My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pike 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.

* * * *

James S. Thomasson. In writing the biographies of prominent citizens of Pike County, mention should certainly be made of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. His father, William B. Thomasson, was born in 1824, in South Carolina, and in 1847 was united in marriage at Summerville, Ga., to Miss Mary A. Stewart, a native of New Jersey, born in 1827. The result of this union was the birth of nine children—eight boys and one girl—eight of whom are still living, viz.: James S., Walter S., Horace J., Charles R., William B., Nicholas T., Mary A. Joseph B., Robert L. and Samuel J. Mr. Thomasson is a lawyer and planter by occupation. He has practiced law for thirty-three years, and has been prominently identified with the interests of the communities in which he has resided at various times. He has served as clerk of Pike County for eight years. He is a Royal Arch Mason, and filled all the principal offices in his lodge at different times. During the war he served in the Confederate army as captain of Company I, Forty-first Regiment, Georgia Volunteers. In 1872 he emigrated from Georgia to Arkansas, locating in Clark County, where he resided three years, and then emigrated to Pike County, where he is still living. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The immediate subject of this sketch was born in Franklin, Heard County, Ga., on April 21, 1848, where he was reared and received his education. In 1864 he ran away from home and enlisted in the Confederate service in Beall’s battalion, McCoy’s brigade, and served until the close of the war. At the surrender he was at Doctortown, Ga., and immediately after that event took place he returned home and resumed his studies at school for three years. November 15, 1874, he was married to Miss Jane C. Waldrop, a native of South Carolina, and to this union have been born eight children, viz.: Laura, Blanche, Oscar, Emily, Mary, Hugh and Joseph. The eighth child died in infancy. Our subject is a planter by occupation, and owns 400 acres of good land, with eighty acres under cultivation. Mr. Thomasson has served as county examiner for two years, and as county surveyor for nine years, in which latter capacity he is still serving. He is actively interested in educational and religious matters, and is a good citizen. Both he and wife are members of the Baptist Church.

* * * *

This family biography is one of 71 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pike County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Pike County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Pike County, Arkansas family biographies, click here

Use the links at the top right of this page to search or browse thousands of other family biographies.