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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Bradley 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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W. B. Brooks is a prominent planter, engaged in the stave business at Warren, and although he was born in Mason County, Ky., in 1842, he has been a resident of Bradley County since 1874. He is the fourth of twelve children born to John T. and Elizabeth (Anderson) Brooks, native Kentuckians, who moved to Audrain County, Mo., in 1857, where he became well known as editor of the Mexico Ledger, which he conducted up to the time of his death, in 1876. He was also a minister in the Christian Church for many years, and was instrumental in bringing many souls to the feet of Christ. His wife’s death occurred in 1885. Their eldest son, John A. Brooks, was the Prohibition candidate for Vice-President from Missouri, in 1888, and is now a minister of the gospel in Kansas City. W. B. Brooks, the immediate subject of this biography, spent his days up to the age of twenty years in farm work, during the summer months, and in attending the district schools during the winter seasons, but in 1866 he moved to Arkansas, and settled on Bayou Bartholomew, where for about seven years he was engaged in following the plow. In 1874 he married Miss E. T. Hughey, a daughter of Judge Hughey, one of the pioneer settlers of Bradley County, and in time a family of eight children was born to them: Carrie, John, Mary, Tiner, Mittie, Willie, Fannie and Louise, all intelligent and healthy children, a speaking illustration of the healthfulness of the Arkansas climate. Mr. Brooks has been more than ordinarily successful in his farming operations, and is the owner of 710 acres of fine land, three and one-half miles from Warren, sixty acres of which are cleared and under good cultivation, and the rest in timber land. His wife is a Baptist, while he belongs to the Christian Church, and is an earnest advocate of temperance, having helped clear the saloons from out Warren. He is not an active politician, but usually votes the Democrat ticket. He belongs to the K. of P., Hampton Lodge No. 34.
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This family biography is one of 64 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Bradley County, Arkansas published in 1890. For the complete description, click here: Bradley County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps
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