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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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Martin L. Kumpe is a native of Alabama, but has been a resident of Arkansas for over thirty years. He is a son of John Kumpe and Lucinda (Maples) Kumpe, natives of Germany and Tennessee, respectively. John Kumpe, a well-known citizen of Little Rock for over thirty years, came originally from Hessen County, Germany (where he was born April 6, 1807) to America, when eighteen or nineteen years old. He was a gardener by trade, and for the first three years spent in this country he was employed in the Botanical Gardens at the city of Washington. He then went to Huntsville, Ala., and some time afterward to Tuscumbia, Ala., where he was engaged in the confectionery business, and where he was married. In 1846, disposing of his interests, he commenced farming, continuing until 1859, when he sold out and moved to Little Rock, where he resumed the confectionery business. In 1872 his son, Martin L., purchased this outfit, and Mr. Kumpe retired from active business life. He erected two large brick buildings in that year, and a couple more in the following two years. Mr. and Mrs. Kumpe were the parents of fourteen children, nine of whom are living: Mary (wife of John Drehr), Edward E. (who is a resident of the Indian Territory), Ann (wife of Thomas Parsel), Martin B. (the subject of this article), Elizabeth (wife of J. W. Carden), Charles, Gertrude (now Mrs. Scharer), Carrie (now Mrs. Haley) and Henry P. Mrs. Kumpe is still living, and is in her seventieth year. In the year 1862 Martin L. Kumpe (our subject) went into his father’s store as clerk, in which capacity he continued until 1872, when he bought out his father and continued the business up to 1879, his brother Charley then becoming proprietor. In 1881 he was on the police force, and served for about eight months in this capacity, after which he went into the sewing-machine trade. Mr. Kumpe has been twice married. First in June, 1872, to Miss Parsel, who died the following year. His second union, on September 8, 1875, was to Drucilla Dale. They were the parents of one child, Fannie, now thirteen years old. Mrs. Kumpe is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Kumpe belongs to Damon Lodge No. 3, Knights of Pythias.

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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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