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Below is a family biography included in The History of Sumner County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  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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J. M. Cantrell, son of D. H. and A. L. (Gillespie) Cantrell, was born in Sumner County, Tenn., in 1837, and is a farmer and stock raiser by occupation. His father, who was of Irish descent, and a farmer by occupation, was born in Sumner County in 1801, and died in 1884. His mother was also born in Sumner County, about 1810, and died in April, 1886. Our subject received a fair education in the common schools, and assisted his father on the farm until twenty-five years of age. He enlisted in the army, and after the cessation of hostilities returned to his native county and worked on his father’s farm for about a year. He was married in 1866 to Miss Cattie Milan, daughter of Andrew and T. Milan. She was born about 1842 in Sumner County, and her marriage resulted in the birth of four children: James M. (a merchant in Knoxville, Tenn.), Alice M. (attending school in Edgefield, Tenn.), Myra C. and Kittie C. Mr. Cantrell enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private in Company D, First Tennessee Cavalry, and participated in the battle of Shiloh. He has always been a Democrat in politics and is a member of the Masonic order. He, his wife and daughter Alice are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

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This family biography is one of 115 biographies included in The History of Sumner County, Tennessee published in 1887.  The History of Sumner County was included within The History of Sumner, Smith, Macon & Trousdale Counties of Tennessee. View the complete description here: History of Sumner, Smith, Macon and Trousdale Counties of Tennessee

View additional Sumner County, Tennessee family biographies here: Sumner County, Tennessee

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