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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Union 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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John A. Sewell has been a resident of Union County, Ark., since 1879, and holds an enviable place among the agriculturists of this region. He was born in Meriwether County, Ga., August 26, 1842, being the third of nine children born to John P. and Elizabeth L. (Wideman) Sewell, the former a Georgian, and the latter a native of South Carolina. They were married in the former State in January, 1837, and there settled permanently, the father being a Whig in politics before the war and a Democrat afterward, but was never an active politician. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for many years, and he was in full communion with the same at the time of his death in 1876, at the age of sixty-six years. His widow still survives him and resides in Georgia. In this State John A. Sewell was reared, his early education being obtained in the common schools. He began doing for himself in 1861, and the same year enlisted in Company B, Second Georgia Regiment, as a private, and was discharged on account of sickness. Upon recovering his health, he enlisted in Company B, First Georgia Cavalry and served with the same until the close of the war, participating in the following battles: Richmond, Danville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and was wounded at a skirmish at Mossy Creek in East Tennessee, in the left shoulder, neck and jaw, very seriously, but at present it does not trouble him to any great extent. He was with Johnston’s command in North Carolina at the time of the surrender, but he afterward returned to his home in Georgia, and again began the peaceful pursuit of farming. He was married in 1866 to Miss Sallie E. Culpepper, a native of Meriwether County, Ga., her parents being George W. and Perlina (Perdeu) Culpepper, who were old settlers of Georgia. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for many years, and she was in full communion with the same at the time of her death in 1882, at the age of seventy years. He still survives her, and resides in Georgia. After the marriage of Mr. Sewell, he and his wife resided in Georgia until 1879, then moved to Union County, Ark., and in 1885 purchased the farm of 500 acres on which he now resides. He has ninety acres under cultivation, the average yield being a half bale of cotton and fifteen bushels of corn to the acre. Nine children have been born to himself and wife, eight being now alive: George P., Emett K., Walter D., James A., John H., Noah F., Perlina E. and Alvin C. George P. was married in 1889 to Miss Lena G. Bird, a resident of this county. He is a Democrat, is president of the Democratic Club, located at Shuler, and in 1884 was elected to the position of magistrate, a position he filled for two terms in Garner Township. He is also a school director, a position to which he was elected in 1887, and he and his wife and five eldest children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

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This family biography is one of 84 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Union County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Union County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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