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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pike 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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J. D. Pickett, farmer, Bingen, Ark. The third child in a family of five children, Mr. Pickett was born in Ouachita County, Ark., in 1850, and his paternal great-grandfather, Edward Pickett, was one of the very first settlers of Tennessee, and there the paternal grandfather was born and reared. The latter was a soldier in the War of 1812, under Gen. Jackson. Our subject’s father, James Pickett, and also his mother, formerly Miss Julian Davenport, were both natives of Tennessee, where the father tilled the soil until his removal to Arkansas, in 1848. He then followed overseeing for a few years, after which he entered land, and engaged in cultivating the soil again. He enlisted during the latter part of the war, and served but a short time. He had two sons in the army, one of whom died in prison at Rock Island. He has always been very active in political affairs in Ouachita County, and served as justice of the peace for six years. He was bailiff and deputy sheriff, and held these positions prior to the war. He is now seventy-two years of age, has never missed an election, and he and wife have been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for many years. They make their home with their children, who are named as follows: William Jefferson (married and resides in Ouachita County), Robert Miller (the soldier who died in the war), John D., James Henry (married and resides in Ouachita County) and Edward (who resides on the old homestead). J. D. Pickett was reared on the farm in Ouachita County, and attended the common schools until twenty-one years of age. At the age of twenty-three years, he was married to Jane C. Gill, a native of Mississippi, and the daughter of Robert Gill, who came to Arkansas in 1844. In 1875 he went to Texas, and after living there for three years, returned to Ouachita County, where he bought a farm of 240 acres, 100 acres under cultivation. This he improved, erected good buildings, and set out six acres in orchard. In 1889 he bought his present farm, consisting of 240 acres, with 100 acres under cultivation, and the balance well timbered, and has made many improvements. His marriage resulted in the birth of seven children, six of whom are living: Robert M., Victoria I. S., Minneola, John B., Daisy Ann, Thomas Hendricks, and one died at birth. Mrs. Pickett is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and is a lady of refinement and cultivation. Mr. Pickett has been a political worker, but not an office seeker. He has been a leader in school matters, serving as director of his district, and is an active citizen in all respects. His new home in Pike County already shows the result of industry and taste, ease and plenty.

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This family biography is one of 71 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pike County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Pike County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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