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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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William H. Fry was born in Schuylkill County, Penn., in 1850, and is a son of Henry and Rebecca Van Reed (High) Fry, and grandson of Conrad Fry. Henry Fry was born in Dauphin County, Penn., in 1823, and was there reared and married. About 1848 he began merchandising at Pottsville, Penn., and afterward followed the same calling at Reading, and at the same time was engaged in oil refining and in the milling business. He was a very successful business man, and died in 1872. The last four years of his life he was unable to carry on an extensive business, owing to ill health. His wife was born in Berks County, Penn., in 1827 and is yet living. William H. Fry is the eldest of his five children. He was educated at Reading, and at the Tremont Seminary, at Norristown, Penn., the Kutztown Normal, and took a course in the Commercial Business College at Philadelphia. He clerked in a store in Reading for one year, and in 1878 went to Larned, Kas., where he was engaged in merchandising for five years. Owing to ill health he then abandoned the business and purchased a farm of 400 acres near the town, but sold out in 1887, and came to Benton County, and purchased 102 acres of land east of Bentonville, where he has since made his home. His farm is in a very fine state of cultivation, and he is doing well. In June, 1887, he became a director and stockholder of the People’s Bank, at Bentonville, and still retains that position. He is a Republican in politics and his first presidential vote was cast for Grant. He is a Knight Templar Mason. In 1877, he was married to Miss Posie Bowman, a daughter of Jacob and Letitia (Fry) Bowman. Mrs. Fry was born in Greene County, Ill., in 1855, and is the mother of three children: Clara M., Harry R. and Alice B.

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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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