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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Monroe 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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Woodfin & Henderson. Among the leading general mercantile establishments of Brinkley, Ark., none are deserving of more favorable mention and consideration than the above mentioned firm, of whom E. L. Woodfin and R. M. Henderson are the proprietors. Their house was established in 1887 and with their stock which amounts to $4,000 they do an annual business of $15,000. Mr. Woodfin was born in Marshall County, Miss., in 1851, and is a son of John and Mary (Scott) Woodfin, the former a native of Alabama and the latter of North Carolina. After spending most of their youth in Tennessee they were married there, but afterward moved to Mississippi, which State continued to be their home until 1859, at which time they came to Arkansas and settled in Cotton Plant. Mr. Woodruff was a farmer by occupation, a member of the Masonic fraternity, and died at Des Arc in 1861. His wife survives him and is a member of the Presbyterian Church. E. L. Woodfin is one of three surviving members of a family of seven children and spent his youthful days in laboring on the farm. Two years were spent in cattle dealing, which occupation proved fairly remunerative, but in 1885 he engaged in his present occupation in Brinkley. In 1875 he was married to Miss Mollie, a daughter of Benjamin and Matilda Glover, who were born, reared and married, in Limestone County, Ala., but removed to De Soto County, Miss., and in 1859 to Arkansas, locating near Wheetley, where the mother’s death occurred in 1871. Mr. Glover married again and is now living at Cotton Plant occupied in farming. Mrs. Woodfin is one of five children and was born in Mississippi and for a number of years has been a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church. Mr. Woodfin is a Democrat. When starting out in life for himself in 1869 he had only $18 but now owns the old homestead of 480 acres, besides a good house and business block in Brinkley. He lost heavily during 1874, his large crop of cotton being consumed by fire, but he has retrieved his losses and is now in affluent circumstances.

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This family biography is one of 86 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Monroe County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Monroe County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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