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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lafayette 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 H. Howell, county and probate judge of Lafayette County, owes his nativity to Upson County, Ga., where his birth occurred March 10, 1835. His father, Caspar Howell, was born in Georgia, in 1790, and there he grew to maturity, later engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he successfully conducted until his death, which occurred in 1845. His wife, whose maiden name was Christine White, departed this life in Columbia County, Ark., in 1867. Of' the eight children born to their marriage, only three are now living, the subject of this sketch and his two sisters. Robert H. Howell attained his growth in his native State, and obtained the best education the common schools afforded. In 1856 he moved to Columbia County, Ark., and there he made his home until 1866, when he came to Lafayette County. He enlisted as a private in the Confederate cause in 1861, joining the Invincible Guards, Third Arkansas State Troops, but after about three months this regiment was disbanded, and he then joined the First Tennessee Heavy Artillery, under Col. Andrew Jackson, in which he served until the surrender. During this time he was in the fight at Columbus, Ky., at Fort Pillow, and siege of Vicksburg, where he was captured, but immediately paroled, and was at Fort Morgan, Ala., and for his meritorious conduct and strict attention to duty he was promoted to a lieutenancy. At Mobile, Ala., he was captured and taken to New Orleans, thence to Lafayette, N. Y., where he was kept a prisoner for several months, then taken to Fort Warren, Mass., and here he was released at the close of the war. He immediately returned to Columbia County, and was married, in 1866, to Miss Sarah R. Dismakus, a native of Tennessee, and the daughter of Thomas and Mary J. Hagar, both of whom were natives of Virginia. Her father died in this county some time since, but her mother is still living, and makes her home with her children. Mr. Howell and wife are the parents of six children—two sons and four daughters: Henrie, Ora, Willie, Eva, Lee and Lynn. As mentioned above, Mr. Howell came to this county in 1866, and from that date until 1887 he was successfully occupied in farming. In 1886 he was elected county and probate judge of Lafayette County, and he has ever since been efficiently discharging the duties incumbent upon this office. Socially he is a member of the Masonic order, which he joined in 1855, and in which he has attained to the Royal Arch degree, and belongs to the I. O. O. F. He and wife are both much esteemed members of the Baptist Church, and in politics he is now, and ever has been, a stanch Democrat. He is the owner of a fine sawmill, located about two and one-half miles northwest of Lewisville.

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This family biography is one of 44 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lafayette County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Lafayette County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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