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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Fulton 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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Thomas B. Caldwell is possessed of those advanced ideas and progressive principles regarding agricultural life which seem to be among the chief characteristics of the average native Missourian. He was born in Franklin County of that State on the 16th of October, 1840, and is a son of James Patten and Ann (Caldwell) Caldwell, the former of Irish descent, born in the State of Missouri, in the year 1816. He was a well known agriculturist of his region, and died in Fulton County, Ark., in 1863. His wife was also born in Missouri, and died when her son, Thomas B., was about seven years of age, her demise occurring in Franklin County. The paternal grandparents were Andrew and Nancy (Farrow) Caldwell, the former being a native Kentuckian. He moved to Franklin County, Mo., during the early history of that country, and died there at his son’s home in 1847. His wife, Nancy, died there also. The paternal great-grandfather, Kincaid Caldwell, was born in the “Emerald Isle.” The maternal grandfather also bore the name of Andrew Caldwell, but the two families were not related. Thomas B. Caldwell is one of two surviving members of a family of five children, the other being a sister residing on the Iron Mountain Railroad in Missouri. He was reared in his native State, but never received any educational advantages in youth, being compelled to assist his father in tilling the home farm; but by contact with the world and by self-application he has become a well posted man. He was twenty years of age when he enlisted in the army, and was a member of Capt. B. B. Bray’s Seventh Division of Missouri Volunteers. He participated in the engagements at Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and in numerous skirmishes. He was second sergeant of artillery for about twelve months prior to the close of the war. On the 9th of March, 1862, he was captured at Mountain Grove, Mo., and was sent to St. Louis, thence to Alton, Ill., and from there to Vicksburg, Miss., where he was exchanged on the 22d of September, of the same year. Nearly ever since the close of the war he has been a resident of Fulton County, Ark., and has been actively engaged in tilling the soil. On the 5th of March, 1865, he was married to Miss Lucintha M. Smith, who was born in South Carolina in 1842, a daughter of Inman and Mary A. Smith. The father died in the “Palmetto State,” but the mother is still living and resides in Fulton County, Ark., the wife of a Mr. Hutchesson. To Mr. Caldwell and his wife the following children have been born: James Henry, Benjamin H., Thomas J. (deceased), John H., Mary A. (deceased), Ruthie J. and Joannah. The greater part of Mr. Caldwell’s time has been occupied in farming, and he is now the owner of 310 acres of land, with about eighty acres under cultivation. He is a Democrat, his first presidential vote being cast for Douglas, and he was elected on that ticket to the office of deputy sheriff and constable. He and wife are connected with the Christian Church, and he is a Mason and a member of the I. O. O. F. Mr. Caldwell is a man universally respected, and to know him is to have a high admiration for him, for he is possessed of those sterling principles which make a true man and a valuable citizen.

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This family biography is one of 70 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Fulton County, Arkansas published in 1889.  View the complete description here: Fulton County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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