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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Hempstead 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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Robert W. Jones, the very efficient clerk of Hempstead County, Ark., and native of the same, was born in 1841, to Dr. Isaac N. and Elizabeth W. (Littlejohn) Jones, who were born in Granville County, N. C, the former’s birth occurring in 1797, and the latter’s in 1805. They were also married there, but afterward removed to Tennessee, thence to Texas, and about 1840 came to Hempstead County, Ark., where they spent the rest of their days, Dr. Jones dying in 1857, and his widow in 1867. The Doctor was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and from earliest manhood was a medical practitioner. During the time that Texas was a republic, he was a member of the Senate. Socially he was a member of the A. F. & A. M., and had been married twice, his second wife being the mother of Robert W. His father, Daniel Jones, was a Revolutionary soldier, and died in North Carolina. Thomas Littlejohn, the mother’s father was born of Scotch parents, and died in North Carolina, also. Robert W. Jones was the eighth of his parents’ nine children, and in the town of Washington he was reared and educated. In May, 1861, he joined the Arkansas State Troops and operated in Southwest Missouri and Arkansas until September of that year, when he became a member of Company A, Twentieth Arkansas Infantry, and after serving for a short time as first sergeant, he was promoted to second lieutenant, and afterward to adjutant of his regiment. He was in Mississippi until after the fall of Vicksburg, then took part in the engagements of Corinth, Baker’s Creek and Jenkins’ Ferry, and surrendered at Marshall, Tex. In March, 1867, his marriage to Miss Laura C. Finley took place. She was born in Hempstead County, and their union has been blessed in the birth of two sons and two daughters. Mrs. Jones’ parents, Maj. James W. and Virginia B. Finley, were born in Kentucky and Virginia, respectively, but were early emigrants to Hempstead County, Ark., where the remainder of their days were spent. The father was a planter and merchant, and died in June, 1808. His widow survives him at the age of seventy years. Mr. Jones was one of the prosperous farmers of this section until his election to his present office in 1888, but now rents his fine farm of 100 acres. In 1876 he was called upon to mourn the death of his wife, she having been an earnest member of the Presbyterian Church, of which he is also a member.
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This family biography is one of 131 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Hempstead County, Arkansas published in 1890. For the complete description, click here: Hempstead County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps
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