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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. E. Perry. There are few farms of the size, if any, in this portion of Arkansas that presents a better picture of advanced agriculture than the one referred to in the present sketch. It contains 320 acres, with 150 under cultivation, and as far as natural advantages, and the manner in which it is improved is concerned, it is probably without a superior hereabouts. The owner of this farm, Mr. Perry, was born in North Carolina in 1849, and was the eighth of a large family of children born to D. B. and Nancy J. (Rieves) Perry, and was a grandson of William and Anna Perry, the latter couple being the parents of twelve children and natives of Virginia. D. B. Perry was born in North Carolina in 1812, and from his earliest youth has been familiar with farm life, and has made that calling quite a success. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and are still residing in North Carolina, and he is a Democrat in his political views, and is an enterprising and public spirited man. He and Miss Rieves were married about 1832, his wife being a daughter of Reuben and Hannah Rieves, natives of North Carolina, and by her he became the father of twelve children: John, William J., Mary M. (the wife of a Mr. Campbell, is deceased), Henry, H., Abner B., Samuel, James M., J. E., Isaac (deceased), Aaron D., Anna J. (Mrs. Perry) and Sarah H. (Mrs. Headen). J. E. Perry assisted in tilling the old farm in North Carolina, and during odd moments attended the common schools, acquiring thereby a fair education. In 1872 he determined to come west to court dame fortune, and settled in Prairie County, Ark., where he purchased 160 acres of land, but this land he has since increased to its above-mentioned proportions. He was married in 1876 to Miss Sallie McNeill, a daughter of Philip and Sallie (Tabb) McNeill, born in North Carolina and Tennessee, who died in 1876 and 1868, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Perry have a family of four children: Bessie, Henry A., Fitz Hugh and Clio C., and are expecting soon to give up farming and move to town, in order to give their children the advantages of the town schools. Mr. Perry is a Mason, E. H. English Lodge No. 237, at Walter Chapel, and belongs also to the K. of H. No. 168840 of Carlisle. He and wife have for some time been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The latter was born in 1860, in the house in which she now lives.

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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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