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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Clark 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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Col. Charles Cargile is a prominent citizen of Okolona, Ark., whose birth occurred in Jasper County, Ga., in 1822, he being a son of John R. and Mary (Marks) Cargile, who were also Georgians, his father spending his life there and dying in 1833. His widow afterward removed to Louisiana, but died at the home of her son Charles while on a visit in 1857. The father was a farmer and merchant, was a member of the Georgia Legislature for many years, and was a son of Charles Cargile, of North Carolina, who died in Jasper County, Ga., in 1843. He began life as a tiller of the soil, but afterward engaged in other pursuits in connection with his farming operations, and accumulated a large estate. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. The maternal grandfather, John Marks, of Scotch descent, died in Alabama when the subject of this sketch was quite young. The latter, the fourth of a family of four sons and five daughters, spent his youth on a farm, attending none but the common schools of his neighborhood except two years spent at Mercer University. He was married in Jasper County, Ga., in 1850, to Catharine G., daughter of Wyatt R. and Rockie A. Smith. She was born in Jasper County, Ga., and died in Au gust, 1865, at Okolona, Ark., having borne five children: Wyatt R., Dr. Charles H., John S., Henry A. and Jefferson. Mr. Cargile's second marriage was consummated in 1867, his wife being Mrs. Anna E. McLure, nee Jones, who was born in the Old North State. Mr. Cargile came to Okolona, Ark, in 1854, and this place has since been his home with the exception of two years which he spent in Texas during the war. He engaged exclusively in farming until 1876, at which time he engaged in a general mercantile business as an auxiliary to his farming operations, which he continued for nine years with good success. His health becoming impaired, he sold out his mercantile interest except the furniture and undertaker's department, and is now giving his attention principally to his farm. He also owns some valuable town property. He never seemed to have any political aspirations, but reluctantly consented to become a candidate for the Legislature in 1860; was elected, and served two years. He is a Democrat, his first presidential vote being cast for | James K. Polk. The most of Mr. Cargile's business is in the hands of a deputy, and this gives him ample time for writing for some of the leading newspapers of the country and occasionally contributing a poem of considerable merit. He is a man of exemplary habits, has been strictly temperate all his life, and has reared his children (four of whom are still living) to follow in his footsteps in this particular.

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This family biography is one of 99 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Clark County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Clark County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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