My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Adair 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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William Welch, a farmer and stock raiser of Clay Township, is a native of Ireland, where he was born in 1822, and is a son of Thomas and Catherine Welch, also natives of Ireland, where they spent their earlier lives and reared a family of eight children. The father was a farmer, and died in 1844, being about sixty-two years of age, his wife’s death having preceded his about three years, she being about fifty-eight at the time of her decease. Our subject was reared at home, and had the advantages of a common-school education. In 1846 he immigrated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the following year he came to the United States and lived for two years in the vicinity of Boston. In 1849 he went to Kentucky, and from there to New Orleans. In 1850 he returned to Kentucky, where he married Miss Bridget Murphy, a native of Ireland. He remained in Kentucky until 1855, when he located in Clay Township, Adair County, where he purchased 120 acres of raw woodland, which he has converted into a highly cultivated and improved farm, and he now has 580 acres, as a reward for his hard work and good management, and is considered one of the leading farmers of the county. During the war he served for about six months in the Missouri State Militia, in Company I, Fiftieth Missouri Regiment, operating in Adair and adjoining counties. He is a Democrat, and the first President he voted for was Buchanan. He and his wife are members of the Roman Catholic Church.

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This family biography is one of 150 biographies included in the Adair 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: Adair County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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