WILLIAM DANIEL ARNOLD

The following bio was taken from page 97 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

John Thomas Arnold and A. B. Arnold left Minden July 28, 1862 for the Civil War. In November, 1862 Barry’s wife, Elizabeth Aiken Barry, gave birth to their third child, a daughter, Archie. Johnny, a bachelor and well-known educator in local schools and Nannette (J. P. D. McCarter) were her brother and sister. A. B. Barry died of pneumonia following measles while he was in the service.

J. T. Arnold married Annie Lewis, who died after the birth of a son, W. D. Arnold on December 13, 1855. She is buried in a Lewis Cemetery near Zion Hill, and J. T. and his second wife, Caroline Deason Arnold, are buried in Maple Grove in Minden as are Johnny Barry and three infant children of W. D. and Archie Arnold.

J. T. and Caroline, his second wife, had Evie ( C. R. Dawson), Charlie (Minnie Tipps), Marshall (Lizzie Summers), and Jim (Alice Barefield). There was a close relationship between Will and his half-sister and half-brothers.

W. D. Arnold and Archie Barry were married December, 1880 in the Minden home of her sister, Nannie McCarter. They lived on a farm there until after the birth of their eighth child when they bought a large farm in Henderson. Located on the railroad and extending east across the present Highway 79, it was typical of many rural or semi-rural homes of the early 1900’s. Oren Arnold wrote a book "A Boundless Privilege," which is in the Rusk County Memorial Library. It tells much of the life on a farm, the daily routine, the relations between blacks and whites with whom and for whom they worked, and, while biographical, it might be the story of many East Texas extended families.

After the daughter and sons were grown, the big home was sold and Will and Archie moved into town to live. Active in schoolboard work and many other civic activities, Will managed a grocery store on the square for a time before his death in February, 1931. Archie died in 1947, having lived for sixteen years with her daughter Opal.

W. D. and Archie had five children: William Tip who married Norma Arnold, who was no kin of his. William Tip, despite years of ill health, was active in politics and was County Clerk at the time of the oil boom in Rusk County. W. T. had a reputation as a "teller of tall tales." He and Norma had one daughter, Virginia. (See John R. Arnold resume.)

The second child Thomas Jewel who married Georgia Buck, was a lawyer in Houston. They had three sons and two daughters. Daniel Grady was a doctor who never married. Oren Arnold, who married Adele Roensch, is an author who lived in Arizona and California. They had three daughters. Oren is referred to in this account as the author of "A Boundless Privilege." Opal married E. M. Preston. (See E. M. Preston resume.)

All these people of the several generations have contributed their varied talents and are legend to their communities and have been active in their church affiliations.

Submitted by Virginia Arnold Gandy