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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pulaski 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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J. B. Johnson, a prominent merchant and one of the principal farmers in Pulaski County, was born in Crockett County, Tenn., on January 15, 1865, and is a son of W. E. and Pearilee (Wells) Johnson, the former a native of Missouri who moved to Tennessee in 1864, and the mother a native of the latter State. The parents had seven children born to their union, of whom J. B. was the third. The father fought through the Civil War in the Confederate army, and left the struggle with a brilliant record gained on the battlefield. His death occurred in 1887, but his widow still survives him, as does also the paternal grandfather, at the age of seventy-six years. J. B. Johnson was reared in Crawford County, Tenn., until his sixteenth year, when he moved to Pulaski County, Ark., and commenced farming. On his arrival he had almost nothing in the way of wealth, but he has set an example since then that might well be followed by many young men of the present day —a career which would win for them also the respect and high position that he enjoys. He is now one of the leading men and representative citizens of his county. In 1887 he entered into partnership with Mr. Burton Mainard and established a business at Roland, in which they carry a stock of goods worth from $1,500 to $3,000, and have control of a patronage that is as large as it is lucrative. Aside from his business interests he owns 300 acres of valuable land, and has placed thirty-five acres under cultivation, all of it being the result of his own enterprise and good management. In September, 1887, he was married to Miss Millie Oglesby, by whom he had one child; and the hardest blow that has come to him was the loss of both mother and child. In politics he is a Democrat and a strong supporter of that party. He was elected constable of Roland Township in 1886, and in 1888 re-elected to the same position. Mr. Johnson is a straightforward, outspoken man, of a kindly, but fearless disposition, and is very popular with the citizens of Roland Township.

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This family biography is one of 156 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pulaski County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Pulaski County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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