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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Calhoun 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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J. B. Ponder, M. D., the well-known physician and surgeon of Locust Bayou post-office, River Township, Calhoun County, is a native of Georgia, born in Oglethorpe County, April 4, 1820, the fifth child born to James H. and Elizabeth Ponder, natives of Georgia, who moved to Arkansas in 1840, settling in Ouachita County, where they resided until their death in 1855 and 1854, respectively. The subject of this sketch was principally reared in Montgomery County, Ala., and came to Arkansas with his parents. He received his education in Alabama, and at the age of eighteen entered the New Orleans Medical College, and graduated from there at the end of two years. He then returned to Ouachita County, Ark., and began the practice of his profession, and here he continued to practice until the breaking out of the war. In 1861 he went from Ouachita County to Fredericksburg, Va., and in the latter part of 1861 was detailed as surgeon at the batteries on the Potomac, where he remained until the spring of 1862. He then rejoined his regiment at Acqua Creek in Virginia, and from there came to Corinth, Miss., in 1862, where he participated in the battle of Shiloh for two days (April 6 and 7). After this battle he received a discharge and returned to his home in Ouachita County. In July, 1862, he received an appointment as an enrolling officer, in which capacity he served until the first part of 1863, when he resigned the position. He then resumed the practice of his profession in Camden, Ark., until the winter of 1865, at which time he moved to Smith-land, in Columbia County, Ark., where he practiced medicine until the fall of 1867. From Smithland he moved to Calhoun County, and located permanently at this latter place. He owns a fine farm of 160 acres, with about sixty acres under cultivation. The Doctor was married July 15, 1864, wedding Miss Susan Webb, daughter of John and Elena Webb, natives of Georgia, who moved to Arkansas in 1856, settling in Camden, Ouachita County, where they resided for some time. Dr. Ponder is a member of the Masonic fraternity (which he joined in 1844), also of the Farmers’ Union since 1888. He does not take an active interest in politics, but is a stanch Democrat and takes a deep interest in the public welfare. He is a good physician and enjoys a large and lucrative practice, as his father, who was one of the first physicians in Camden, Ark., and practiced there for many years, did before him.

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This family biography is one of 67 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Calhoun County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Calhoun County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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