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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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William A. Davis, another prominent farmer and stock raiser of Haywood Township, Clay County, Ark., was born in the above mentioned county, near Greenway, April 29, 1853, and is the son of Elihu Davis, a Kentuckian by birth, who was reared in that State and in Tennessee. The father came to Arkansas when a young man and was here married. William A. Davis grew to manhood on the home farm, remaining with his father until twenty-seven years of age, and was married here first, March 10, 1881, to Miss Anna Randleman, who died in September, 1881. Mr. Davis had bought and located where he resides in 1880, and this place he has greatly improved. He has fifty-five acres of cleared land, neat buildings, a good orchard, and has twenty-five acres in timber, all good bottom land, one mile from Greenway. Mr. Davis was married, in this county, December 29, 1886, to Miss Belle Gorden, a native of Tennessee, but who was reared and educated in Clay County, Ark. Her father, Jordan Gorden, who is now deceased, was one of the pioneers of Arkansas. To Mr. and Mrs. Davis have been born one child, Myrtle, who is now six months old. Mr. Davis is a member of the Masonic Order, Wisdom Lodge No. 343, in which he is senior deacon.

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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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