Thomas Springer, born in Alabama in 1839, was a highly respected farmer in Arkansas. Raised and educated in Tennessee, his parents, John and Elizabeth (Gaines) Springer, were Virginians. John Springer died in Mississippi in 1864, and Elizabeth in Tennessee in 1851. Thomas, the fourth of nine children, moved to Arkansas in 1882, acquiring 240 acres of land with 100 under cultivation. He served 18 months in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. A Democrat and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, he married four times and had eleven children.
Thomas Springer is one of the most highly respected farmers of this county. A native of Alabama, he was born in 1839, being reared and educated in Tennessee. His parents, John and Elizabeth (Gaines) Springer, were Virginians by birth, and the former died in 1864, in Mississippi. Pennil Springer, the grandfather, came from Virginia to Alabama when a child, being among the first settlers of that state; the country at that time was so sparsely settled that it was necessary to go forty miles to mill. The mother died in Tennessee, in 1851. The parents of our subject moved from Alabama to Tennessee, rearing their family in the latter state, then going to Mississippi, where John Springer died four years later. His wife, Betsey Springer, was a native of Tennessee. They had nine children, six of whom are now living. Thomas Springer, the fourth child, has had four wives since reaching manhood. The first wife died, leaving no children; his second wife bore two: Mary E. (wife of James Laforce) and John. To the third marriage six children were born, five of whom are now living: Janie (wife of Hugh Black), Daniel, William, Martha, and Matthew; and three children were the result of the fourth marriage: Susie B., Jacob, and James. In 1882 Mr. Springer moved from Tennessee to his present home, where he owns 240 acres of valuable land, having 100 under cultivation. He is considered among the most successful farmers of this section of Arkansas. During the war he served eighteen months in the Confederate service, and took part in the battles of Murfreesboro, Corinth, and many other engagements. Politically he is a Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Springer are useful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and have the respect of a large circle of acquaintances.