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Below is a family biography from the book,  The History of Crawford 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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William Henry Harrison Shibley, of the firm of Shibley, Bourland & Co., was born in 1840 in Ralls County, Mo., and is a son of Henry and Eliza Ann (Boyd) Shibley. Some time previous to the Revolutionary War John Shibley immigrated to America from Switzerland and settled in New York. He was the father of Henry Shibley, who was born in 1762 and died in 1853. In 1788 he married Elizabeth Shoults, and in 1792 moved to Montgomery County, settling upon land which is now owned by his descendants. His son, Jacob B. Shibley, was born in 1793; in 1814 he married Elizabeth Parks, and in 18181 moved to Luzerne County, Penn. In the winter of 1835 he went to Ralls County, Mo., and in 1843 moved to Adair County, where he died in 1872. His son, Henry, the father of our subject, was born in 1815, in Montgomery County, N. Y., in 1839 married Miss E. A. M. Boyd, and reared a family of seven sons and one daughter, all of whom are married. He is the grandfather of thirty-three children. In 1840 he moved to the northwestern part of Adair County, and commenced merchandising at Shibley’s Point, in connection with which he engaged in milling. In 1860 he located four miles east of Van Buren, and is now the owner of 120 acres. For fifteen years he was a teacher in this county. Having lost his wife in 1883, he has since made his home with our subject. Mrs. Shibley was born in 1818, and was the mother of eight children: W. H. H., John S., M. D., of Paris; Lemuel S., farmer, of Green Forest, Carroll County; Edna E., wife of James M. Baxter, deputy sheriff; George W., of Van Buren; Albert B., of Van Buren; David P. and Jacob I., farmers near Van Buren. Our subject accompanied his parents to Crawford County in 1860, and in 1862 enlisted in the Confederate army as a private, in Company G, Twenty-second Regiment Arkansas Infantry. He served three years, and participated in the lieutenant after the last named battle, then first lieutenant, and at the time of the surrender at Fort Smith was acting adjutant of the regiment and commanding his company. In 1866 he married Esther A. Cook, who was born in Dearborn County, Ind., in 1843, and is the mother of the following children: Harry B., David C. W., Mary E., William A. and Leah A. Mr. and Mrs. Shibley belong to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which he has been ruling elder one year. Mr. Shibley was the chief clerk of Mr. D. C. Williams in his store for ten years prior to 1868, the firm then becoming Shibley, Wood & Co. In 1887 Mr. Shibley sold his interest to Wood Bros. & Southmayd, and in February, 1888, became president of the Van Buren Canning Company. He was the prime originator of the company and it its general manager. July 1, 1888, the company of Shibley, Bourland & Co., succeeded T. D. Bourland & Co. in the wholesale grocery and commission business. Mr. Shibley is one of the first business men of Van Buren, is stockholder in the Van Buren Ice and Coal Company, and a director and stockholder in the Crawford County Bank, having assisted in the organization of both enterprises. He is also treasurer of the Van Buren Building and Loan Association and the Van Buren Land and Improvement Company. He is a Democrat in politics, and has frequently been a member of the city council and school board. He is a member of Van Buren Lodge No. 6, F. & A. M., and Van Buren Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., and is High Priest of the latter, and Grand Master of Second Veil in the Grand Chapter of Arkansas. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shibley take an active interest in temperance, and are usually found with the most earnest workers in the promotion of this commendable virtue. The Sunday-school, too, receives a full share of their attention and encouragement.

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This family biography is one of 222 biographies included in The History of Crawford County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Crawford County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Crawford County, Arkansas family biographies here: Crawford County, Arkansas

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