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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Sevier 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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Richard L. Merideth. All his life Mr. Merideth has followed, with substantial success, the occupation to which he was reared and in which he is now engaged—farming. The owner of 240 acres of good land, with seventy under cultivation, he is recognized as a leading agriculturist, and as a man, no less than as a citizen, he is highly esteemed and respected. He was born in Alabama October 27, 1823, and is a son of Jesse and Nancy (Langister) Merideth, who were Tennesseans, the former’s birth occurring in 1798 and the latter’s in 1803, their union taking place on October 3, 1820. The father was a farmer and brick mason by occupation, and followed this occupation in the different States in which he lived. Shortly after his marriage he moved to Alabama, thence to Louisiana, and from this State to Arkansas in 1861, being a resident of Sevier County until his death, which occurred in 1875 at the age of eighty-six years. He and his wife had long been connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, the latter’s death having occurred May 4, 1854. Of a family of twelve children born to them two are now living: Richard L. (the subject of this memoir) and William. The former was married in Alabama in 1844 to Miss Rachel Whiter, who was born in Tennessee, but she died two years later, leaving one child —Thomas. Mr. Merideth’s second union took place in 1849, his wife’s maiden name being Catherine Lee, her death occurring December 2, 1886. He married his third and present wife in 1888, she being Mrs. Nancy J. Lee, a native of Louisiana. Mr. Merideth enlisted in the Confederate army in 1864, becoming a member of Company K, infantry service. He served until the close of the war and then returned home, and has since devoted his time and attention to agricultural pursuits. He is a Democrat, and he and Mrs. Merideth are members of the Presbyterian Church.

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This family biography is one of 96 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Sevier County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Sevier County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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