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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Perry 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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Capt. John Blythe, farmer and a leading citizen of Tyler Township, was born in McMinn County, East Tenn., January 18, 1833. His father, Samuel Blythe, was a son of William Blythe, who was born in Ireland. He was also an agriculturist by occupation, and died in 1863. Our subject’s mother was born in Tennessee, in 1801, of Irish descent, and died in 1869. She bore a family of seven children, three now living: James (of Barry County, Mo.), S. H. and John. John, the fourth child, was reared and received his education in Tennessee, and at the age of eighteen years began life for himself. He was on the Tennessee River the first four years, then entered upon a career of farming and stock dealing, and in 1865 removed to Georgia, where he resided two years, then coming to what is now Saline County, Ark. In 1880 he located in Perry County, where he now resides. In 1862, entering the Confederate army, in Company B, Fifth Tennessee Cavalry, as private, Mr. Blythe was immediately elected first lieutenant, serving about six months, when he was promoted to the rank of captain, and this commission he held till the close of the war. He was in the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Resaca (Ga.), New Hope Church, at Atlanta and Jonesboro and at Bennettsville, the last battle of the war, on March 19, 20 and 21, 1865. He now has 440 acres of land, about 170 under cultivation; this is an excellent stock farm, South Fourche River running through it and furnishing an abundant supply of water. Capt. Blythe is a Democrat, and a highly respected resident. In 1854, in Tennessee, he married Miss Mary Ann Murphy, who was born in that State, in 1829. They have had a family of five children, four now living: William M., Elizabeth (wife of A. T. Mane), Joseph and Mary.

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This family biography is one of 53 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Perry County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Perry County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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