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Below is a family biography included in The History of Cole 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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A. C. Scruggs is one of the farmers and stockmen of Cole County, Mo., who have attained prominence in their calling. He was born on the farm on which he now resides, in 1835, and is the only child born to Ivan and Mariah L. (Mahan) Scruggs, the father a native of Kentucky, born in 1804, and the mother of Howard County, Mo., born in 1817. The former came to Missouri in 1828, and entered and purchased 720 acres of land, on which he built a house and began at once to make improvements, and here died in 1846. Previous to his death he had cleared 200 acres, and had become the owner of 1,300 acres in different tracts. His father, Henry C. Scruggs, was born in Virginia, and moved to Kentucky at an early day, thence to Missouri, where he spent the rest of his days. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. Grandfather Mahan came to Missouri from Virginia in 1814. A. C. Scruggs was reared to farm labor, and attended the public schools until he attained his fourteenth year, when he went to California in company with a number of others, and reached the Eldorado of the West five months later. Here he followed mining and other occupations for six years, then returned home, and the following year (1857) was married to Miss Amanda Gordon, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of Alexander and Nancy Gordon, who were born in Virginia and Kentucky, respectively. The father was the second settler in Callaway County, and one of the earliest settlers of Cole County. Mr. Scruggs has a farm of 160 acres, all fenced and under cultivation, furnished with an excellent orchard and buildings. He keeps a good grade of stock, his cattle being Short-Horn and Durham, and his hogs of the Berkshire breed. Besides his home farm, he owns 260 acres in another tract. Mrs. Scruggs, his estimable wife, died in 1879, having borne a family of six children: Mariah W. and Nancy, deceased; Alexander, who is married, and resides at home; Lourena, deceased, and Revia, wife of Oscar McMillan. In 1856, in partnership with W. H. Eanes, he erected a saw-mill, with a single set of buhrs, to grind feed. In 1858 Mr. Scruggs sold his interest to Mr. Gordon. The mill was burned to the ground shortly after, and Mr. Scruggs and a number of others then formed a stock company, and built the present large mill at a cost of $10,000, which does an extensive trade for miles around. The mill is now owned by G. W. Raines.

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This family biography is one of 127 biographies included in The History of Cole County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Cole County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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