My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of Polk 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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Moses Gee, one of the leading citizens of Polk County, Mo., was born in Butler County, Ohio, June 14, 1828, being a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Vanderver) Gee, who were born in Kentucky and Virginia in 1795 and 1810, respectively, and died in Carroll County, Ind., in 1880. They were married and made their home in Ohio until 1831, then went to Indiana and spent their declining years. The father was a farmer the greater portion of his life, but in early life had learned the shoemaker’s trade. He was a life-long Democrat. He and wife became the parents of twelve children who lived to be twenty-one years of age, the following of whom are now living: Moses; Alfred, a farmer and blacksmith of Carroll County, Ind.; Nancy Ann, whose husband is a farmer of Carroll County, Ind.; Ellen; Amos, a farmer of Hickory County, Mo.; Andrew and John, both farmers of Car roll County, Ind.; Jane, wife of Lewis Landes; and Charles, of the same county and State. Elizabeth and Benjamin are deceased. Moses Gee remained with his father until twenty-one years of age, then started by ox-team to the “Golden Gate” in search of gold, and was at work in the mines there for four years, accumulating considerable means. He then returned home via the Isthmus of Panama and New York City, and, after farming for some time in Carroll County, Ind., went to Clinton County, of the same State, and in 1880 came to Missouri and located in Polk County. He was married to Catherine Maish in 1858, her father being Samuel Maish, of Pennsylvania, where she was born in 1837. She and Mr. Gee are the parents of five children: Elizabeth, wife of Charles McCollough, a farmer and stock-dealer of Vernon County, Mo.; and Samuel, Anna, Rosa May and John, at home. Benjamin, another son, died in Texas in 1888 at the age of twenty-six years. Mr. Gee is the owner of 300 acres of as good land as there is in Polk County, the result of hard work and good management. He has been a life-long Democrat.

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This family biography is one of 132 biographies included in The History of Polk County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Polk County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Polk County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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