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Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Lauderdale County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1886.  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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Dr. Alexander H. Dunavant, a prominent physician of Lauderdale County. Tenn., located near Double Bridges, was born in Franklin, Tenn., August 20, 1821, and was the oldest of twelve sons and two daughters, born to Leonard and Sarah B. (Reid) Dunavant, and is of English and French extraction. His father was born in Amelia County, Va., January 8, 1792, came to Tennessee in 1810, and settled in Franklin, Tenn., where he remained until 1822, when he moved to Little Harpeth, between Franklin and Nashville, giving his attention to farming, interspersed with house-joining, which was his trade. In 1833 he moved to that part of Dyer County that is now Lauderdale, settling two and a half miles southeast of Key Corner, and a year later moved to three miles farther south, where he died September 10, 1869. The mother was born in Williamson County May 23, 1803, and died at the homestead in Lauderdale County, October 26, 1856. Dr. Dunavant was raised on a farm, and after completing his education read medicine under Dr. G. H. Hooper, and attended lectures in the medical department of the university at Nashville, taking his first course in the winter of 1853-54 and graduating in 1854-55. He was married by Dr. J. B. McFerrin in Nashville, March 20, 1854, to Miss Maria G. Dobson, a daughter of J. E. Dobson, a cabinet workman. Eight children were born to this union, five of them now living: Sarah B. M., Grundy Bell, Fannie, Alexander Ried and Minnie. Mrs. Dunavant was born in Murfreesboro September 5, 1833. Dr. Dunavant is a Democrat, casting his first presidential vote for Henry Clay in 1844. He was in the Mexican war, and is exceedingly popular both as a man and a physician.

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This family biography is one of 116 biographies included in the book,  The History of Lauderdale County, Tennessee published in 1886 by Goodspeed.  The History of Lauderdale County was included within The History of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood, and Crockett Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood, and Crockett Counties, Tennessee

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

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