My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of Sebastian 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.

* * * *

Dr. Peyton B. Coker, physician and farmer of Big Creek Township, was born in Bibb County, Ala., 1in 1835, and is a son of Robert and Sarah (Myers) Coker, natives of Lawrenceburg District, S. C., and Georgia, respectively. They removed from Alabama to Mississippi in 1847, where their respective deaths occurred in 1881 and 1887. Philip Coker, the grandfather, was born in South Carolina, and died in Georgia. Dr. Coker is one of a family of twelve children, and being reared upon a farm his early education was received at a country school. He read medicine from 1856 until 1860, and the following winter attended the Memphis Medical College. He began to practice in Tishomingo County, Miss., and until 1870 practiced in that State. He then came to Sebastian County, and having taught school prior to the war continued that vocation one year, since which time he has devoted his attention to farming and medicine. In August, 1861, he enlisted as a Chickasaw Ranger, in Martin’s battalion, of Steward’s brigade, and served in the Virginia army until discharged on account of ill health the following December. He afterward served in different capacities, and he fought at the battle of Shiloh. In June, 1863, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Rogers, natives of North Carolina and Georgia. Mr. Rogers died in 1886, but his widow is now living. Mrs. Coker was born in Georgia, and has borne the Doctor eleven children, of whom nine are living, and have enjoyed the advantages of a good education. Dr. Coker has been a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for thirty-one years, having held many offices in the meantime, and his wife belongs to the same denomination. Dr. Coker owns a nice farm of 310 acres as a result of his labor. He has always been a Democrat, and for a short time served as justice of the peace. He is a demitted member of the Masonic fraternity.

* * * *

This family biography is one of 217 biographies included in The History of Sebastian County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Sebastian County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Sebastian County, Arkansas family biographies here: Sebastian County, Arkansas

Use the links at the top right of this page to search or browse thousands of other family biographies.