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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Craighead 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 F. Cross is a substantial and public-spirited citizen of Craighead County, and has a large, well improved farm of 120 acres, about three miles from Jonesboro. He was born in Shelby County, Tenn., July 29, 1840, and is the son of B. F. Cross, a native of Giles County, Tenn., and a substantial farmer of that State. In 1844 the father came to Craighead County (then Poinsett), and located near Greensboro, where he bought eighty acres of land, and engaged in farming for several years. Ten or twelve years later he came to Jonesboro Township, where he rented land until his death, in 1877. He was a member of the Sons of Temperance at an early day, and was honored by local offices in Powell Township. His wife, Mary (Hannah) Cross, was a native of North Carolina, and six children blessed their union, five sons and one daughter. Of these, James F., J. H. and Benjamin R. are the only survivors. The mother died in this township in December, 1887, aged about sixty-seven years. All his life James F. Cross has been a resident of the same settlement in Craighead County, excepting the four years of the late war. In 1861 he entered the Confederate service, enlisting in Company I, Thirteenth Arkansas Infantry, and served four years and seventeen days. After the war he bought eighty acres of his farm, and has since added forty. April 23, 1869, he married Mary J. Higginbotham, a native of Poinsett County, Ark., and daughter of Franklin and Nancy (Edwards) Higginbotham, residents of this township. Five children have been born to this union: William Thomas (deceased), John Franklin, Mary Melvina, Stephen Lafayette and Jodella. Mr. Cross has all his life been an energetic and industrious man, and though he received no education in his childhood, has been a successful farmer, and accumulated a valuable property. He has been a member of the Masonic order, and is a Democrat.

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This family biography is one of 98 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Craighead County, Arkansas published in 1889.  View the complete description here: Craighead County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Craighead County, Arkansas family biographies here: Craighead County, Arkansas Biographies

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