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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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Joseph Douglass, a prominent lumber dealer of Kirksville, was born near Danville, Ill., in 1834. He was reared to maturity at that place, and then came to Knox County, Mo. Here he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and after the war was a merchant at Novelty for three years. He served in the last year of that conflict as a volunteer. In January, 1874, he came to Kirksville and engaged in the lumber trade, in which he was associated with M. J. Ross for six years, and afterward his son, F. M., for a while. In his present large building, 74x108 feet, which he built in March, 1886, he carries a stock of about $8,000. He deals in all classes of lumber, shingles, doors, blinds, etc., and has a large trade throughout this section. His wife, Eliza Hickman, was a native of Vermillion County, Ill., and became his wife in 1856, and died in 1863 after becoming the mother of two sons. He afterward married Mary Hoye, a native of Maryland, by whom he has one son and one daughter. Mr. Douglass is a member of the F. & A. M. fraternity, and his entire family are joined to the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches. Our subject’s parents, Cyrus and Ruby (Bloss) Douglass, were natives of Vermont and Pennsylvania, respectively. They were married and spent the remainder of their lives in Vermillion County, Ill., where the father died in his ninetieth year. They reared a family of nine sons and four daughters, all but one of whom grew to maturity. One son, Thomas, served in the Union army in the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Illinois, while the father’s battle service was limited to the Black Hawk War.

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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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