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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Polk County, Arkansas published by Southern Publishing Company in 1891.  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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Dr. R. T. Connally, a prominent physician and minister of Freedom Township, Polk County, Ark., who ministers to the spiritual as well as the physical wants of his fellow-men, was originally from Cass County, Ga., his birth occurring November 30, 1844. His parents, Thomas and Clementine (Yenable) Connally, were natives of Georgia, the father born in Gwinnett County in 1813, and the mother in Jackson County in 1807. They were married in their native State and moved from there to Arkansas in the winter of 1846, locating in Polk County in what is now Freedom Township, where they cleared a farm. The old homestead is now in the hands of our subject. Here the mother died in September, 1886. She was a member of the Methodist Protestant Church. The father was ordained a minister in this State several years ago, and has had charge of the church in the neighborhood ever since. He had held the office of justice of the peace in Georgia and served in the Florida War. He is a Mason, Mountain Fork Lodge No. 409, and in politics is a stanch Democrat. He is strong and hearty, and bids fair to live many years longer. The family is of Irish-Dutch extraction. The grandfather of our subject, Thomas Connally, was a native of the Old Dominion, and was a farmer and cooper by occupation. He died in Georgia many years ago. Dr. R. T. Connally received his education in the schools of this county and by self-study. In June, 1863, he joined Col. Dawson’s regiment of infantry, in which he remained until cessation of hostilities. He served in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana, and was in the Lone Star State at the time of the surrender. He was in the battles of Pleasant Hill and Mansfield, La., and in numerous skirmishes around Camden. His regiment was disbanded at Marshall, Tex., in May, 1865. After the war Dr. Connally began farming on land where he now lives, and this occupation he has since continued. He is now the owner of 300 acres of some of Polk County’s best land, and has 100 acres under cultivation. During the war he joined the society at the Camp Church near Little Rock, and afterward joined the Methodist Episcopal Church South, was licensed an exhorter in 1867 and a preacher in 1870. Six years later he commenced the study of medicine, and in 1880 commenced the practice of his profession, his preceptor being Dr. S. T. McDaniel of this county. His practice is extensive and covers a wide scope of territory, in fact, more than one man can attend to. He was married November 9, 1865, to Miss Sarah Castleberry, and to them have been born five living children: John W. (with his father), David W. (reading medicine), Cullan B., Sarah F. and Clementine E. One child, Thomas W. T., died when three years of age. Dr. Connally is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Mountain Fork Lodge No. 409. In politics he is a stanch Democrat.

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This family biography is one of 32 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Polk County, Arkansas published in 1891.  For the complete description, click here: Polk County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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