Biography of Capt. Anthony Wayne Faulkner, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller
1/27/00


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Capt. Anthony Wayne Faulkner was born in Adams county, Ohio, February 24, 1821.
His father was twice married, his first wife having been a Miss Mitchell, by 
whom he had four children--one son and three daughters--all of whom are now 
dead.  His second marriage was to Miss Mary Dryden, and they had three 
children:  Capt. Anthony Wayne Faulkner and two sisters, and of these the 
Captain is the only surviver.  His father was a native of the north of Ireland, 
and came to America about the beginning of the Revolutionary war and enlisted
in the American army, serving the colonies during the entire period of that 
struggle, and after independence was established he joined the Northwestern 
army under Gen. Anthony Wayne, and was commissioned captain of his company 
by General Washington.  He served through the early Indian wars under General 
Wayne, and the two became warm personal friends, and during one of their 
frequent conversations Captain Faulkner promised that should he ever be blessed 
with a son he would name him in honor of his friend and commanding general, 
hence the name of the subject of this sketch.  The mother of Capt. Anthony 
Wayne Faulkner was a native of Maryland, though she died in Adams county, Ohio,
where her husband also ended his days, in his seventy-third year, having long 
drawn a pension from the United States government as a Revolutionary soldier.  
Our subject commenced farming in Adams county, Ohio, immediately after the
death of his father, being then only twelve years of age, and has been thus
engaged since that time, excepting three years when he was teaching school.
He lived in Ohio till he reached his eighteenth year and gained his education 
in the common schools of that state.  His first experience in a practical way 
in life was as a farmer.  He went from Ohio to Missouri in 1841; a year later, 
seeking a warmer climate, he located in Copiah county, Miss., where for three 
years he was employed as a teacher.  He then removed to Franklin county, Miss., 
where he was married in 1845 to Mrs. Louisiana Higdon, a daughter of Capt. Samuel 
P. Silbert of that county, who bore him five daughters:  Mary E., who became the
wife of Rev. Thomas J. Hough, and was drowned in the Mississippi river in 
consequence of the explosion of the steamer "Corona;"  Dica Anne Eliza, married 
Capt. J. W. Blanks;  Maria Paulina, became the wife of Capt. W. B. Clarke;  
Charlotte E., married Robert E. Blanks of Monroe, La., and Lillie, became the 
wife of H. C. Blanks of Columbia, La.  Mrs. Faulkner died in 1879 at Natchitoches,
La., while there upon a visit to her daughter.  Captain Faulkner removed from
Mississippi to Louisiana in the spring of 1851, and located in Caldwell Parish, 
where he purchased land and engaged in planting.  In 1883 he married Mrs. Mattie
B. Clarke, widow of Capt. W. B. Clarke of New Orleans, La.; who has borne him
no children.  The Captain is the owner of 1,200 acres of land, lying on the 
bank of the Ouachita river, and about 500 acres are in cultivation.  Prior to 
the war he was the owner of 2,000 acres and 100 slaves.  Upon the opening of 
the great struggle he raised and equipped a company of cavalry, numbering at 
one time nearly 300 men, in Caldwell Parish, of which he was captain, and in 
command of which he served for three years in the regiment of Col. Frank Pargoud 
in the trans-Mississippi department.  He saw service in Louisiana under Generals 
Taylor and Kirby Smith, and resigned and returned home in the latter part of the
year 1863. For a number of years prior to the war he was a member of the police
jury of his parish, and was for many years justice of the peace in his ward.  
In 1868 he was elected a member of the state legislature, and as such he has
represented his parish continuously to the present time, except during only
two or three sessions, being now a member of that body, with which he has
served altogether about eighteen years.  He has always been active and influential
in the political affairs of his parish and state.  It was through his 
instrumentality that the land office was re-established at Monroe, La., 
subsequent to the war, of which he was appointed registrar by President 
Johnson.  It was while an incumbent of that office that his great personal 
influence was exerted for the public benefit in quieting the land troubles that 
grew out of the war.  In 1871 he went to Washington, D. C., and there instituted 
proceedings against, the United States government to collect the value of 
cotton and. other products, as well as property taken and destroyed by the 
federal gunboat expedition up the Ouachita river during the war, known as Porter's 
expedition, and in command of Lieutenant Rogers.  Captain Faulkner's efforts 
in this matter resulted in great benefit to the people of Caldwell, Ouachita 
and Catahoula parishes.  The Captain and his family, possessed of many broad 
acres and abundant means, live the ideal life of the South, their borne being 
one of the most hospitable in the state, and they dispense an open-handed 
hospitality which has added to the long list of their acquaintances many names 
prominent in all parts of the Union.  For years they have spent the summer months 
at northern health resorts, and in the summers of 1888-89-90 they sojourned at
Waukesha, Wis.  Mr. and Mrs. Captain Faulkner are both consistent Christians, 
he being a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while she is an Episcopalian.  
The Captain is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is also a 
Mason in good standing.

Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana, (vol. 1), pp. 407-408.
Published by the Goodspeed Publishing Company, Chicago, 1892.