My Genealogy Hound

Moses Shanks, an old and respected citizen of Miller Township, Scotland County, was born in Greene County, Tenn., July 28, 1809, and is the son of Nicholas and Rosey (Graham) Shanks. The father was of English and Irish origin, and at the time of his death, which occurred in Greene County, Tenn., in 1838, was in the prime of life. He was in the War of 1812, and participated in the battle of the Horseshoe. The mother of our subject, it is supposed, was a native of Pennsylvania; she died in Greene County, Tenn., in 1840, and was, at the time of her death, a comparatively young woman. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the twelve children born to this union our subject was the sixth. He and his sister, Susanah, are the only representatives of the family. He received a common-school education in Greene County, Tenn., and this has been greatly increased by study, observation and travel. While in Tennessee he followed agricultural pursuits on a farm given him by his father, and in 1840 he moved to Missouri and settled on his present location. He at first owned 320 acres of land, and since that time he has been buying and selling, and now owns 520 acres of as good land as is to be found in the county. In 1859 he married Miss Sarah McLaughlin, a native of Greene County, Tenn.; she died in Fulton, Mo., in 1872, leaving four children — three sons and one daughter — all living: John A., Mary D., James V. and George F. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1876 our subject married Mrs. Elizabeth Mathes, widow of Washington Mathes, and a daughter of Henry Prime. She was born in Schuyler County, Mo., about 1847. One son, Marvin S., was the result of this marriage. Our subject is a decided Democrat. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.