Ancestor Archives: Samuel James Roark (1855-1925)

by Rocky Macy

(Note:  There are several references in this profile regarding either locations or actions in Newton or McDonald Counties, and some may feel that the profiler spends too much effort delineating between the two counties.  Newton County is to the north and adjacent to McDonald County.  The townships in both counties that join in the area where Sam and Nancy ROARK grew up – her in Newton County and him in McDonald County - are both called “Buffalo,” so locations can tend to get confusing.   Also, once they married, Sam and Nancy’s home was in Buffalo Township of McDonald County, but they owned land on both sides of the county line.  I have tried to be specific with county references in order to benefit future family researchers who might be digging through documents, such as property or tax records, which are filed by county.  Apologies in advance . . . )

 

Samuel James ROARK was born in Missouri (probably in Granby Township of Newton County) on February 25, 1855.   His parents, William Carroll ROARK and Comfort POE ROARK, and six older siblings had arrived in Missouri from Allen County, Kentucky, sometime between 1852 and 1855, and Sam was their first child born in Missouri.  Four others would follow for a total of eleven children.
 
Sam ROARK married Nancy Anthaline SCARBROUGH at the home of her uncle, William C. SMITH of Buffalo Township, Newton County, Missouri, on December 10^th, 1876.   The bride, who had been orphaned at a young age, grew up in the home of her maternal uncle, William C. SMITH, and his wife, Lucinda, along with her siblings.  
 
Sam ROARK passed away on November 30, 1925.  His death certificate lists the place of death as Newton County, Missouri, but one of his grandchildren, Sam NUNN, who knew his grandparents, related that the event actually took place in McDonald County – and his obituary states that he died at home, which would have been near the community of Hart in McDonald County – although the obituary misreported it as being in Newton County.)
 
US census records reveal that young Sam was living with his family in Granby Township of Newton County, Missouri, when that 1860 census for that area was taken on August 2, 1860, when Sam was five-years-old.  By 1870 the family had relocated to what the census taker referred to as “Elk Township” in McDonald County, and Sam would remain a resident of McDonald County for the remainder of his life.  (There was no “Elk Township” in McDonald County, and the census taker was probably referring to “Elkhorn” Township or possibly “Elk River” Township.) By the time the 1880 census Sam and Nancy, his bride of four years, were at home in Buffalo Township of McDonald County along with a daughter, Lucinda Comfort ROARK.
 
The couple actually had one child prior to Lucinda Comfort.  James W. “Jimmie” ROARK was born in 1877 and passed away in 1879.   He was probably James William ROARK, named for Nancy’s younger brother, James William SCARBROUGH, who was still living at the home of their uncle, William C. SMITH, at that time.
 
Sam and Nancy went on to have nine more children, for a total of eleven, the same number that his parents had.   Sam and Nancy’s children included:   James W.  (1877-1879), Lucinda Comfort (1879-1935), John Henry 1881-1942), Robert Austin (1883-1953), Samuel Lafayette (1886 - 1918), Nancy Jane (my grandmother) (1889-1953), Lilly B. (1890-1892), Martha Carol (1893-1978), Claude Smith (1896-1960), Mary Melinda (1898-1964), and Nathan Wilbert (1902-1950).
 
Of the nine children of Sam and Nancy ROARK who reached adulthood, Claude Smith ROARK was the only one to remain single.   Lucinda Comfort married Fred G. WILSON, John Henry married Phoebe GRUNDEN, Robert Austin became the husband of Sylvia BUZZARD, Samuel LaFayette married Bertha BAILEY, Nancy Jane became the wife of Daniel A. SREAVES, Martha Carol married Peter B. NUNN, Mary Melinda wed Ernest C. TUCKER, and Nathan Wilbert married Virgie ELLIS.
 
Sam ROARK was a farmer, but he occasionally managed to make it into town.   There are several mentions of him in local newspapers stating that he had spent a certain days in either Neosho or Pineville “on business.”   Usually in those mentions he was referred to as being from “Anderson,” the closest community of any size to his home.
 
I also found an article in the October 20, 1922, issues of the “Neosho Daily Democrat” (page 4) telling of the case of Samuel ROARK versus James DALE regarding Mr. ROARK’s attempt to claim damages from an automobile accident that had occurred the previous August.   There was one other Samuel ROARK mentioned occasionally in the news, a cattle trader from Carthage.
 
The newspaper article did not make it clear which Samuel ROARK was involved in the civil suit.  However, at about that same time, Nancy A. ROARK, the wife of Sam ROARK from McDonald County, was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit over the estate of her uncle, William C. SMITH – so it may just be that Sam and Nancy ROARK, at that time in their lives, were prone to be litigious.  
 
I never pictured my great-grandfather, Sam ROARK, who farmed his whole life and died in 1925, either owning or operating a car, but he could have.  It could have also been possible that he was a pedestrian, or in a wagon, or on horseback, and was injured as the result of an encounter with an automobile. 
 
The Samuel ROARK who was involved in the accident won his court case and was awarded damages of one hundred and forty-five dollars.  (Nancy lost hers.)
 
Sam NUNN (mentioned above) was the son of Martha Carol ROARK and her husband Pete NUNN.  He wrote a profile on the ROARK family for the McDonald County Sesquicentennial (1849-1999) Family Histories book.  In that fine piece Sam NUNN had this to say about his grandparents’ farm:

 

“Samuel James and Nancy A. Roark lived their entire married life on a farm in McDonald County, Missouri.  They also owned land across the line in Newton County, Missouri.

 

“They lived in Roark Valley.  His parents and two brothers owned farms in Roark Valley.  The farms all joined together with one being in Newton County, Missouri.  Roark Branch flows through the farms, and (crosses beneath) Highway 43 in Newton County, Missouri.  The highway department has a sign marking the branch.”

 

Sam NUNN also noted at the time he wrote the article for the sesquicentennial book (1999) that descendants of Sam and Nancy ROARK were living in Washington, Oregon, California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Florida, Arkansas, Idaho, and Missouri.
 
I interviewed my mother, Ruby “Florine” SREAVES MACY about her grandparents in 1983 just a couple of years before she passed away.  Mom, who would have been four-years-old at the time of her Grandfather ROARK’s death, said that she had no memories of him, but that she could remember going to his funeral.  She said that she carried flowers, and then added that all of the granddaughters carried “flower barriers” or “whatever you called them.”
 
The following obituary ran in the “Anderson News Review” newspaper out of Anderson, McDonald County, Missouri:
 

“Samuel Roark Dies”
 
“Samuel James Roark, an old citizen of Newton County, died at his home on Swars Prairie last Monday morning.  He was buried Tuesday last in the Baptist cemetery at Swars Prairie.  He was seventy-one years old at the time of his death and had lived in that community for many years.  He was stricken by paralysis two years ago and had almost recovered when he was stricken again a short time before his death.”

 
(The obituary not only had his county of residence wrong, it also incorrectly listed his age, which would have been seventy.)
 
Sam and Nancy are at rest in the Swars Prairie Baptist Cemetery, the place where his parents, Nancy’s guardians from her youth, several of Sam’s siblings, and numerous descendants of Sam and Nancy are also buried.  Anyone wishing to do family research on the southwest Missouri ROARK family or the SREAVES family would be well advised to start there – and plan on spending awhile!