My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of Washington 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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Charles Dale, lumberman of Fayetteville, Ark., was born in Port Huron, Mich., April 17, 1846, and is a son of Perry H. Dale, a contractor and builder of that city, a native of Rochester, Genesee Co., N.Y., being a son of an English gentleman who came to America and made a settlement in York State. Perry H. Dale was married to Miss E. A. Spalding, a daughter of Jedediah Spalding, of New Hampshire. Charles Dale grew to maturity at Port Huron, and at the age of eighteen years left his father’s sash and door factory in which he worked; and went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he enlisted in the Tenth United States Infantry April 18, 1864, and was soon sent to the front. The first important battle in which he participated was the battle of the Wilderness, and he afterward took an important part in the following battles: Spottsylvania Court House, North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Siege of Vicksburg, and Weldon Railroad. He was severely wounded in the right foot at the latter engagement, which incapacitated him for further service. After recovering from his wound he was appointed to special duty as clerk at the general headquarters at New York City, afterward filling the same position for Gens. Hooker, Sherman, Cook and Terry, and was mustered out of service at Fort Snelling, Minn., in 1867. After spending a few months at home he went West, visiting Kansas City and Sherman, Tex., and on his way home visited Fayetteville, Ark., and Springfield, Mo., spending some months in the latter place. In 1869 he went to Kansas, where he was engaged in the lumber business for one year, and after his return to Michigan he accepted the agency for the Port Huron & Lake Michigan Railway, spending two years in the employ of that corporation. He resigned his position March 4, 1873, and after a short time went to Cincinnati, Ohio, thence to Chicago, where he was engaged in the patent right business for a number of years. In 1879 he went to Kansas with B. A. Brown & Co., and was engaged in the lumber business in that State until 1883, when he came to Fayetteville, Ark., and purchased the lumber interests of S. A. Brown & Co., which business he has conducted with good success to the present time. He was married at Vicksburg, Mich., to Miss Prudence Williams, a daughter of Myron Williams, a leading mill owner, lumberman, merchant and vessel owner of that place, and their union has been blessed in the birth of one child, Nina. Mr. Dale and wife attend the Episcopal Church, and he is a member of the K. of P., of which society he is a charter member, and is also a charter member of the Fayetteville Gun Club, the Fayetteville Electric Light Company and the Building and Loan Association.

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This family biography is one of 300 biographies included in The History of Washington County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Washington County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Washington County, Arkansas family biographies, click here

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