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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Dallas 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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Lewis Amis, Sr., merchant, Princeton, Ark. Foremost among those engaged in merchandising in Princeton is Mr. Amis, who has built up a trade which will rank among the largest in the county. This gentleman was born in North Carolina, Granville County, on December 22, 1822, and is the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Downey) Amis, natives also of Granville County, N. C. The father was born in 1790, and was a successful agriculturist. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was stationed at Norfolk, Va. He was also a colonel in the militia. For many years he held the office of magistrate, and was a man universally esteemed. He was widely known, was a Whig in politics, and was prominent in both political and church circles. He died in his native county in 1840, and the mother also died there eight years later. They were both members of the Presbyterian Church, and took great interest in religious matters. Of the eight children born to his parents, Lewis Amis was third in order of birth. He received his primary education in the schools of his native county, and supplemented the same by attending Chapel Hill College, Orange County, N. C. After the death of his father he commenced farming, then moved to Georgia in 1857, and from there to Dallas County, Ark., where he has since resided. Upon coming to Princeton he embarked in mercantile pursuits, and this he has since continued with the greatest success. He espoused the cause of the Southern States during the late war, and was in the commissary department. Previous to this, in October, 1843, he had married Miss Martha Amis, a native of Granville County, N. C, and the daughter of William Amis. She died in North Carolina. The fruits of this union were two children: Martha (wife of William M. Adams, a farmer of Texas), and Joseph Warren (deceased, who was in business with his father). On June 1, 1852, Mr. Amis married Miss Martha Daniel, the daughter of Lewis Daniel of North Carolina, and she died on August 10, 1889. She was born on August 16, 1835. The children born to this marriage were seven in number: Walter S. (attorney of Cleveland County), Eugene H. (a Presbyterian minister now in Kentucky), Betsy (wife of H. R. Thomas, a farmer of this county), Amy F. (wife of R. C. Wilkins, commercial traveler, Pine Bluff, Ark.), Lewis, Jr. (merchandising at Princeton, and a partner with his father), Alice and Mary. Mr. Amis was county treasurer for ten years, and discharged the duties of that office in a very satisfactory manner. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and a Democrat in politics.

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This family biography is one of 55 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Dallas County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Dallas County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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