A resident of Corning, came to Holt County in
1868. He was born at Ellington, Conn. on Dec. 11, 1814. His ancestors
were among the first Puritan settlers of New England who came
over in the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. He
emigrated with his father to Cayuga County, N. Y. and remained there
until 27 years of age. He became self-educated, but developed
an early genius for mathematics and, when working on a farm for
twelve dollars a month, was engaged to make astronomical calculations
for almanacs published at Auburn, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo.
He was married Jan. 7, 1841 to Eliza CLOSE. The spring of 1842
he moved to Crawford County, Ohio. He farmed there, for nine years
served as county surveyor, and for four terms also filled the
office of justice of the peace.
In 1868 he came to Missouri and became
a resident of Corning. He has served as justice of the peace in
Lincoln township for two terms, the first by appointment and the
second by election. For a number of years he has been observer
for the United States Signal Service and has kept a very complete
record of valuable meteorological observations, from the summer
of 1869 to the present, and has furnished reports to the Smithsonian
Institute. Prior to the Civil War he was a Democrat, but has since
acted with the Republican party. His only son was killed at Martinsburg,
West Virginia while serving as a member of the 34th Ohio regiment
in the Union Army.
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.
