Richard Peevy

Quick Facts

Significance:

Arkansas Homesteader

Place of Birth:

Alabama

Date of Birth:

1835

Place of Death:

Van Buren Township, Lisbon, Union County, Arkansas

Date of Death:

Oct 1879

Under the Homestead Act of 1862, Richard Peevy (Peevey) filed a homestead application for 160 acres of land in Union County, Arkansas on April 25, 1871 and received his patent on March 1, 1877. 

Richard Peevy was born enslaved in 1835, in Alabama according to the 1870 Federal Census or Missouri per the 1850-1880 Federal Census Mortality Schedule. His wife, Mary, was born enslaved in 1844 in Arkansas.  

In 1867, Richard, his wife, Mary, and Georgeann McElroy entered a labor contract with Elisha Yarbrough through the Freedmen's Bureau.  They worked and lived on Elisha's plantation which was located in Marion, Ouachita County, Arkansas.  

Richard, Mary and their children, Eliza, Cordelia, Priscilla, Henry, and Joseph were living in Van Buren Township, Lisbon, Union County, Arkansas per the 1870 Federal Census and his occupation was farm laborer.   

Six years after emancipation, on April 25, 1871, Richard traveled to the land office in Camden, Ouachita County, Arkansas to apply for 160 acres under the Homestead Act of 1862. The land was located in Van Buren Township, Union County, Arkansas (1 NW 5TH PM North 17S 17W 21), just outside of the town/community of Lisbon. He used an "X" to sign his name to application #3080 and paid the $14 filing fee.  

Richard fulfilled the requirements of the Homestead Act of 1862, and again traveled to the land office in Camden, Ouachita County, Arkansas to file his Final Homestead Proof paperwork. He used an "X" to sign his name and paid the $4.00 filing fee. He received his homestead patent #1137, on March 1, 1877.  

He built a dwelling house, smoke house, corn crib, stable, dug a well and planted an orchard. He plowed, fenced and cultivated 80 acres of land. Richard and Mary also had two additional children, Hannah and James. 

His witnesses were Henry Goodwin and John Foyle, they both swore that they had known Richard and his family for the last seven years and attested to the improvements that he made to the land.   

April 15, 1878, Richard sold 20 acres to Harry Bowie for $70. Mr. Bowie paid $35 on that day, with the remaining $35 due January 1, 1879. Richard used an "X" to sign his name to the Deed of Conveyance. The deed also contained a clause that his children were to be given the opportunity to purchase the land back during Harry Bowie’s life or at his death if he or his heirs decided to sell. 

In 1878, his wife Mary died at age 34, her cause of death is unknown.   

March 1879, at age 13, his daughter Priscilla died of dropsy. The attending physician was John McHenry. 

August 18,1879, Richard prepared a will, appointing Simon Jones as executor and Jacob Goodwin as guardian of his children, Cordelia, Henry, Joseph, Hannah and James.    

In October 1879, age 44, Richard died of consumption (tuberculosis). The attending physician was John McHenry. The land passed to the following children, Henry, age 11, Joseph, age 9, Hannah, age 7 and James, age 6. Cordelia, age 16, did not receive a share of the land.   

According to the 1880 census, Jacob Goodwin and Simon Jones lived next door to each other in Van Buren Township, Union County, Arkansas. Cordelia, Joseph and Hannah lived with Jacob, his wife Esther and their sons Moses and Willie. Henry and James lived with Simon, his wife Lucy, their daughter Sarah and their extended family (his mother-in-law, Jane Stevens, his three brother-in-laws, Samuel Stevens, Granderson Duncan and Albert Barnes).  

The land is no longer in the family, it is currently owned by a logging company. 

Patent Details - BLM GLO Records

~ Contributed by Renada Brantley

Renada Brantley, descendant of Richard Peevy.
Photo Credit/R. Brantley

About the Contributor: Renada Brantley is the great-great granddaughter of Richard Peevy through his son, Joseph Peevy. Many thanks to the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) for teaching her how to research her family’s genealogy. She is a member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), Kansas chapter.