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Below is a family biography included in The History of Osage 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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Silas P. Craig, of the firm of Craig & Steppelman, general merchants of Chamois, Osage Co., Mo., is an enterprising business man, and his name deserves a place in the history of the county. He is the youngest of a family of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters, born to Robert W. and Malissa (Price) Craig, natives of Carroll County, Ky., and born respectively in 1801 and 1802. Robert W. Craig, with the exception of a few years spent in Indiana, has lived all his life in his native county engaged in farming. He still survives at an advanced age, and since his nineteenth year has been a member of the Baptist Church. Malissa (Price) Craig died in 1878, also being a member of the same church. Their thirteen children were John M., Benjamin T., Charles A., Robot W., Albert G., Isaac W., Silas P., Mary, Ella, Sarah, Louisa, Malissa and Cyrena. Mrs. Craig was a daughter of Rev. John M. and Sallie (Craig) Price, the former a native of Charleston, S. C., who went to Kentucky when a young man, where he spent the rest of his life as a well-to-do farmer and minister of the Baptist Church. The great-grandfather of our subject was Benjamin F. Craig, who was also his maternal great-grand father, as the parents of Silas P. were cousins. Benjamin F. Craig, a native of Virginia, was one of the pioneer settlers of Carroll County, Ky., where he was the first county court justice, and erected the first brick house in the county, on the banks of the Ohio River, and which is known by river men to this date as the “haunted house.” His father was Tolever Craig, also of Virginia, who had six sons and two daughters; the sons were Rev. Elijah, an Old School Baptist minister; Rev. Lewis, Arminian Baptist minister, who was imprisoned in Virginia prior to the Revolutionary War, while under British rule, for preaching, and after his release he and his congregation went to Kentucky and settled on Gilbert’s Creek (south side of Kentucky River), where he erected the first Baptist Church in Kentucky; the other sons were Joseph, John, Jeremiah and Benjamin F. Benjamin F. Craig was the father of the following children: Joseph, Benjamin F., Jr., Steman, George, Silas, Levi, Polly, who married William O’Neal; Nancy, who married John Burnard, and Sallie, who married John M. Price. The maternal grandfather of our subject, Benjamin F. Craig, Jr., the grandfather of Silas P., had seven sons and two daughters, viz.: Robert W., Walton, Anderson, Albert G., Benjamin F., Silas, Joshua, Sarah and Elizabeth. Silas P. Craig was born in Gallatin County, Ky., in 1844, and at the age of three years settled with his parents in Carroll County, Ky., where he received a good common-school education, and at the age of twenty-two engaged in farming for himself. In 1865 he removed to Cooper County, Mo., and the following year located in Osage County. In 1867 he married Annie E. Cochran, a native of Warren County, Mo., and a daughter of Joseph E. and Sarah J. Cochran, natives, respectively, of Harrison County, Ky., and Warren County, Mo. Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Craig, four are living. Mr. Craig continued farming till 1879, when he engaged in the mercantile business at Medora, Osage Co., Mo., but after a three years’ prosperous career removed to Chamois, where he erected one of the most substantial business houses, and continued the mercantile business till 1884, when his present mercantile business was established under the firm name of Craig & Steppelman, Mr. Steppelman being formerly a clerk for Mr. Craig. They carry a stock of general merchandise valued at about $7,000 to $8,000, and their annual sales average about $16,000. Mr. Craig has served as mayor, treasurer and marshal of Chamois. He is a Democrat politically, and cast his first presidential vote for Seymour in 1868. He is a member and treasurer of the A. F. & A. M., and Building and Loan Association, also a member of the A. O. U. W., and he and his wife are members of the Christian Church.

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This family biography is one of 52 biographies included in The History of Osage County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Osage County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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