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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Ouachita 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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J. M. Brooks is the proprietor of the Brooks House at Camden, Ark., one of the best hostelries in this portion of the State. He is a native of Camden, and as such is looked upon with considerable pride by the people of the county as a worthy representative of a cultured and refined commonwealth. His birth occurred on January 26, 1860, he being a son of Joab and Anna S. (Ruth) Brooks, the former a native of Georgia and the latter of New York. In 1856 they located in Arkansas, and the father was engaged in speculating in Camden until his death in 1861. He was the father of two children: Ruth (wife of James Morfett, of Butte City, Mont.) and James M. Upon the death of Mr. Brooks his widow married James Jennings, a gunsmith and dealer in tombstones, well known throughout the county. He was city marshal for over ten years, and became quite noted for his bravery and nerve. J. M. Brooks was obliged to begin earning his own living at an early day, and consequently received only about one year’s schooling. He was determined, however, to become a well-informed man, and many of his leisure moments, especially the early part of the evenings, were devoted to study, and he thus acquired a fair business education. He was reared to the hotel business, and certainly has a thorough knowledge of that work, and having just completed a new brick addition to his old building which is two stories in height and is in modern style, his establishment is well fitted to accommodate a large number of guests. He has forty sleeping rooms, and can accommodate over one hundred guests, his house being the only first-class one in the town. Mr. Brooks is a hospitable and accommodating landlord, and does everything in his power to please his patrons and make them comfortable, and that he is successful is fully attested by all who have patronized his house. His mother engaged in the hotel business in 1860, and together they have had a wide experience in hotel life, and have but few equals. Mr. Brooks was married in June, 1889, to Miss Anna Y. Young, a daughter of Col. J. R. Young. Mr. Brooks has been a member of the K. of P. for the past ten years.

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This family biography is one of 91 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Ouachita County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Ouachita County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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