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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Jefferson 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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Malcom Currie is the well-known proprietor of Currie Vineyard, situated eight miles southwest of Pine Bluff, on the public road between White Sulphur Springs and Lee’s Springs, being a half mile distant from each point. This is conceded to be one of the finest vineyards and fruit farms in Central Arkansas, and is managed in a manner which is sure to secure profitable returns. The orchard consists of 250 apple-bearing trees, 150 peach trees, 125 wild goose plum trees, 140 dwarf pear trees, and 150 Le Conte pear trees. In the vineyard are about 5,000 bunch grape vines, three-fourths of which are bearing, 250 scuppernong vines, on arbors from 50 to 900 square feet. Besides making from 2,000 to 2,500 gallons of wine, several thousand pounds of grapes are sold annually. Mr. Currie was born in North Carolina in 1825, and is a son of Daniel and Anna (Ray) Currie, natives of North Carolina, both of whom were born in 1801. They died within five miles of their birth-place, the father in 1871 and the mother in 1868. They were of Scotch descent, their ancestors having come to the United States some time before the Revolutionary War, with a large number of families who settled in the Carolinas; as might be supposed, they belonged to the Presbyterian Church. Malcom was the oldest of nine children, seven of whom are yet living. He was reared on the farm in North Carolina, and having received a classical education in the best schools in the county, at the age of twenty years commenced teaching school. In October, 1857, he moved to Arkansas, settling on the place where he now lives, but boarded at White Sulphur Springs the first year until he could build. In 1862 he ceased his professional duties for a time, and served eighteen months in the Confederate army on post duty. After the close of the war he resided near Pine Bluff for two years, raising cotton, but returned to the place where he now resides, and planted the nucleus of his present extensive vineyard. While in North Carolina Mr. Currie was married to Miss Eliza Davis, whose birth occurred in that State in 1825. She died in Arkansas in 1861, having borne two children, Charles G. and Ida (now the wife of Henry G. Hanna, of Kentucky). Charles died suddenly in 1877, at the age of twenty-eight years, of heart disease. After his wife’s death, Mr. Currie’s house was presided over by an older sister-in-law until her death in October, 1880, and since that time by one of his own sisters. In 1860 he was elected common school commissioner for Jefferson County, holding the office eight years. In 1882 he was elected county assessor, serving one term, and he has been school director many years. He was principal of the High School of Pine Bluff for two years, closing his connection with that institution in June, 1877, which terminated his career as a professional teacher. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church at Pine Bluff. Perhaps no citizen of Jefferson County occupies a warmer place in the affections of the people as an advocate and promoter of educational advancement than Mr. Currie. His interests in this direction are by no means personal, and his influence in this as in other respects has been of decided benefit.

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This family biography is one of 136 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Jefferson County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Jefferson County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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