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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Greene 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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G. L. Gentry, a successful planter residing near Paragould, Ark., was born in 1841 in Weakley County, Tenn., being the eighth of twelve children born to the marriage of J. R. Gentry and Sarah Nance, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Virginia. In 1858 they located near Gainesville, Ark., in which the father died in 1884, having been a prominent resident of the county. The mother is still living, and resides at Paragould. G. L. Gentry was reared to manhood on a farm in Tennessee, and in 1858 came to Greene County, Ark., enlisting from this county, in 1861, in Company K, Fifth Arkansas Volunteers, under Col. Cross, and went into service at Columbus, Ky. He was a member of a scouting party along the Red River, and in 1862 was honorably discharged at Bowling Green, Ky. After his return home he joined Gen. Marmaduke, and was with him for some time. In 1869 he was married to Miss Angeline McWhirter, of Tennessee, a daughter of John and Matilda (Yarber) McWhirter, who were also born in that State, coming to Arkansas at a very early day, in which State they both died. After his marriage Mr. Gentry settled near Gainesville, and in 1873 bought a partly improved farm of 200 acres, but sold it sometime later and went to Paragould, where he engaged in the saw-mill business (in 1881). Three years later he embarked in grist-milling and also operated a cotton-gin, which he sold in 1887, and returned to the farm. Sixty acres of his 100-acre farm are under cultivation, and on it he raises cotton and cereals. By his wife, who died in 1883, he became the father of the following children: Joseph W., Laurattie, Oney, Gilbert W., Albert and Willis, all of whom are at home. In 1884 Mr. Gentry married his present wife, whose maiden name was Frances Drollender, of Tennessee, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Bond) Drollender, of Tennessee, both of whom are deceased, the latter dying in Paragould in 1887. Mr. Gentry has seen a vast change in the country since his boyhood days, as it was then in a very wild and unsettled condition. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., and was Worshipful Master of Gainesville Lodge for a number of years, and in 1887 filled the same position in Paragould Lodge No. 368. He is a member of the Agricultural Wheel, and although a Democrat, is not very active in politics. A station on the Iron Mountain Railroad, midway between Paragould and Gainesville, is called Gentry in honor of our subject.

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This family biography is one of 120 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Greene County, Arkansas published in 1889.  View the complete description here: Greene County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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