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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Cleveland 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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Dr. Louis Leali, physician and surgeon, Kingsland, Ark. Dr. Leali is recognized throughout the county as a friend of and laborer in the cause and advancement of the medical fraternity. He is a native of Italy, born in Bergamo in 1824, and his father, Charles Leali, who was also a native of Italy, is probably living in that country at the present time. The elder Leali was a farmer and was married in his native country to Miss Rosa Taschini, also a native of Italy, but who died when our subject was an infant. The latter was the only child born to his parents, and he was given every advantage for an education. He spent five years in the study of medicine at Pavia, and graduated in 1848 from Pisa. He then in 1848 and 1849 fought with Italy against Austria, but his native country being defeated, he refugeed to America. He sailed for this country in 1850, located in Arkansas, and soon after on his present farm, where he has since lived, with the exception of from 1857 to 1860, when he resided at Princeton. He has practiced among the same people for forty years and is one of the oldest and most successful physicians of Southeast Arkansas. He is well known and esteemed by everybody. His practice yields him a comfortable living, and he is reaping the reward of forty years honorably spent in the cause of humanity. In an early day his practice extended over a radius of thirty miles, and he was often gone from home for three or four days at a time. He still has an extensive practice. He was married in 1855 to Miss Sarah Wash, a native of the Old Dominion and the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Belcher) Wash, also natives of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Wash moved from their native State to Tennessee, and thence to Dallas County, Ark., where they died some years later. To Mr. and Mrs. Leali were born two children—a son and daughter—the former living, Dr. Charles, who is a graduate from that well-known and firmly established seat of learning, the Missouri Medical College of St. Louis. Dr. Louis Leali is the owner of about 1,000 acres of land seven miles northwest of Kingsland, and this is the fruit of his own labor. He was in the Third Arkansas Cavalry until May, 1862, and afterward was in different commands in Northeast Arkansas, and Southeast Missouri until cessation of hostilities. He was at the battle of Corinth, besides many other engagements of note. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity for many years, and in his political views is Democratic, casting his first vote for Franklin Pierce, in 1852.

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This family biography is one of 75 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Cleveland County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Cleveland County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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