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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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J. A. Harr is a real-estate dealer of Fairmount, Ark., and was born in Maryland in 1854, being the fifth child born to Everhard and Martha (Coffman) Harr, the former of whom was born in Philadelphia, Penn., being one of nine children born to Isaiah Harr, an Englishman. Everhard Harr was a manufacturer of edge tools, and after working in his native city for many years he moved to Maryland. He was born in 1790, and about 1835 was married, his wife being a native of Philadelphia, and a member of the Coffman family of that city. Their children were: Isaiah (who is married and lives in Phillipsburg, Penn.), J. A., Sanford L. (a resident of Fairmount, Ark.) and James, Mary, Martha and Margaret (deceased). The early days of our subject were spent in Maryland, and his schooling was obtained in the Millersville State Normal School of Pennsylvania. After teaching school for a number of years he determined to take Horace Greeley’s advice and “Go West,” thinking the advantages for a young man of push and enterprise much better here than there, and in 1877 settled in the State of Nebraska, in Colfax County. In 1882, however, he came to Fairmount, Ark., and has since been actively and successfully engaged in the real-estate business. He has under his control 240,000 acres of land, and in his deals commands the public confidence in a marked degree. He is a director of the Little Rock & Mississippi Railroad, and being public spirited and enterprising, is deeply interested in the upbuilding of the county, and is a special advocate of schools and churches. He is a Republican in his political views.

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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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