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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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Jesse Matthews is a newspaper man of long experience, his connection with his present paper dating from January 8, 1879. Under his able management it has become recognized as a journal of decided merit, its editorials being written with a clearness and force which indicate a writer of ability, while it has become very popular for its bold and fearless advocacy of measures which it deems will prove of benefit to this section. His parents, Jesse and Mary (Houston) Matthews, were born in Baltimore, Md., and Paris, Bourbon County, Ky., respectively, the former being reared to manhood in his native town; then he came west and settled at Glasgow, Mo., in which place he engaged in merchant tailoring, and followed this occupation for some time. In 1849 he went to California, where he spent eight years in gold digging, accumulating considerable money. After his return to Missouri he located at Huntsville, where his worthy wife departed this life, after which he removed to the northwest county in Missouri, where he is spending his declining years with a son. The paternal grandfather was an early emigrant to America, and was of Scotch ancestry although born in the “Emerald Isle.” Jesse Matthews, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared at Huntsville, Randolph County, Mo., but was favored with only poor advantages for obtaining an education, which he improved by entering a printing office when fourteen years of age, only going to school two ten months’ sessions. In 1874 he was married to Miss Sarah E. Rider, who was born in Pulaski County, Mo., in 1856, and six children blessed their union: Maggie A., Edgar M., Elmer H., Mattie, Jessie P., Earnest L. and Emmett G. Mr. Matthews learned the printer’s trade in his youth at Huntsville, Mo., commencing his apprenticeship in July, 1864, and serving five years. He then went to Kansas City, and worked on the ‘‘Kansas City Times” as a compositor for one year, and the following year worked on the “Oswego (Kansas) Register.” He next made a short stay in Arkansas, after which he went back to Missouri, and for four years worked at Salem on “The Success,” as foreman. He next went to Pulaski County where he bought a printer’s outfit, and moved to Gainesville, establishing the “Gainesville Gazette,” afterward removing to Licking, where he established the “Ledger,” which he conducted one year, then starting the “Spirit,” at Salem, Mo. Since January 8, 1879, he has been a resident of Salem, Ark., establishing the “Salem Informer” at the above date, which he has continuously published up to the present time. Mr. Matthews is a conservative Democrat, and his paper is independent. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., and also a member of the Kansas City Typographical Union.

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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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