Mr. DONAN'S grandfather emigrated from Wales, settled in southern Virginia, then moved to Kentucky at an early date,
settling first in Washington County, afterward in Green County, helping to clear the land where now stands the town of Greensburg.
Fountin DONAN was born in Hart County, Kentucky on Sept. 1, 1830, the son of David C. DONAN and Elizabeth GILLASPY. He lived
in Kentucky until the spring of 1850 when he went to California, and mined gold on Deer Creek and Yuba River.
He returned to
Kentucky in the fall of 1852, and engaged in farming and distilling until the spring of 1856, when he came to Missouri and that
fall settled in Holt County. He did surveying work, dealt in land, and other endeavors until in the fall of 1868 he started
for Colorado where gold had been discovered the previous August. He reached that territory ahead of the great tide of
emigration which soon set in. He was on the site of present day Denver when not a single cabin occupied the spot.
In July, 1859, he returned to Holt Co. and began making improvements on his farm three miles north of Mound City.
For two years before the Civil War he was deputy surveyor under Steve Collins and in that capacity surveyed a
considerable part of Holt Co. He has also surveyed extensively in Colorado and Montana.
In September, 1861, he enlisted
in the Confederate Army under Price and was in the battles of Lexington and Blue Mills. He returned to Holt County, in
January, 1862 and in 1863 went again to Colorado and, in the fall, to Montana where he mined in the vicinity of Virginia
City. He farmed and did other work until 1867 when he returned to Holt Co. He married Mary Ashby on September 10, 1871.
She was residing in Holt Co., but was of Virginia parentage. He is an earnest Democrat. He has had a life full of
vicissitudes and adventures.
Source: "An Illustrated Historical Atlas Map, Holt County, MO.
Published by Brink, McDonough & Co., Philadelphia, 1877
Provided by Dave Roberts of Lyon County, Kentucky,
a former Holt County resident.
