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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Nevada 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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Samuel Cantly was born in Hempstead County, Ark., September 6, 1843, a son of William and Martha (Tyree) Cantly, the former a native of Missouri and the latter of Tennessee. His father was but a boy when his father moved to Arkansas from Missouri, there being but one or two houses between Camden and Washington at that time, and here he continued to live until his death, which occurred when he was sixty-two years of age. Our subject’s mother died when he was a child. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the father being an official member for forty years. He was also a member of the Masonic fraternity, and a Democrat, and served one year in an Arkansas Regiment of cavalry, Confederate Army. After the death of our subject’s mother he was twice married; first, to Miss Electa Y. Whiteside, and after her death to Mrs. Weaver, a widow lady. By his first marriage he was the father of two children, Sarah C. (living with her brother), and the subject of this sketch. The immediate subject of this sketch was reared in this county, and here also received his education. In March, 1862, he joined the Twentieth Arkansas Confederate Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war. This regiment was afterward consolidated with the Nineteenth Arkansas Regiment, and was known as the Nineteenth and Twentieth Consolidated Arkansas Regiment. Mr. Cantly participated in the second battle of Corinth. On coming out of the army he was entirely without means, but with a determination to get on in life, he set to work farming in this county, and as the result of his industry and good management, he is now the owner of 270 acres of land, and cultivates over 100. In 1869 he married A. I. Johnson, daughter of Jesse Johnson, one of the first settlers in this part of the State. She was born January 13, 1853. By this marriage there are seven children living, viz.: Laura, Willie J., Ollie, Anna, Bertha, Pearl and Exa. Luther and one unnamed are dead. Mr. Cantly and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, taking a deep interest in religious work, the former being steward. He is a Mason and a Democrat, and is one of the prominent citizens of the county.

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This family biography is one of 96 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Nevada County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Nevada County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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