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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi 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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Joseph H. Borum, Jr., a member of the well-known firm of J. H. Borum & Bro., liverymen at Osceola, is a native of West Tennessee, born in 1858, and is the seventh in a family of nine children born to Rev. Joseph H. and Ann C. (Brooks) Borum, natives of Virginia and Tennessee, respectively. The elder Borum was a merchant in Tennessee prior to the war; in later years he was a Baptist preacher, and was the author of “Baptist Ministers of West Tennessee.” He died July 13, 1888. This remarkable man baptized about 4,000 people; organized more churches than any other minister in West Tennessee; married about 3,000 couples, and has received five generations of one family into his church. He was well and widely known throughout the State. The mother is still living in Tennessee, and is now (1889) seventy-two years of age. She is the only one living of a family of nine children. Joseph H. Borum, Jr., entered the school at Covington, Tenn., at the age of ten years, remained there three years, after which he entered the Southwestern Baptist University of Jackson, Tenn. He remained there two years, and then started out thoroughly fitted to enter upon any position in life. In 1877, he came to Osceola, Ark., and was principal of the Osceola High School for six years. In 1883 he engaged in the livery business with J. L. Driver, but in 1884 he continued the business under the firm name of J. H. Borum & Bro. In 1888 he was elected mayor of Osceola without opposition, and was complimented by being re-elected in 1889 without opposition. Under his administration and his predecessor’s, Mr. Bacchus, the city has been relieved from debt, and its affairs are now conducted on able business principles. Quiet and order reign upon its streets, and it is said by all that Mr. Borum fills the office of Osceola’s mayor with credit and respect.

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This family biography is one of 162 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Mississippi County, Arkansas published in 1889.  View the complete description here: Mississippi County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

View a map of 1889 Mississippi County, Arkansas here: Mississippi County, Arkansas Map

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