J. H. York resides in the Second District of Dyer County, and is engaged in farming. He was born in Edgecombe County, N. C., September 16, 1816, and was one of two children born to John and Mary (Walker) York. W. E. York, his younger brother, is a farmer living near Athens, Ala. His father was born in Nash County, N. C., about 1773, and he was married five times, four times in his native State: first, to Mary Bullock; second, to Mary Walker, our subject's mother; third, to Katie McDade, and fourth, to Mary Gray. He moved to Tennessee in 1824, and located in Giles County; he was a carpenter by trade, and he raised a large family of children; his last marriage was to a Mrs. Lentz. His mother was born in Edgecombe County, N. C., in 1798, and died in 1878. Our subject was raised and educated in Giles county. In 1838 he married Sarah A., daughter of B. T. and Susannah Fielder. Mrs. York was born in Caswell County, N. C., in 1818. They had three children: Mary, widow of T. H. Lanier; Elizabeth, widow of E. T. Smith, and Dr. John B., a physician, of Friendship. In 1840 Mr. York moved to Dyer county; in 1868 he moved to his present home, which consists of 456 acres of finely improved land, four miles southeast of Dyersburg. He was tax collector of Dyer County for a number of years, and was elected and re-elected to the office of magistrate until he resigned. He gave his children every educational advantage he could, and he is known as one of the progressive, public-spirited men of the county. In politics conservative, he was opposed to secession during the late war. His first presidential vote was cast for Hugh L. White. He is a man of kind heart, industrious and upright.