My Genealogy Hound

Allen Kilburn is one of the earliest settlers of Union Township, Webster Co., Mo. He is a native of Jackson County, Ga., and was born February 1, 1808, the third in a family of eleven children born to Daniel and Nancy (Watkins) Kilburn, the former born in South Carolina and the latter in Virginia. The parents were married in Georgia, where they lived until our subject was about eight years of age, when they moved to Williamson County, Tenn.; four years later they went to Lawrence County, Tenn., where the mother died in 1857. Mr. Kilburn subsequently moved to Hardin County, Tenn., where he died in 1866, at the age of eighty-five years. Both were members of the Baptist Church. Daniel Kilburn was a farmer all his life, and served in the War of 1812. But one child besides our subject survives, who is Martha, the wife of William A. Davis, a farmer near Booneville, Miss. When young, Allen Kilburn started in life for himself as a farmer with limited means, but industry and good management have won for him success, and he now owns a well-improved farm in Webster County, after having given his children a start in life. When nineteen years of age he married Millie Watkins, who was born in Williamson County, Tenn., July 8, 1811, and was a daughter of Pleasant Watkins. Sixteen children were born to this union, six of whom are still living, three sons and three daughters, viz.: William P. (a farmer of Webster County, Mo.), James J. (a farmer and miller of Webster County), Joel N. (a farmer of Chautauqua County, Kas.), Nancy Lee (wife of George A. Brown, a prominent farmer of Webster County, Mo.), Mary Jane (who married J. D. Whittenburg, a farmer and stock dealer of Webster County), and Eliza Dickard (who married William Dickard, deceased) is now living in Taney County, Mo. After their marriage our subject and wife lived in Maury County, Tenn., for two years, and then moved to Lawrence County, Tenn., where, with the exception of one year spent in Calloway County, Ky., they lived until 1854; in the latter year they removed to the present location in Webster County, Mo., then known as Wright County. Mrs. Kilburn died January 6, 1888, having been a member of the Christian Church thirty-five years. While in Tennessee Mr. Kilburn served seven years as justice of the peace, and after removing to Missouri he held the same office in Union Township, Webster County, eighteen years. He has been a member of the Christian Church since 1849, and has served as deacon. He is a Republican in politics, and is one of the most enterprising of Webster County’s residents. He takes an active interest in the educational and religious enterprises of the community, and is highly respected by many friends and acquaintances.