of
Joshua Davis Pursley
Middle Row: Sadonia Elizabeth Middleton Pursley, Mary "Polly" Nichols Pursley, Mary "Polly" Meglocklin Pursley, Ann M. Pursley Woods, Mary Jane Williamson Pursley, Mary Elizabeth Pursley Stout.
Front Row: Missinia Pursley Barlow Slaughter, unknown, Nancy Jane Pursley Barbour.
This picture is believed to have been taken on the porch of the Pursley homeplace, after the funeral of Joshua Davis Pursley. Joshua Davis would have been the grandfather of the Josh on the previous page in this tour, and the father of Buck Pursley. He made his living by catching, curing and selling hogs, i.e., hams, bacon, etc. The only problem, was that in the mid to late 1800s in Barren Co., there weren't domesicated hogs as we know them now. The woods around Poplar Springs and White's Chapel were populated with wild boars, like the ones that still roam the back woods of Arkansas today. And they were very dangerous. To catch and kill one of them was an art itself.
Joshua D. proved skilled at this until December of 1878, when he was gored and mortally wounded by one. While reading some court documents, I would later find that his death was not instantaneous, nor without great pain. He hovered over death's door until the 3rd week of January 1879, when he finally died, probably of perdonitis or gangreene. As requested by him, his brothers, sisters and parents, remained by his bedside for the last 2 weeks of his life, as he knew he was going to die. It had to be difficult for his father John James, the community Dr. to watch his son die, and not be able to help.
Though he and Polly had 8 children, only 3 of them had lived. Not expecting to die so soon, he died intestate, and his father John J. distributed his property accordingly, conveying all rights to Joshua's children, with his wife Polly's lifetime interest therein.
So let's take a closer look at some of these original homesteaders.....
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