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Below is a family biography included in The History of Cedar County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  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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Dr. W. E. Dawson. Good health is a gift of nature greatly desired by all, for what enjoyment can be obtained when the health is gone and the grim destroyer, disease, is hastening one rapidly to the grave? None; and it certainly behooves us to guard carefully all that makes life enjoyable. Dr. W. E. Dawson, one of the prominent physicians and surgeons of El Dorado, whose principal aim in life thus far has been to administer to the physical ailments of his fellow-men, was born in Monroe County, Mo., in 1844, and is the son of John W. and Mary (Welsh) Dawson, natives of Virginia, born in 1804. They removed with their parents to Kentucky when young, were married there in 1831 and afterward removed to Monroe County, Mo , where the mother died in 1864. Mr. Dawson afterward married again and is now living with his son, Dr. Dawson. He has followed the wool-carding business nearly all his life, and was a justice of the peace in Monroe County for twenty-eight years in succession being elected seven terms in one township. He is a member of the Christian Church, and his wives were members of the same. His father, John W. Dawson, was a native of Scotland, and died in Marion County, Mo., about 1833, at the age of 104 years. Dr. W. E Dawson, the eldest of nine children, eight sons and one daughter, received a good practical education in the common schools, and worked with his father in the factory until grown At the age of seventeen he began the study of medicine, and in 1864 graduated from Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill. In 1876 he graduated from Louisville (Ky.) Medical College but between 1864 and 1866, he practiced in Audrain County after which he came to Clintonville, Cedar County, and, in 1884, to El Dorado Springs. He has practiced among the same people since 1866, and is one of the prominent practitioners of the county. During the year 1888 Dr. Dawson was engaged in the drug business with his brother at Schell City, and he still has an interest in the store there. He was married in Audrain County in 1866 to Miss Frances Forbis, a native of Boone County, Mo., and the daughter of James and Minerva Forbis, natives of Kentucky who died in Audrain County. To the Doctor and wife were born three children. Dr. Dawson is a Democrat in politics his first presidential vote being for Seymour, in 1868, has been a member of the A. F. & A. M. for ten years, the I. O. O. F. for fifteen years, and of the A. O. U. W. for eight years. Mrs. Dawson is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church.

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This family biography is one of 92 biographies included in The History of Cedar County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Cedar County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Cedar County, Missouri family biographies: Cedar County, Missouri Biographies

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