George H. Stinson, Ouachita County, AR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOURCE: Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889. Contributed by Carol Smith. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ouachita County, Arkansas - from Goodspeed's History of Arkansas George H. Stinson is a dealer in books, stationery, etc. at Camden, Arkansas, and also a well-known jeweler of that place. He was born in Bath, Maine, in 1827, and is a son of Samuel G. and Catherine (Gannett) Stinson, who were also born in the Pine Tree State. They traced their ancestry back to old English, Scotch and Irish families. Samuel G. Stinson was a merchant in Boston for many years, a very prosperous man of business, and died in Bath, Maine. George H. Stinson is the eldest of their nine children, and is the only son now living. He attended the public schools, which were very fine, of his native State, and at an early day as apprenticed to a watchmaker in Bath. At an early day he came to Camden, Arkansas and established himself in business, purchasing a stock of jewelry of a man who wished to sell out, and although Camden was a very small place, and his stock of goods not as extensive as could be wished, he had come to stay, and as the country gradually improved his trade increased in proportion, and he is now doing an extensive and profitable business. He at first manufactured nearly all his own jewelry, but this is now unnecessary. He has a fine brick business building in Camden, 20 x 90 feet, two stories in height, and his stock of goods is now valued at $12,000. He has served as alderman several terms, also as school director, and since first locating here he has been regarded as a valuable citizen. He is a Knight Templar in the Masonic fraternity, is a member of the Royal Arcanum and the K. of H. He was married in 1857 to Miss Virginia McCollum, a native of South Carolina, by whom he has three children: Mrs. J. B. McCaughey, Mrs. Walter Watts, and John M., who is in business with his father. Mr. Stinson and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C, First Arkansas Infantry, and was on active duty until he was wounded at the battle of Shiloh, in April, 1862, in the head by a bursting shell. He then entered the quartermaster's department and clerked until the close.