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Below is a family biography included in The History of Wayne 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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Jonathan Frank Biffle was born in Wayne County, Tenn., in 1849, His father, Jonathan Biffle, was a Tennessean, a farmer, and when a young man was deputy sheriff of Wayne County. He served in the Ninth Tennessee Regiment in the late war, under Jake Biffle, and was captured in 1864, while at home on furlough, and taken to Rock Island, Ill., where he was retained a prisoner until his death, January 23, 1864. He left a wife and three children to mourn his loss. His widow, Eliza A. (Hardin) Biffle, married George Walker, of Tennessee, and died July 14, 1885. Our subject, after his father’s death, resided with his mother until her second marriage, when she left, giving him possession of the home farm. He afterward inherited a portion of this farm, and purchased the remainder, in all consisting of 350 acres of fairly improved land. His principal products are corn, small grain and peanuts. Besides this, he owns sixty-four acres of land below his present farm, and a two-thirds interest in 183 acres of timber land. In 1877 he and Mary Clendennin united their fortunes. She is a Tennessean by birth, born in 1858, daughter of Joseph and Bettie Clendennin. Mr. and Mrs. Biffle have four children: Joe E., Jonathan A. (who died in 1881), Nettie E. (who died in 1883) and John W. Mr. Biffle is a Democrat.

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This family biography is one of 76 biographies included in The History of Wayne County, Tennessee published in 1886.  The History of Lawrence County was included within The History of Lawrence, Wayne, Perry, Hickman & Lewis Counties of Tennessee. View the complete description here: History of Lawrence, Wayne, Perry, Hickman and Lewis Counties of Tennessee

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

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