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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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Millard H. Purifoy, a planter residing on Section 24, is a native of Ouachita County, born on July 30, 1855, a son of Henry M. and Elizabeth J. (Hanley) Purifoy, the former of whom was born in Will County, Ala., January 12, 1818, a farmer by occupation, which received his attention all his life. During the late war he was a member of a company of infantry under Capt. Logan, and was taken prisoner at Fort Donelson. After being held in captivity for eighteen months, he was exchanged and then came home owing to ill health. He had held the office of justice of the peace for several years in his native State, after which he emigrated from Alabama to Georgia, and from there to Florida, thence to Arkansas in 1844, settling in Ouachita County on a woodland farm, on which he erected a log-cabin and began improving. He was a very successful farmer up to the late war, being the owner of some 1,200 acres of land, but at the close of the war sold it all to pay his debts. He died on September 13, 1882, having been first married to Miss Anna Allbritten, of Alabama, by whom he became the father of three sons and one daughter: Henry H., John G., and Nancy C. (widow of A. N. Powell) being the only ones now living. After the death of the mother of these children, in 1845, he married Miss Hanley, and to them thirteen children were born, nine of whom survive: Marshal W., Millard H., Buckner W., James L., Ed L., Jesse B., Joseph S., Pharr R., Robert E. (living), and Louis F., Walter P., Elizabeth and one other (deceased). The mother of these children died in 1889, having been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Millard H. Purifoy has resided in this county the greater portion of his life, and on August 16, 1877, was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Gulley, of Nevada County, Ark., by whom he became the father of six children: Marshal L., Richard G., Samuel L., Ramsey J., Roland L., and Keturah E. (who is deceased). Mrs. Purifoy was born in Louisiana, June 2, 1860. Mr. Purifoy is the owner of 320 acres of fine farming land, and has seventy five acres under the plow, and on this farm is a good steam cotton-gin and grist-mill, the former having a capacity of from thirteen to fifteen bales per day. His principal crop is cotton. He is a Democrat in his political views, and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

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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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