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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Little River 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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William T. Holman. The occupation which this gentleman now follows has received his attention the greater part of his life, and it is but truth to say that in it he is thoroughly posted and well informed, and his labors in this direction have contributed very materially to the reputation Little River County enjoys as a rich farming region. He was born in Madison County, Mo., August 9, 1815, the second of ten children reared to maturity by James and Rebecca Tong Holman. The former was born in Kentucky in 1781, and departed this life in Texas in his ninety-eighth year. In early life he emigrated to Madison County, Mo., where he resided until 1824, when he moved to Hempstead County, Ark., and there made his home for two years, subsequently coming to Sevier County. He was among the earliest settlers of this county, and took a prominent part in its affairs, representing it one term in the State Legislature. His first marriage was consummated in Kentucky, Miss Elizabeth McNeil becoming his wife, and they became the parents of two children. After her death he married Miss Rebecca Tong, a native of Maryland, who passed to her final home in Paris, Tex., about 1858. Of the ten children born to this last marriage, six are still living: Emily (widow of Henry K. Brown), William T., Nancy (wife of Thomas Guinn, a resident of Sevier County), Ira N. (a resident of California), Daniel (a resident of Sevier County, Ark.), and Susan (now the widow of Lewis M. Schrack, who makes her home in California). William T. Holman was nine years of age when his parents immigrated from Missouri, and he grew to manhood in what is now Sevier County, Ark., obtaining his education in the common schools. His marriage to Miss Mary Stewart, a native of Hempstead County, was consummated in 1841, and in 1848 she passed to her final home, and Henry B. Holman, now the sheriff of Hempstead County, is the only survivor of two children born to this marriage. In 1849 Mr. Holman crossed the plains to California, and was there engaged in mining and farming until 1856, when he came to this county, and here he has resided ever since. The same year of his arrival in this county, Miss Eliza Fuquay, a native of Hempstead County, Ark., and the daughter of Thomas W. and Delia (Brown) Fuquay, became his wife. Her father, a minister of the Presbyterian persuasion, was of French extraction, and claimed Kentucky as his birthplace. Early in life he moved to the Indian Territory, coming thence, in 1828, to Hempstead County, Ark., and later settling in Sevier County, same State, where he passed from life in 1859. His wife was a Virginian by birth, and died in September, 1886, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Holman, with whom she had spent her last days. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Holman have been born nine children—four sons and five daughters: Adelaide (wife of N. T. Richmond), James T., Mary J. (deceased), Edgar W., William L., Lucy, Frances, Lloyd C. and Elise. Mr. Holman has not spent his life in idleness, as his fine farm lying three miles northwest of Rocky Comfort, and about one and one-half miles from Indian Territory will show, and he devotes his attention to cultivating 250 acres of the 720 acres which this tract contains. During the late war he raised a company (in 1863) of which he was captain, and served as such until the surrender. In 1868 he was chosen Representative of Sevier County, and served as such very creditably for two years, during which time Little River County was formed from a portion of Sevier and Hempstead Counties. His first presidential vote was cast for William H. Harrison, and his last presidential vote was cast for Grover Cleveland. Mrs. Holman is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

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This family biography is one of 38 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Little River County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Little River County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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