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Below is a family biography included in The History of Franklin 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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James J. Maupin, a farmer and a native of St. Johns Township, was born in 1842, the youngest but one of the seven children of Daniel and Margaret G. (Hutton) Maupin, natives of Kentucky and Alabama, respectively; the parents were born in 1804 and were married in 1818. When but an infant Daniel Maupin was taken by his father, Mosias Maupin, to Missouri, where they lived about two years near St. Louis, and then removed to what is now Franklin County, where the father entered a tract of land on the banks of the Missouri River, about six miles above Washington; here he reared his family and spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1816. He was one of the earliest settlers of Franklin County, where he spent many a day hunting and trapping and righting the Indians with Daniel Boone, a familiar companion. He was of French descent, a gunsmith by trade and a soldier in the Revolution, present at the surrender of Cornwallis. His son, Daniel, the father of our subject, became the owner of the farm, where he spent the remainder of his days as a farmer and mechanic. He was a natural genius and could manufacture almost anything used in the house or on the farm, a gunsmith, cabinet-maker, wagon-maker, carpenter, spinster, weaver, etc. Growing up among the Indians, his education was obtained in about four months, but being possessed of a remarkable memory and a great desire for knowledge of the outside world, every available moment was devoted to reading and study, and thus he became familiar not only with the history of the country and of the world and general business matters, but also with the Scripture, of which he was an able expounder. He was one of the representative citizens of the county in his day, and died in 1880. His wife died in 1860, a member of the Presbyterian Church. James J. Maupin was reared at home and received a district-school education. During the war he spent several months in Indiana. In 1868 he married Miss Martha, daughter of Joel and Ann Crowder, natives of Alabama and Virginia, respectively. Mrs. Maupin was born in Franklin County, and is the mother of eight children, all living: Maggie, Joel, Florence, Sallie, Charles, Walter, Nellie and Virgil. He owns a fine farm of 240 acres, well improved and in a good state of cultivation; it was an old Indian camping ground, and furnishes many relics of that race. Mr. Maupin is one of the influential citizens of the county, and has devoted his entire attention to the duties of his farm and the education of his children. In politics he is an active Democrat, and cast his first presidential vote for Seymour in 1868. He is a member of the A. O. U. W. Mrs. Maupin is a member of the Christian Church.

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This family biography is one of 305 biographies included in The History of Franklin County, Missouri published in 1888.  For the complete description, click here: Franklin County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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