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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Prairie 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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David J. Burks, farmer and ginner, Hickory Plains, 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 position of one of the successful agriculturists of the county. He was born in Logan County, Ky., June 11, 1859, and his father, W. I. Burks, is a native of the same State. The latter was married in his native State to Miss Harriet Irwin, a native of the same county and State, and followed farming in Kentucky for a number of years. He now resides at Springfield, Mo., where he is engaged in merchandising. He served through the late war as first lieutenant in the Confederate service. In 1874 he moved to Arkansas, and remained here until 1883, when he moved to Springfield, Mo. D. J. Burks came with his parents to Arkansas in 1874, and here grew to manhood. On November 22, 1878, his nuptials with Miss Emma Deener, a native of Arkansas and a daughter of Thomas and Huldah Deener, were solemnized, and to this happy union have been born two children: Willie and Irwin. After marriage Mr. Burks located on a farm, and has cultivated the soil industriously since that time. He bought a gin in the fall of 1888, and has good machinery, etc. His farm consists of about eighty acres with seventy-five acres under cultivation. He has a good residence and outbuildings, etc., and is making his way to the front.

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This family biography is one of 94 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Prairie County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Prairie County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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