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Below is a family biography included in The History of Benton County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  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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J. Alvin Dickson, farmer and nurseryman, three miles southeast of Bentonville, is a native of Benton County, Ark., born in 1845 and is the son of James A. and Mary A. (Wood) Dickson, and grandson of Maj. John B. Dickson, who immigrated to Madison County, Ark.; about 1830, and two years later moved to Benton County, of the same State; he was circuit clerk, ex-officio recorder of Benton County, and a member of the State Legislature. He was in the War of 1812 was in the battle of New Orleans, and was shot in the leg. He was one of the first settlers of Benton County. About 1851 he moved to the Lone Star State, and there died in 1879 at the age of eighty-four years. His son James A was born in Bedford County, Tenn., in 1819, and was but a boy when his parents moved to Benton County. June, 1844, he married Miss Mary A. Woods who was born in Marshall County, Tenn., in 1820, and who was the daughter of Samuel Woods. She is the mother of five children: J. Alvin; Sarah, wife of James Black; Charlotta E.; Belle, wife of Frank Kindley, and Dwight. After marriage Mr. Dickson located four miles southeast of Bentonville, and in 1846 moved to Osage Springs, and from there to Bentonville in 1849. Here he followed merchandising until 1866, when he moved three and a half miles southeast of Bentonville, and there he now resides. J. Alvin Dickson was educated in Bentonville, and served two years in the late Rebellion. He was in Company G, Second Arkansas Cavalry, and was in the fight at Marks’ Mill, Jenkins’ Mill, Pine Bluff, and in numerous other skirmishes. After the war he was in a drug store in Bentonville, Ark., and in 1877 he married Miss Lillie Woolsey, daughter of Henry B. Woolsey, and a native of Benton County, Ark., born in 1860. This union was blessed by the birth of five children: Eva, Mettie, Jewell, Gertrude and an infant son. Mr. Dickson is the owner of 200 acres of land, on which he located directly after his marriage. In 1881 he became a partner with his father-in-law in the nursery business. He is a Democrat in politics, and he and wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

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This family biography is one of 240 biographies included in The History of Benton County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Benton County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Benton County, Arkansas family biographies, click here

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