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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lawrence 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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George W. Goodwin is the oldest of four children, and has resided in Lawrence County since his twelfth year. He is a native of Alabama and was born in 1839. His parents left Alabama in 1849 and came to Arkansas, where they settled in Independence County and cultivated the land for two years. In the fall of 1851 they removed to Lawrence County, and settled in the neighborhood of where Mr. Goodwin is now living. Here the father purchased an unimproved farm and commenced to model it into better shape, when death interrupted his labors in 1852, while yet in the meridian of life. The mother is still living at the age of seventy years and has never ceased to mourn the loss of her husband. Eight children were born to them, of whom four are deceased, and the four remaining are George W., Mark, Peter, Emily, wife of D. A. Price. Those deceased are: Francis, Samuel, Pleasant, Mary E. Mr. Goodwin remained at home until the year 1862, and in March of that year entered the army under Capt. Sloan, of the Twenty-fifth Arkansas. He fought in all the battles in which the company participated when able to do duty, and was commended by his superiors for the bravery he displayed on several occasions. He was taken prisoner at Baldwin, Miss., in 1862, but was only held a short time and then released. He surrendered at Greensboro, N. C., in April, 1865, and when paroled, returned home and resumed his work on the farm. In 1870 he was married to Miss Leah Williams, of Arkansas, who was born and reared in this county, and who died March 1, 1878, at the age of thirty-two years and eleven months. Their union was blessed with four children, one of them now deceased. Their names are James, Charles J., Absalom (deceased), and John L. Mr. Goodwin again contracted a marriage with Miss Martha B. Dawson, born in Independence County, and a daughter of I. F. Dawson, one of the representative farmers of this county. Three children were born to Mr. Goodwin and his second wife, namely: George F., Osa May and Lena. Mr. Goodwin is a member and the clerk of the Missionary Baptist Church, and has taken an active part in school work, having held several offices on the school board. He has taken one degree in Masonry, and is a leading spirit in the community, being held in high esteem by his fellow-townsmen and neighbors. He has upward of ninety acres of land under cultivation.

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This family biography is one of 111 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lawrence County, Arkansas published in 1889.  View the complete description here: Lawrence County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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