Ernest Dean Gregory, the youngest of George R. and Alice J. Jackson Gregory’s four children, was born November 4, 1879, in Parkdale, Ashley County, Arkansas. Ernest’s father died when he was six years old. Ernest, just like his father, farmed for a living and by the time he had married Margaret Sawyer on August 25, 1909, he had established himself as one of the most successful farmers and landowners in Ashley County. Together Ernest and Margaret had three children, Margery, Kathleen, and Edwin. After the death of his wife and mother in 1923, Ernest continued to farm and lease land to sharecroppers in Parkdale. Throughout his life, Ernest became an owner of the Jackson & Gregory Merchant Store, participated in the Agriculture Adjustment Act of 1934, and was a member of the Voluntary Farm Debt Adjustment Committee in 1935. Furthermore, during World War II, Ernest employed German Prisoners of War from Camp Dermott. Ernest continued to farm until his death on June 16, 1949.