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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lafayette 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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J. P. Cooper, farmer, Baker Township, came to Lafayette County, Ark., in 1859, and moved on the place where he now lives, in 1874. His birth occurred in Georgia, in 1836, and he was a son of Alstan Cooper and wife, nee Lydia Massey, both of whom were natives of South Carolina. The paternal grandfather, Jacob Cooper, was born in South Carolina, and died in that State in his eighty-sixth year. The father was a distiller by occupation, and successfully pursued that calling in Georgia until 1847, when he moved to Mississippi and departed this life soon after locating in that State. His widow survived until 1885, when she died at the home of her son. J. P. Cooper is the third of ten children, five of whom are still living, born to his parents, and his life up to the age of eleven years was spent in Hall County, Ga. He then accompanied his parents to Mississippi, and there grew to maturity. He was married in Mississippi in August, 1857, to Miss Elizabeth Kirk (who was born in Gwinnett County, Ga., about 1840), and two years later the young couple came to Arkansas, and made their home in this county. Mr. Cooper is the owner of considerable land, there being 120 acres in the home farm, thirty-five of which are under cultivation, and 236 in another tract, with about forty acres under cultivation, and he is numbered among the substantial farmers of this section. He and wife are the parents of eight children (six of whom are still living): William A. (deceased), George W. (deceased), Josephine (wife of E. C. McCoy), John T., Mary F. (wife of Jacob Anderson), Sarah O., Joseph P. and Elba R. In 1861 Mr. Cooper enlisted in the Confederate army, joining Company C, Twenty-fourth Arkansas Infantry, and served with distinction until the close of the war. He is an enterprising citizen and farmer, and both he and wife are much esteemed members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

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This family biography is one of 44 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lafayette County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Lafayette County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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