My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Miller 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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Rev. John Winham, a prominent citizen and minister of the gospel, of the Missionary Baptist persuasion, of Miller County, was born in Houston County, Ga., on December 1, 1831, being the son of Allen and Parthenia (Bush) Winham, natives of South Carolina and Georgia, respectively, and the former of English descent. The paternal grandparents moved from South Carolina when their son, our subject's father, was a boy, and settled in Georgia, where he grew to manhood and married. In 1844 he moved to Bossier Parish, La., then settled on a farm, and there tilled the soil with marked success. He was considered a very thrifty farmer, and was quite well-to-do before the war, but like most Southern people was a heavy loser in that struggle, which left him crippled financially. He and wife were both members of the Missionary Baptist Church, he having united with that denomination in his twenty-seventh year. In 1845 he was ordained a minister in that denomination, and from that time until his death continued to preach the gospel. Although he never attained greatness as a minister, he was known far and wide for his charitable deeds and kindness, and his death was mourned by the entire parish in which he lived, which, to show the honor and esteem in which he was held, erected a magnificent monument to his memory. He passed away in August, 1884, after a long and useful life of eighty-four years. His wife’s death occurred one year previous, she being also in her eighty-fourth year at the time she was called away. The father was a Whig, politically, and did much toward building up the churches, society, etc., in his community. Of the ten children born to them, seven were reared to maturity, and five are still living, viz.: Sarah (wife of William Wallings, a farmer of Bossier Parish, La.), John (the subject of this sketch), Parthenia (widow of Ed Gardner, of La Fourche Parish). George (resides on the old homestead in Louisiana), Frances (wife of Carter Norman, a farmer of Bossier Parish, La.), Martha (was the wife of John Coats, but is now deceased), Moses E. (was in a regiment of Texas cavalry and was killed in a skirmish in West Tennessee in 1862), Benjamin and one unnamed (died in infancy), and Mary J. (died in her ninth year). John Winham spent his school days in Bossier Parish, La., and was reared to farm labor. When he was eighteen years of age he commenced life on his own responsibility, by engaging in agricultural pursuits, which he continued in Bossier Parish until the latter part of 1859,when he moved to Arkansas, locating in Miller County (then Lafayette), settling on a farm on the Red River. In 1862 he purchased the farm on which he now lives, four miles southeast of town, comprising 150 acres of good tillable land, a good portion of which is lender cultivation. In 1863 he was detailed to serve in the quartermaster’s department, with headquarters at Washington, Hempstead County, and filled various positions—as wagon master, supply agent, yard master, etc. He united with the Missionary Baptist Church in 1870, and at once commenced to take an active part in church work as deacon, was soon licensed and then ordained to preach, and has had charge of a church ever since. He was united in matrimonial bonds in March, 1859, to Miss Elizabeth J. Larkin, daughter of Michael and Sarah J. Larkin, born in Bossier Parish, La., in 1839, and eleven children have been given them, all still living, namely: Lucullus (a farmer, and the present assessor of this county), Milton (a book-keeper for Frost & Ferguson, of Genoa, this county), Mary J. (wife of James R. Allen, an agriculturist of this county), Allen (recently of Bowie County, Tex., but now a successful teacher of this county), William, John, Susan Leonora, Ruth, George P., Sophronia and Moses, at home. Mrs. Winham and two sons are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. In politics Mr. Winham is democratically inclined.

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