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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Jackson 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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J. C. Bleakley is a planter and stock raiser of Auvergne. His parents were William C. and Catherine Bleakley, of North Carolina. Mr. Bleakley came to the southern part of Arkansas before the war, where he married, after which he came to Jackson County and bought what is now the Pickett farm. Later he moved to Hempstead County, where he raised his family, and where our subject was born, October 20, 1854. The family consisted of nine children, four of whom lived to be grown — William, died at the age of twenty-one; J. C., Mary, wife of Charles Hams, now the wife of George Johnson, farmer of Oil Trough Bottom; and Robert, a farmer. The father, a conservative man politically, died in 1865, and the mother in 1874. They were both members of Missionary Baptist Church. J. C. spent his boyhood days on his mother’s farm, and at the age of eleven years began its management. He was his mother’s main stay, and assisted his brothers and sisters in getting an education, sending his sister one term to the high school at La Crosse. In 1868 he sold his property in Hempstead County, came to Jackson County, and bought forty acres of land, which he began clearing and improving, and on which he has since resided. In 1877 he bought 120 acres adjoining, and now has 115 acres under cultivation, south of Auvergne, raising corn and cotton. In November, 1876, he married Miss Abertine Clanton, daughter of Javison and Dulciana (Morris) Clanton, of South Carolina and Georgia, respectively, who came to Union Township, Jackson County, in 1871. Her father died in 1882, but the mother, still surviving, resides in Union Township. She has three brothers — William, John and Thomas, farmers in Faulkner County, and a sister, Georgia, wife of John E. Manger, farmer, of Faulkner County. Mr. Bleakley’s family consists of five children living — Oscar, Lulu, Lina, Crawford, Claude and Georgia; Clyde died in childhood. In addition to this family, they are raising and giving a home to Idle, Willie and Eva Nelson, children of a widow, one of his tenants, whose dying wish was that they should raise her children. Mr. Bleakley has a pleasant and comfortable home, and has seen a great many improvements in this community. He and his wife are members of Sand Hill Baptist Church. He is a Democrat, but conservative. He is a most enterprising farmer, raising horses, cattle and hogs. He is always active in the interest of all public enterprises for the welfare of the county.

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This family biography is one of 144 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Jackson County, Arkansas published in 1889.  View the complete description here: Jackson County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Jackson County, Arkansas family biographies here: Jackson County, Arkansas Biographies

View a map of 1889 Jackson County, Arkansas here: Jackson County, Arkansas Map

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