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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Hempstead 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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W. H. Carruth, of the firm of Baird & Carruth, general merchants, and also general bankers of Washington, Ark., established their business in 1868, the average value of their stock of goods being $8,000, and their annual sales $80,000. Mr. Carruth was born in Batesville, Ark., in 1835, a son of Elias and Martha (Blake) Carruth, who were born in York District, S. C, in 1792, and Middle Tennessee in 1808, respectively. Their union took place in the latter State in 1829, and in 1833 they removed to Batesville, Ark., where they made their home for four years, and then came to Washington and spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in 1865, and the mother in 1873. While a resident of Batesville, Mr. Carruth was engaged in rafting logs and lumber down the White and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, but after coming to Washington he engaged in the mail contracting service, and became a leader in this work, having charge of nearly all the lines in the southwest. He was also a contractor to furnish supplies to the Indians at the time of their removal from Mississippi to the Indian Territory. Upon his removal thither he settled four miles east of the town, in order to furnish pasturage for the horses used in the mail service, and here he afterward made his home. His wife was a daughter of Hugh Blake, a prominent Tennessean, who died at quite an advanced age, having spent his life in his native State. W. H. Carruth was the third of two sons and seven daughters born to his parents, and although he assisted his father in his labors upon the farm, and in carrying the mails, he still found time to acquire a good education in the schools of Washington. When about twenty-one years of age he engaged in the mercantile business in Washington, continuing until the desolations of war compelled him to abandon this work, but upon the cessation of hostilities he again opened his establishment, and is now one of the leading merchants of the county. He was married, in 1860, to Miss Mary A., daughter of Bernard and Alice Cermenati, who were born, reared and married in Maine, removing afterward to Dresden, then to Boston, and in 1842 to Washington, Ark., where they both passed from life in 1850. Mr. Cermenati was a stone mason by trade, a man of intelligence, and his wife was a refined and cultured lady and a true Christian. Mrs. Carruth was born in Hempstead County, Ark., in 1842, and died in March, 1889. One son and five daughters of the nine children born to her union with Mr.Carruth are now living. During the war Mr. Carruth served in the quartermaster’s department, carrying supplies from Texas to Little Rock, and in 1865 he was commissioned by the United States governor as registrar of the United States land office at Washington, a position he held for about one year. He has been a successful financier, and in addition to considerable valuable town property, he is the owner of over 3,000 acres of land. Although first, a Whig, he is now a Democrat, politically, and socially is a member of the F. & A. M., and has attained to the Chapter and Council degrees in Mount Horeb Lodge No. 4, of Washington. He is now living on the place on which Attorney Gen. A. H. Garland was born and reared. He has a highly cultured and refined family, and he has spared no pains or expense in the education of his children. Mr. Carruth has been a member of the Methodist Church ever since his early manhood, and is an earnest worker for the cause of religion.

 

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This family biography is one of 131 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Hempstead County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Hempstead County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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