Where is Pharr Rushing Purifoy

Disclaimer: I'd like to make it clear up front that I'm not trying to generate controversy or imply that the bio of P.R. Purifoy in Ancestors and Descendents of Capt. Henry Marshall Purifoy is incorrect. Floretta Rose Purifoy’s work is wonderful and has served as a guidepost for me in my search to document our family history. To me, this is an interesting puzzle and that is the extent of it. If it is confirmed one way or the other, I’ll be relieved.

Pharr Rushing Purifoy was Henry Marshall Purifoy’s 19^th child, the 11^th by Martha J. Elizabeth “Mat” Handley, according to generally accepted records. His bio as it appears in Ms. Rose’s book is listed below:

PHARR "DOCK" RUSHING PURIFOY, born about 1873, married Willie L. Sorrels on 26 March 1893 in Ouachita County, Arkansas. Dock died from a gunshot wound on 4 February 1932 and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Camden, Arkansas.

That seems clear enough, if not very detailed. I’d like to know who shot him and why. But, the interesting part comes when we look at the listing of graves in the Purifoy Family Cemetery. A copy can be found at:

One of my goals is to find and document the graves of all of Henry M. Purifoy’s children. As part of this effort, I was examining the listing, looking for names or initials that might be his children. All of a sudden, the record for P.R. Purifoy jumped out at me. This person was born in 1824, which would make him or her too old to be one of H.M. Purifoy’s children. I knew that Henry’s brother Leroy had also settled in this area in the mid 1840’s. Could there be another younger sibling that moved to South Arkansas then or later?

I checked the names of H.M. Purifoy’s brothers and sisters. None had these initials. After looking at the Purifoy Cemetery listing again, I found another record that I think is extremely important. It’s printed below along with the entry for P.R. Purifoy.

Notice the death dates. They are the same. Notice the inscription “dau/P.R. and W.L.”. I would be willing to bet that this is the daughter of Pharr Rushing Purifoy and Willie L. Sorrels. This infant girl died on the same day as the P.R. Purifoy on this list. I was quite puzzled by this until it hit me all at once like a ton of bricks…. The birth date on the P.R. Purifoy listing is WRONG! It should be 1874, not 1824. And that would make the P.R. Purifoy on the list Pharr Rushing Purifoy. He died the same day as his baby. How? My guess would be a house fire, but that is pure speculation. I made it a point to travel to the Purifoy Cemetery the next time I was in Arkansas. I felt sure that if I saw the headstone in question, and could see for myself that the birth date was 1874 instead of 1824, then the mystery would be solved.

The next time I went to AR, I eagerly headed to the Purifoy Cemetery and began to search… and search… and search…. Guess what? There is no headstone for P.R. Purifoy in the cemetery. I contacted the submitter of the listing on the web and she explained to me that she had only updated an earlier listing, not having done a complete survey herself. So apparently, between the time of the first survey and the second, the headstone for P.R. Purifoy disappeared. This mystery is probably not going to be solved at the Purifoy Cemetery.

I then tried searching Greenwood Cemetery in Camden. It’s too large for an effective search without some kind of guidance. Back to this topic later.

When I returned home, I posted a message on www.genforum.com asking for info about Pharr Rushing Purifoy. I was contacted by a John Purifoy, who said his Mother was present when Pharr was shot in 1932. She said he was shot in the store run by his relatives on California St. in Camden. I would like to speak to or write his Mother for more details, but I’ve lost contact with him.

So that’s where it stands now. I’m split about 50-50 on which version is right. The John Purifoy story backs up the Purifoy book powerfully, but if it’s right who is the P.R. Purifoy buried in the Purifoy Cemetery? And where is his headstone?

Possible solutions: 1) I’ve been told the Camden Public Library has microfilm of the local paper back to 1930. If Pharr Purifoy was killed by a gunshot in 1932, then it most surely made the news. Someone could go to the library and possibly clear this up in less than an hour. 2) Find a caretaker with records of Greenwood Cemetery in Camden. Again, a headstone with the dates from the Purifoy book would be a pretty powerful argument for that version being correct. 3) Find the missing headstone from the Purifoy Cemetery – unlikely unless you are an archeologist. 4) Someone to come forward with family records, Bible, death certificate, etc. This one would be great, but is also unlikely. 5) I haven’t tried looking for info on Pharr’s wife; Willie L. Sorrels. If she lived to old age, maybe someone in her family has info on Pharr. A message on www.genforum.com might bear fruit.

Postscript: I’m open to help, suggestions, feedback, or someone coming up with the solution. If you can supply any of these, please respond.