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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Phillips 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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Richard N. Venable, M. D., physician and surgeon, Poplar Grove, Ark. Among the people of Phillips, as well as surrounding counties, the name that heads this sketch is by no means an unfamiliar one, for, for many years he has been successfully occupied in the prosecution of his chosen profession. During this time his career as a practitioner and thorough student of medicine has won for him no less a reputation than has his personal characteristics as a citizen and neighbor. He was born in Virginia in 1828, and is the third of seven children, the result of the union of Henry and Margaret (Ried) Venable, natives of the Old Dominion, also. Henry Venable was a merchant and farmer of Virginia, and was postmaster of Prince Edward Court House (some member of this family has been postmaster at that place for over 100 years). He was a slave owner, having at one time fifty negroes, but devoted most of his time to merchandising. He died in 1856, in his fifty-eighth year, and Mrs. Venable died in 1870, at the age of seventy years. The maternal grandfather of the Doctor was sent by George III to survey and sell a large tract of land, located close around Prince Edward Court House, Va. The maternal grandfather, Gilford Morton, was in the Revolutionary War, and was wounded at Guilford Court House, N. C. Of the seven children born to the marriage of Henry Venable, only three are now living, Dr. Venable being the eldest one, Andrew and Margaret (now Mrs. Hanna, of Prince Edward County, Va.). Andrew resides in Charlotte County. Dr. Venable was reared in Prince Edward County, Va., received his education at home until twelve years of age, when he entered the Washington University, later the University of Virginia, and in 1851 he entered the Jefferson Medical School of Philadelphia, graduating from the same. He then began practicing at Lynchburg, Va.; from there went to Minnesota, thence to Mississippi, and in 1876 came to Phillips County, Ark, where he settled near Poplar Grove. He has been twice married; first to Miss Caroline I. Craft, of Holly Springs, Miss., who died in 1876, and in 1883 he was united in marriage to Mrs. Wallace, who had been a resident of Phillips County for thirty years. Dr. Venable was in the Confederate service from 1862 to 1865, was surgeon of Baldwin’s brigade and the Second Texas (Moore’s) brigade. During the siege of Vicksburg he was transferred to another brigade, and remained with the same until the close of the war. He was engaged in numerous battles as field-surgeon, was taken prisoner at Vicksburg but was immediately paroled. He returned to Phillips County at the close of the war, and at once resumed his practice. Dr. Venable is a man who favors all public improvements for the benefit of his county, and favors all newcomers with a hearty welcome. He and Mrs. Venable are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, is a K. & L. of H., Myrtle Lodge No. 518. He is a prominent physician, and has a large practice.

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This family biography is one of 103 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Phillips County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Phillips County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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