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Below is a sample of a family biography 
included in the Biographical and Historical 
Memoirs of Monroe County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed in 1890.  
These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing 
ancestors or filling in the details in a family tree. Family biographies often 
include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  
Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place 
of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including 
maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if 
married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, 
church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often 
ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical 
record. 
  
  Capt. William J. F. Jones is a farmer and mechanic of Pine 
  Ridge Township, Monroe County, Ark., but his birth occurred in Maury County, 
  Tenn., in 1831, his parents being William and Penny (Skipper) Jones, natives 
  respectively of North Carolina and Virginia. They were both taken to Maury 
  County, Tenn., when small and were reared, educated and married in that State. 
  Mr. Jones died when our subject was about twelve years of age, and his wife 
  afterward married again and removed to Texas, where she died in 1883, both she 
  and Mr. Jones having been earnest members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Jones 
  was a farmer, as were his father and father-in-law, Joseph Skipper, and all 
  were early settlers of the State of Tennessee. Capt. William J. F. Jones was 
  the second of five children, and he and his elder brother, John W., were 
  reared to a farm life and after their father’s death assisted in the support 
  of the family until they attained manhood, William J. F. being so occupied 
  until he was twenty-four years of age. He was married in 1854 to Nancy A., a 
  daughter of William and Louisa Malone, by whom he became the father of ten 
  children, three sons and two daughters being now alive: William C., James T., 
  Maggie I. (wife of John L. Barnett), Viola J. and Theodore T. After his 
  marriage Mr. Jones resided in De Soto County, Miss, (which was Mrs. Jones’ 
  native birthplace), until 1856, since which date he has been a resident of 
  Monroe County, Ark. His first home here was a little log-cabin among the 
  woods, twelve miles east of Clarendon, and here, after many years of slow and 
  disheartening labor he finds himself the owner of 680 acres of as fine land as 
  there is in the county, and by his own efforts he has put 125 acres under the 
  plow. At the breaking out of the war he owed $500 on his homestead of 120 
  acres, but during this time he paid off the debt in full, and although suit 
  was afterward brought against him for the amount, the case was decided in his 
  favor. The rest of his property has been made since then. In 1861 he joined 
  Company A, Fifteenth Arkansas Infantry, as a private and became a member of 
  the Army of the Tennessee, participating in the battle of Shiloh. On May 15, 
  1862, he was detailed home for recruits, and had no difficulty in raising 
  sufficient men to form Company E, which was attached to the Sixth Arkansas 
  Infantry, and he became its captain. He was in the engagements of Prairie 
  Grove and Helena, but was taken captive at the latter place on July 4, 1863, 
  and was taken to Alton, Ill., where he spent one month, and from that time 
  until January 9, 1865, he was kept a prisoner at Johnson’s Island. After being 
  paroled he returned to his farm. His first presidential vote was cast for 
  Pierce in 1852, but since 1874 he has been a member of the Union Labor party. 
  He belongs to the Agricultural Wheel. His wife is a member of the Christian 
  Church.  
 
This family biography is one of 86 biographies 
included in the Biographical and 
Historical Memoirs of Monroe County, Arkansas published 
in 1890.  For the complete description, click here:
Monroe County Arkansas History, Genealogy 
and Maps  
 
 View additional Monroe County, 
Arkansas biographies here: 
Monroe County, Arkansas Genealogy 
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