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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Howard County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  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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Franklin Smith, another prominent agriculturist residing in Howard County, is a native-born resident of the State, his birth occurring in Hempstead County, near Washington, October 1, 1827. His father, Nathan D. Smith, was a native of Connecticut, born September 3, 1791, and the mother, whose maiden name was Elvira Stow, was a native of North Carolina, born April 19, 1801. The parents were married September 28, 1820, in Hempstead County, and to them were born eleven children, four of whom are living: Wilbur, Harriet and Annie. The mother died May 25, 1865, and the father August 27, 1867. The father entered land in Hempstead County, and was one of the first resident physicians of the same. He was, for many years, the only physician in that county that had a diploma. He was a graduate of Fairfield Academy, a noted medical school of New York, and practiced under the celebrated Dr. Hull, of New York, one of the prominent physicians of his day. Dr. Smith kept a meteorological journal for twenty-six years, and also kept a record of the rainfall in his locality for a number of years. These records he afterward presented to the Smithsonian Institute. Franklin Smith received a good education in his native county, and remained under the parental roof until thirty-one years of age. He was married, January 19, 1860, to Miss Matilda J. Taylor, a native of Arkansas, and the daughter of Daniel and Jane (Russell) Taylor. Mrs. Smith was born June 4, 1840, and died September 28, 1886. Seven children were born to this union: Nathan (born August 1, 1861), Franklin (born January 19, 1867, and died September 28, 1870), Luckett (born February 19, 1869), Nannie (born June 4, 1872), Mary (born July 11,1874), Harvey (born September 13, 1879), and an infant who died unnamed. On January 19, 1862, Mr. Smith enlisted in Edder's battery, Light Artillery, Confederate Army, and served as a private until the close of the war. He was in the battles of Helena and Pleasant Hill. Returning home after the war, he engaged in cultivating the soil, and moved on his present farm, consisting of 280 acres with seventy-five acres under cultivation, in January, 1878. He is active in politics, votes with the Democratic party, and served as justice of the peace six years. While holding this position, he had two noted civil cases, one occupying two weeks, and the other remarkable for the number of committals, having committed forty-two of the negroes concerned in the Wyatt riot. The last session of school that Mr. Smith attended in Washington, Hempstead County, was remarkable from the fact, that among the students were the following: Judge S. W. Williams, of Little Rock; A. B. Williams, of the Utah commission; Hon. G. W. Williamson, of Shreveport, La.; Rev. James Paxton, a prominent Baptist divine of Louisiana, and Dr. J. S. Burt, of Charleston, Ark. Mr. Smith is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is a liberal supporter of all religious and educational institutions.

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This family biography is one of 116 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Howard County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Howard County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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