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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lonoke 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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Hon. J. B. Chapline, president and manager of the Wheel store, at Lonoke, Ark., of South Carolina origin, was born at Greenville, June 16, 1847, as the son of George M. and Wilhelmina (Chick) Chapline, natives of Kentucky and South Carolina, respectively. The paternal grandfather, Jacob Chapline, was one of the earliest settlers of Kentucky, the Blue Grass State, and a companion of the pioneer, Daniel Boone. The progenitor of the Chapline family came from England at an early day, and the settlement of the family in Kentucky is commemorated by the naming of the Chapline Hills, near Perryville, as well as the Chapline River. George M. Chapline was an extensive planter at Greenville, S. C., where he resided until his death. In a family of two sons and three daughters, the subject of this sketch is the second in order of birth, and the oldest son. He was only eighteen years of age when his father died, leaving the entire care of his extensive business to his management. In 1867 he came to Arkansas, and located in Crittenden, having previously resided in the same county in 1865. One year later he removed to Little Rock, where for four years he was engaged in the mercantile and contracting business. In 1875 Mr. Chapline took up a plantation on the White River. In 1882 he secured the contract and completed work amounting to half a million of dollars, for the Cotton Belt Railroad. He removed to Lonoke in 1885 (where he now resides), and in 1873-84 he was elected to the General Assembly as the candidate of the Republican party from Little Rock. When in the legislature he originated the movement and introduced a bill resulting in the organization of Lonoke County, then a part of Prairie and Pulaski Counties, and to him is largely, if not entirely, due the credit of Lonoke’s formation. On November 6, 1861, Mr. Chapline enlisted in the Sixteenth Regiment South Carolina State troops. It will be seen at a glance that he was only fifteen years of age at the time of enlistment, but his service was one marked by a devotion and gallantry worthy the career of those older in years. Mr. Chapline was married in 1868 to Miss Alice Hodges, of Alabama nativity, who came to Mississippi with her parents. To them have been born three sons and four daughters. In politics Mr. Chapline is a Democrat, and with his family worships at the Baptist Church. He is president of the Lonoke branch of the American Building, Loan and Tontine Savings Association of Memphis, and is also member of the city board, and chairman of the street committee. In 1888 he erected the cotton-gin now owned by Chapline & England, which is one of the finest in the State. This firm conducts the Lonoke brick-yard. Mr. Chapline has done his full share toward the advancement and progress of Lonoke, always manifesting great interest and public spirit in enterprises of a worthy character.

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This family biography is one of 143 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Lonoke County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Lonoke County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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