Individual Details
William Armour Cantrell
(January 22, 1826 - December 28, 1903)
"William Armour Cantrell married Ellen Maria Harrell, February 13, 1852. Ellen was the daughter of Rev. Samuel Harrell and Ellen Catherine Collins of Gatesville, North Carolina, granddaughter of Rev. Asa Harrell and Rachell Beeman. (Rev. Asa Harrell served in the Revolutionary War with Gen. Horatio Gates in South Carolina) Ellen was also the great-grand daughter of Jesse Harrell and Mary Night of Harrellsville, NC.; also great grand daughter of Israel Beeman and Elishua Savage. Ellen is the author of many magazine articles and of a handsome volume of 390 pages, entitled: "The Annals of Christ Church Parish, Little Rock, Arkansas," the Mother Protestant Episcopal Church of the west and southwest. She is a graduate of the Nashville Female Academy and of the French Academy and is proficient in music. She represented the state of Arkansas at the World's Fair at Chicago, as essayist, and at the Exposition at Nashville. She has served as state regent of Arkansas, National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution and has also been a devoted and active worker many years in Christ Church.
"William Armour Cantrell graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Louisville, March 6, 1847; was assistant physician at Bellevue Hospital, New York City; physician at the Nursery Hospital at Blackwell's Island, New York; and at the New Orleans Hospital, where he treated yellow fever in epidemic form. He removed to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to be near his aged father, and after his father's death, in 1854, settled in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he built a commodious brick residence in 1860, which was his home the remainder of his life. Dr. Cantrell filled successively and honorably the positions of city physician, president of the state board of medical examiners, president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and delegate to the Medical Association at Nashville, besides attending to a large practice. He was a noted surgeon.
"During the Civil War he performed distinguished service in the Confederate Army. He was appointed surgeon of Col. T. J. Churchill's regiment, 1st Arkansas mounted volunteers in 1861. After the war he was urged to take charge of the United States Post Hospital at Little Rock and accepted, holding the postion as acting assistant surgeon during the command of Brevet Major General Arnold, Captain Light Battery G, Fifth Artillery and that of Col. C. H. Smith, 28th Infantry, a period of five years. His record at that hospital added much to his reputation for sagacity and skill already earned. Later he had charge of the medical department at the School for the Blind in Little Rock.
"In 1855 Dr. Cantrell and his wife became members of Christ Church (Protestant Episcopal). Dr. Cantrell was a member of the vestry of that church for over forty-five years and was a senior warden for over ten years. At the time of his death, a friend said of him: "He was one of the best known and esteemed men in this vicinity, and his nature was so rounded that he overflowed with the milk of human kindness. Generous and good, he cherished no ill feeling against any one, and it was remarked by all who knew him that in thought, speech and action, he was one of the most charitable of men. Beloved by all classes, the humblest as well as the highest in our midst will miss with poignant regret his cheery greeting and sincere sympathy." We quote the following regarding Dr. Cantrell from the "Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Central Arkansas: "While the social amenity of his disposition and grace of manner have caused him to be sought by the most polished circles, the earnest simplicity and sympathy of his nature have endeared him to the most humble in rank. Like a full river, bravely bearing its own burdens to the sea, yet dispensing life and refreshment on each side, his course has shown a long succession of private and public services, which prove that the prominent desire of his soul has been to be useful." " (THE CANTRILL - CANTRELL GENEALOGY, 1908, by Susan Cantrill Christie, pages 129 - 131.)
"William Armour Cantrell graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Louisville, March 6, 1847; was assistant physician at Bellevue Hospital, New York City; physician at the Nursery Hospital at Blackwell's Island, New York; and at the New Orleans Hospital, where he treated yellow fever in epidemic form. He removed to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to be near his aged father, and after his father's death, in 1854, settled in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he built a commodious brick residence in 1860, which was his home the remainder of his life. Dr. Cantrell filled successively and honorably the positions of city physician, president of the state board of medical examiners, president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and delegate to the Medical Association at Nashville, besides attending to a large practice. He was a noted surgeon.
"During the Civil War he performed distinguished service in the Confederate Army. He was appointed surgeon of Col. T. J. Churchill's regiment, 1st Arkansas mounted volunteers in 1861. After the war he was urged to take charge of the United States Post Hospital at Little Rock and accepted, holding the postion as acting assistant surgeon during the command of Brevet Major General Arnold, Captain Light Battery G, Fifth Artillery and that of Col. C. H. Smith, 28th Infantry, a period of five years. His record at that hospital added much to his reputation for sagacity and skill already earned. Later he had charge of the medical department at the School for the Blind in Little Rock.
"In 1855 Dr. Cantrell and his wife became members of Christ Church (Protestant Episcopal). Dr. Cantrell was a member of the vestry of that church for over forty-five years and was a senior warden for over ten years. At the time of his death, a friend said of him: "He was one of the best known and esteemed men in this vicinity, and his nature was so rounded that he overflowed with the milk of human kindness. Generous and good, he cherished no ill feeling against any one, and it was remarked by all who knew him that in thought, speech and action, he was one of the most charitable of men. Beloved by all classes, the humblest as well as the highest in our midst will miss with poignant regret his cheery greeting and sincere sympathy." We quote the following regarding Dr. Cantrell from the "Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Central Arkansas: "While the social amenity of his disposition and grace of manner have caused him to be sought by the most polished circles, the earnest simplicity and sympathy of his nature have endeared him to the most humble in rank. Like a full river, bravely bearing its own burdens to the sea, yet dispensing life and refreshment on each side, his course has shown a long succession of private and public services, which prove that the prominent desire of his soul has been to be useful." " (THE CANTRILL - CANTRELL GENEALOGY, 1908, by Susan Cantrill Christie, pages 129 - 131.)
Events
| Birth | January 22, 1826 | near Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee | |||
| Marriage | February 13, 1852 | Ellen Maria Harrell | |||
| Death | December 28, 1903 | Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas |
Families
| Spouse | Ellen Maria Harrell ( - ) |
| Child | Lillian Cantrell ( - ) |
| Child | Ellen May Cantrell ( - ) |
| Child | Daisy Cantrell ( - ) |
| Child | Wendell Cantrell (1860 - 1861) |
| Child | Isadore Cantrell ( - ) |
| Child | Bessie Cantrell ( - ) |
| Child | Deaderick Harrell Cantrell ( - ) |
| Child | William Armour Cantrell Jr. ( - ) |
| Father | Stephen Cantrell (1783 - 1854) |
| Mother | Juliet Ann Deaderick Wendel (1787 - 1839) |
| Sibling | George Michael Deaderick Cantrell (1807 - 1886) |
| Sibling | Mary Ann Cantrell (1808 - 1872) |
| Sibling | Emeline Susannah Cantrell (1810 - 1843) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Searcy Cantrell (1812 - 1874) |
| Sibling | Infant Cantrell ( - ) |
| Sibling | Matilda Carter Cantrell (1818 - ) |
| Sibling | Elvira Searcy Cantrell (1820 - ) |
| Sibling | David Wendel Cantrell (1822 - 1835) |
| Sibling | Margaret Armstrong Cantrell (1829 - 1834) |