My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography from the book, History of Kentucky, Edition 1 by J. H. Battle, W. H. Perrin and G. C. Kniffin and published by F. A. Battey Publishing Company in 1885.  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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L. B. BLALOCK was born July 11, 1838, within a mile of where he now lives in Graves County. He is the eldest of three boys and six girls born to Levi and Rutha A. (Holifield) Blalock, natives respectively of North Carolina and Henderson County, Ky. Levi Blalock emigrated from North Carolina to Illinois in 1832; thence to Hickman County, Ky., in 1836, and in the same year came to Graves County; here he died in 1857, aged forty-four years. L. B. Blalock received about six months’ schooling in his youth, but subsequently acquired a good business education; he was reared a farmer and remained with his mother until his marriage, January 16, 1877, to Nancy J. Anderson, daughter of Ervin and Maria (Pryor) Anderson, natives of Caldwell and Simpson Counties, Ky., and of Scotch and English descent. These parents were among the first settlers of Graves County, the Pryors, coming in 1822, and settling on Clark’s River, and three years later near Pryorsburg, named in their honor. The Andersons settled here about 1825. To Mr. and Mrs. Blalock were born four children: James L., John F., a third that died unnamed and Newton J. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and formerly Mr. Blalock was an Odd Fellow and a member of the Grange. He owns 585 acres of land, of which over one-half is under cultivation and improved with a fine frame residence. Since 1870 he has traded in tobacco most successfully. In November, 1863, he enlisted in Company E, Twelfth Kentucky Cavalry, Confederate States Army, under Gen. Forrest, and took part in the following battles: Cross Roads, Okalona, Miss., and Jackson, Tenn. The army disbanded in March, 1865, at Paducah, Ky. Without a nickel, our subject returned home, engaged in farming and succeeded in acquiring a comfortable fortune.

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This family biography is one of 91 biographies included in the Graves County, Kentucky section of the book, The History of Kentucky, Edition 1 published in 1885 by F. A. Battey Publishing Company.  For the complete description, click here: History of Kentucky, Edition 1

View additional Graves County, Kentucky family biographies here: Graves County, Kentucky Biographies

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