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Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Adair County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1888.  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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Judge James H. Novinger, a merchant and farmer, of Novinger Station, was born in Dauphin County, Penn., in 1840, and is the eldest of eight children (three sons and one daughter living) of John C. and Sarah (Shott) Novinger, who were also natives of the same county, and born in 1812 and 1820, respectively. There they lived and married in 1839, coming to Adair County in 1851, where they purchased land at Novinger Station, which received its name in their honor. Here he has since made his home, occupying his time as a tiller of the soil. His father, James Novinger, was also a native of Dauphin County, making three generations who were born in the same county in Pennsylvania. James H., our subject, was reared under the parental roof, receiving but a limited common-school education. When the war broke out he espoused the Union cause, and in 1861 served three months in the Home Guards under Capt. Watson E. Crandall, and in August, 1862, enlisted in Company D, Twenty-Seventh Missouri Volunteer Infantry and entered the Army of the Tennessee, First Division, Fifteenth corps, under Gen. Logan, participating in the siege of Vicksburg and the battle of Lookout Mountain, and was all through Gen. Sherman’s famous campaign. He was mustered out at Washington City, D. C., in June, 1865. He enlisted as private, and was afterward made first sergeant. At the close of the war he returned home and renewed his labor on the farm, and in 1866 was married to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Mary Shoop, formerly of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Novinger being a native of Adair County. They have two children, Joseph E. and Sarah E. Since his marriage he has been living in the vicinity of the old home, farming, but in 1887 he engaged in general merchandising at Novinger Station, which business he conducts in connection with his farming, being an owner of 180 acres lying one mile west of the station. Mr. Novinger’s property is the fruit of his own labor; guaranteeing the assertion that he is a man of good business capacity and information. For several years he was the assessor of Nineveh Township, and in 1884 was elected county judge, and served for a term of two years. He is an earnest worker in the cause of education, and is interested in the general welfare and prosperity of the country. In politics he is a Republican, and cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln while at Atlanta, Ga. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church.

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This family biography is one of 150 biographies included in the Adair County, Missouri portion of the book,  The History of Adair, Sullivan, Putnam, and Schuyler Counties, Missouri published in 1888 by Goodspeed Publishing Co.  For the complete description, click here: Adair County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Adair County, Missouri family biographies here: Adair County, Missouri Biographies

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