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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Bradley County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  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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J. R. S. Meek, retired, Warren, Ark. This much respected and honored citizen was born in York County, S. C, on September 13, 1827, and is the son of Eli Meek, and grandson of James Meek, who was a soldier in the Revolution, lived near King’s Mountain, and participated in that battle. He died in South Carolina, as did also the grandmother. The paternal great-grandfather was a native of the Emerald Isle. Eli Meek was a native of South Carolina and many years after his marriage to Miss Martha Starr, a native also of South Carolina, he moved to Arkansas, and settled twenty-five miles south of Warren on a farm. There his death occurred in 1866. The mother died in 1862. They were the parents of three sons and two daughter, only one now living: J. R. S., Marion (was killed at the battle of Chickamauga), Edward S. (killed at the battle of Atlanta, and held the command of lieutenant, captain and major), and Amzi (killed at Franklin, Tenn., in the latter part of 1864). J. R. S. Meek was reared and educated in South Carolina, and in 1860 he came to Arkansas, traveling through in wagons, and locating in Bradley County, in the neighborhood of his father. In 1862 he enlisted in Company I, Second Arkansas Infantry, and served until the surrender, after which he returned home and resumed the cultivation of the soil. This he continued until 1870 when he moved to Johnsonville, and embarked in the mercantile business carrying on the same until 1888, a period of eighteen years. He then removed to Warren, where he has since been practically retired. He was married in 1855, to Miss Martha Caldwell, a native of South Carolina, and the fruits of this union were nine children, five now living: Samuel B. (a merchant of Warren), Sallie, Susan, Nannie and Rufus. Mr. and Mrs. Meek are members of the Presbyterian Church, and are universally respected.

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This family biography is one of 64 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Bradley County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Bradley County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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