Prairie County ArArchives Biographies.....Bethell, William W. 
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Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 June 1, 2009, 8:11 pm

Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)

WILLIAM W. BETHELL.
    William W. Bethell, an alert and energetic merchant of Des Arc was born in
Prairie county, a son of B. B. Bethell, also a native of this county. The father
married Miss Mary Walsh, a daughter of the well known Dr. William Walsh, who
practiced medicine in Prairie county for many years and who was a soldier of the
Confederate army during the Civil war. B. B. Bethell also served with the
Confederate forces during the period of hostilities between the north and the
south and afterward became a river pilot at a time when all traffic and
transportation was conducted by means of the river route. He afterward worked as
a salesman and subsequently opened a store, in which connection he developed a
business of splendid proportions, becoming one of the prominent and
representative merchants of Des Arc. B. B. Bethell served during the Civil war
in General William Slemons' brigade, in Colonel Crawford's regiment and in
Company E, under Captain A. S. Erwin, the commander of a Cavalry Company. To him
and his wife were born four children: William W., Henry B., Erwin and Bedford.
The last named joined the American army during the World war, enlisting at
Jacksonville, Florida, and was sent to France with the Motor Transportation
Corps, dying of illness on the western front. His death greatly affected his
mother, who gradually succumbed to her grief and it seemed as though the summons
from the other side was clearly manifest to her as she made a will a few days
prior to her death mentioning in the legal document that the Father in heaven,
the Master, had called her. She died a few days after making this will, although
she was in her usual health at the time she penned the document.

    W. W. Bethell served as chairman of the United War Work campaign in Prairie
county and the family always registered one hundred per cent in everything
having to do with the prosecution of the war and the maintenance of high civic
standards in relation to community, commonwealth and country. W. W. Bethell was
reared under the parental roof with the usual experiences of the lad of the
period, who largely devotes his boyhood to the acquirement of a public school
education. The present Bethell store was organized in 1902 and W. W. Bethell is
now the active head of the concern, having devoted many years to the conduct of
the business in association with his father. He is a progressive and
enterprising business man, who closely studies the demands of the trade and who,
in his energy and enterprise, is meeting with most substantial success.

    W. W. Bethell was united in marriage to Miss Bertie Greer, a daughter of T.
F. Greer of Des Arc, and they have two children: Preston and Mary Nell. Henry B.
Bethell, a brother of W. W. Bethell, married Clara Pride; and Irwin Bethell
wedded Katie Sides, their children being, Mary, Virginia and Caroline. The
family is widely and prominently known in this section of the state, where their
activities have constituted an important element in the material development and
in the social, intellectual and moral progress of the community. Their record is
closely interwoven with the history of Prairie county and the work of father and
son has been of decided benefit and value to the community. Both W. W. Bethell
and his father are men of marked initiative and they- have left and are leaving
the impress of their individuality in marked manner upon the development of
Prairie county.


Additional Comments:

Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


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