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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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William Harrison Eidson, another citizen whose name is synonymous with the farming interests of the county, is a son of William and Martha (Wilson) Eidson. The father was born in South Carolina about 1782, and the mother in Hawkins County, Tenn., being about eight years younger than her husband. When a young man the father immigrated to Tennessee, where he met and married Wilson. They spent their lives on a farm in Hawkins County, Tenn., and both lived to be about seventy years of age. He was an old-time Democrat, and she was a member of the Missionary Baptist Church. They were the parents of eleven children, six sons and five daughters. The sixth child, William H. Eidson, was born in Hawkins County, Tenn., April 19, 1823, was reared on the farm and educated to a limited extent in the old subscription schools. At the age of nineteen he married Miss Susan Begley, a native of Hawkins County, Tenn., born November, 1822. Having farmed in that county until 1851 he moved to Washington County, Ark., located in the woods on the place where he now lives, and here first entered forty acres of land. Since then he has added thereto, and now has about 1,200 acres. To Mr. and Mrs. Eidson were born ten children: McCoy, John D., Henry, Mary J., Samuel L., William S., Martha E., Ellen C., George P. and Orlena B. The eldest two were killed at the battle of Vicksburg, while in service on the Confederate side. As a business man Mr. Eidson has been eminently successful, and is one of the largest land owners in the township. He has been a resident of this county for thirty-seven years, and has lived on his present property all that time. He is Democratic in his political views, was justice of the peace four years, and both he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

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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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