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James Samuel Rainwater family
James Samuel Rainwater was born in October 1852, one of nine children born to Zebulon Rainwater and Rhoda Eskew. His grandfather was James Rainwater the Blacksmith.
Born in Georgia, he moved with his family to Tennessee between 1860 and 1870. There he met, and in 1872 married, Mary C. Benham. Mary died prior to 1877 and there appear to have been no surviving children from that marriage.
During the 1870s, possibly following his wife’s death, James Samuel Rainwater moved to Franklin Co., Arkansas. In July 1877, he married his second wife, Margaret Scarber. They appear to have cut this pretty close, as their first daughter was born on 26 July 1877.
In 1888, James was granted a homestead land patent on 2 sections, 83 acres in all, in Franklin County. He is listed in the census records as a farmer.
This photo was contributed by Gene Essman, who was able to identify some, but not all of the individuals in the photo. Based on their ages, I have extrapolated the others.
Back row, L > R: Joseph Zebulon Rainwater, James Samuel Rainwater (father), Margaret Scarber Rainwater
(mother), James Carlyle Rainwater.
Front row, L > R: Viney Jane Rainwater (probably), Benjamin Franklin Rainwater, Louise T. Rainwater
(called Cora by some researchers), Nancy Maybelle Rainwater (probably), Sarah Alice Rainwater
James Samuel Rainwater died in 1927; his wife Margaret died in 1931. They are believed to be buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery in Franklin Co., AR.
Credits
This photo was contributed by Gene Essman.
© 2018 Susan Chance-Rainwater
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
