Biography of A L Tansil, 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.

A. L. Tansil, a true type of the progressive farmer and
enterprising merchant, was born in Dyer County, Tenn., in 1845. He is
the eldest in a family of seven children born to John B. and Nancy
(Finly) Tansil, of Tennessee, where the father was a well-known farmer
who died in 1868, the mother soon following him. In early youth Mr.
Tansil had few educational advantages, but attended school for several
years after the war. On reaching maturity he began life as a farmer,
and though still following that occupation, he established a store
which was the first place of business in what is now the thriving town
of Finley, Tenn. His business grew to considerable proportions under
his judicious management, and in addition to it he built a cotton-gin
which gave an impetus to the place, and soon the town of Finley grew
and became an active, busy trading center. In 1874, thinking to better
his then prosperous condition, and always on the lookout for more
promising fields, he moved to the State of Missouri, and from there to
Texas, remaining, however, only one year in the latter place, and then
returned to Finley. Here he formed a partnership with an uncle, A.
Finley, under the firm name of A. Finley & Co., and continued in
commercial life under these conditions for two years, when his spirit
of independence prompted him to seek other fields, and he again turned
his attention to Texas. In that State he did not find as favorable an
opening as he had hoped for, and believing that he had passed over a
better country on his way, he turned backward and settled in
Mississippi County, Ark. Here he located on Mill Bayou, and commenced
farming with great success, and two years after started the first
business house at this point. He started a small store, which, from
the first, was a pronounced success and grew rapidly from year to year
until the spring of 1885, when his increased trade demanded larger
quarters, and he built an extensive store, filling it with a complete
and judiciously assorted stock of general merchandise. The star of Mr.
Tansil's success seemed to be shining the brightest at this period,
when, without any warning, the results of his many years' patient toil
and industry were swept away by fire on the night of December 5, 1885.
His new store with its recently accumulated stock, several bales of
cotton, and a large crib containing over 1,000 bushels of corn, were
burned to the ground. This misfortune rendered him almost [p.559]
penniless, and instead of starting in business again at this point, he
removed with his family up the White River; but seeing no advantages
to be derived there that would equal his former home in Mississippi
County, he soon returned and settled one mile south of Barfield, where
he leased a cotton gin and forty acres from the Williams estate; and
the same industry that characterized his early days is now starting
him on the road to fortune again. In 1889 he bought 100 acres of good
land with about thirty acres under cultivation, and soon after
purchased forty acres of wild land, which he will immediately put
under cultivation also. He has again commenced in business at
Barfield, of which he intends to allow his son Guy to take the
management, while he devotes the greater part of his time to his
cotton-gin and crops. On June 18, 1868. Mr. Tansil was married to Miss
Sarah H. Spence, of Finley, Tenn., a daughter of George E. Spence,
whose father, Mark, was one of the pioneers of Dyer County, that
State, where he amassed a large fortune. To this union were born eight
children: Belle, wife of J. H. Daniels; Annie; Minnie, who died in
1885; Guy, Dixon, Nannie, who died in 1888; Frankie and Susie. Mr.
Tausil is certainly one of the self-made men of Mississippi County. He
is held in high esteem by his neighbors, has served four terms as
magistrate, takes an active interest in all matters that promise to be
for the county's good, and in school affairs, and is the possessor of
a happy and interesting family.