James and Malisa Fanny Pruitt Melton

Malisa Fanny (sometimes seen as Frances) Pruitt was the daughter of William A. and America Mouser Pruitt. She was born in Miller County, MO in 1859. James A. Melton was the son of Thomas and Anna Goodnight Melton. He was born in 1859 in Van Buren County, AR. The couple married about 1880 in Taney County and had a farm in the Bull Creek basin not far from the village of Bluff. They later moved to a home located today along “F” Highway.

James and Malisa had ten children who survived to adulthood: William Thomas, born 1882, married Effie L. Jeffrey; Charley H., born 1884, married Edna I. Weatherman; Zella Orabelle, born 1886, married Taney Houseman, Sr.; James F., born 1888, married Mary Luttrell; Hugh C., born 1890, married Glessie Keithley; Henry Thurston, born 1891, married Lella Woods; Alpha M., born 1894, married Erna Lewis; Goldie F., born 1897, married Leonard Baker; Floyd E. “Punk,” born 1898, married Bessie Fay St. Clair; and Nancy Mabel, born 1901, married Raymond Estep.

Aside from being a farmer, the elder Mr. Melton delivered the mail by horseback shortly after the turn of the 20TH Century in the Walnut Shade vicinity. He was frequently seen in a dark felt hat, often accompanied by one of his younger children, Floyd or Mabel, riding astride the family’s trusty steed that may have doubled as a plowing mare during planting season. Those who knew him remember a tall, lanky man quiet and unassuming; a typical yeoman farmer of the age.

There are three known photographs of Grandma Fanny. One was taken with her brother, W.T.S. Pruitt shortly before her death in 1938 at her oldest son’s home near present day Blackwell Ferry. Two others were taken with her husband. In one she’s wearing a white dress and is holding what’s assumed to be the family Bible. Rural community columnists from the Walnut Shade and Bluff areas recall a woman frequently entertaining visitors or trekking to the homes of friends and neighbors.

A child of the Civil War, Mrs. Melton rarely minced words nor parsed language although grandchildren recalled a kindly woman. On one occasion she arose to testify at church when the church house at Riverview was located back in the woods form where it sits today. She stood there a considerable time, seeming to ponder her words.

“Sister Melton, is there something you want to share with the congregation today?” the preacher inquired.

“I forgot what it was” she said without hesitation “but it was probably a damn lie anyway.” With that, she sat down.

The couple was laid to rest in the Walnut Shade Cemetery. Nearby are sons Thurston and Charley, their wives and grandsons Eddie, Vernon and Charles E.

Photo given by Brad Melton