My Genealogy Hound

CRIST, DAVID, farmer and stock raiser, Sec. 16, P.O. Roodhouse. It was during the year 1833 that David Crist landed in Greene County; he was then in his twenty-fourth year; a native of Ohio, He had but a few hundred dollars where with to commence life on our western prairies; settling near White Hall, then a village containing two rude dwellings one answering for a store, Mr. Crist was far above the average in both intelligence and in a business point of view; entering into partnership with Joshua Simonds, they opened a general merchandise store where a fair trade was done for the space of one year, when Mr. Simonds died; disposing of his stock of goods by auction, he now entered into partnership with Knapp & Poe, who ran a flour mill at Beardstown; purchasing a flat-boat the adventurous speculators laid in a supply of pork and flour, and were soon bon voyage down the mighty Mississippi for New Orleans. Arriving in the Crescent City a fair profit was derived from the venture. This sort of life was suitable to the daring pioneer, and many ventures of a like nature were afterwards made down the Father of Waters. In 1836 he purchased a large drove of hogs, intending to ship to New Orleans; the winter proving unusually severe, the Mississippi being frozen over, he now found it necessary to dispose of his cargo to a man by the name of Talbot, realizing a $2,000 profit on the speculation. Turning his attention to farming, he brought his farm property to a high state of cultivation, through the same energy that marked his many voyages down the Mississippi; at one time he was the owner of 300 acres of good land. An honest, generous man, a true type of the western pioneer. The first wife of Mr. Crist died in 1851, leaving to his care three children, Louisa, Sarah, and Jacob. In 1853 he was married to Miss Lucinda Blivens, by whom he had four children, none of whom are living; in 1860 Mrs. Crist found a last resting place where so many years of her married life were spent. In 1862 Mr. Crist was united in marriage to Mrs. Sarah Campbell, a daughter of Thomas Lorton. A short biography will here be given of the children: Louisa married Benjamin Strang, Sarah married Amberg Campbell, Charles J. married Eliza Jane Wales. First wife of Mr. Crist was Maria Jackson, a daughter of Dr. Jackson.