My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Knox County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  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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Thomas Burk, of Edina, Mo., was born in Franklin County, Ind., February 10, 1840, and is a son of John and Harriet (Tucker) Burk, natives of Kentucky and New Jersey, respectively. The father brought his family to Missouri in 1854, having been previously to the State, and entered land in Knox County. He was one of the most enterprising and successful farmers and stock raisers of the county, and died at his home, five miles east of Edina, in 1878. The mother died in 1871. Of the two sons and ten daughters born to them, there still live Elizabeth; Sarah, widow of James H. Grim; Thomas; Emeline, wife of William Jarvis; Lucinda, wife of William H. Vandever; Ellen, wife of James McQuoid; and Martha A., widow of Peter Schwind. Our subject spent his youth upon the farm, and has followed farming and stock raising very successfully the greater part of his life. He now owns 800 acres of some of the best land in the county, 710 acres being prairie land, five miles east of the town, in one tract, and all improved. In the fall of 1881 he removed to Edina, and built his large, two-story brick block on South Side Square, which he occupies. One room is devoted to a large stock of drugs and groceries, and the other to hardware, John A. Kelso and John Grainger being partners in the business, which is one of the largest of its kind in Northeast Missouri. September 21, 1875, Mr. Burk was married to Sarah V. Jarvis, a native of Knox County, Mo., and to them five children have been born, all of whom are living: Eva Lee, Ida May, Charles G., Eleanor Delia and Jesse Earl. In politics Mr. Burk has always been a stanch Democrat. He is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the I. O. O. F., and is recognized as one of the successful and reliable business men of this county.

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This family biography is one of 204 biographies included in the Knox County, Missouri portion of the book,  The History of Lewis, Clark, Knox and Scotland Counties, Missouri published in 1887.  For the complete description, click here: Knox County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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