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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Ouachita 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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Hon. William Franklin Avera, editor and proprietor of Ouachita Herald, has been a resident of this county the greater portion of his life, although his birth occurred in Autauga County, Ala., December 23, 1846. He was taken by his parents to Camden, Ark., in January, 1848, and at the early age of sixteen years he enlisted in the Confederate army, and was in the artillery service, until the close of the war, being a member of the Fifth Arkansas Battalion. After his return from the war, he took a very active part in opposing the “carpet bag government,” from 1868 to 1874, and in the latter year was elected to the Lower House of the State Legislature. Under the new constitution, which was adopted in 1874, he assisted in thoroughly reorganizing the State Government, at the regular session of 1874-75, and at the special session of 1876. In the latter part of this year he was reelected to the General Assembly for two years more, and again in 1884, and during his entire official life he was an able, efficient servant of the public. He served prominently on the Ways and Means Committee, and gained an enviable reputation by his thorough knowledge of State finances. In 1885 he was appointed postmaster of Camden by President Cleveland, but was removed from the position by President Harrison, in August, 1889, for political reasons. In 1886 Gov. S. P. Hughes appointed him a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Industrial University at Fayetteville, and was reappointed to the position by Gov. Eagle, in 1888, and is now serving the latter term. He has also filled many local positions of honor and trust, and in the discharge of his duties has been faithful to every trust, and his career has been one of great credit. He has always been noted for his fearless and outspoken views, as well as for his independence and unfaltering devotion to the interests of the people. He has been for some time editor and proprietor of the Ouachita Herald, and his son Preston is the publisher and business manager of the same, and through its columns they espouse all worthy enterprises, and yield no slight influence in directing the proper steps to be taken for their successful conduct. Mr. Avera was married, in 1868, to Miss Martha O. Livingston, a daughter of a wealthy planter of Union County. They have a daughter and two sons.

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This family biography is one of 91 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Ouachita County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Ouachita County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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