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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Columbia 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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James W. Henry is successfully engaged in tilling his farm, which embraces 160 acres of fine land. He has acquired this property by ceaseless industry, united with a strong and determined effort to succeed in life, and he fully deserves his present success. He was born in Monroe County, Ala., May 15, 1836, being a son of Joseph H. and Permelia (Paul) Henry, natives of Virginia and Alabama, respectively. The father was one of the “honest sons of the soil” throughout his life, and he and his wife were members of the Baptist Church at the time of their deaths, his demise occurring in 1845, and hers a year earlier. To them a family of eight children were born, four of whom are living: James W., Annie (now Mrs. Shockley of Miller County), Joseph (a farmer of that county), and Sallie (now Mrs. Childress of Caldwell Parish, La). James W. Henry remained in the State of Alabama until he attained his fourteenth year when he removed with his parents to Homer, La., and was there employed as an engineer in a saw mill until the opening of the Civil War, when he, on June 10, 1861, enlisted in the Ninth Louisiana Infantry. On the third day’s fight at Bull Run, he was wounded, and after three months spent in the hospital he was discharged on account of disability. Eight months later he had recovered sufficiently to be drafted, and again went into the service, but escaped and went North, where he remained until after the close of the war. He was first married in 1862 to Miss Camilla Ann Smart, a native of Alabama, who died in 1863, leaving one child, now deceased. His next marriage took place in 1866, his wife being Miss Ann Norris, a daughter of Silas Norris, of Alabama. He was so unfortunate as to lose this wife also in 1871, she having borne him the following children: Joseph H. (a farmer of this county), Mattie (Mrs. Ford of this county), and John W. (a farmer of Clark County). In 1871 Mr. Henry married Miss Cornelia Norris, a sister of his second wife, and to them have been born five children: Calhoun, George, Minnie, Robert and Mary. Mr. Henry has been a resident of Columbia County since 1887, but in 1877 returned to Louisiana, where he purchased a farm of 160 acres. This he disposed of in 1879, and moved to Lafayette County, purchasing a farm which he still owns. He has been permanently located in this county since 1887, and is hard at work putting his farm in a good agricultural condition. He and Mrs. Henry are members of the Baptist Church, and he has always been a Democrat in his political views.

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This family biography is one of 106 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Columbia County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Columbia County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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