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Below is a family biography included in The History of Fayette County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  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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George W. Bowling, one of the prominent planters of Marshall County, Miss., was born in Madison County, Ala., near Hazel Green, March 21, 1818. He is a son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Worthy) Bowling. The father was born in Virginia in 1790 and died in Lawrence County, Ala., January 1, 1843. The mother was born in 1790, in Chester County, S. C., and died in Lawrence County, Ala., in 1880. They moved to Alabama in 1816. The father and mother were both members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and he was a most successful farmer. Our subject was the sixth child of eleven children. After finishing his education he commenced farming. In 1849 he moved to Marshall County, Miss., bought land there and has since made it his home, and before the war was one of the most extensive cotton planters in the county, owning a great many slaves; his losses by the war were enormous, his slaves being freed, and the. Federal soldiers burned a large quantity of cotton for him, but since then he has acquired a large estate by his energy and perseverance and owns in Fayette County and in Marshall County, Miss., over 1,600 acres of land. Mr. Bowling has been married three times, first to Miss Elizabeth Walton, and by this marriage had five children; the mother died in 1856; he then married Mrs. Felicia O. Key whose maiden name was Bowers; they had three children, and she died November 3, 1869, and our subject married Miss Laura Brooks who died July 6, 1880, and two children were born to this marriage. Of the ten children to the three marriages five are living. Mr. Bowling is a Democrat. He is not a church member but is in sympathy with the Missionary Baptist Church and a man of fine moral character. He is a resident of Marshall County, Miss.

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This family biography is one of 77 biographies included in The History of Fayette County, Tennessee published in 1887 by Goodspeed.  The History of Fayette County was included within The History of Fayette and Hardeman Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Fayette and Hardeman Counties, Tennessee

View additional Fayette County, Tennessee family biographies here: Fayette County, Tennessee

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