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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pulaski County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  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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James K. P. Henderson, one of the best-known men in Pulaski County, and a substantial farmer and stock raiser, was born in Marshall County, Miss., in the year 1844, and is a son of Simeon and Mary Ann (Burks) Henderson, natives of Virginia and North Carolina, respectively. The parents were principally reared and married in the State of Mississippi, where the mother died when James was only two years old. The father was married twice, and became a very prominent farmer in Tate County, Miss., where he died in 1860. He had been a member of the A. F. & A. M. for a great many years, and was a son of William Henderson, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to America with three other brothers when all were young men. John F. Burks, the maternal grandfather of James Henderson, came to Arkansas about the year 1847, and died in Jefferson County in 1878. He became a leading citizen and a very influential man during his residence in Jefferson County, and his funeral was one of the largest ever seen in that section. James K. P. Henderson was the third child of three sons and one daughter. His education had been somewhat neglected in his youth, owing to the poor opportunities offered for schooling in his section, but like hundreds of other self-made men, he has always been equal to any emergency by his fertile brain and ready wit. When sixteen years of age, he joined Company K, of the Ninth Arkansas Infantry, and served actively until the surrender, operating in Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama. He was captured at Baker’s Creek, shortly before the fall of Vicksburg, and taken prisoner to Indianapolis, where he was confined for eight months. He was then paroled and returned to his home, but after a short period of inactivity, he rejoined his command at Lost Mountain, Ga., and served all through the campaign in that State, finally surrendering with Gen. Johnston, at Jonesboro, N. C. During Mr. Henderson’s gallant service for the Confederacy, he was severely wounded twice, but happily recovered each time. After the last gun had been fired and the smoke of battle cleared away, he returned to Tate County, Miss., where he resided until 1875, and then moved to Pulaski County, Ark., his present home. He owns 167 acres of good land, and has placed about seventy-five acres under cultivation, all of which he has made by his own exertions since the war. In March, 1874, he was married in Tate County, Miss., to Mrs. Lucy Ann Bumpass, a charming widow and a daughter of Harvey and Rebecca Burford, of Alabama. Mr. Burford died in Tate County, and, with those peculiar selections which Cupid sometimes makes, Mrs. Burford’s second husband was Mr. Henderson’s father. Mrs. Henderson died June 1, 1882, after a married life of devotion and love. In politics Mr. Henderson is a Democrat, and a stout up holder of that party’s men, and his truth and integrity in every phase of life have won the respect and admiration of all.

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This family biography is one of 156 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Pulaski County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Pulaski County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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