William J. Voss Biographical Sketch
William J. Voss was a farmer in Hector, Jackson Township, Pope County, Arkansas. Originally from Tennessee, Voss was born in Lawrence County, September 2nd 1839, the son of Robert Voss and Charlotte (Mitchell) Voss, also natives also of the Big Bend State. They were the parents of fifteen children, who are named in the order of their births, as follows: Wiley, Allen, Caroline (died young), Rebecca (wife of James Beard), William J., Joseph (lived in Texas), Sarah (wife of James Walters), Mary (died young), John, Newton, Emeline, and four others who died in infancy.
William J. Voss received a very limited education, his whole schooling consisting of three months in a free school in Middle Tennessee. Voss is a man of acute observation however, and this, with his practical experience, has gained him a good business education.
William J. Voss was married in 1857 to Miss Susan J. Pennington, a native of Tennessee. Her parents, Jacob Pennington and Araminta (Harrison) Pennington, were also both natives of Tennessee. Four children were born to William and Susan Voss: Emeline (wife of Hugh Mansker), Frank P., Laquincy and William Robert.
Mr. Voss and family left Tennessee and emigrated to Arkansas in 1858, settling in Pope County. Later he moved his family to Yell County, and then to Searcy County, where his wife died in 1868.
In 1869 Mr. Voss purchased 120 acres of land in Searcy county, and improved seventy-five acres of it. In 1881 he sold that property and purchased 160 acres in Hector, Pope county, with eighty of those acres under cultivation. He further improved the property by putting up new and substantial buildings, erecting two new houses on his farm, which more than trebled in value under his management. Later he added forty acres more to this farm.
In 1869 Mr. Voss was married to Miss Mary T. Williams, a native of Arkansas, and the daughter of John Williams and Mary (Simms) Williams. John Williams was a native of Tennessee, and Mary (Simms) Williams was from Alabama. To Mr. and Mrs. Voss were born ten children: James A. (died young), Philander M., John Morris, Victoria Ellen, Nathaniel S., Sally, Wiley A., Aranna May, Joseph L. and Benjamin Harrison.
William J. Voss was conscripted in the Confederate Army, but enlisted in the Federal Army, in Company D, Second Arkansas Cavalry, under Col. Phelps, and served from 1864 to the close of the war. He was detached from his regiment near the close of the war, and has never been officially discharged.
After cessation of hostilities Mr. Voss resumed agricultural pursuits, engaging in stock-raising as well as agricultural pursuits. He was known for his ‘wide-awake’ and enterprising nature. He kept a good grade of stock, and in the management of everything connected with his farm he displayed excellent judgment and thoroughness. Mrs. Voss was a member of the Baptist Church.