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Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Putnam County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1888.  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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Judge W. H. Holman was born in 1838, in Macon County, Mo. He moved to Adair County, Mo., about 1858, and to Putnam County in 1862. He afterward went to Idaho City, and traveled quite extensively through Utah, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. He afterward located in Appanoose County, Iowa, in 1866, but in 1872 moved to Putnam County, where he has since made his home. He was reared upon a farm, receiving a good education during his youth, which he completed at the Kirksville Normal School. At the age of nineteen he engaged in teaching, and when twenty-two years old clerked in a dry goods and clothing store at Kirksville. He was then interested in merchandising from 1872 to 1883, since which time he has farmed upon his present location. He is the owner of a one-half interest in a store at Hartford, bearing the firm name of S. P. Holman & Co. He is a self-made man, the farm upon which he resides giving good evidence of his energetic nature and good management. The home place contains 346 acres of good land, splendidly improved and cultivated. In 1863 he married Miss Mary E. Cook, daughter of William J. and Frances (Watson) Cook, natives of Barren County, Ky., and Virginia, respectively. Mrs. Cook was reared in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky, and is now living, aged seventy-two. Mr. Cook was an early settler of Putnam County, Mo., where he lived from 1839 until his death in 1865. To Mr. and Mrs. Holman four children have been born: Fannie (deceased), Homer L., Jurney H. and Aubrey W. Mrs. Holman is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. Holman is a genial and hospitable gentleman, and is identified with the Republican party. He was elected judge of the county court in November, 1886, has served as postmaster at Hartford about seven years, and is also a notary public. He was the second child of a family of six, born to John and Jerusha (Titus) Holman, natives of Kentucky, who accompanied their parents to Missouri. The father lived in several different counties in Missouri, and died in Appanoose, Iowa, in 1884, aged seventy-six. The mother died in Macon County, Mo., about 1849. After her death Mr. Holman married Mrs. Kirby, nee Ownby, by whom five children were born. The mother of our subject was a daughter of William and Mary (Payton) Titus. The grandparents of Mrs. Mary Holman were named George and Nancy (Howell) Cook. Mrs. Frances Cook was a daughter of William and Catherine (Rogers) Watson, natives of Virginia.

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This family biography is one of 139 biographies included in the Putnam County, Missouri portion of the book,  The History of Adair, Sullivan, Putnam, and Schuyler Counties, Missouri published in 1888 by Goodspeed Publishing Co.  For the complete description, click here: Putnam County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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