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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Ashley County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of 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.

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John D. Hollaway, merchant and planter, Portland, Ark. The essential elements to success in any culling are keen perception, sound judgment and a determined will, supported by persevering and continuous effort, and what is termed genius has little to do with the success of men in general. We are led to these reflections by a perusal of the life of Mr. Hollaway, who is one of the prominent, farmers and successful business men of Portland Township. He was born near Portland, Ark., on July 7, 1851, and is a son of James L. and Caroline (Beck) Hollaway, both natives of Franklin County, Miss. There the parents were married and resided until 1844, when they came to Arkansas and settled on the place which his children now own. When they first settled here, the only settlers in the limits of the present township of Portland were the Bradys, and several other families. The father was twice married, his first wife dying in 1857, and in 1859 he took for his second wife, Miss Imogene Clyde, who died in 1878. To his first union were born three children, and one child was born to his last, all now living and have families. The father was a Royal Arch Mason and died in 1870, at the age of fifty-seven years. John D. Hollaway assisted his father on the farm until the breaking out of the late war, received the advantages of a good education in the common schools. After the war he attended school for a short time, and when seventeen years of age he took charge of the home place which he has been working ever since. He inherits his share of the home place, and later added to this 300 acres more, 200 acres of which are cleared. Mr. Hollaway has been twice married, first on November 2, 1873, to Miss Lizzie, daughter of M. E. Mutsides of Georgia. She died in April, 1879. His second marriage was to Miss Sallie Austin, on February 6, 1889, and they have one child, James Lee. Mrs. Hollaway is the daughter of W. A. Austin. Mr. Hollaway is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Portland Lodge, and is also a member of the K. of P., at Hamburg. In 1886 he bought out Jackson, a partner of Cammack, and the year following bought out Cammack in the mercantile business at Portland. He carries a stock invoicing $1,500, and does an annual business of from $8,000 to $10,000. He carries a general line of plantation supplies.

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This family biography is one of 97 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Ashley County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Ashley County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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