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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Clay 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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James Deniston, who is prominently identified with the farming and stock raising interests of Oak Bluff Township, was born in Ballard County, Ky., July 13, 1839, and is the son of John Deniston, who was born and reared in Washington County, Va. He was also married in that State, to Miss Dorotha L. Puckett, a native of Amelia County, Va. Her father served in the War of 1812. After marriage Mr. Deniston settled on a farm in Kentucky, and followed tilling the soil up to the breaking out of the late war, when, at the age of fifty-two, he enlisted in the Twenty-third Kentucky Infantry, Union Army, and died in Texas. James Deniston spent his youth in his native county, in Kentucky, assisting his father on the farm, and when in his nineteenth year, he was married there to Miss Eliza Brown, who bore him five children. After marriage Mr. Deniston followed agricultural pursuits in Kentucky until 1868, when he moved to Missouri, and spent one year in Cape Girardeau County. He then resided two years in Stoddard County, and in the spring of 1872 moved to Arkansas, bought raw land, and there he lives at the present time. He is the owner of 280 acres of land, with about 125 acres cleared, all good bottom land. He served as a member of the school board for ten consecutive years, and has the confidence and esteem of his fellow men. He was married, in Cape Girardeau County, to Miss Mary E. Welch, a native of Illinois, but who was reared near Alton, Obion County, Tenn. Nine children were born to the last marriage: Isabelle, Ada, Bernetta J., Rhoda, Ida M., Stonewall J., Scott H., George and Effie W. Mr. and Mrs. Deniston are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and he is a deacon in the same. He is a Master Mason, and a member and treasurer of Danley Lodge No. 300, A. F. & A. M.

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This family biography is one of 124 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Clay County, Arkansas published in 1889.  View the complete description here: Clay County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Clay County, Arkansas family biographies here: Clay County, Arkansas Biographies

View a map of 1889 Clay County, Arkansas here: Clay County, Arkansas Map

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