Biography of William T Blakemore, Sebastian Co, AR

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SOURCE: History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford,
Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed 
Publishing Co., 1889.
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page 1290

William T. Blakemore, M. D., of Greenwood, Ark., is a native of Sumner County,
Tenn., and was born in 1830,  being the son of Lee C. and Charlotte (Johnson)
Blakemore, and grandson of Thomas and Sallie (Douglass)  Blakemore. Thomas
Blakemore was a native of Virginia, and was one of the first settlers of Sumner
County,  Tenn., where he passed his last days. Lee C. Blakemore was born in
Sumner County, Tenn., in 1800, and was of  Scotch-Irish and English extraction.
He was born in Sumner County in 1831, and afterward immigrated to the
Territory of Arkansas, locating two miles from where Van Buren is now located.
In 1832 he moved to  Fayetteville, Washington County, where he received his
final summons. He died in 1881. He was one of the  first white men to settle in
Northwestern Arkansas, and was a member of the State Legislature several
sessions,  being elected by the Democratic party. He was register of the land
office of the State of Arkansas during  President Pierce's administration,
being appointed by President Pierce in 1853, and serving four years. He was
justice of the peace for many years, and was a man of much influence in the
community in which he lived. His  wife, Charlotte (Johnson) Blakemore, died in
1851. After her death Mr. Blakemore married Mrs. Nancy  Crawley, nee Wallace.
She, too, is deceased, having passed away in 1857. Mr. Blakemore was the father
of ten  children, six now living. William T. was the fifth child in the order
of birth. He was but a year old when his parents moved to Arkansas. He attained
his growth on the farm, and in 1854 commenced the study of his  chosen
profession, his preceptor being Dr. William H. Douglas, of Memphis, Tenn. He
was under the Doctor's  advice for over two years, and in 1856 went to
Nashville, Tenn., where he entered the University of Nashville,  [p.1290] and
attended one course of lectures. In the spring of 1857 he commenced his
practice in Greenwood.  Ark., Sebastian County, where he has since been
located. During the late war he was in the service but two  months, when he was
discharged on account of disabilities. In May, 1858 he married Miss Nancy
Trammell,  who was born in Crawford County, Ark., in 1834, and who was the
daughter of Dimis and Elizabeth Trammell.  Mr. and Mrs. Blakemore are the
parents of five children: Jesse Lee, M. D., graduated from Vanderbilt
University at Nashville, Tenn., in 1888, and is now second assistant in the
insane asylum at Little Rock; Kate,  wife of James B. Forrester; Bessie A., Ora
C. and William F. In 1876 Dr. William T. Blakemore graduated as  an M. D. at
the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, Ky. He is one of the oldest
physicians and surgeons  in Greenwood, and is one of the leading practitioners
of Sebastian County. He is a man whose character is  beyond reproach, and whose
good name is untarnished. He is a Democrat in politics, was postmaster at
Fayetteville, Ark., for six months, is a member of the Masonic fraternity,
having taken the Blue Lodge, Royal  Arch and Commandery degrees. He is also an
Ancient Odd Fellow and an honorary member of the K. of H. He is a member of the
Sebastian Medical Association, and he and wife are members of the Methodist
Episcopal  Church, South.