Leonard S. Weast was born in Guilford County, North Carolina, in 1845. He was a son of Adam and Sophronia (Fortune) Weast. Adam Weast was born in North Carolina and his wife was born in Virginia. Sophronia went with her parents to North Carolina and there she met and married Mr. Weast. They moved to Arkansas in 1850, entering land where Yellville is now situated, purchasing also an 80-acre tract on which he built a log house at the west end of Main Street in Yellville. He brought with him nine slaves, and, being of good business judgment, he accumulated valuable property, a portion of which was lost during the war. He was a Democrat, a public-spirited citizen and a member of the Baptist Church. He died during the latter part of the war, in which struggle five of his sons were soldiers of the Confederacy. His wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She died in May 1890.
Mr. and Mrs. Weast were the parents of eleven children: Nelson, who died in North Carolina; Brice, who died about 1892; James W., who died in 1889; George W., who lived at Newport, Arkansas; John J., who lived in what was then Indian Territory; Benjamin L., of Texas; Columbus M. of Oklahoma Territory; Leonard S.; Sarah E., widow of F. Wood; Mary E., who married N. Wood; and Martha, the wife of John Wood.
Leonard S. Weast came to Marion County at the age of five. He spent his entire life on the land that had belonged to his father. He was a very successful farmer and stock man. When he reached manhood, he started out on his own and later married Mrs. J. W. Weast, a daughter of a Mr. Williams, who died during the war. She was the widow of a brother of Mr. Weast. They lived on a farm of 275 acres, part of which was within the city limits of Yellville. By her first husband, Mrs. Weast had a daughter, Emma C., who married Dr. Bryan. The MOUNTAIN ECHO of April 19, 1889, tells the story of two weddings which took place in the little Presbyterian Church at Yellville. The young couples were Emma C. Weast and Dr. Bryan, Hallie McDowell and Neal Dodd. Dr. and Mrs. Bryan were the parents of two children, Maud and Cecil.
Mr. and Mrs. Weast were the parents of four children: Essie F., wife of Norma L. Burnett; Virgil, whose first wife was Eva Baungarner by whom he had a daughter, Sarah Faye, and his second wife was Lula Brooksher; Dr. Lucian Weast, who married Ola Brooksher, sister of Lula; and Cam, whose wife was Mabel Cowdrey. Mr. and Mrs. Cam Weast were the parents of a daughter.
Brice Weast, another son of Adam and Sophronia, was the father of Sterling, Richard (Dick), Cuba and Flora. (1) Sterling married Betty Morrow, daughter of Baron DeKalk Morrow, and their children were Offie, Effie, William, Nina, Ralph, and Escar. Will and Nina died in 1975.(2) Dick Weast married Charity Hamlet and their children were: Walter; Norman; Dorothy; Raymond; George; Chester; and Georgia. Dick later married Virgie Dudley daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jason Dudley and they were the parents of two boys. They left Arkansas and went to California a few years after Mr. Weast's death. (3) Cuba Weast married John Covington. Their children were: Ethel, who married John Phillips; Mettie, who married a Chastain; Oscar; Virgie, wife of Robert Brooksher; and Cecil, who married a Thompson. (4) Flora Weast married Charley Burleson and their children are: Joe, Garland, Arthur, Brice, George and Floyd.
Both Sterling and Dick Weast lived on farms south of Yellville until they retired from farm life. Mr. and Mrs. Covington lived in Yellville. Mr. and Mrs. Burleson lived on a farm west, or northwest, of town.
All of this information was submitted by the family members.
Reprinted with permission from History of Marion County edited by Earl Berry, copyright 1977.