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Below is a family biography included in The History of Madison 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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James Gilliland, senior member of the firm of Gilliland & Stotts, dealers in hardware and agricultural implements, was born in Haywood County, Tenn., in 1831, on March 5, and is a son of J. B. and Jane (McFerren) Gilliland. The father was born in Virginia in 1791, moved to Alabama when a boy, and was married in Tennessee, where his eight children were born. In 1837 he located in Arkansas, five miles south of Huntsville, sold his place about 1850, and moved on King’s River, where he farmed until his death in 1857. The mother was born in Virginia in 1792, and died in Texas in 1867. All of the children, save one sister, are living. James passed his youth upon the farm, remaining with parents until twenty-three years of age, when he married and engaged in farming. In 1857 he moved to Texas, and there served in the Confederate army four years. He left Texas in 1867 and settled in War Eagle, where he served as sheriff for two years after 1874. He then became interested in the insurance business, but for the past nine years has been successfully engaged in the mercantile business at Huntsville. In 1854 he married Susan Keeling, of this county, by whom he has had five children: David B., John T., Samuel, Margaret C. and Mary Jane (deceased). Both himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Gilliland is a Democrat and a Mason.
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This family biography is one of 99 biographies included in The History of Madison County, Arkansas published in 1889. For the complete description, click here: Madison County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps
View additional Madison County, Arkansas family biographies here: Madison County, Arkansas
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