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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lee 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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DeWitt Anderson has been prominently identified with the farming interests of Lee County, Ark., since 1881, and is now the owner of a fine farm comprising 400 acres. He was born in Wilson County, Tenn., in 1848, and is a son of Gen. Paulding Anderson and Martha T. (Horde) Anderson, the former of Tennessee and the latter of Virginia. She was a relative of the Morehead family, of North Carolina, and came with her parents to Tennessee when a small girl. She was a member of the Baptist Church, and at the time of her death, in 1861, was fifty-six years old. Her brother, Jesse Horde, was a leading minister of the Methodist Church, in Texas. Frank Anderson, the paternal grandfather, was a Virginian, and his father and mother were from Scotland, and settled in this country at a very early day. Paulding Anderson, the father of our subject, was one of a large family, and was reared in Tennessee, where he became well-known and arose to prominence in political matters. He held the various offices of his county, with the exception of county clerk, and was a member of both houses of the legislature several terms. He served in the Confederate army, and, after the Federals took possession of the State, he went to the South with Gov. Harris, and was an active participant in the Rebellion until 1863, at which time he was captured, and, after being kept a prisoner at Nashville for months, was released on parole. In his early life he commanded the Central State militia, and during a big rally he commanded 10,000 men, being made general at that time. He was very active in church and school matters in his youth, and for many years was one of the chief props of his church. He was finely educated, was a great reader, and up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1882, at the age of seventy-nine years, he kept thoroughly posted with the current literature of the day. He and his wife were blessed in the birth of eleven children, nine of whom lived to be grown. DeWitt Anderson is the ninth in order of birth, and is one of the three who are now living. Six of the seven sons served in the Confederate army, also two nephews and eight first cousins, and only one of the entire lot was killed, Capt. Dick Anderson, who lost his life at the battle of Murfreesboro. None of the rest were even wounded. DeWitt Anderson commanded a company the first three years of the war, being first lieutenant of Company K, Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, and participated in the battles of Shiloh, the first and second battles of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Perryville; was in the Georgia campaign, and was taken prisoner near Rome, Ga., being kept in captivity at Johnson’s Island for nine months. After the surrender he was released and came home, again taking up his farming implements. He is now one of the prosperous farmers of Arkansas, and, as above stated, his home farm consists of 400 acres, although he owns 6,000 acres in the State, a considerable portion of which is rich bottom land. This property has all been acquired since coming to this State, as he then had no capital whatever, but his native energy and pluck. He was married in 1868 to Miss Chloe Davis, daughter of James Davis, a leading resident of Wilson County, Tenn., but he was called upon to mourn her death in 1870, her infant daughter dying soon after, at the age of six weeks. She was a consistent Christian, being a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a faithful, loving and helpful wife—so much so, that Mr. Anderson has since remained faithful to her memory, and is a widower.

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This family biography is one of 104 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lee County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Lee County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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