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John Thomas Partain
“Big John” was born December 6(?), 1866 somewhere in Arkansas. At the time of this writing I have been unable to find documentation of his birthplace or his parents. His son Charlie (my father) listed John’s birthplace as Tennessee on an application for a delayed birth certificate in 1943. On the 1900 Census in the Morgan Township of Cleburne County Arkansas, he shows to be born in Arkansas. Legend handed down from John’s daughter Callie Ford through her daughter Ola Fern Speer has him being born in Fayetteville, AR
(1)
A marriage license was issued in the county of Van Buren on July 17, 1886 for John Partain, age 21 and L.B. Gibbons, age 15. W. A. Maxwell (Julia’s brother) signed as bondsman. “Rev. J. B. Fortener of the Baptist church” performed the marriage. It was filed in the County Court House in Clinton, AR.
(2)
A marriage license was issued in the county of Van Buren on December 23, 1887 for John T. Partain, age 23 and Junie Maxwell, age 19. John T. Partain and R.S. Hill signed as bondsman. The same person performed the marriage. This time he signed “Elder J. B. Fortener.” It was filed in the County Court House in Clinton, AR.
(3)
A marriage license was issued in the county of Cleburne on August 30, 1909 for J.T. Partain, age 42 of Spiro in the County of Laflora (sic) in the State of Oklahoma and Miss Etta Elliott, age 27 of Cleburne County Arkansas. J. T. Partain and Wm. Elliott signed the bond. “W.W. Humphrey, minister,” performed the marriage. It was filed in the County Court House in Heber Springs, AR.
(4)
On October 16th, 1895 John T. Partain was granted Homestead Certificate Number 7695, Application Number 175572 filed in Little Rock, AR for the following 162-acre tract of land in Cleburne County, AR.
The North East quarter of Section Thirty-six, in Township twelve North of Range twelve West and the South half of the North West quarter, and the North half of the South West fractional quarter of section Thirty one, in Township twelve North of Range eleven West of the Fifth Principal Meridian in Arkansas, containing one hundred and sixty two acres, and forty seven hundredths of an acre.
The Legal Land Description is:
# Aliquot Parts Base Line Fractional Township Range Section #
1 E1/2NE 5th PM No 12N 12W 36
2 S1/2NW 5th PM No 12N 11W 31
3 N1/2SW 5th PM Yes 12N 11W 31
(5)
On November 22th, 1898 a Warranty Deed was issued from Nance Maxwell, a widow, to John T. Partain for 160 acres for $250 as payment in full for the following land:
SW1/4 of NW1/4 of Sec Two in Township 11N R12 West containing forty acres more or less.
South West ¼ of the North West quarter of Section two in Township Eleven North of Range Twelve west of the Fifth principal Meridian in Arkansas
Attested to by Wm Elliott and Julia E. Partain
(6)
On November 25th, 1898 a Warranty Deed was issued from A.W. Maxwell and Lucy J Maxwell, his wife, to John T. Partain for 160 acres for $250 as payment in full for the following land:
The E1/2 of the SW1/4 and the W1/2 of the NE1/4 of Sec 2 in Township 11 North of Range 12 West Containing 160 acres.
The East half of the North West quarter and the West half of the North East Quarter of Section two in Township Eleven North of Range Twelve West of Fifth principal Meridian in Arkansas.
Attested to by Wm Elliott and Julia E. Partain
(7)
On August 29th, 1902 a Warranty Deed was issued from John T. Partain and Julia E. Partain, his wife, to James M. Johnson of Flonroe City, MO. in consideration of the sum of Six Hundred ($600.00) for the following land:
The East ½ Half of the North West ¼ quarter and the West Half of the North East Quarter ¼ and the South West ¼ of the North West quarter all in Section Two (2) Township Eleven (11 North of Range Twelve West of the Principle Meridian in Arkansas. E1/2 NW1/4, W1/2 NE ¼ and SW1/4 NW1/4 Sec 2 T11 R12 W Except 2 acres off of the South part of South West ¼ of North East of Sec Two T11 R12 conveyed to John Eoff.
Witnessed by Robert R. Poe, Notary Public.
(8)
John Thomas brought his family to Spiro, Oklahoma from Cleburne County Arkansas. I don’t have any property titles from that time period yet. His house was about 6 blocks from the present home of Glenn and Pauline Partain (John Alvin’s son) in the middle of Spiro. I don’t know if he rented or bought.
