My Genealogy Hound

John S. Shackleford, farmer and stock raiser, was born in Palmyra in 1830, the eldest of nine children of John B. and Sarah (Abell) Shackleford, natives of Kentucky, and born in 1815, the former in January, and the latter in October. The grandfather, John, was a pioneer of Palmyra, where he was a hotel proprietor, and spent his later years. The father was reared in Kentucky, and married in 1835. He then came to this State, and after a year at Palmyra came to this county. The following year he bought several hundred acres of land near the site of Durham, where he became an influential farmer. He died February 1, 1881, and the mother followed him October 9, 1886. Both were members of the Baptist Church. The common schools gave our subject few school advantages, and in 1858 he married Mary, a daughter of John and Julia Wallace, formerly of Kentucky. She was born in 1838, in this county. Their only child, Sarah, is now Mrs. Quinn. Our subject has been on his present estate since 1869. It comprises 520 acres of well-improved land at his home, and 160 acres not far distant. He has been a successful stock raiser as well as farmer. He was on Porter’s raid in Northeast Missouri, was captured in 1862, taken to Palmyra and St. Louis, and finally imprisoned at Alton. He has always been a Democrat, and he and his family are members of the Baptist Church.