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Below is a family biography from the book,  The History of Franklin 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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Calaway J. Milam, a merchant, farmer and miller of Sub Rosa, was born in Hardin County, Tenn., April 1, 1838, and is a son of Thomas F. and Margaret Amanda (Bell) Milam, the former of whom was reared in Grundy County, Tenn., and settled in Hardin County soon after his marriage. Thomas F. Milam served in the Florida Indian War, and in 1859 located on the farm now owned by our subject in Franklin County, Ark. At the outbreak of the late Civil War he took an active interest in the welfare of the Confederates, entering the army in 1861, and serving until his death, which occurred in the spring of 1862 at Van Buren, Ark. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, where he was class-leader. The mother of Calaway J. Milam was a native of Grundy County, Tenn., and of her ten children nine are now living. She died at the home of her son Calaway in September, 1880. Calaway J. Milam was reared in his native county, and received his education in the common schools. He removed to Arkansas in 1860, April 9, and settled on the farm where he still lives. In the spring of 1863 he was conscripted in the Southern army, and participated in the battles of Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove, after which he returned to his home. In the year 1864 he enlisted in Company E, Eighteenth Iowa, and served in the treasurer’s department. He was afterward in the battles of Camden, Saline and Poison Spring, serving honorably and actively until the close of the war, receiving his discharge at Little Rock in 1865. In the fall of 1864 he, with others, was escorting a family of refugees to Fort Smith, when he was overtaken and fired into by a large squad of bushwhackers. He received a minie-ball in his left hip, which confined him to the hospital at Fort Smith until he was mustered out at Little Rock in April, 1865. He now receives a pension from the government for this wound. Upon returning to his farm, in 1869 he was married to Nancy Bryant, of Franklin County, and their seven children are Thomas F., Andrew J., Edward, Josie, Nora, Daisy and Pearlie. In 1869 Mr. Milam engaged in cotton-ginning and merchandising with his brothers, in which he continued for two years, and again started in the same business at Sub Rosa in 1879, which he still carries on successfully. He is one of the most enterprising farmers of the county, owning 700 acres of land, 400 acres of which are under cultivation. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and was appointed postmaster of Sub Rosa in 1878. Mr. Milam is a member of the Methodists Episcopal Church.

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This family biography is one of 163 biographies included in The History of Franklin County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Franklin County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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