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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Sevier 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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Alex Little is a practical, go-ahead farmer and stock-raiser, and fully appreciates the comforts of a competence gained by individual efforts. His birth occurred in 1831, in Carroll County, Ga., but his father, Theophilus Little, was a South Carolinian, born July 26, 1810. He was married, in his native State, to Miss Martha Lowry, and a short time after his marriage he removed to Georgia, where he made his home until 1861, at which time he took up his abode in Texas, coming after the cessation of hostilities to Sevier County, Ark. After living here three years, they removed to Crawford County, where the father closed his eyes in death, March 26, 1875. His widow returned to South Carolina and died in July, 1888, having been a member of the Missionary Baptist Church for sixty years, her husband having been connected with that denomination for forty-six or forty-seven years. He was a farmer and stock-raiser, and a son of Josiah Little, who was probably born in South Carolina, and died in Carroll County, Ga., where he had filled the office of sheriff for many years, his son, Theophilus, acting as his deputy. The maternal grandfather, Charles Lowry, was born in Virginia, and died in Cass County, Ga., about 1872, at the age of eighty-two years. He was a soldier in the Mexican War, was wounded several times, and until his death carried seven bullets in his body. He was helpless for many years. The subject of this sketch is the third of fourteen children, seven sons and four daughters now living, and his early days were spent on a farm and in attending the common schools. At the age of twenty-one years he began farming for himself, but in 1857 Margaret J. Ferguson, a daughter of Andrew and Dorothea Ferguson, became his wife, and in time the mother of his twelve children, five of whom are sons; of these three daughters and five sons are deceased. She was born in Calhoun County, Ga., in 1839 and shortly after her marriage, and about the same time as her parents, she came to Sevier County, Ark. Her father died in Howard County in 1886, his wife dying in 1877, both having been members of long standing of the Missionary Baptist Church. Upon coming to Sevier County, Ark., Mr. Little settled on a farm one and one-half miles north of Lockesburg and there now owns a fine farm of 320 acres, 175 being under cultivation. In addition to tilling the soil he raises considerable stock, and has become well known throughout this region as a successful man in both enterprises. In April, 1861, he joined the Nineteenth Arkansas Infantry, and served almost continuously until the close of the war, and while a nurse in the hospital at Little Rock he was captured, but soon after managed to effect his escape, and came to Washington, where he was made forage master in Gen. Kirby Smith’s cavalry, and operated in Southwest Arkansas and Louisiana until the close of the war. He surrendered at Marshall, Tex., and returned home. He is a Democrat; has been a member of the A. F. &A. M. for the past eighteen years, and he and his wife have long been members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, their two eldest children being also members.

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This family biography is one of 96 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Sevier County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Sevier County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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