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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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William N. Johnson is a native of Randolph County, N. C, his birth occurring there in 1817, but since the year 1846 he has been a resident of Hempstead County, Ark., and is one of its most prominent and influential citizens. His parents, Dr. James and Sarah (Neidham) Johnson, were born, reared and married in North Carolina, but the father died in Georgia about, 1884, while visiting his eldest son, Maj. John D. The mother also died at this son’s home, but in the State of Alabama, aged about ninety-three years. The former was of Irish and Welsh descent, was a successful practicing physician for many years, also a farmer, and at the time of his death he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His father was an Irishman, a soldier in the Revolutionary War, a captain on the sea, and died in North Carolina. The maternal grandfather, William Neidham, was also a Revolutionary soldier, a tiller of the soil, and died in North Carolina. The subject of this sketch was the eleventh of thirteen children, was educated in the country schools and reared on a farm, and in September, 1844, was married in Chatham County, N. C, to Amy B., a daughter of John and Mary Johnson, who moved from their native State to Mississippi, and there died. Mrs. Johnson was born in Chatham County, N. C, and died in October, 1884, having borne a family of nine children, one son and six daughters now living: Mary (wife of John W. Holt), Lucy (wife of Andrew Lloyd), Fannie L., Roxanna (wife of W. P. Barton), John A., Dora (wife of Frank Barrow), and Belle (wife of William Fooshee). The year after his arrival in this State, Mr. Johnson purchased his present farm, which is situated three miles east of Washington, on the Little Rock or old military road. He owns some 2,000 acres of land, having been worth about $20,000 before the war. Although formerly a Whig in politics, he is now a Democrat, and his first presidential vote was cast for Harrison in 1840. He and all his children are members of the Baptist Church, with the exception of Mrs. Lloyd, who is a Presbyterian, and his wife was also a member of the former church.

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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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