Jefferson Missouri

Biography of Alfred F. Barnett

Alfred F. Barnett, born on November 23, 1816, in Mercer County, Kentucky, relocated to Missouri with his family as a child. He engaged in farming before entering a mercantile partnership in Gallatin, which he left to manage a store in Kansas. After serving as deputy sheriff and enlisting in the Confederate army, Barnett returned to Gallatin post-war. He was later elected treasurer of Daviess County and entered the lumber trade. Barnett married three times, had two sons, and was active in his community and church.

Biography of Rev. John W. Black

Rev. John W. Black was born on February 11, 1833, in Boone County, Missouri. He moved with his family to Daviess County in 1849. An educator from age eighteen, he became highly regarded in the community. Black was licensed to preach in 1860 by the New Salem Baptist Church and was ordained in 1877, serving as a missionary. He married Tabitha Sappington in 1853 and they had five children. Black remains a respected figure in Victoria where he owns a home.

Biographical Sketch of John H. Searcy

John H. Searcy, born on November 9, 1844, in Illinois, moved to Daviess County at the age of twelve. He pursued a career in farming and stock-raising, currently owning a well-improved 181-acre farm in Jefferson Township. Renowned for his experience and integrity, Searcy first married Parmelia Garrison in Daviess County; after her death, he married Susan E. Helmbaugh. His contributions and character have made a significant impact in the county.

Biography of J. H. Alexander

J. H. Alexander was born on November 30, 1819, in Kentucky, into a family of nine. His father, a War of 1812 veteran, and grandfather, a Revolutionary soldier, influenced his heritage. Alexander married Mary V. Reid in 1845 and settled in Daviess County, Missouri, where he engaged in farming on 118 acres. He had five children with Mary, who passed away in 1853, and later married Eliza Reed, with whom he had three more children. In 1875, he traveled to the West, collecting various natural curiosities and rare relics.

Biography of Joseph H. Mallory

Joseph H. Mallory was born on July 11, 1819, in Grayson County, Virginia, and moved to Daviesso County, Missouri, in 1841, where he established a 250-acre farm. He married Myra Creekmore in 1844 and had nine children before her death in 1878. Mallory remarried Zeviah E. Newton and is an esteemed member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Despite early health struggles, he overcame tobacco addiction and remains active and respected in his community. His home, built in 1860, reflects his dedication and resilience.

Biography of J. T. Matchett

J. T. Matchett was born on March 5, 1838, in Halifax, Pennsylvania. He moved to Ohio at twenty and enlisted in the 78th Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, participating in several key battles including Vicksburg. After the war, he returned to Ohio before relocating to Missouri in 1871 and settling in Daviess County in 1876. Matchett married Mary C. Hollingsworth in 1862, and they had four children together. He managed an eighty-acre farm in Jefferson township.

Biographical Sketch of Robert S. Osborn

Robert S. Osborn, born October 31, 1826, in Boone County, Missouri, relocated to Daviess County in 1841, where he has farmed for over 40 years on a 544-acre tract. He was married first to Maria Osborn, with whom he had five children, but lost her in 1872. He remarried Agnes Reid in 1873, gaining two more children. Osborn recalls the challenges of pioneer life, highlighting his experiences with early farming practices and the long journeys for tools.

Biography of Charles Harrison

Charles Harrison was born on February 29, 1841, in Pennsylvania to German immigrants. He moved to Missouri in 1859 and enlisted in the Union Army in 1861, joining the First Regiment Nebraska Volunteer Infantry. Throughout the Civil War, he participated in key battles and was wounded in 1862. After a brief discharge due to illness, he re-enlisted in 1864, serving as a scout until the war’s end. Harrison married Eliza J. Walters in 1865 and had six children. He settled in Daviess County, Missouri, where he has lived for thirteen years.

Biographical Sketch of William T. Hughes

William T. Hughes was born on November 25, 1850, in Franklin County, Kentucky. In 1856, he moved with his parents to a farm near what is now Winston. Following a two-year prospecting tour in the Dakotas and Utah, where he encountered grizzly bears, Hughes returned to Daviess County in 1873. He married Josephine Mallory on December 29, 1879, and they had two children. A member of the Baptist Church, Hughes has lived in the county for twenty-six years, six of which were spent on his current eighty-acre farm.

Biographical Sketch of John Kincaid

John Kincaid was born on April 25, 1848, in Guernsey County, Ohio, to Jacob and Elizabeth Kincaid. After moving to Grundy County in 1865, he married Maria Vandalson on January 19, 1878. Following their marriage, they settled in Jefferson Township, where Kincaid rented and later purchased an eighty-acre farm. The couple has two children, Claude and Carrie P. Kincaid, and are recognized as respected members of their community.

Biography of Wesley Lee

Wesley Lee was born on January 1, 1843, in Holmes County, Ohio, to James and Margaret Lee, of French and Welsh descent, respectively. He moved westward to Daviess County in 1865 and married Sabina Bouton, with whom he had four children. After her death in 1875, he remarried Mary E. Evernden, having two more children. A veteran of the Civil War, he served with the One Hundred and Second Ohio Infantry and endured a prison term. He later became a justice of the peace and a member of the County Court.

Biography of Elisha Frost

Elisha Frost was born on December 26, 1812, in Grayson County, Virginia. He received his education locally, marrying Elizabeth Brown on August 14, 1841, with whom he had nine children. Elizabeth passed away in 1864. Frost later married Rachel L. Black in 1871, and they had one daughter. He was a farmer, owning 300 acres of land, primarily cultivated, with good water resources and a sandstone quarry. His farm is located ten miles west of the county seat.

Biographical Sketch of M. W. Gamble

M. W. Gamble, originally from Indiana, was born into a family of eight children. His parents moved to Indiana in 1857 from Kentucky, later relocating to Illinois and Iowa. M. W. married Elizabeth L. Randolph in 1847, and they had ten children, though several did not survive to adulthood. In 1866, he settled in Jefferson township, Illinois, where he farmed forty acres and worked as a carpenter. He is affiliated with the Baptist Church, while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Biography of Wright Taylor

Wright Taylor, born in Kentucky in 1823, moved to Missouri at a young age and settled in the Grand River country. He married Elizabeth Blackburn in 1844, having nine children together. In 1847, he established his farm, which spans 540 acres, with significant cultivation. Taylor has traveled throughout California and Texas but maintains that the Grand River Valley surpasses others in beauty and fertility. He reflects on Missouri’s transformation and celebrates the abolition of slavery as a positive turning point for the state’s progress.