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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lawrence 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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Burrel M. Childers, a well-known and popular farmer and stock raiser, was born in Madison County, Ala., October 9, 1821. His father, John Childers, was a native of Georgia, who moved to the State of Alabama when a young man, and was there married to Miss Rutha Cown. The parents remained in Alabama until the year 1824, and then settled in Tennessee, where they resided up to 1838, when they selected Arkansas as their future home, and located in Lawrence County. The elder Childers had an eventful history in his younger days, and was a soldier in the Black Hawk War. He reared a family of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, of whom Burrel M. Childers is the only survivor. Burrel remained with his father until he was of mature age, and then enlisted in the Mexican War of 1846. After the war was over and the treaty had been made, he received his discharge, and returned to Lawrence County. He settled on his present place in 1849, when this portion of Arkansas was nothing more than a wilderness, and has lived to see it grow up into a populous and thriving community. Mr. Childers has since then cleared up about seventy-five acres, and put them under cultivation, besides owning 160 acres adjoining. He did, at one time, own over 1,000 acres, but has divided up with his children. When war was announced between the North and South he gave his services to the Confederacy, and joined Col. Shaver’s regiment. He was elected lieutenant, and held that rank until the close of hostilities. During that time he took part in the fights at Pilot Knob, Independence, Kansas City, Big Blue and Miner’s Creek, where Gen. Marmaduke was taken prisoner. After the war he returned to Lawrence County, and has since then been occupied in farming. His first marriage was to Miss Narcissa Beavers, of Illinois, who died in 1856. This wife left, two children, who grew to maturity, were married, and left children of their own. Mr. Childers next married, in this county, Mrs. Hopkins, a widow lady, of Indiana, who died in 1883. There are three children living by this wife, whose names are: C. F., wife of Joseph Lollar; Julia, widow of A. B. Hogard, and Hezekiah. His present wife was united to him in 1884, her former name being Aveline Grider, a daughter of Martin Grider, one of the pioneers of Randolph County. There are three children by this marriage: Maxie, Stonewall Jackson and Chaldon. Mr. Childers is a member of the Masonic order, and is a Royal Arch Mason, belonging to the Eastern Star. He attends the Christian Church, while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and also of the Eastern Star. In the early days of his settlement in Arkansas, Mr. Childers was a hunter of no mean pretences. He made a regular business of hunting for ten years, and together with his brother, killed thirty-six bears, six panthers and a great number of wild cats, in one spring, besides a quantity of deer. He has a record of killing eleven deer in one day, while a companion of his, a Frenchman, killed eleven deer and two bears the same day. Mr. Childers is a genial and active gentleman, though well advanced in life, and is very much thought of by his neighbors. He is full of anecdote, and it is a pleasure to listen to the reminiscences of his early days, which none can tell so well as an old settler.

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This family biography is one of 111 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lawrence County, Arkansas published in 1889.  View the complete description here: Lawrence County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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