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Below is a family biography included in The History of Dade 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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Isaac Preston, a pioneer of Smith Township, was born in what is now Johnson County, Ky., in 1823. His parents were Isaac and Sarah (Downing) Preston, natives of Virginia, who went to Kentucky early in the present century, and in 1837 came to Missouri, settling in Dade County in 1840 on a small improvement on the west fork of the Limestone, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying in 1848, and the mother in 1856. Mr. Preston was a soldier under Gen. Harrison in the War of 1812, and was a well-to-do farmer and stock-raiser. The subject of this sketch, a farmer and stock-raiser, one of ten children, had a very limited education, and remained at home until twenty-three years of age; he worked as an employe till he had a capital of $300 or $400, when he went to Fort Scott, then a Government post, where he engaged for five years in furnishing supplies to the troops, from which he made considerable money. He returned to Dade County, and in 1851 married Susan, daughter of William and Susan Fryer, who came to Dade County from North Carolina about 1841, where they both died. He has a family of two sons and three daughters living. With the exception of about four years during the war, he has lived on his present farm of 360 acres since his marriage. From 1862 till the close of the war he served in the Confederate Army, first in a Texas regiment of cavalry, and afterward with Gen. Joseph Shelby in a Missouri regiment. He is a Democrat, and himself and wife are Cumberland Presbyterians. The children are: Christopher C., William; Nancy V., wife of John Hoshaw, of Lawrence County; Louie B., wife of William R. Kates; and Sallie, wife of Oliver Murry.

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This family biography is one of 68 biographies included in The History of Dade County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Dade County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Dade County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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