My Genealogy Hound

William H. Sturgis, farmer, and one of the able educators of the county, was born in Cumberland County, Penn., in 1828, and is the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Frazier) Sturgis, and grandson of William and Catherine Sturgis, who were natives of Ireland. The grandparents came to the United States in 1812, and located in Cumberland County, Penn. The grandfather was a weaver by trade, and died soon after coming to the States. Of the four children born to their marriage three are now living: Amelia, Martha and Joseph. Thomas Sturgis was born in Ireland in 1800, and came with his parents to the United States in 1812. He was married in Pennsylvania to Miss Frazier, a native of Pennsylvania, and in 1831 they moved to Ohio, where the father followed the hatter’s trade. In 1854they moved to Indiana, where the father followed farming, and where he died in 1881. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years. His wife was born in 1806 and died in 1879 or 1880. Eleven children were born to their marriage, ten of whom are now living: Charlotte, William H., Joseph, Eleanor Y., Thomas, Elizabeth, John A., Kate, Mary, Lemuel, and an infant, deceased. William H. Sturgis was reared in Ohio, and received a fair education in the common schools, supplementing the same by a course at Haysville Institute and at Dalton, Ohio, under the tutorship of James R. Doig. He began teaching at the age of seventeen or eighteen years, and thus continued until the breaking out of the war, and was principal of Smithfield public-school for six years prior to the war. He then recruited for the Forty-ninth under Col. Webster, but was transferred in the year 1862 by order of Gov. Brough to the Fifty-second regiment. He remained in service until August, 1864, when he was discharged, because of wounds received in the battle of Resaca, Ga. He returned home, and in 1865 came to Missouri, and located on his present farm, where he has remained ever since, engaged in farming in the summer and teaching in the winter. He was married in 1856 to Miss Keziah Beresford, a native of Jefferson County, Ohio, born in 1836. To Mr. and Mrs. Sturgis were born thirteen children, all living: Ella E., wife of Homer Henry; William D., John T., George B., Horatio S., Irene May, Beed, Carrie E., Katie, Mary and Stewart (twins), Alfred E. and Elmon E. (twins). Mr. Sturgis is a member of the Masonic fraternity at California, Mo., and is also a member of the G. A. R. Post at Clarksburg. He is a Democrat in politics.