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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lincoln 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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Napoleon B. Kersh. Nothing is more generally interesting to people than an account of one who by ability and superior judgment has achieved fame and fortune. Therefore the history of a county must, perforce, contain descriptions of such men as he whose name heads this sketch. He is one of the leading citizens of Lincoln County, and highly respected by neighbors, friends and acquaintances in that section of the State of Arkansas. His birth took place in Chester District, S. C, on June 19, 1849, and is a son of Dr. John Jacob and Hannah F. (Cornwell) Kersh, natives of South Carolina. The family are of German descent. The grandfather of our subject came from Germany, settling in South Carolina. John J. Kersh was a graduate of the University of New York, also attended college in Philadelphia, studying medicine. He practiced his profession in South Carolina from 1842 until 1859, at which time he moved to Arkansas, settling in this neighborhood, and turning his attention to the practice of medicine, and farming at the same time. He died in 1870, when about sixty-nine years old. The mother is still living with her son Napoleon. She is a devout and earnest Christian, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The subject of this sketch passed his school days in Arkansas, and commenced working for himself in 1875, by giving his time and attention to. farming. He owns a valuable estate of 3,500 acres, well cultivated, and yielding a splendid crop each season. He has been justice of the peace at various times. January 15, 1874, Mr. Kersh married Miss Mildred G. Watson, daughter of James Watson, and who was born in Chester District, S. C, in 1857. To this union were born seven children, of whom Minnie Z., Dixie L., Mildred I., Hattie, Ivy, Garland and Grady are all living. Mr. Kersh is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and his wife of the Missionary Baptist Church.

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This family biography is one of 44 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lincoln County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Lincoln County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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