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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.

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Lee Giles, editor and proprietor of Pike County Courier, Murfreesboro, Ark. Generally age and experience are essential to success and promotion, but in the example before us we have a young man who has risen without any especial fortuitous circumstances to the head of the representative journal of Pike County, Ark. Mr. Giles was born in Falcon, Nevada County, Ark., in 1867, and is the youngest of five children born to J. R. and California (Brown nee Drake) Giles, natives of Georgia and Alabama, respectively. J. R. Giles came to Arkansas with his parents some time in the forties, and settled in the present territory of Nevada County, where he first followed farming. Later he engaged in merchandising at Falcon, and in 1873 erected the first store building at Hope, continuing in business there until 1883, when he returned to agricultural pursuits, which he carries on at the present time, but still makes his home in Hope. Lee Giles spent his boyhood days on his father’s farm near Hope, and attended the schools of that town. In 1884 he began learning the printer’s trade in the office of the Hope Mercury, where he remained for one year, and then attended school for a year. After this he entered the office of the Hope Gazette, where he remained one year, and then went to Texarkana, and was foreman of the Herald during the publication of that paper. In August, 1888, he came to Murfreesboro, and engaged in the publication of the Pike County Sentinel for Mr. J. O. A. Bush. In February, 1889, he purchased the paper, changed its name to the Pike County Courier, and has been conducting it in an able and efficient manner ever since. It is an uncompromising Democratic journal, and during the time he has edited it the subscription list has been trebled. His outlook for the future is indeed promising, for besides being thoroughly posted in his adopted calling, he is energetic and active, and a writer of recognized ability and force. He has done much to elevate the tone of society, improve the morals of the county and advance the Democratic cause.

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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

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