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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Ouachita 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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Elbert S. Yarbrough is another of the old settlers of Marion Township, having been a resident of this county since 1849. He was born May 30, 1830, in Henry County, Tenn., a son of William and Lydia (Morris) Yarbrough, natives of North Carolina. William S. Yarbrough was born in September, 1797, in Montgomery County, N. C., a son of James Yarbrough, of Irish descent. He was a fifer in the Revolutionary War. William S. Yarbrough was reared on a farm in North Carolina, and followed farming all his life. In 1820 he emigrated from Montgomery County, N. C., to Tennessee with his family and household goods in a one-horse wagon, and settled first in Montgomery County, Tenn., where he remained for about one year, then went to Henry County, Tenn., where he remained until 1849, at which time he again emigrated west, coming to this State and locating in Ouachita County, where he bought a claim of eighty acres of land, about sixty acres of which were cleared. He afterward entered 400 acres, on which he resided until his death in 1863. He and wife were both members of the Primitive Baptist Church. He was a Democrat in his political views. He was married to Miss Lydia Morris, who was born in 1798, a daughter of Jeptha Morris. Mr. Morris was a native of Scotland; his parents died while he was still quite young, and while yet a boy he was brought to this country by a colony of his countrymen and grew up in North Carolina, and served in the Revolutionary War. His wife died in 1865. She was the mother of nine children, four of whom are still living, viz.: Martha (unmarried and living in Columbia County), Elbert S. (the subject of this sketch), Nathan (a minister of the Primitive Baptist Church), and Ann (who married Mr. Thomas W. A. Yarbrough, a third cousin, and now lives in Columbia County). Mr. Yarbrough came to this county when he was nineteen years of age, and has always taken an active interest in the settlement of this county. He commenced working for himself in 1852 at farm labor. In 1854 he was elected bailiff of Marion Township, and served in that capacity for four years, until 1858, when he was appointed deputy sheriff and moved to Camden, and filled that office until 1863. He then moved back on the old homestead, where he remained until the death of his mother. On account of ill health Mr. Yarbrough did not take part in the late war. In 1865 he purchased a farm of 610 acres, which he occupied until 1887, when he sold off part of that place and purchased his present farm on which he now lives. He now owns 530 acres of land, of which 100 are under cultivation, and devotes his attention chiefly to the raising of cotton. He was married, October 27, 1859, to Prudence W. Ross, a native of this county, born in 1841, a daughter of Israel Ross, of this township, and by her was the father of five children, three of whom are still living, viz.: Annie E., Ida V. and Asa E., all living at home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Yarbrough are members of the Primitive Baptist Church. Mr. Yarbrough is actively interested in politics and affiliates with the Democratic party, and takes a deep interest in all work for the good of the county.

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This family biography is one of 91 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Ouachita County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Ouachita County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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