(9)
Beginning in October of 1919, John Thomas and his sons, William Arthur, and John Alvin, bought and sold land on Bokoshe Mountain in LaFlore County, Oklahoma. The land is described as the NW!/4 and SE1/4 of Section 20, Range 24 in Township 8. The buying and selling involved different sub-sections of those parcels and sometimes involved selling to each other. The exact series of transactions is difficult to follow. The land was sold to Mr. McBee for taxes in 1941 but redeemed by Ocie Partain, John Thomas’ son, November 15, 1943 and continued to be occupied by Ocie and his mother, Etta, until he sold it to Bob Hatter on March, 4, 1965.
(10)
The first Census record I have found for John Thomas is the 1900 Census for Morgan Township in Cleburne County AR. He is Household number 144.
Partain, John T Head. Dec. 1866 33 Parent birthplace ----
Julia E. Wife Nov. 1868 31 Parent birthplace N.C.
Oliver S Jan. 1889 11 Ark. For all other birthplaces.
John A. S Mar. 1891 9
Cally M. D Dec. 1892 7
Olie P. D Feb. 1894 6
William A. S Dec. 1896 3
Charles E. S Apr. 1898 2
The next household (number 145) is as follows:
Maxwell Mamcy H Nov. 1821 78 Widow born in N.C. (This is Nancy)
Bradford Boena K. GD Jan. 1885 15
Tankaley David B. GS Jul. 1870 29 (This is Tanksley)
Lula M. GD July 1880 20
Mildred H. GGD Aug. 1889 9/12
(11)
On July 17, 1886 John Thomas married a teenager named L.B. Gibbons. She apparently went by the name Belle and it is alleged that she died giving birth to a child that did not survive. Some accounts suggest that she died in the fourth month of pregnancy.
She is buried in Bradford Cemetery near Shirley, AR on the South side of Highway 16. Her head stone says “N.Z. Bell - wife of J.T. Partain – Born June 29, 1869 ”. Her grave is approximately: 7 positions from the left side of Row 13. There are approximately four unmarked graves on the left side and 5 unmarked graves on the right side of hers. Robertson is buried on the far left and White on the far right of her row. There is another Gibbons in the same row.
Ola Fern Speer has an interesting story of how John Thomas chose her over Julia. (See Legends below.)
(12)
On December 23, 1887, just 18 months after marrying Belle, John Thomas married Julia
Maxwell. (They may have married on Christmas, but the license is dated 12/23/1887.) Her first name is given as Junie on the marriage license. I have also seen it as Julie and July. Some accounts list her middle name as Melinda, but her tombstone (in Spiro Cemetery near the East entrance) reads, “Julia E wife of J.T. Partain born Nov. 18 1868 died Aug 20 1907”, and the 1900 Census in Cleburne County, AR lists her as Julia E.
Julia was the 12th of 14 children born to Abner William and Nancy Treadway Maxwell. She was the fourth of their children born in Arkansas. The others were born in North Carolina.
Her brother, Abner Wilkerson, born 1857 in Henderson County, North Carolina, was a neighbor and close associate of J.T. Partain. John Thomas signed as Bondsman for Abner’s marriage to Lucy J. Brown. Abner and Lucy were very prominent in the Settlement area during the second half of the 1800’s.
(13)
Children born to John Thomas and Julia Partain:
Name Born Died Buried
Oliver E Jan. 1, 1889 AR Oct. 19, 1966 Bloomington, CA
John Alvin Mar. 15, 1891 AR Nov. 19, 1971 New Hope Spiro
Calidonia Myrtle Ford Dec. 15, 1892 AR April 22, 1978 Stigler, OK
William Arthur Dec. 6, 1894 AR July 27, 1967 Antioch, OK
Ollie Pearl Gentry Feb. 9, 1895 AR January, 1985 Spiro, OK
Charlie Edwin April 10, 1898 AR March 22, 1977 Bokoshe, OK
Minnie Malela Flynn Aug. 13, 1900 AR Nov. 28, 1993 Spiro, OK
Fletcher Monroe Sept. 6, 1902 AR Feb. 26, 1944 Bloomington, CA
Robert Dow July 7, 1905 OK Dec. 1986 Spiro, OK
Julia Melinda Pinkerton Aug. 11, 1907 OK Nov. 8, 1997 San Diego CA
Mother Julia died August 20, 1907. Baby Julia was 9 days old.
(14)
On August 30, 1909, two years after Julia died, John Thomas went back from Spiro, OK to Settlement, AR and married Etta Elliott. Etta was the daughter of William and Elizabeth Jane Brown Elliott. She was the fifth of 9 children. She was born December 11, 1882 in Turkey Creek, Cleburne County, AR and died January 15, 1967 in Bokoshe, OK. I have been told that William Elliott was a Church of Christ minister and that he accompanied Etta and John back to Oklahoma. I also have it that he died January 8, 1933 in Cleburne County, AR and is buried in Shiloh Crossroads Cemetery. According to Anita F Erickson, a descendent of Etta’s mother, all of the Brown family in that part of Arkansas were “Campbellites” which is what members of the Church of Christ were called.
