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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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Rev. Wallace Carnahan, the rector of Christ Church at Little Rock, Ark., and an eminent and much respected citizen, is a native of the Old Dominion, where his birth occurred April 18, 1843. His father dying when he was eight years old, his mother removed with him to Newport, Ky., and there he received his literary education. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, and afterward practiced for about three years in partnership with the late Hon. Thomas L. Jones, member of Congress. At this period of his life, Mr. Carnahan’s attention was drawn to the ministry of the Episcopal Church, and feeling called to that work, he abandoned the bar and entered upon the study of theology, which he pursued under Bishop Smith and the Rev. John N. Norton, D. D., and was ordained to the Diaconate by Bishop Smith, Jane 9, 1869, and ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Green, in 1870. He spent the first four years of his ministry in the diocese of Mississippi, and the seven years that followed in Western Texas as a missionary. From Texas he was called to Grace Church, Anniston, Ala., and that parish was the field of his labors for six years. From Alabama he was called to Christ Church, Little Rock, September 1, 1886. In this church Mr. Carnahan’s work has been greatly blessed, and he is recognized as an able and eloquent preacher. Rev. Wallace Carnahan was married in Mississippi to Miss Mary S. Hart, a daughter of Capt. John D. Hart, a planter of Madison County, Miss. Mr. Carnahan is the son of James and Caroline (Smith) Carnahan, natives of Virginia. The grandfather was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and was a noted Orangeman. The mother was a daughter of Maj. Henry Smith, a native of Maryland and one of the original settlers of Wheeling, Va.

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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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