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Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Lauderdale County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1886.  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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Robert S. Irvin, a merchant and also the postmaster at Curve, Tenn., was born in Appomattox County, Va., April 25, 1842. His father, John Irvin, was born in Virginia, in 1809, and came to Tennessee in 1848, settling in Williamson County; in 1850, he moved to Warren County, and in 1854 to Haywood County, where he remained until 1874, then moved to Texas, locating in Victoria County, and died at Stockdale, Tex., March, 1879. Our subject’s mother’s maiden name was Mary A. Steele; she was born in Appomattox Co., Va., and died in 1845. Robert S. Irvin was raised and educated on a farm, and continued farming until 1878, and since that time has been in the mercantile business. He enlisted in the Confederate Army, belonging to the Seventh Tennessee Infantry, under Col. Jackson, of Jackson, Tenn., and was at the battles of Belmont, Mo., Harrisburg, Miss., Corinth, Miss., and Franklin, Tenn., and after serving through the entire war, was surrendered with Forrest’s troops, at Gainesville Ala. Mr. Irvin was married December 2, 1868, at Murfreesboro, Tenn., to Elizabeth Lackey, daughter of William Lackey, a prominent farmer. She was born in Rutherford County, April 12, 1842, and with her husband belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Mr. Irvin is a member of the firm of Anderson & Irvin, grocery and hardware dealers. He is also the postmaster at Curve, Tenn., six and a half miles north of Ripley. In politics he is Democrat, and was the first one to open a store, at Curve, after the railroad was built, and by his capacity for business and strict integrity, has won the confidence and esteem of his community, and is a kind and liberal man.

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This family biography is one of 116 biographies included in the book,  The History of Lauderdale County, Tennessee published in 1886 by Goodspeed.  The History of Lauderdale County was included within The History of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood, and Crockett Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Lauderdale, Tipton, Haywood, and Crockett Counties, Tennessee

View additional Lauderdale County, Tennessee family biographies here: Lauderdale County, Tennessee

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