John B. Denton

He converted to Methodism soon after meeting his future wife, Mary Greenlee Stewart, who also taught him how to read and write.

When he was 8, he and his brother were apprenticed to a blacksmith and Methodist Minister, Jacob Wells, and they moved to Clark County, Arkansas.

Denton gained a reputation for being a skillful orator, although the job was hard as it paid very little for long hours.

He formed a partnership with John B. Craig, a part-time Methodist preacher, who stayed behind while Denton travelled to attend court cases.

In 1841, the Fourth Brigade of the Texas Militia, led by Brigadier-General Edward H. Tarrant, was called upon to find an attack party of Native Americans that had previously killed the Ripley family that lived south of Clarksville.