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Below is a family biography included in The History of Benton County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  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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James Alexander Robinson was born in McNary County, Tenn., December 23, 1829, and is a son of John Brown and Jane McKissick (Dickson) Robinson, and grandson of John Robinson. The latter was of Scotch descent, and was a resident of South Carolina. He served in the Revolutionary War, enlisting in the army at the age of seventeen years; he served until its close and died in Benton County, Ark., in 1842. His wife’s name was Abigail Moore. John Brown Robinson was born in Mecklenburg County, N. C., September 14, 1801, and his wife was born in Middle Tennessee in 1805, and died in McNary County in 1835. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church and a daughter of Ezekiel Dickson, who was a farmer, and came from North Carolina to Tennessee. He served in the War of 1812, and was with Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. His death occurred in Benton County, Ark., about 1858, whither he had come in 1836. James Alexander Robinson was reared in Benton County, and educated in the common schools. At the age of twenty-one years he was married to Sarah Jane Yell, who was born in Tennessee on June 16, 1829, and immediately settled down to farming in Benton County. To them were born two children, only one of who is living, Brown Yell, who lives with his father. Mr. Robinson owns a good farm of 325 acres, with 150 under cultivation. He is a Master Mason, and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1862 he enlisted in the Sixteenth Arkansas Regiment, Confederate States Army, and received his discharge at Baldwin, Miss., in 1863. He was in a number of engagements, but was neither wounded nor captured.

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This family biography is one of 240 biographies included in The History of Benton County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Benton County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Benton County, Arkansas family biographies, click here

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