My Genealogy Hound

One of the farmers and stock raisers of Nineveh Township is George Shoop, who was born in Dauphin County, Penn., in 1836, and is the fifth of nine children of Jacob and Mary (Snyder) Shoop, natives of that county, in which they were reared and married in 1826. About 1840 they moved to Ralls County, and one or two years later came to Adair County, and purchased land near Nineveh, on which Mr. Shoop spent the remainder of his life as a tiller of the soil, and was a substantial and well-to-do farmer. He spent most of his leisure hours in the enjoyment of hunting the deer and game which then frequented that part of the country. He was one of the very early pioneers of this region, having settled here before the land came into market. He assisted in surveying the county, and became quite familiar with all its natural advantages, and the location of the various tracts. He died January 21, 1874, at the age of sixty-eight years. He was twice married, his last choice being Mary Snyder, a cousin of his first wife. His last marriage occurred about 1851, and Mrs. Shoop still survives. The mother of our subject died July 8, 1847, at the age of forty-two. Both were members of the Lutheran Church. George was reared in the early pioneer days of Adair County, when there were no schools worth mentioning; hence, what education he had was mostly obtained by his own efforts. At the outbreak of the Civil War he took a firm stand on the side of the Union, and in August, 1862, enlisted in Company D, Twenty-seventh Missouri Volunteer Infantry, participating in the siege of Vicksburg, the battle of Lookout Mountain, Resaca, and went through the Atlanta campaign, when he was wounded. He was also taken sick at Marietta, and did not recover sufficiently to re-enter the service, and was discharged at Louisville, Ky., in June, 1865. He then returned home and resumed farming, and July 8, 1866, he married Miss Catherine, daughter of John and Mary Novinger, and a native of Pennsylvania. Their children are Frances Marion, Mary Alice, Sarah Catherine, Ida Celesta, Dora Irene and Delia Evelina. Since his father’s death Mr. Shoop has been the owner and resident of the old home farm, and now owns 240 acres of land, situated eight miles northwest of Kirksville, nearly all of which he has earned by the sweat of his brow and his good management. He is a Republican, and cast his first presidential vote for John C. Breckinridge in 1860, and is a member of the G. A. R. Mrs. Shoop was born June 7, 1846, and died February 21, 1879.