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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Columbia 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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Bradford W. Thompson, general merchant, McNeil, Ark. The trade carried on in general merchandise is of very great importance, and constitutes a leading factor in the commercial fabric of the smaller towns and villages. It is a line of business requiring special qualifications of a high order, and only those possessed of these succeed in this somewhat precarious undertaking. Prominent among those engaged in this line in McNeil is Mr. Thompson. This gentleman is a native of this county, his birth occurring here May 10, 1865, and is a son of John I. Thompson, who was born in South Carolina in 1818. The father emigrated from South Carolina to Alabama, and from there to Columbia County, Ark., in 1852, where he followed agricultural pursuits. He died here in 1885. He was left fatherless when small, and came with his mother to this State when young. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Rachel Tolen, was born in Tennessee, January 1, 1830, and is now living in this county. Bradford W. Thompson, the ninth of eleven children—six sons and five daughters —received his education in the common schools of this county and assisted on the farm until grown. His marriage was consummated November 20, 1888, to Miss Lulu Baker, a native of Nevada County, Ark., born in 1873, and to this union has been born one child. Mr. Thompson engaged in merchandising at McNeil in September, 1884, under the firm title of Thompson & Runyan, but he is now carrying on the business by himself and is meeting with success. He carries a stock of goods valued at $2,000. He and Mrs. Thompson are members of the Baptist and Methodist Episcopal Churches, respectively.

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This family biography is one of 106 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Columbia County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Columbia County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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