History of Craighead County
by Harry Lee Williams
Published 1977
page 308 & 557

Also see The Ties That Bind
by Carmen R. Baxter

The Terrific Earthquake of New Madrid, Missouri in 1811-1812

      Lodicia Bobbitt (born 1790 AL), a widow who left  Carroll Co, Map 1830.)  Tennesse sometime after 1830 and sought a new home for her children in the wilds of Arkansas. Lodicia's husband who was not on the census of 1830 appears to be John Bobbitt born in Beccles, Suffolk County, England, see 1820 Census Shelby Co., AL, who apparently died or was killed before their departure  to Poinsett Co., Arkansas
     The last indians had not been moved from this section when the Bobbitt's located first at the new town of Bolivar until 1856) ("Old Bolivar" became the County Seat of Poinsett County which was created in 1838 from Greene Co., then they moved to Crowley's and later settled on the present J.H. Carney farm at New Hope, seven miles northwest of Jonesboro.   The Poinsett Co. Census of 1839 (this area later became part of Greene & Craighead counties) lists her oldest son Edward G. (Green?) Bobbitt and the Census of 1840 lists a Lydia Bobbitt.  The Craighead Co. Census of 1860 lists the Widow Lodicia Bobbitt as 80 years old.

John & Lodicia's children follow:

Edward Bobbitt married Miss Cardwell & after she died, Betsy Thompson, daughter of Laurence & Jane Maddix Thompson.
Their child Ed married Caroline Waldrum. There was another child James.

Children of Edward & Caroline (Waldrum) Bobbitt:

Dr. J.E. Bobbitt married Jo Stringer
Sallie Bobbitt married D.R. J.S. Estes   
         ABRAHAM ESTES, born 1647 at Nonington, Kent, England ??
Antioch, Blasingame,    Weir, &  Goodwin Cemetery    White Co., AR
Goodspeed's       1840 Census Lawrence Co., AR
Calvin Cemeterey     Hope Cemetery   Townsend Cemetery  Whitlow Cemetery
Samuel "Sam" P. Bobbitt married Nancy Cardwell
Emaline Bobbitt married Devaney Burr (Burrow?)
Martha Ann Bobbitt b. abt 1856 married William "Bill" Cook of Shiloh
Moses L. "Len"  Bobbitt married Rachel 
Lively Bobbitt married Miss Moore
Lodicia T. Bobbitt b. abt 1836 in KY married William F. Sims b. abt 1834 in KY who bought the entry of Sam & Len Bobbitt to land on Big Creek in Craighead Co.  in the year 1843.

Children of Lodicia & William Sims:

Martha Ann Sims, John Sims, W.T. Sims, Dick Sims, Edward Green Sims, Joe Sims, Lawson Sims, Rans Sims & Walker Sims.

His brother Andrew Sims died of pneumonia after receiving a ducking in Big Creek on a cold winter day.

John Wesley Bobbitt
of
Craighead, Co., AR

John Wesley Bobbitt son of Moses L. Bobbitt (1823  Maury Co., TN?) was a partner in a logging operation on the Cache River near Jonesboro, in Craighead, Co., AR. He first married Harriet Thrower and they had one son, Louis.

John Wesley married Mary (Reddon) Kitchens (whose mother was supposedly 1/4 Cherokee) who lived near Ward in Lonoke Co., 22 June 1893, the certificate located in White County Courthouse. Mary was born possibly near Newark in Independence Co., AR

Flemon's older sister,  Clora Bell was born in 1894 and Flemon Benjamin Bobbitt, was born 27 May 1896. John W. Bobbitt came down with consumption about 1897-8, traveled to Eureka Springs in NW Arkansas for the "cure" and died there.

After his death Mary moved back to White Co. with Flemon, his older sister Clora Bell and their half-brother Louis, where her mother, who had married Kirkwood Reeves, was located.  After John W. Bobbitt's death Louis Bobbitt who was red headed, resided and worked for the William Magness family in Clay TWP, White County, AR  from age 10 until his death at age 21. He was buried at the Walnut Grove Cem., McJester, Cleburne Co., AR. Flemon knew very little about his Bobbitt relatives, only that George Washington Bobbitt an older brother of his father John lived near Bloomfield, MO.

Hiram Bluff, originally a settlement in White County, listed a Babbitt as an early resident.

Flemon's  mother married Henry Churchill, 22 May, 1898 and they had one child, Harry Churchill. After Henry was killed in a farming accident Harry lived with his mother in White and Lonoke Co. Mary is buried in an unmarked grave in the Apple Hill Cemetery in Lonoke County located on Hwy 319 West.

A Craighead County Genealogist, Bob Couch,  had put a  Bobbitt tree online and I discovered it about June 2000. This set me off on the search again, I had not done any research for about 15 years. At that time I had only 1 1/2 pages in my tree, now look at it! The Craighead Co. tree has some duplications in it and is hard fo figure out. The 1870 Census for Craighead County has all Bobbitt's listed as Bobbert. The 1880 Census has not been published yet online.

My wife Janis Dyann Benton & I were born in White Co., AR, and attended the  Searcy High School but since she is 6 years younger we never knew each other. I  quit school after the 11th grade & joined the Air Force. I spent 4 years in, got out moved back home & went to work in Little Rock. I met Dyann while "crusing" with some friends one weekend in Searcy where she lived. She was in 12th grade so we dated and got married in June after she graduated and as they say, the rest is history. I spent only 2 1/2 years out of the service and went back into Air Force. We retired in1981 & moved back too Searcy and built our home. We raised 2 sons who upon graduation from ASU University and the ROTC program became career  Army officers. Dyann works for Searcy Police Dept & I work for White County Government