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When her husband died in 1878, Martha Green Looney, living in Texas farfrom her home in Dallas County, was left with five young children and nomoney. Her brother, George Willis Green, went down to Texas, brought herand the children back to Dallas County, built them a home and took careof them.
The Looneys came from the Isle of Man, a small island in the Irish Sea.The name LOONEY means "The Lords Servant". Members of the ArkansasLooney family have an annual reunion at the Ben Few United MethodistCampground near Princeton, Arkansas. Margaret Hammond, a Looney familydescendent, compiled and published a fine cookbook of Southern cookingentitled: "The Looney Family Reunion Recipes".
Many of the Looney family are buried in the Macedonia Cemetery nearSparkman, Arkansas.
Samuel Wilson Looney was 58 years old when he married Martha Odelia Green.
Sarah Lenora Looney was first married to John Samuel Butler but he diedwhile their children were still young. She then married Joe Butler.Shortly afterwards they sold the old home place and moved to Butlervillenear Sparkman.
Martha Walsh is buried in the Macedonia Cemetery, Dallas County, Arkansas.
Sterling Dudley Green enlisted on June 25, 1861as a private in the "TulipRifles" which was Company I of the 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment.Shipped to Virginia, he soon became sick and was discharged on August17, 1862 at Camp Bartow. Sometime later he joined the 2nd ArkansasCavalry Regiment. On March 29, 1864 he was captured in a skirmish atLongview in Ashley County, Arkansas and was sent to the Union prison atRock Island, IL. Under a prisoner exchange arrangement, he was releasedat Red River Landing, Louisiana on January 17, 1865. He was dischargedon June 20, 1865. Later he received a pension based on an injury hesuffered in 1864, before his capture, when thrown from a horse at PineBluff, Arkansas.
He was a farmer and a Methodist.
There is some question about the correct spelling of Nancy's last name.The Dallas County, Arkansas marriage record shows that she is Nancy O.Bryant.
George Willis Green (he was called Willis) was the fifth and last childborn to Elijah Hilmon (Hillman) and Malissa Eunice Nevill. He is theonly one not born in Halifax County, NC. According to his obituary in aDallas County newspaper, he was born (September 17, 1845) in HardemanCounty, Tennessee during the family's trek to Arkansas. It appears thathis mother, Malissa Eunice Neville Green, died during the journey,perhaps in childbirth. For two years after his mother's death, Williswas cared for by the family of Asbury Daniel who probably accompanied theGreens on their trek from North Carolina to Dallas County, Arkansas.Asbury Daniel was the son of Henning Daniel and Hannah Asbury. After hisfather married Sarah Hightower, Willis was brought home.
Willis Green's first wife was Martha Ann Mann who was the mother of allhis children. They were married by Rev. J. E. Caldwell, a prominentMethodist preacher in Dallas County. After their marriage, George andhis wife moved to Macedonia, the community where the Manns lived.
Willis was a veteran of the Civil War and his widow, Mary Ballard Green,his third wife, received a pension from Arkansas as a result of hisservice (pension application #26078). Although no formal records of hisservice can be found, she stated that he served from 1862 until 25 May1864 in a unit commanded by George D. Alexander, director of a militaryschool at Tulip, Dallas County, Arkansas. This unit was known as "TheTulip Rifles" and became Company I of the 3rd Regiment of ArkansasInfantry. This was one of the most famed of Arkansas regiments andfought in many famous battles from 1861 until it surrendered with GeneralLee at Appomattox.
Another possibility is that he served in Company B of the 18th ArkansasInfantry Regiment which was organized at Princeton, Arkansas in March1862, the year his widow said he entered Confederate service. Anothersign pointing to the 18th as his unit, is that George Willis Green owneda table that, according to family lore, was made by Stephen Winstead, hisformer company commander, and given to him and Martha Ann Mann as awedding present. Stephen Winstead was a lieutenant in Company B.Company B was captured by Union forces at Port Hudson, Louisiana on July9, 1863.
A third possibility is that he served in Company I of the 12th ArkansasInfantry Regiment which was formed in Arkadelphia but made up of men fromDallas County including John Scoggin Mann and several other Manns. Thecompany was captured in the Battle of Island #10 at New Madrid, Missouriand sent to the Union prison at Camp Douglas in Chicago. After the war,the 1870 census shows John Scoggin Mann living in the household of GeorgeWillis and Martha Ann Green, his sister.
At some point in the war George Willis Green was captured and sent to aprison camp. Members of his family recalled his telling of eating ratsto avoid starvation. It is quite likely that he was paroled since,according to his widow's pension application, his service ended beforethe war was over. His older brother, Sterling Dudley Green also servedin the Civil War, first in Company I of the 3rd Regiment and, later, inthe 2nd Arkansas Cavalry Regiment. Douglas Green, a descendent of WillisGreen, told family members that Willis did not serve in a military unitbut assisted doctors in the Confederate hospital at Tulip.
Wherever he served, he was on hand for a reunion of Confederate veteransgathered at Princeton in Dallas County on September 20-21-22, 1899.According to the September 28, 1899 issue of "The Princetonian"newspaper,more than 150 veterans pitched their tents in a meadow a mileand a half west of town. Most were from the South Central Arkansas areabut many had served in units from throughout the Confederacy. GeorgeWillis Green is listed as age 54 and as having been in an "ArkansasRegiment".
Before he became active in business, George Willis Green was a schoolteacher. Later he operated a cotton gin and a store in Macedonia whilerunning a large farm. In 1873, he was a founding member of the MacedoniaMethodist Church and served it for many years as either a teacher in orsuperintendent of the Sunday school. As a popular leader in hiscommunity, he was known as Uncle Willis Green.
His sons, Will Ramey and Robert Dudley Green were executors of his will.He is buried, along with his three wives, in the Macedonia Cemetery nearPrinceton.
Two of Martha Ann Mann's brothers, William P. and James M. Mann werekilled during the Civil War.
Martha Ann Mann is buried in the Macedonia Cemetery, Dallas County.
238. John Hilmon Green
John Hilman Green never married. As a young man in 1891,while workingin a cotton gin owned by his father, his arm was cut off by the machineryand he bled to death. At the time John was engaged to marry OrielHarrison. She had already completed her wedding dress when he died.
He is buried in the Macedonia Cemetery.
There were no children from this marriage.
Mary Ballard's marriage to George Willis Green was her second. She hadbeen married earlier to William Arch Lea. She was called Aunt Mary bymembers of the Green family. There were no children from the marriage ofGeorge Willis Green and Mary H. Ballard.
Under the terms of Elijah Green's will, Mary Cornelia (Candice) Green andher sister Letha inherited his farm after the death of his widow.
Under the terms of their father's will, Letha Banks and her sisterCandice were to inherit his farm after the death of their mother,Martha. Letha is buried in the Tulip Cemetery.