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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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Will A. F. May, known to the bench and bar of Yell County as one of the most promising young lawyers and ever popular register of the United States Land Office, was born in Chicago, November 5, 1864, and is the only child of Judge William N. and Mary A. E. (Hust) May. (See sketch of father.) William May, Jr., was reared and educated in his adopted town, where his educational advantages were very good, he being a student and graduate from the high school of the place. At the age of eighteen, preparatory to entering the law department of the Ann Arbor University of Michigan, he began reading law under his father. Graduating from this university with the degree of LL. B., July 1, 1886, he formed a partnership with his father and were known as William N. May & Son. He continued as a member of this firm till August 3, 1889, when he received his present governmental appointment. Like the majority of residents of Yell County, he owns his home, a neat cottage, six town lots, and manages a 200-acre tract of fine river bottom land, 160 acres being thoroughly cultivated, and is the happy possessor of a cottage on beautiful Mount Nebo, where he and family sojourn for their summer’s outing. His marriage with Miss Lillie B. Mepham, of St. Louis, took place in that city, October 13, 1886; she is a daughter of William G. Mepham, a large paint manufacturer of St. Louis. This marriage has been blessed with one child, Arthur Ruport. Mrs. May is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Our subject politically votes with the Republican party, and is in every way worthy the respect and esteem conferred upon him by his fellow-citizens.

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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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