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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Little River 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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Alex R. Moores, a prominent resident of Richmond, was born in Texas, on January 24, 1844, being the second of thirteen children born to the union of Anderson R. Moores and wife, nee Paulina T. Jarrett, natives of South Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. The former came to Texas (then the Republic of Texas), at the age of fifteen, in 1839, with his father, or rather in charge of his father's slaves, and located west of Texarkana, in what is now Bowie County, and in 1842 joined the Regular Army of the Republic, and at the age of eighteen years was commissioned major by Sam Houston, at that time president of the Republic, and served as such for some time, although he was not in the war with Mexico in 1848. When he settled in Texas with his father, there were but very few people living west of the Red River, and neighbors were scattering, the distance being frequently as much as from ten to fifteen miles from one settlement to another. Indians were still plentiful in this section of the State, but never gave any trouble, and murders and robberies were almost unknown at that time. Wild cattle abounded all over this portion of Texas, and one hundred miles west of their settlement bear, deer and wild turkeys were very plentiful. Both the maternal and paternal grandparents of our subject were among the early pioneers of this State, and the maternal grandfather, David Jarrett, as surveyor of this section, surveyed nearly all the land in the eastern part of Texas. Prior to his location here he had also assisted in surveying and locating the city of Memphis, Tenn. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was at the battle of New Orleans. Settling here as they did at a very early day, the two families were quite intimately acquainted with Sam Houston and his eccentricities. In 1856 there was a severe drought in Eastern Texas and crops were short. Salt and other groceries had to be hauled from Games Landing, Chicot County, Ark., to as far west as 200 miles into Texas. It took about four weeks to make such a trip, and salt at that place sold for $15 per sack and was hard to get at that price. The father of our subject died in Texas, in 1873, in his forty-ninth year, his wife having previously died in 1862, at the age of thirty-seven years. Of the thirteen children born to their marriage, only four are now living: Mary J. (now Mrs. Dunn, of this city), Mattie M. (now the wife of Arthur Miller), Adella W. (wife of Robert M. Dunn, of the firm of Dunn & Ross, merchants of Leemon, Mo.), and Alex R. The latter obtained a fair education in the common schools of Boston, Tex., and at the age of sixteen years entered a dry goods house as clerk. At the age of eighteen years he joined Crupp's battalion, which was the first battalion of Texas Cavalry, and was reorganized and constituted a part of the Thirty-second Texas Dismounted Cavalry, at Corinth. He was in the battles of Richmond and Murfreesboro, from Dalton, Ga., to Atlanta, thence to Nashville, Tenn., and from there to Alabama and Mississippi. He surrendered at Jefferson, Tex. At the close of the war he engaged in mercantile pursuits at Sulphur Springs, Tex., in which he continued until 1867, when he came to this place and engaged in merchandising. After conducting a merchandise business here for one year, under the firm name of Moores, Connor & Co., he sold out and turned his attention to farming. In 1874 he opened a general merchandise establishment in Texarkana, and conducted it very successfully for nine years, and in 1883 came to this place and purchased the interest of Dr. J. M. Dun, who was associated with A. J. Mims in a general merchandise business, the latter being the general manager, and the concern was continued for six years under the firm name of Mims & Moores, doing a business of from $60,000 to $100,000 annually. He has recently retired to his farm close to the village, and devotes his attention to raising horses, mules, etc., and cultivates about 103 acres of land. By his marriage to Miss Rebecca Williamson, of this place, which occurred in 1871, Mr. Moores became the father of three children: Carrie L., May D. and Lizzie R. Mrs. Moores was a devoted member of the Old School Presbyterian Church, and her death occurred in 1885, in her thirty-first year. Her husband remained a widower for two years, and then, in 1887, was united in marriage to Miss Nellie V. Cook, of Gonzales, Tex., and they are the parents of one child. Both Mr. and Mrs. Moores are church members, but belong to different denominations, he believing in the doctrines of the Old School Presbyterian Church, and she in those of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is a member of the K. of H., and also belongs to Texarkana Lodge No. 1903, K. & L. of H.

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This family biography is one of 38 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Little River County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Little River County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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