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Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Tipton 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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Prof George D. Holmes, principal of Tipton Female Seminary, was born in Mississippi, near Holly Springs. November 13, 1831, and is one of a family of seven children, all of whom are living. His parents, Dr. James and Sarah (Van Wagoner) Holmes, were natives of Carlisle, Penn., and New Jersey, respectively. The father was born in 1801, was a graduate of Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, and also a student of the Theological Seminary, New Jersey. From about his twenty-fourth year until 1832, he acted as teacher and missionary among the Indians of north Mississippi. In 1833 he came to Tipton County, and the next year founded Mountain Academy and conducted that school for sixteen years. He was then elected president of the West Tennessee College of Jackson, Tenn., which position he filled until 1857, when he returned to Tipton County to take charge of the Covington Female Seminary. He looked after the interest of that institute until 1868, when he withdrew from the active duties of life. He died in 1873. His life’s work tended toward one unifying purpose—that of combining high moral training with intellectual development—and his memory will ever be held dear in the minds of the people as a public benefactor. The mother of our subject was born in 1801 and died in 1880. The subject of this sketch received his early education at the Mountain Academy, and afterward attended Princeton College three years, where he graduated in 1849. In 1851 he married Miss Mary Pyles, a native of Tennessee, born in 1831, and the daughter of Addison and Martha Pyles. This marriage resulted in the birth of two children: James A. and George W., now a resident of Kansas City, and connected with the Times at that place. Mrs. Holmes died in 1862. When his father retired from active life, Prof. Holmes took charge of the school and has since then devoted his time to the management and interest of the same, and stands high in the ranks of his profession. He is one of the county’s best educators, an ardent Democrat in politics and a member of the Masonic fraternity for many years. In 1866 he married Sallie E. Munford, who was born May 2, 1840, and who is the daughter of R. H. and S. D. (Morrison) Munford. By this marriage they have one son, Embry Munford, now a student at the Southwestern Presbyterian University, at Clarksville, Tenn. The Professor and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, he being an elder in the same.

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This family biography is one of 91 biographies included in the book,  The History of Tipton County, Tennessee published in 1886 by Goodspeed.  The History of Tipton 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 Tipton County, Tennessee family biographies here: Tipton County, Tennessee

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