John C. Autry

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John C. Autry (February 26, 1811 – September 4, 1886) was a farmer, blacksmith, Baptist Minister, U.S. army chaplain, undertaker, and doctor. In later life he was a farmer and preacher for the primitive Baptist church. He was also a member of the freemasons.

[edit] Biography

Autry was born on Feb. 26 1811 in Moore County, North Carolina, USA. He was the son of William Alexander and Mary Campbell Autry. John C. Autry lived in North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas, then moved back to Sebastian County, Arkansas where he was an early pioneer and is the only Autry buried in the Liberty Cemetery, Greenwood, Arkansas.

His middle name is unknown but there is some evidence that it may have been Campbell. In 1830 he appears in the Monroe County, Kentucky Census and Tithables listing. In 1832 he was granted 100 acres in Tennessee. On September 5, 1836 he is a witness in the will of Elijah H. Smith in Monroe County, Tennessee. On Dec. 14, 1836 he concludes another land purchase in Madison County, Tennessee. On the Madison County, Tennessee school census for July 1st 1838 John C. Autry is listed as having 4 children which is consistent with the birthdates and census data for his children. By 1840 He has moved to Tippah County, Mississippi, where he appears with his family on the census. On March 11th 1841 John and his wife Sarah sold land in Tippah County, Mississippi. In the Tippah County, Mississippi Land Sale records a sale of land by John C. Autry and Wife Sarah Autry to John Blackwood for $1000 appears on Jan 28 1841. In 1843 the last child of John C. Autry and his first wife Sarah is born in Missouri. On August 22, 1846 he marries Margaret Mattix/Hinds in Crawford County, Arkansas. Evidently his first wife Sarah had died some time between 1843 and 1846, either somewhere in Missouri or Arkansas. John C. Autry then moves to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Apparently John C. Autry had three wives, first he married Sarah (last name unknown), and they lived in North Carolina. They then moved to Tennessee and then to Mississippi. They had seven known children before she died. Their names were William Christopher Autry, Elizabeth Autry, James O. Autry, Missouri Ann Autry, John Marshall Autry, George Columbus Autry, Alexander Elliott Autry,and Evelyn Nancy Autry. The burial Place of sarah is at present unknown. John C. Autry then married his second wife Margaret Ann (Mattix) Hinds. She was the widow of David Hinds who had died on December 5, 1843. She had 7 known children from her first marriage. Their names were Cynthia Jane Hinds, Mary R. Hinds, Esther Hinds, Edward Hinds, John Hinds, Margaret Elizabeth Hinds, and Archibald Yell Hinds. An announcement of the marriage on August 26, 1846 appears in the "Arkansas Intelligencer" Between “Margaret A. Hinds and Rev. John C. Ottery”. John C. Autry and Margaret had 5 known children including two twin girls. They were named Sarah Ann Autry, Margaret Autry, Zachary Taylor Autry, John Anna Autry, and Eliza C. Autry. John C. Autry then moved to Denton County, Texas where he had been granted some land and there his second wife Margaret passed away from measles on March 12, 1861. She is buried at the Chinn’s Chapel Cemetery in Denton County, Texas. John C. Autry then 50 years old married his third wife Cynthia Ann Weldon in 1861. She was the daughter of William Weldon and she was born in Henry County, Tennessee in 1833. She was said to have been 1/4 Cherokee but this has never been established. In 1868 they moved to Logan County, Arkansas.

Autry and his third wife Cynthia had 8 known children before his death on September 4, 1886. Their names were Martha Autry, Benjamin McCallum Autry, Alan Hill Autry, Asa W. Autry, Louisa Campbell Autry, Hiram Alexander Autry, Selina J. Autry, and Samuel T. Autry. His will was probated in New Greenwood, Sebastian County, Arkansas. John C. Autry is buried in the Liberty Cemetery in Greenwood, Arkansas. His wife Cynthia then moved to Wynnewood, Oklahoma where she lived until she died in 1907.