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Below is a family biography included in the Woodruff County portion of Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern 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 W. Revel, conceded to be a very popular and prosperous planter, and one of, if not the best in the county of his adoption, was born in Northampton County, N. C., February 1, 1832, and is a son of Louis and Martha (Outland) Revel, who were of English-Dutch descent, and natives of North Carolina. They immigrated to the State of Tennessee about the year 1844, and located in Shelby County, living here until their deaths, the mother dying in 1868 and the father in 1870. John W. is the eldest son of eleven children, and from the time he was twelve years of age was a resident of Tennessee. When at the outbreak of the Rebellion he, with all the ardor and enthusiasm of youth, espoused the Southern cause and enlisted in Company A, Eighteenth Mississippi Cavalry, but was subsequently captured, and taken to Alton, thence to Fort Delaware, being confined in prison some twenty months. After being discharged, he came home, and in December, 1865, determined to seek his fortune, turned his face farther westward and accordingly settled in Woodruff County, Ark., where he rented land for three years, and tilled the soil. In 1869 he purchased a portion of the farm which he now owns, and which then had but few improvements; adding to this from time to time, he now owns 1,200 acres, having about 550 of these cultivated and fairly improved. He has labored hard to make his farm one of the best in the county, and judging from its appearance and the amount realized from it every year, he has admirably succeeded. His land is exceedingly fertile, and about 400 acres is devoted entirely to the cultivation of cotton. He has been married three times. In 1868 he married Abbie Brown, having by her one child, now deceased, and in 1873 he wedded Katie Didlake, she being the mother of one child, also deceased. He married his third wife, Mary L. Miller, in 1882, and by her has a son, John W., Jr. Mrs. Revel is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in his political views Mr. Revel is a Democrat.

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This family biography is one of 69 biographies included in the Woodruff County portion of Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Eastern Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Woodruff County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Woodruff County, Arkansas family biographies here: Woodruff County, Arkansas

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