See family pictures below.

David was born Dec 15, 1818 in Floyd County, Kentucky, the 5th of 9 children. His grandfather, John Spurlock, was the first white settler in Prestonburg (Floyd County) in 1791.  His father, David Spurlock, Sr. was 9 years old when he moved to Kentucy. He married Susanna Hancock in 1804, going back "home" to Virginia to get married. Susanna's uncle, William Hancock, was a life-long friend and cohort of Daniel Boone, both of them eventually finishing out their lives near St. Louis, MO.

David Jr. was 12 years old in 1830 when his father moved the family to Crittendon Co, Ark.
In 1838 David Sr. was in Mooney township, Phillips County, Ark. [near Memphis, Tn]

David  liked to tell the story about one day when it got completely dark and he hurried to get home. Soon it became light again he found that it had been a full eclipse of the sun at 3:00 pm.  (from “A History of Liberty Hill and King’s Mill” published in the Sharp County Journal, May 1994). 
Not sure the date of this eclipse. There was a total eclipse Nov, 30, 1834 that started in northern Georgia and moved through Memphis, Tn and into northern Arkansas.  David would have been 16 years old then.

There is a story that David married first in Crittendon Co, and had a baby.  His wife and baby died about 1840 of malaria.  In 1840 he was living with his father in Crittendon Co.
The story makes sense because at that time the eastern part of Arkansas was swampy and not very fit for living. Many settlers moved farther west to the hill country of Arkansas where there was plenty of grassland for farming and lots of fish and wild game.

“In Crittenden County, David Spurlock, Jr. cut cord wood and sold it for fuel to the steamboats that went up and down the Mississippi River. He heard that one particular steamboat had General Andrew Jackson on it, and he wanted it to stop and buy cordwood from him so he could meet his hero. When it looked like the steamboat was going by without stopping he began to holler and jump up and down and point to his pile of cordwood. The Captain brought his boat over, bought the cordwood, and David Jr. got to meet Andrew Jackson”  (from: “A History of Liberty Hill and King’s Mill”).
Perhaps this occurred in early Jan, 1840.  Jan 8, 1840 Andrew Jackson arrived in New Orleans to join in a 25th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, Jan 8, 1815. Jackson was president 1829-1837.

About 1846 David moved west with the whole Spurlock family to Lawrence Co, Ark around the area of King’s Mill (now in Sharp Co).
He was 28 years old in 1847 when he married 2nd to 15-year-old Mary Morris Estes.  They were married in Lawrence Co, Ark before it became Sharp County.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~arsharp/marriage.htm

In 1850 he should be in Ark, but can't find him in Richwoods twp., Lawrence Co.  Maybe he went to California with his brother Robert and Mary's two brothers, Archie & Tom Estes.

There was a big jump in settlers between 1850-60, then the Civil War slowed settlement during the 60’s. And again between 1870-80 there was a big increase in settlers moving in.  The older settlers said “Georgia moved in” during the 70’s, though part of that increase was because in 1874 a strip of Independence County was cut off and added to Sharp County.  After 1880 the population has held pretty steady until the present day.  Most of the settlers all along came from Tennessee, though not the Spurlocks.  Settlers into Arkansas crossed the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau or at Memphis.

1860 AR census - Lawrence Co, Richwoods twp, p 258-9:
Spurlock, David - 42, b KY, farmer
. . . . . Mary - 27, b TN
. . . . . Wm. C. - 11, b AR
. . . . . John T. - 10, b AR
. . . . . Robert A. - 7, b AR
. . . . . David D. - 6, b AR
. . . . . Martha B. - 3, b AR
. . . . . Eliza F. - 1, b AR

The Spurlocks attended Liberty Hill Methodist Church at Liberty Hill, Ark. “It is thought that the first log building erected in 1861 was built primarily as a church building with the school being added in the first year or two.”  The earliest membership records were lost, but records from 1875 on show that “25 people named Spurlock joined the church between 1876 and 1955.” Also joining the church were family members of those who married into the Spurlock family: Murphy, Endsley, Royal, Holt, Martin. (from: “A History of Liberty Hill and King’s Mill”).

During the Civil War David owned a grist mill at King’s Mill.  Sometime between 1862-64 David had a run-in with Union solders. The Yankees came by the mill regularly and forced David to supply food for them and their horses. One Sunday David and Mary (and persumably their 1st 7 children) were on their way home from church at Corinth when they were confronted by Union soliders at the mouth of Little creek. David was taken by the Yankees and held for a month before they released him. David was about 45 at the time, but he had not joined the army.

David was a farmer and lived the last of his life in Sharp County, Ark. (formed in 1868).

The Estes family were slave holders, but David Spurlock Jr. was very opposed to slavery, even though he owned two, though these were probably his wife’s.  But this wasn't unusual.  People often felt that they couldn't help being a part of the system even if they didn't agree with it.

1870 AR census - Sharp Co, Richwoods twp, p 361:
Spurlock, David - 55, b KY, farmer
. . . . . Mary M. - 37, b TN
. . . . . John T. - 20, b AR
. . . . . Robert A. - 18, b AR
. . . . . David D. - 16, b AR
. . . . . Martha B. - 13, b AR
. . . . . Eliza - 11, b AR
. . . . . Mary C - 9, b AR
. . . . . Nancy G. - 6, b AR
. . . . . Rooda - 2, b AR
Spurlock, Nancy - 52, b KY  [David's sister]

1880 Ark census - Sharp Co, Richwoods twp:
Spurlock, David - 63 KY, par b VA
. . . . Mary (wife) - 48 TN, par b NC/SC
. . . . Drusilla (daug) - 14 AR
. . . . Susan R. (daug) - 12 AR
. . . . Joseph B. (son) - 8 AR
. . . . Charles J. (nephew) - 17  AR, par b KY/TN
Cox, Morgan (boarder) - 22 AL
Spurlock, Nancy (sister) - 60 KY, par b VA

Mary died in Sept 1882 at the age of 50.   In May 1883 David married Matilda Clementine Nance.

Sharp County Marriages:
David Spurlock, Sr, 56 of Davidson Twp. & Matilda C. Nance, 46 of Davidson Twp; married May 13, 1883 by Rev. S.W. Register, deacon of the ME Church South.

Sharp County Record (newspaper in Ash Flat, Ark)
Not sure if these entries are about this David or for his nephew David (1839-1924, son of Pleasant). His nephew David was called Uncle David Spurlock after this David died, so its unclear exactly who it is.
July 29, 1898 -
Center - Uncle Dave Spurlock is again down sick and is very feeble.

1900 Sharp Co, Ark, Davidson Twp, p. 39:
Spurlock, David - 83 Ky
living with his daughter Mary Katherine’s family

David died in 1904 (age 86); both he and Mary were buried in Shiloh Cemetery, Ashflat, Sharp Co., Ark. His marker reads:
SPURLOCK, David, 86 years, 9 mo., d. 18 Sept 1904
Here I lay my burden down, change my cross into a crown.

He and Mary had 10 children and 85 grandchildren.
10954312

*Find A Grave Memorial# 43021386

Rhoda, Mary, Tom - 1927
 

Two of David's children: Rhoda Willard & Ben Spurlock:
Isn't it amazing how much they both look like their Dad! (especially Ben)

Rhoda, Ben & Mary
(I wonder if Mary, and Ben's daughter Alma, looked more like David's wife, Mary Morris Estes.)

Rhoda & Joe Willard on left, Ben & Tiny Spurlock on right
In the middle is Ben's oldest daughter, Alma and her husband Cornelius Holt