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Below is a family biography from the book,  The History of Crawford 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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Dr. Addison McArthur Bourland, of Van Buren, was born in Franklin County, Ala., in 1825, and is a son of John Bacon and Nancy (Hardwich) Bourland. The Bourlands were originally from Scotland, afterward moved to Ireland, and before the Revolutionary War located in South Carolina, where Ebenezer Bourland, the grandfather of our subject, was born in 1768. He was a son of John Bourland, a native of Londonderry, Ireland. In 1817 Ebenezer moved to Franklin County, Ala., and in 1833 to Franklin County, Ark., locating seven miles northwest of Ozark. He died in 1842. John Bacon was born in North Carolina in 1805, and when twelve went Alabama. In 1824 he married Nancy Hardwich, who was of English descent, and born on Duck River, Tenn., in 1806. In 1833 he moved to Franklin County, Ark., and there died in 1840, and his wife in 1882. She was the mother of five children, five of whom are living, Dr. Addison being the eldest. He was reared upon the farm, and at the age of seventeen, having received a common-school education, taught for three year. In 1844 he began to study medicine in Barry County, Mo., with Dr. B. B. Clements, and in 1846 enlisted in Company D, Arkansas Mounted Volunteer Cavalry, for the Mexican War. He went as far south as Buena Vista, and served one year as hospital steward, afterward being engaged as dispenser at the United States Hospital at the mouth of the Rio Grande. After retiring he again taught school, and in 1857 entered the medical department of the university at Nashville, Tenn., graduating the same year. He resided in Franklin County until 1864, and then came to Van Buren, where he is one of the leading physicians. He is conversant with Latin, Greek and French, and has a medical library in the latter language. He is a member of the Van Buren Medical Society, also a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he is indeed a self-made man. In 1848 he married Susanna E. Davis, who was born in Tennessee in 1830, and bore him four children: Ellen Florine, wife of Christian Bruun, professor of music at Batesville, Ark.; Thomas D., merchant at Van Buren; William A., merchant in Port Townsend, W. T., and Othello M. The latter graduated from Vanderbilt University when a young man, and afterward at Bellevue, M. Y. He is his father’s medical partner, and a member of the Van Buren Medical Society, secretary of the Crawford County Medical Association, and a member of the American Medical Association. Mrs. Bourland died in January 1859, and in November, 1865, the Doctor wedded Bettie Williams, who was born in Kentucky in 1842, and has two children: Juanita A, wife of Burr K. Field, civil engineer and vice-president of East Berlin Iron Bridge Company, and Rosena Kate. Dr. B. has given his children all the educational advantages available, and is one of the leading and public-spirited men of the county. He is conservative in politics, voting for principles and not a party adherent, but is Democratic in his views to a large extent. His religious views are that pure religion is the noblest quality to which our nature can attain, and defines it thus: Pure religion is that inspiration resulting from a conscientious loyalty to truth which fills one with a sincere, earnest, abiding desire to adjust one’s self wisely to the conditions of our being.

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This family biography is one of 222 biographies included in The History of Crawford County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Crawford County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Crawford County, Arkansas family biographies here: Crawford County, Arkansas

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