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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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John C. Goodrum, Jr., of the firm of A. C. England & Co., and a man of influence and prominent worth, is the son of Capt. William and Caroline E. (Townsend) Goodrum, both natives of Tennessee. Upon coming to Arkansas they located in what is now Goodrum Township, where the father became known as one of the earliest settlers, being highly respected and esteemed by the entire community. In I860 he organized a company of militia, of which he was commissioned captain, and during his life served many times in positions of honor and trust, among which was that of clerk of both Prairie and Lonoke Counties, and he was clerk of the latter county at the time of his death, which occurred October 13, 1886. In a family of seven children John C., Jr., is the second in order of birth. Born in Lonoke County, Ark., April 20, 1855, he remained at home with his parents until of age, and in 1877 entered the Vanderbilt University at Nashville, where he remained three years. After leaving college he returned to Lonoke and embarked in the mercantile business, and in January, 1885, became a member of the firm of A. G. England & Co. December 24, 1879, Mr. Goodrum was married to Miss Belle E. Daughtry, a native of Tennessee, who came with her to Arkansas when a child. To them have been born a family of three children, one son and two daughters. Mr. Goodrum is Dictator in the Knights of Honor, being also a member of Lonoke Lodge No. 51, A. F. & A. M., and the Chapter, also the Knights of Pythias. With his wife he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a member and stockholder in the Lonoke Building & Loan Association, and also treasurer of the same, serving in addition as treasurer of the town of Lonoke. At the organization of the military company in Lonoke, in 1887, named after its distinguished citizen, the present Governor of Arkansas, the “Eagle Guards,” Mr. Goodrum was elected captain, which position he filled satisfactorily to his superior officers and in a manner to make him very popular with his inferiors. This, at the time, was considered quite an honor, especially as Capt. Goodrum was one of the youngest men in the company. The Eagle Guards never having been regularly mustered out, may yet be considered as a part of the State troops, and therefore the subject of this sketch is now a regularly commissioned and acting captain of the Arkansas State Guards.

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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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