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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.

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Thomas J. Webb was born near Nashville, Tenn., in 1821, and is the oldest of four children born to Kendall and Mary (Dugal) Webb, natives of Maryland and Pittsburg, Penn., respectively. They were married in Tennessee, where the mother died about 1834. The father re-married two years later, and then removed to where Ozark, Ark., now stands. In 1853 he went to California, where he spent about three years, after which he located in Franklin County, Ark. He was left an orphan when young, and being bound out to a Quaker in Philadelphia, learned the shoemaker’s trade, which he afterward engaged in extensively. He was a prominent Mason, and died near Ozark in 1873. Thomas Webb, the grandfather, came with a brother to the United States at an early day. The maternal grandfather was of Irish origin, the name formerly having been McDugal, but it was changed by the Pennsylvania Legislature. Thomas J. Webb passed his boyhood in Nashville, Tenn., and when fifteen accompanied his father to Arkansas. In 1846 he enlisted in the Mexican War for twelve months, and served in Company D, Arkansas Cavalry, under Gen. Taylor. He was captured previous to the battle of Buena Vissta, and taken on foot to the City of Mexico, a distance of 1,000 miles, where he was held a prisoner six months. In 1852 he crossed the plains to California, where he remained until 1883, engaged in mining and farming. During the late war he served three years and one month in Company L, First California Cavalry, being engaged the greater part of the time in fighting the Indians in Arizona. He had charge of supply stations several times. After returning to Arkansas from California he engaged in cattle trading for some time in Franklin County, but since 1885 has farmed in Sebastian County. By the exercise of industry and economy Mr. Webb has become a well-to-do man, and in partnership with his brother he owns 1,200 acres of choice land in this county. He is devotedly fond of reading, being well-informed on all current topics, and his library contains a number of good works by well-known authors.

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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

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