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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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James T. Henderson. In reviewing the lives of prominent residents of Little River County, mention must be made of Mr. Henderson, an extensive farmer, and proprietor of a cotton-gin and saw-mill, of Franklin Township. He first came to this county with his parents in 1841, at the age of nineteen years, being among the first settlers, and here he has made his home uninterruptedly ever since. He owns a fine farm of 320 acres, with about seventy-five acres under cultivation, and he devotes his attention to tilling this farm, in connection with conducting a ginning and saw-mill business. He erected his first cotton-gin about 1870, but this was burned in 1880, and soon after he built his present gin, with saw-mill attached, at a cost of about $2,500. The mill has a capacity of 10,000 feet per day, and turns out excellent work. Mr. Henderson is one of two survivors of a family of five children, the other being Wilson Henderson, a resident of Texas. He was born in Tennessee on March 5, 1822, being a son of James T. and Mary Elizabeth (Usrey) Henderson, both of whom were natives of Tennessee. The paternal grandfather, Wilson Henderson, was born in South Carolina, of Irish and Welsh descent, and emigrated from his native State to Tennessee at an early day. The father departed this life in Middle Tennessee in 1824, and in 1841 his widow emigrated with her family to Little River County, Ark., where she spent the remainder of her days, passing from life in 1865. James T. Henderson was united in marriage in 1851 to Miss Caroline Davidson, a native of Tennessee, who died in 1850, leaving one child (since deceased). After her death he remained a widower until 1865, and then Miss Mary Jane Bass, a native of Georgia, became his wife, and their union was blessed in the birth of two children: Alma M. (wife of Luke Hagerly), and Ida J. (at home). He belongs to the Masonic fraternity. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, casting his first vote for James K. Polk, and has served as justice of the peace for Franklin Township for twenty-five years. He is very enterprising and public spirited, and both he and wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

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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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