More Information:

About John Agustus Eley:

John and Martha moved to Ark. from Hertford Co., NC around 1844.
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Found in 1850 Census, Ark., Hempstead Co.,Redland, img. 86.
Found in 1860 Census, Ark., Hempstead Co.,Redland, img. 60.
Found in 1880 Census, Ark., Hempstead Co.,Redland, img. 27.
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A John A. Eley is listed on a reconstructed roster of a Confederate unit from Arkansas, Washington Artillery (Etter's Battery), 1862. It also states in the Goodspeed article (shown below) that John served in the artillery during the war.

Etter's Battery - Sixth Arkansas Light Artillery. Etter recruited the men in the spring of 1862 and they enlisted at Washington, AR on June 14th. They saw action in Helena and Little Rock, AR, Pleasant Hill, Grand Ecore and Alexandria, LA.
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John A. Eley is listed as performing several marriages as a Justice of the Peace in the period 1855 thru 1859, in "Hempstead County Marriage Records, 1817-1875".
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From Goodspeed's Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Southern Arkansas; Hempstead County, 1890, Page 408:

John A. Eley, a planter, merchant and ginner residing in Redland Township, was originally from North Carolina, where his birth occurred on March 26, 1824. He emigrated from his native State to Arkansas in 1844, settled in Hempstead County and here he has since made his home. He was married to Miss Martha A. Brown, a native of North Carolina (born in 1827), in 1842, and to them have been born nine children, five of whom are now living: Lemuel J., William H., James D., Missouri A. (wife of William Daniels, a farmer living in this county), and Mary A. (wife of W. L. Bosbey, a farmer residing in this county). Mr. Eley served in the Confederate army during the late war, enlisting in the artillery in 1863, and serving until the close of the war. He then returned home and engaged in tilling the soil, which he has continued ever since, but in connection has also carried on milling and merchandising. He is the owner of 600 acres of good land, and has 100 acres under cultivation. He is a member of the Masonic order, and he and wife are members of the Baptist Church. Politically he is a Democrat, and his first presidential vote was cast for James K. Polk. He is in favor of all public improvements, and is a liberal donator to the same. He was justice of the peace of this township for about eighteen years, was postmaster at Hickory Creek post office from 1854 until 1860, and was clerk of the Baptist Church for a number of years. He was one of three children born to Lemuel and Nancy (Cherry) Eley, the father a native of North Carolina, born in the year 1792, and the mother also a native of that State, born in 1811. They were married in North Carolina, and there passed the closing scenes of their life, the father dying in 1822 (Note: can't be accurate) and the mother in 1887. The latter was a consistent member of the Baptist Church. The parents of Mrs. Eley were John and Martha Brown, natives of North Carolina.
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Federal Land Records - Hempstead Co., AR

Eley, John A. 40 Acres 1848/11/01
Eley, John A. 80 Acres 1855/06/15
Eley, John A. 160 Acres 1859/07/01
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Descendants of John Agustus Eley