Biography - Jasper B. Whittington

JASPER BUNYAN WHITTINGTON was born in Pike County, Ala., October 9, 1849, being a son of Robert and Matilda (Keith) Whittington, the former born in Columbus, Ga., in 1822, and the latter in Pike County, Ala., in 1834. Mr. Whittington, as well as his wife, was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and in his native State he passed from life in 1858, his widow still surviving him, being a resident of Bossier Parish, La. Jasper Bunyan Whittington was taken to Georgia at the age of five years, but after his father's death returned with his mother to Alabama, and in 1861 emigrated to Bossier Parish, La., where he worked for the support of his mother and her family of four children, of whom he was the eldest. In 1863 they moved on the Alden place, on Cypress Bayou, six miles east of Red River, on the Rocky Mount & Carolina Bluff road, which place was given them free of rent by Mrs. Ruth Hughes, who then owned the place and here they made their home until 1868, when Mr. Whittington and his brother-in-law, J. J. Wilcox, purchased 160 acres of land on which the former is now living. He has increased his acreage to 280, and has 100 acres in an excellent state of cultivation. Having made this purchase while a minor, he paid for it before he attained his majority, and expected to live with his mother and her family on the place, but before this idea was put into execution he was united in marriage to Sallie, a daughter of James and Nancy (Fowler) Keith, which fact was so displeasing to his mother that he deeded the farm he had just paid for to her and went to work on his mother-in-law'' place, which he successfully tilled until 1875, when he removed to Grimes County, Tex., his wife dying shortly after locating there. After tilling the soil in that State for one year he returned to Louisiana and took charge of an uncle's (Keith) farm, which he conducted in a successful manner for one year. His second marriage took place November 17, 1876, his wife being Anna, daughter of Rev. Robert and Indiana (Dillard) Martin, both native Georgians. In 1876 a cotton gin and grist mill, in which Mr. Whittington was largely interested, caught fire and burned to the ground, leaving him almost destitute, but the following year he erected a cotton gin on the place where he now resides, which he has continued to operate; he then purchased eighty acres of land, which is part of his present farm. In 1880 he once more took charge of his mother's affairs, and was her adviser and confidante for two years, at the end of which time she gave him eighty acres of land, and he is her agent at the present time. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, and are the parents of five sons and two daughters, his first union resulting in the birth of one daughter.

Contributed 29 Aug 2020 by Norma Hass, extracted from Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, published in 1890, page 148.