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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Fulton County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  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. D. T. Hudgens, of Elizabeth, Ark., has been successful as both druggist and practicing physician, and is one of the prominent business men of the place. He was born in Pulaski County, Mo., March 27, 1850, and received his rudimentary education in the common schools, supplementing the same by a two years’ course in the high school at Rolla. When about twenty years of age he engaged in farming, and two years later entered the ministry, being licensed in August, 1872. He was a traveling preacher for five years and held all the offices in the Free Will Baptist Church. He has been an ordained elder since 1872 and occasionally occupies the pulpit now, thus administering to the spiritual wants of his fellow man as well as to their physical needs. He is popular with all, kind and courteous in his intercourse with his acquaintances, and is always to the front in aiding any enterprise which tends to the advancement of the county. In December, 1869, he selected a wife in the person of Miss Martha Ousley, a native of Osage County, Mo., and the daughter of William and Martha Ousley, the father one of the wealthiest farmers of Pulaski County, Mo. This union resulted in the birth of five children, one son and three daughters living. While practicing he was studying medicine in Pulaski County, and in 1878 he came to Fulton County and was the first settler at Elizabeth, becoming one of the most successful and prominent physicians of the county. When first entering upon the practice of his profession he was in poor circumstances, but his true worth soon became apparent and a large patronage was the result. He never attended medical college, but in 1882 he passed the best examination before the medical examiners of any physician in Fulton County. For three years he has been in the drug business in connection with his practice. He was the first postmaster at Elizabeth and held the position for several years. A Democrat in his political preferences, his first presidential vote was cast for Tilden in 1876. He was a charter member of Wild Cherry Lodge No. 443, A. F. & A. M., and has held nearly all the offices. He is also a member of Eastern Star Chapter, at Wild Cherry. His wife has been a member of the church for many years, and he has been a member since 1869. His parents, Robert and Mahala C. (Dodd) Hudgens, were born in Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively. They were married in Missouri, where they were early settlers, and there the father was a successful attorney for twenty years. He died in Rolla in October, 1864, and at the time of his death was one of the leading lawyers of Southern Missouri, then holding, also, the position of provost marshal. He was also treasurer of Pulaski County at one time. After his death his widow married again and moved to Elizabeth, where she died in 1885. She was a member of the Baptist Church for seventeen years.

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This family biography is one of 70 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Fulton County, Arkansas published in 1889.  View the complete description here: Fulton County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Fulton County, Arkansas family biographies here: Fulton County, Arkansas Biographies

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