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Below is a family biography included in The History of Dent County, Missouri 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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Dr. W. L. Arnot, merchant and farmer of Dent County, Mo., was born in Jefferson County, Tenn., in 1830, and is a son of Holbert and Elizabeth (Kirkpatrick) Arnot, both of whom were born in the “Old Dominion.” The former was born about 1790, and died about 1845, in Jefferson County, Tenn., being of Scotch-Irish descent, and a farmer by occupation. Mrs. Arnot was born about 1795, and died about 1842. Eight of their ten children grew to maturity, Dr. W. L. Arnot being the fifth of the family. After his parents’ death he went to North Carolina, where he made his home with a sister for three years, and then returned to Tennessee and worked at the cabinet trade for a short time, but owing to ill health was obliged to give up this trade. He then entered Tuscalum College, and at the end of one year was transferred to Hiwassee College, which institution he attended three years. The following three years were spent in reading medicine under Dr. Drake, of St. Clair, Tenn., and after passing examination under the medical board of that place he was given a diploma. He then moved to Cole County, Mo., and the first year taught school and practiced his profession, but shortly after gave all his attention to the latter occupation, and became one of the leading physicians of the county. In 1864 he was arrested on a charge of being disloyal to the Government, and was taken to St. Louis for trial, and was sentenced to the military prison at Alton, Ill., for five years at hard labor. He was there from May till November, and was then sent to Polk Island, Ill., to take charge of the hospital as physician, and there remained until February of the next year, when he succeeded in making his escape (one of the most remarkable as well as notable incidents of the war), and went to Macoupin County, Ill., where he enlisted in the Union army, and was mustered in at Jacksonville. He served in Company G, Twenty-eighth Regiment Illinois Veteran Volunteers, and at the close of the war was sent to the Rio Grande River with the Thirteenth Army Corps, being mustered out of the service at Brownsville, Texas, May 9, 1866. He then returned to Dent County, Mo., and resumed the practice of his profession and teaching school, following the latter occupation two terms in the town of Salem. He also sold drugs and practiced his profession in Dent County until 1871, when he sold out and purchased his present farm. From that date until 1876 he practiced medicine in Arkansas, but at the latter date he and family moved to the farm, and he has since given the most of his attention to farming, stock raising and merchandising. His farm consists of 480 acres, with 130 under cultivation, and is well improved, with a two-story frame dwelling, and besides this he has two 120-acre farms and forty acres in another. September 23, 1877, he was married to Lucy J. Brigman, who was born in Dent County, Mo., in 1846, and is a daughter of Edmond and Nancy Brigman. They have three children. Dr. Arnot is a Republican, and is a member of the Second Advent Church.

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This family biography is one of 82 biographies included in The History of Dent County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Dent County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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