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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Drew 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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Hon. N. Y. Wadsworth. For the past fifteen years, or since locating in Drew County, Ark., Mr. Wadsworth has enjoyed the reputation of being a substantial and progressive farmer and an intelligent and thoroughly posted man in all public affairs. He was born in Autauga County, Ala., July 23, 1851, being a son of Daniel and Adelaide (Norris) Wadsworth, born in North Carolina and Alabama, September 17, 1810 and January, 1824, respectively, their marriage being consummated in the year 1848. His father was an extensive planter in Autauga County, and belonged to that sturdy, intelligent class that give prestige and life to any community in which they may reside. He wielded much influence in the community in which he lived, and was looked up to and esteemed by all who knew him. He removed from his native State to Alabama in 1830, and there continued to make his home until his death, which occurred in 1876. His widow survives him and resides in Alabama. The family born to them are named as follows: Ellen, Patrick D. (deceased), Newton Y. (the subject of this memoir), Mills A., Sarah (deceased), Florence, Katie (deceased), Jesse and Annie. The paternal grandfather, William Wadsworth, was a resident of North Carolina, and besides holding a number of local offices in the county, in which he resided he also represented it in the State Legislature. He served in the War of 1812 and throughout his walk in life his career was without a blemish. He passed from life in 1859. One of his grand sons, brother to our immediate subject, Malcomb S., is now the largest planter within the borders of Autauga County, Ala. William W. is the largest lumber dealer in the South, and organized the Southern Lumber Association of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida, acting as its president for several years in succession The Wadsworth family trace their ancestry in the United States back to twelve years after the landing of the Pilgrims on American shores, and the family are of English lineage. The maternal grandparents, Patrick and Charlotte Norris, were South Carolinians, and were well-to-do agriculturists of that State. The former was born in 1800 and died in 1872. The school days of Hon. N. Y. Wadsworth were spent in his native State, Alabama, but his educational advantages were not of the best, owing to the fact that he was obliged to assist his father on the farm. During the Rebellion, when a call was made for militia to go to the front (in 1865), young Wadsworth, who was then a youth of fourteen, volunteered to go in his father’s place, the latter being fifty-seven years of age, and quite feeble, and was accepted, doing good service for the Confederacy until the close of the war. He also had four brothers older than himself who served in the Confederate army. After receiving his discharge in 1865, he returned to the old life of farming with his father, and by a special act of the State Legislature in 1869 he became his own man at the age of eighteen years, and being bold and enterprising he determined to carve out his own career, and accordingly, in 1875, came to Arkansas. He was married here January 10, of the following year to Miss Mary Ella Norris, by whom he has an interesting little family of five children: Florence T. (born October 19, 1876, in Ashley County, Ark.), Thomas L. (born March 13, 1879, in that county), Anna N. (born April 26, 1881, in Drew County, Ark.), Jessie A. (born January 12, 1884, in Drew County), and Norris Yancey (born April 24, 1886, in Drew County). Mrs. Wadsworth was born in Montgomery County, Ala., November 28, 1857, and is a daughter of John N. and Evaline T. Norris. After residing in Ashley County until 1879, Mr. Wadsworth removed with his family to Drew County, and has since been identified with her farming interests, being recognized as a man of energy, progressive spirit and clear perception. These attributes have tended to place him far beyond the reach of want, and he is now the owner of 654 acres of desirable land, of which seventy five acres are under cultivation. He has shown his approval of secret organizations by becoming a member of the Masonic order and the K. of H. He was chosen a school director of his district in 1880, which position he has since held, and in 1886 he was elected to represent his county in the State Legislature, and owing to the admirable manner in which he discharged the duties incumbent upon this office he was returned in 1888, and still holds the position. His career as a legislator has been a brilliant one, and although but a few years ago he was not known outside of his immediate county, he now holds an extensive acquaintance throughout the State, and numbers his warm personal friends by the score.

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This family biography is one of 83 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Drew County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Drew County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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