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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Yell 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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T. J. Choate, an eminent and esteemed citizen of Magazine Township, and the owner of the saw mill plant two and a half miles north of Chickalah, was born in Tennessee, in 1843, and is the son of Gabriel and Jane (Brewer) Choate, also of Tennessee origin, and born about 1820 and 1816, respectively, and were married in Robinson County. The father, a farmer by occupation, emigrated from his native State to Missouri, thence to Arkansas in 1850. Locating in this county he bought and entered land, which he improved and he and wife, worthy members of the Christian Church, make their home in Magazine Township. Our subject enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1862, joining Company B of Infantry, Hawthorne’s Regiment, and at the expiration of eleven months joined the Federal Army as a private, and participated in the battle of Jenkins’ Ferry and a number of skirmishes, and discharged May, 1865. The year following his return from army life witnessed his marriage (July 8) to Miss Salina Wilson, an Arkansan by birth, born in 1844, and a daughter of William and Minerva (Cole) Wilson. The fruits of this union are nine children—six sons and three daughters—Rufus, Mattie, Gabriel, Mary, John, Charles, Seth, Rual and Blanche, who in 1887 were called upon to mourn the loss of their mother. In connection with his milling business, which has a capacity for sawing nearly 10,000 feet per day, he owns 380 acres of land, with some fine timber on it, and cultivates 100, his principal crops being cotton and corn. He is a member of Chickalah Lodge No. 304 of the Masonic order.

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This family biography is one of 124 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Yell County, Arkansas published in 1891.  For the complete description, click here: Yell County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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