My Genealogy Hound

J. G. W. Yowell has been identified with the mercantile interests of Nashville, Ark., since 1869, and the firm of which he is now a member is known as Yowell Bros. & Rector. He is also the proprietor of the Home Nurseries at Nashville. His birth occurred in Marshall County, Tenn., in 1843, he being the second of seven children born to W. R. and Mary (Medearis) Yowell, Tennesseans by birth, their home being still in that State. They were married February 20, 1840, and the father has always been a farmer by occupation, and in 1860 purchased 240 acres in what is now Howard County, on which a portion of the town of Nashville now stands. He and wife are members of the Christian Church. J. G. W. Yowell assisted his father on the farm, and attended the common schools until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in the Confederate army, in Company E, Forty-second Tennessee Infantry, and was in the battle of Fort Donelson, where he was captured, and was kept a prisoner at Camp Morton, Ind., for seven months. He was exchanged at Vicksburg, Miss., but was afterward in the first battle of that place, and later was in the engagements at Port Hudson, Jackson, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, the most of which time he acted as orderly sergeant of his company. In 1866 he came to Arkansas, to sell the property which his father had purchased, but finding this a difficult matter to do, he decided to stay and cultivate it, and at once began to make a crop. In 1869 he was married to Miss Eliza P. Rector, a daughter of William H. Rector, and soon after engaged in the mercantile business with W. C. Sypert & Co., the firm afterward taking the name of Yowell & Rector. At the end of a few years, Mr. Yowell purchased a large tract of land, which he was engaged in cultivating for some time, then sold it and engaged in business with his brother-in-law, the style of the firm being Rector & Yowell. They continued to be associated until 1887, when the firm name was changed to Yowell Bros. & Rector, and they are now doing a general business, their stock of goods being large and well selected. They sell large quantities of farming implements, and make a specialty of introducing improved machinery. In 1889 they sold the first self-binder in Southwest Arkansas, and in 1890 are expecting to sell at least a carload of mowers and reapers. Their stock is valued at from $10,000 to $15,000, and they do an annual business of about $30,000. In partnership with Alvin H. Little, of Tennessee, he, in 1884, established the Home Nursery at Nashville, and the first year planted a vineyard of thirty acres, their first trees covering the same amount of territory. In 1888 Mr. Little sold out to Mr. Yowell, and he has since been alone in this enterprise, but has proven himself perfectly capable of successfully conducting it. In 1889 he set out 750,000 grape cuttings and large quantities of small fruits of all kinds, and his nursery is now one of, if not the largest in the State. The vineyard is now in full bearing condition, and will produce 10,000 gallons of wine of as fine a quality as any that comes from California, this being the only one in the State that is extensive enough to require traveling salesmen. Mr. Yowell is also interested in a beautiful plantation of eighty acres at Caddo Gap, thirty two acres of this farm being devoted to vineyard and ten acres to orchard. It is laid off in a beautiful manner, is bordered with attractive pines, which are also along the drives, and the whole is enclosed with a nice fence and a plank walk. Mr. Yowell owns one of the finest residences in Nashville, it being situated on a natural building site, on the apex of a hill, and below it, sloping gradually and regularly for nearly a mile to the town, are his vineyard and orchards. His cultivation of grapes has been very successful, and he has fully demonstrated that this is a most favorable locality for that industry. Besides this, he owns a number of lots, small dwelling-houses and business property in Nashville. On January 28, 1885, his estimable wife passed from life, leaving, besides her husband, four children to mourn her loss. In September, 1889, Mr. Yowell was appointed general State agent by Col. R. H. Eddy, of Chicago, for the Union Central Life Insurance Company of Ohio, and since that time, he has, with the assistance of W. B. Fonvill, State agent of Tennessee and sub-agent of this locality, written over $500,000 worth of policies, mostly in Howard and adjoining counties. Mr. Yowell is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Pleasant Valley Lodge No. 30, of Nashville, and also belongs to the K. of P. lodge of that place. He is one of the most enterprising and public-spirited gentlemen that has ever made his home in this county, and his intelligence, integrity and many other estimable qualities have acquired for him a popularity excelled by none, and won for him many warm friends. His acquaintance is wide and honorable.