The Doctor is a man of ample business experience, full of enterprise and of safe judgment. He is now the owner of about 1,800 acres of land in this county, of which he has about 1,000 acres under cultivation, 700 of which he has placed under the plow himself. In addition to this he owns about 2,000 acres in Greene County near Paragould. On his Mississippi County farm he keeps about 130 people. Dr. Harrison was married, in 1876, to Miss Ella Davies, a lady possessed of many estimable qualities of mind and heart, and the daughter of [p.511] Dr T. F. Davies. When a boy the latter came with his father, J. F. Davies, who was also a doctor, and a native of Virginia, to Mississippi County, Ark. Prior to this and while living in Greene County, Ark., Dr. Davies, Jr., was elected to represent his district in the State senate. After coming to Mississippi County, which was just after the war, he took part in all public enterprises, practiced medicine and established a store which he conducted for years. He died in 1881. Dr. and Mrs. Harrison are the parents of three bright children, viz.: William F., who is the fourth William Harrison in direct line; Cora and Ed. Davies. Dr. Harrison is a gentleman of very agreeable manners, of fine personal appearance; and being a man of wealth and good family he partakes of that easy refinement and culture which are to the manor born. Mrs. Harrison is also a stem of the same Virginia stock, and has a very commendable pride in her family. As may be expected they are people of superior tastes and habits, using their surplus wealth in the material improvement of the community in which they live. The Doctor is a member of the I. O. O. F., having joined a lodge in Tennessee, from which he took his card. Mrs. Harrison is a worthy member of the Presbyterian Church.