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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of St. Francis 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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John F. Lynch first saw the light of day in St. Francis County, Ark., August 7, 1828, being the son of John and Pollie (Barnes) Lynch, natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. The father moved to Arkansas in 1817, sometime before it was made a State, and saw it rise from an insignificant territory to a community of wealth and affluence in the sisterhood of the Union. His father, a native of North Carolina, was a resident here for many years, dying in his sixty-eighth year; he was the first man buried in the county. John F. (the subject of this sketch) began farming for himself at the age of eighteen, but at the breaking out of the war, laid aside the inoffensive implements of the farm, to take up those that robbed the country of so many of her sons. He enlisted in Company B, Capt. McNeil’s regiment, and received his discharge just before the final surrender. Upon his return home he found he had suffered serious losses, in fact everything being gone but his land. Mr. Lynch was married in 1853 to Miss Lizzie Davis, a daughter of Cornelius and Eliza Davis, who came to Arkansas from their native State (Kentucky) in 1828. To his marriage with Miss Davis three children were born: Albert Sidney, Kate and Bessie. Albert is residing with his father; Kate was married in 1882 to Perry Minor, living at Phoenix, Ariz., engaged in the manufacture of ice, and Bessie, the youngest, is attending school at Lebanon, Tenn. Mr. Lynch owns 220 acres, with 150 carefully cultivated, and is also engaged in stock raising. He has amassed quite a large fortune, and is considered one of the representative men of the county, his success not having made him penurious, as is so often the case. He is always ready to assist in worthy enterprises, aiding in many movements having for their aim the growth of the country. The needy ever find in him a sympathetic listener, and many of his acts of charity never reach the ears of the outside world. He has passed his sixty-second year, and his whole life has been one of upright and honorable principles. The respect and esteem accorded him is as wide as his acquaintance.

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This family biography is one of 87 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of St. Francis County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: St. Francis County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional St. Francis County, Arkansas family biographies here: St. Francis County, Arkansas Biographies

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