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Below is a family biography included in The History of Miller 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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Miles J. Davidson, postmaster and general merchant at Iberia Mo., is a native of Miller County, born in 1850, and is a son of John and Mahala (Lawson) Davidson, who were born in North Carolina and Tennessee in 1800 and 1813, and died in 1875 and 1861, respectively. The father moved from his native State to Tennessee, thence to Missouri in 1827, and in this State spent the remainder of his days. He was a farmer, and served as constable of his township in Miller County for six years. He was twice married, and became the father of fifteen children, Miles J. Davidson being the eldest born to the second marriage. Those living besides himself are Rhoda (Topping), Tabitha (Rawden) and Zebedee. The maternal grandparents, David and Nancy (Shelton) Lawson, moved from Tennessee to Miller County Mo., at an early period, and here spent their declining years. He was a farmer, and served in the Revolutionary War. Miles J. Davidson spent his early years on a farm in Miller County, and at the age of eighteen years engaged in farming on his own responsibility, which occupation he continued until 1880, when he established his present business at Iberia, and carries a stock of goods valued at $2,500. He has also held the position of postmaster since June, 1885. Socially he is a Mason and a member of the I. O. O. F. He votes the Democratic ticket, and his first presidential vote was cast for Horace Greeley in 1872. In 1869 he was married to Miss Sarah Brown, who was born in Tennessee in 1851, a daughter of James and Mary (Carroll) Brown. She died in 1886, having borne one child, Willard. Mr. Davidson married his second wife, Miss Electa Hopkins, in 1888. She was born in Indiana in 1863, and by her he has also one child, Otto. Her father, Samuel Hopkins, was born in Kentucky in 1815, and with his father moved to Indiana in 1820, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was married to Miss Matilda Small in 1836, and was the father of eleven children. He died in 1886. Mrs. Hopkins died eleven months afterward.

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This family biography is one of 120 biographies included in The History of Miller County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Miller County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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