William Bayless Shumate

SHUMATE, Bayless – The burial services for Bayless Shumate, 95 year-old Washington County patriarch, Confederate veteran and for years a successful farmer in the county, were held at his home in Durham Tuesday with the Rev. D.L. Hood, Baptist minister of Elkins officiating.. The burial service was conducted by the Masons, Shumate having been a charter member of the Sylva Lodge # 13 of that organization at Elkins. The former soldier’s death occurred Sunday night from pneumonia. His wife, Elizabeth Cole Shumate, who is 91 years old, also is at the point of death from the same disease. Nearly 1,000 people attended the funeral, among whom were Capt. & Mrs. Charles Vance, Mrs. Lizzie Benbrook, Pat Johnson and Witt Carter. Shumate, who was born in 1833 was a born and bred farmer and was one of the oldest of the living early settlers. During the Civil War, he served under General Sterling Price. He is survived by sisters Mrs. Clara Ballard of Fayetteville and Mrs. Sam Cooper of Prairie Grove; 2 daughters, Claricy Ann Shumate of Benton and Mrs. Ida Ratliffe of Prairie Grove and the following sons: William of Farmington; John Bayless Shumate of Prairie Grove; James of Middle Fork and Ben of Durham. He was born February 17, 1833 in Harlan County, Kentucky and died December 18, 1927 and was a son of William and Sarah (Ball) Shumate who came to Madison County, Arkansas about 1837; he married Nancy Homesley in December of 1853. She died in 1858 and is buried in the Wesley area of Madison County. He then married on February 23, 1860 Elizabeth (Cole) Walker. He served during the war in Lt. Col. Stirman’s and Col. Brooks 34th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. He and Elizabeth are buried in Shumate cemetery at Durham, Washington County. [Fayetteville Democrat 12/21/1927]

Bayless Shumate was born in Harlin County, Kentucky. There is some uncertainty as to his birth date. According to his tombstone, he was born Feb. 17, 1835. In the Confederate Veteran Census of 1911, he stated his birth date was Feb. 17, 1834. However, U.S. Census Records indicate that he was probably born in 1833, and this would concur with the family report that he was 95 years of age when he died December 18, 1927. In 1837, he came with his family to Arkansas, where he lived the remainder of his life. At the age of 19, he married Nancy Homesley. They had three children before she died about 1859. These three children of Bayless and Nancy were Viola, Sarah J. and William. After the death of his first wife, Bayless Shumate renewed his acquaintance with Elizabeth Cole, born December 22, 1839 and died December 28th, 1934, a young widow who was about 20 years old and lived in Combs, Arkansas. Elizabeth’s parents, James and Edith Jane Montgomery Cole, owned an inn and stock pen, where farmers would spend the night when driving their stock across the country. William Shumate teased his son and Elizabeth when young Bayless was only a teenager, saying they could marry some day. So, on February 23, 1860, they were married in Washington County, Arkansas. The story is told that they set out on horseback to find the minister. They met the minister on the road, so he agreed to marry them then and there –in the middle of the road, on horseback! We have been told that they lived in Madison County, although the 1860 census shows them in Washington County. Bayless served three years in the Civil War in the 34th Arkansas Infantry CSA under Colonel Brooks and Lt.Col. Stirman. He was Honorably Discharged on June 1, 1865. The story is told that, while he was away at war, bushwhackers came to the house where Elizabeth was living with her two infant sons, James and John, on the White River near Durham. They told her they were going to burn the house and she must leave. She did as she was told, though one relative tells that she hit one of the bushwhackers over the head with a skillet and “laid him out cold” in the yard. They did burn the house, and Elizabeth walked and carried her two small boys to the home of her mother near Delaney, some 8 or 10 miles distant. Bayless didn’t seem to hold grudges about such offenses in later years, but his wife refused to have anything to do with the people who had wronged her. Bayless always treasured his Civil War uniform and had his picture made with it around the turn of the century. Bayless Shumate was a Mason. He was a Charter Member of the Sylva Lodge No. 282 at Maguire’s Store. He was also a member of the Knights of the Horse, the anti-horse thief organization. He was always proud of being a staunch Democrat. Children of Bayless and Elizabeth Cole Shumate were, James Harlan, John Bayless, Clarrissa Anne, Edith Jane, Ida Bell and Bennett Mark. [WCHS Flashback Vol. 11, No. 1]

Bayless Shumate of Thompson, Arkansas was born February 17, 1834 in Harlan County, Kentucky, the son of William Shumate. Subject was a farmer, a Mason and a Democrat. He served in Stirman’s Regiment, Cobble’s Brigade for about three years. He married Elizabeth Cole, daughter of James and Edith Cole of Combs, Arkansas. “Grandmother of wife was Isabel Cole (Montgomery).” The children are: William Shumate, Farmington, Arkansas; Joseph or James Shumate, Carter, Arkansas; John B. Shumate, Prairie Grove, Arkansas; A. Shumate Benton, Alva, Oklahoma; Edna J. Shumate Jones, Sulphur City, Arkansas; Ada B. Shumate Ratliff, Prairie Grove, Arkansas and Ben M. Shumate, Durham, Arkansas. [1911 Arkansas Confederate Census]

Bayless Shumate filed Veteran Application #2927 with the Confederate Pension Board of Washington County for a Confederate pension and it was received as allowed August 15, 1927. Mr. Shumate died December 18, 1927. His widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Shumate filed Widow Application #2927 with the Confederate Pension Board of Washington County for a Confederate pension and it was received as allowed. Mrs. Shumate died December 28, 1934. [State of Arkansas Confederate Pension Archives]