James Knox Polk Fancher

From the book Richard Fancher (1700-1764) of Morris County, New Jersey ... by Paul Buford Fancher (posted 9-10-08 by Peggy)

James Polk Fancher was a Sergeant, Company E. 1st Arkansas Battalion Cavalry and Infantry in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He enlisted March 1861 and surrendered in June 1865. He was elected circuit clerk 1872-1876 and was a representative in the state legislature in 1885. He served as Special Indian Deportation and Disbursing Agent in 1888 and 1889, County Clerk 1892-1898, and county judge in 1920. He was a lawyer and active in the community.

Mr. Fancher was born Oct. 13, 1842 in Osage, Arkansas and died in Berryville on Oct. 16, 1924. He married in Boone County Arkansas on July 2, 1869 to Susan E. Crump, born in Mt. Pleasant, Kentucky on Feb. 22, 1845 and died April 11, 1884.

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From the Carlock family history

Added by Peggy Spalding on 10 Sep 2008

The subject of this sketch was born 13 October 1842 in Carroll County, Arkansas and lived practically all his life in that state. He came of pioneer stock, his parents being James Fancher and Elizabeth Carlock Fancher, who emigrated from Tennessee to Arkansas about 1838 and reared a large family, of which he was the 10th child. On July 2, 1869, he married Susan Eliza Crump, connected with a prominent Kentucky family, rearing a family of five children.

He acquired his early education in one of the old-time log school houses of Carroll Co., with its puncheon benches and floor.  After putting aside his textbooks, he began farming, which he followed until after the Civil War; then he joined the Confederate Army as a member of Company E, First Battalion, and participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge and other important engagements.  Later with his command he went east of the Mississippi and participated in the Battle of Corinth.  He was made sergeant and served for four and a half years.

When the war was over, he returned to his home and located on the father's farm, where he remained until 1872. In that year he was elected County Clerk of Carroll Co., for a four-year term. In 1876 he was a member of the State Legislature and later was in the government service under the Cleveland administration, being made a member of a Commission to investigate Indian claims. He served again as County Clerk of Carroll County from 1892 to 1898. In 1920 he was elected County Judge of Carroll Co., serving for two terms. He was exceedingly popular, possessed of a pleasant personality, and numbered his friends by the score among the leading public men of the state. At one time he was seriously talked of as a candidate for Governor.

He was a member of the Presbyterian church, a Knights Templar Mason, having been Pastmaster of his lodge and a Past High Priest of his Chapter. He was an Odd Fellow and a member of the Knights of Pythias, in which orders he had held the highest offices. His political affiliation was always with the Democratic party and he loyally supported any cause which he espoused. He led a useful and active life, devoted to the many causes and interests with which he had become allied, and Arkansas numbered him among her representative and honored citizens. His death occurred at his home in Berryville, AR, on October 16, 1924.

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James Polk Fancher

(From JKP's obituary)

James Knox Polk Fancher was born in Osage, AR on 13 Oct. 1842. He died in Berryville, AR on 16 Oct. 1924. He married in Boone County, AR on 2 July 1869 to Susan E. Crump, daugher of John Grey and Eliza Watkins Crump. She was born in Mount Pleasant, KY on 22 Feb. 1845 and died in Berryville, AR on 11 April 1884.

James Knox Polk Fancher served as Sergeant in Company # 1st Ark. Battalion Cavalry and Infantry in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He enlisted in March 1861 and surrendered in June 1865. He was elected circuit clerk 1872-1876, was a representative in the State Legislature in 1885, United States Special Indian Deportation and Disbursing Agent 1888 and 1889, County Clerk 1892-1898, and County Judge in 1920 serving two terms. He sought to secure compensation from the United States government for the survivors of the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857. Lawyer and member of the Masons, Knight Templar, International Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and Woodmen of the World.

Polk was the son of James F. and Elizabeth Carlock Fancher. He was in the Arkansas Cavalry in the CSA during the Civil War and then became a lawyer and judge in Carroll Co. He was married to Susan Eliza Crump on July 2, 1869 and they had seven children, four of whom died before the age of seven, also buried here.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Feb 12 2016, 2:03:52 UTC