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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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Robert Spain Duke, a leading farmer of Prairie Township, was the fourth in a family of nine children born to Robert G. and Erexena (Morrison) Duke, his birth occurring in North Carolina, April 30, 1833. Robert G. Duke was born in North Carolina, July 5, 1795, and was a son of Robert Duke, a soldier in the Revolutionary War, of Irish descent, who settled and married in Anson County, N. C., and died there in about the one-hundredth year of his age. Robert G. Duke moved from North Carolina to Tennessee in 1845, where he lived until his death, which occurred May 3, 1879. His wife was born in North Carolina January 3, 1801, and died in 1856. Robert S. was reared to manhood in Tennessee, where he received a limited education, there being married January 22, 1857, to Rebecca I. Mason, who died in 1865. He was married the second time on November 29, 1866, to Mrs. Susan C. Robinson (nee Allison), a widow. By his first marriage he had three children: Robert W., Mary E. (now the wife of G. C. Thompson) and Cora A. (wife of William F. McShan.) By his second marriage there are two children: Ossee A. (born March 6, 1868) and Anna B. (who was born July 6, 1871). Mr. Duke enlisted in November, 1861, in the Confederate army, serving with distinction in the great struggle. He was wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Helena, Ark., and removed to the Overton hospital, at Memphis, July 4, 1863, where he was confined until April, 1864, then being transferred to Alton, Ill. Here he was held until September, 1864, and later removed to Camp Douglas, Ill., where he was exchanged and sent to New Orleans. Following this he returned home and again came upon his farm in this county, to which he had moved in 1858. He owns a good landed estate of 700 acres, with about 150 acres under cultivation. Mr. Duke is a member of the County Wheel. He has been a Democrat all his life until 1888, when he voted the Union Labor ticket. Mr. and Mrs. Duke are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

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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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