Dr. James Riley Claunch came to Arkansas in 1856 and settled in Poinsett County where he engaged in farming and studied medicine with Dr. Todd W. Beecher of Harrisburg, graduate of Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati. He became a successful farmer of Lester Township, Craighead County, and possessed a thorough knowledge of medicine. January 6, 1860 he married Martha Jane Crook, who came to Arkansas with her father in 1859. Children: Lottie Lou, Annie Bettie, Charles W., John B., Albert Martin, living; Thomas M., Laura, Mahalia, Cate and Harriet deceased.
Dr. Claunch joined the Confederate Army and served in Co. K. 23rd Arkansas, and as assistant surgeon with Price in Missouri. At the close of the war he returned to his farm and resumed the practice of medicine. His farm embraced more than 300 acres with 100 under cultivation. He was one of the leading physicians of the county and died May 3, 1918. Mrs. Claunch died April 5, 1927.
p. 539-540
"History of Craighead County Arkansas" Harry Lee Williams Parke-Harper Co. Little Rock, Ark 1930