Etta and her family appear in the 1900 Census in Van Buren County AR in Union Township, they are household site number 62
Elliott William 6/1850 48 AR TN TN
Elizabeth 6/1851 48 AR TN TN
Sula 5/1876 24 TX AR AR (Should be Lula)
J Eggar 9/1880 19 AR AR AR
Elta 12/1882 17 AR AR AR (Should be Etta)
Claud S 4/1885 15 All the rest are AR
Minnie 3/1887 13
Albert 4/1888 11
Dora 10/1890
Son George M and family are household site number 56
Son Frank J and family are household site number 63
Children born to John Thomas and Etta:
Ocie Theodore Oct. 26, 1911 OK June 2, 1981 Bokoshe, OK
Albert Estle May 1, 1914 OK Aug. 21, 2000 Beaumont, CA
Etta had never been married when she took on the responsibility of John Thomas’ 10 children. John was 42 and Etta was 27 when they married. Etta had dated a man named Mart Edwards and one of her cousins teased her that “Mart was a eunuch so Etta married a man with 10 kids” according to Genia Haslar. She also reports that this marriage was “much to the dismay and dislike of her (Etta’s) mother. Her mother still kept the picture of Mart Edwards. She wanted Etta to marry Mart Edwards.”
(15)
1920 United States Federal Census – Oklahoma – Leflore County – Spiro Township – January 3, 1920
Partain, John T 53 years old Listed as head of house, home owned free of mortgage, able to read and write
Etta 56 years old Listed as wife, able to read and write (This should be 36 years old.)
Fletcher 17 years old Listed as son, able to read and write
Dow 14 years old Listed as son, able to read and write
Julia 12 years old Listed as daughter, able to read and write
Osey 8 years old Listed as son, attended school (Should be Ocie)
Estlel 5 years old Listed as son (Should be Estle)
(16)
The following is from a hand-written story about my grandfather, John Thomas Partain. The account was written by my cousin Ola Fern Ford Speer (daughter of my aunt Callie Partain Ford). I got a copy from my cousin Flossie Evans (daughter of my uncle John Partain) who received it from Ola Fern Ford Speer.
“John Thomas (Pritchett) Partain, or “Big John” as he was often called, was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Dec. 6, 1866. This is told in the story of Great Grandma Partain, and other things are told about him in the story of Callie Pritchett.
This a story told to me by my mom:
When John Thomas was a young man wanting to get married, he was in love with two beautiful girls. He couldn’t decide which one to choose for his bride. Every day or so, he rode his horse to see his sweethearts. This one day, he had made up his mind he would ask one of them to marry him, but he couldn’t decide which one. So, as he rode his horse along, they came to a fork in the road. Grandpa decided he would let his horse decide which fork in th road to take. One girl lived down one road, and the other girl lived down the other road. So the horse chose the road and Grandpa married the girl. Her name was Belle Gibbons. On July 19, 1885, she and Grandpa were married. She was 15 years old and Grandpa was 19. The marriage ended in tragedy, as she and the unborn baby both died in childbirth in August of 1886. (Some records show she and the baby both died at 4 months of the pregnancy.)
On December 25, 1887, Grandpa Partain married his other sweetheart, Julia Melinda Maxwell. She was 19 years old and he was 21 years old. They had ten children, listed in the order of birth in the story of Julia Melinda Maxwell.
Grandpa Partain was a Church of Christ minister. He is the first person I ever heard preach. When I was just a small child, he preached in the schoolhouse on Sundays, where we kids all went to school during the week. The schoolhouse was on Bokoshe Mountain.
Grandpa John Thomas Partain fathered 14 children in all.
We lived in Whitefield, Okla. when we got word that he had died. I remember mom taking the younger children and going to the funeral. I think they drove down with Uncle Charley. I was old enough by then to stay home and do the housework and the cooking. Grandpa died April 19, 1932. He and two wives and several of his children are buried in the Spiro, Okla. Cemetery. Grandpa was 65 years old when he died.”
(17)
According to Glenn Partain (John Alvin’s son) sometime between 1907 and 1919 John Thomas took his family to Mena, AR for some time. He moved back to Spiro before moving up to Bokoshe Mountain. Glenn says that he lived in two different locations in Spiro and that he bought land in the Arkansas River bottom between Spiro and Fort Smith, AR. Glenn remembers hearing that the land was grown up with Johnson grass and JT bought hogs to eat the grass. Apparently they did their job before they caught cholera and died. Glenn also was told that JT had two houses burn in Spiro and Opal Tanksley remembers that he had one house burn on Bokoshe Mountain.
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