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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Calhoun 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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J. W. Hollis, a prominent planter of River Township, was born in Ouachita County, Ark., in 1845, the fifth of a family of thirteen children born to Jeremiah and Sallie A. (Puckett) Hollis, natives of Tennessee, where the former followed farming until 1842. He then went to Mississippi, and from there came to Arkansas, settling in Ouachita County, where he entered land and lived for seven years. He then bought a farm in what is known as River Township, consisting of 160 acres, and made extensive improvements on the place. He was the first sheriff of this county and served three terms; he was also the first postmaster of Locust Bayou post-office, serving for three years; he was also a justice of the peace in that township for a number of years. He died in 1883 and by his death the county lost one of her best known and most highly respected citizens. The mother died in 1886. Our subject was raised and lived on the farm, attending the common schools until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he enlisted in Company A, Twelfth Texas Troops and served in the Trans-Mississippi Department. He was in the battles of Mansfield, Little Rock, Pleasant Grove, Yellow Bayou (La.), and with Gen. Price on his famous Missouri campaign, and participated in all the battles of that trip. His regiment surrendered at Marshall, Tex. Our subject then returned to Arkansas and engaged in farming for two years, and then went to Tennessee, where he remained for three years following various occupations; then he went to Texas and farmed for seven years, and in 1881 came back to Calhoun County, Ark., and bought a farm of forty acres of land in River Township, most of it under cultivation. In 1869 he was married to Miss Mollie Hassell, a native of Tennessee, by whom he has four children: Minnie, Joseph, Jessie and Mary, all healthy, interesting children. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Hollis takes a deep interest in religious and educational matters, and has been school director for nine years, and takes an active part in promoting the public interests. He is now secretary of Calhoun County Wheel, Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial Union.

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This family biography is one of 67 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Calhoun County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Calhoun County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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