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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Scott County, Arkansas published by Southern Publishing Company in 1891.  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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George W. Helms is an agriculturist by calling, and the success which attends his efforts is well merited, for no one is more thoroughly interested in his calling, or gives it greater attention. He was born in Franklin County, Ark., in 1849, and by his father was reared to farm life, his opportunities for an education being quite limited on account of the opening of the Rebellion. In 1869 he began doing for himself, working on rented land in his native county, but the fall following his marriage, which occurred in August, 1869, he took a piece of Government land as a homestead, on which he settled and began improving. He immediately put up a good log house and other buildings, and here made his home until 1881, when he sold the place and came to Scott County, and immediately purchased the farm on which he is now making his home. It contains 160 acres of land, 60 of which are in a good state of cultivation, and on this valuable land he has a good frame residence, tenant houses, stables, sheds, etc. His orchard, although young, is in a good bearing condition, and furnishes the family with an abundance of fine fruit. His farm is well cultivated, the principal crops being cotton, corn and oats, the yield of all being good, his last year’s profit being over $700. His wife, who was formerly Miss Mary Ann Pledger, was born in Georgia, but was reared in Franklin County, Ark. She has borne her husband three sons and five daughters: James, John, Acie Jane, Rosella F., Mattie, Georgie, Myrtle and Manie. James and Acie Jane are married and live near their parents. The other members of the family live at home and are attending a good district school in the vicinity. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and Mr. Helms is a member of the Farmers’ Alliance and is a Democrat, politically. He is liberal in his support of worthy movements and has the reputation among his neighbors of being a pushing, enterprising gentleman and a successful farmer.

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This family biography is one of 62 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Scott County, Arkansas published in 1891.  For the complete description, click here: Scott County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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