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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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James Franklin Neely is a substantial farmer of Moro Township, and resides nine miles west of Warren, which place has been his home since 1859. He was born in York County, S. C., June 26, 1836, and is the seventh of eight children born to William and Cynthia (Sturgis) Neely, who were born in the Palmetto State on June 15, 1795, and June 3, 1800, respectively, and were there reared and married. The father died in his native State February 12, 1838, and in 1859 his widow, in company with three sons and two daughters came to the State of Arkansas, and here the mother died at the home of her son, James F., in 1886. The paternal grandfather, David Neely, was born in Ireland, and there spent his life. James Franklin Neely was reared in South Carolina, and there received a fair education in the schools near his home. Upon coming to Arkansas his mother entered land, and with the help of her sons became, in time, the owner of 960 acres of fine land, which is now occupied by the subject of this sketch and his two sisters: Elizabeth and Mary Jane. They have fifty acres under cultivation, and on their farm in 1870 they erected a good cotton-gin which brings them in a fair annual income, as they do much of the ginning for their immediate neighbors. He is an enterprising and intelligent agriculturist, and so far has made life a decided success. Socially he belongs to the K. of P., Hampton Lodge, and during the years 1887 and 1888 he held the office of county sheriff, and was a brave and faithful officer in the discharge of all his duties.

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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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