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Below is a family biography included in The History of Barry 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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Prof. Noah L. Maiden, principal of the Collegiate Institute, of Cassville, Mo., and school commissioner of Barry County, is a native of Abingdon, Washington Co Va., born in 1844. He is a son of John and Susan (Landis) Maiden, both of German extraction. Sometime during the seventeenth century three brothers, John, William and Jacob Maiden, emigrated to the United States from England and settled in the Shenandoah Valley, Va. It is from this stock that John Maiden descended. He was born in Augusta County, Va., in 1797 and after his marriage removed to Washington County, Va., where he passed the remainder of his life on a farm, dying in 1862. He held several county offices, and was one of the influential men of the county. His wife was born in Rockingham County, Va., in 1801, and died in 1855. They were the parents of twelve children, eleven of whom are living. They are William (a farmer of Washington County, Va.), John (a miller of Washington County, Va.), Frank, (a Missionary Baptist minister, of Smith County, Va.), Eliza (Mrs. John Caldwell, of Washington County, Va.), Henry (a Missionary Baptist minister, of the same county), Mary (wife of A. G. Leedy, a contractor and builder of Springfield, Mo.), George A. (a teacher at Camden, Tenn.), Morgan (a teacher at Maiden Springs, Va.), Samuel (a miller, of Washington County, Va.) and Noah L. The last named, with George A., and Morgan, attended school at Emory and Henry College, Va., graduating in a special course in 1866. In that year he was united in marriage with Emma Leckie, a daughter of Edgar Leckie. She was born in Virginia in 1848 To this union have been born seven children, viz.: Nora (wife of S. O. Ware), Maggie, Paul, Virgie, Willie, Fannie and Flora In 1869 Prof. Maiden removed to Springfield, Mo., and began teaching school He taught four years successively at each Union Hall, Walnut Grove and Ebenezer, Greene County. In 1881 he came to Cassville and became principal of the public schools, continuing the same until the Collegiate Institute was erected, and he was chosen principal which position he has since filled. The building is large and commodious, and is a valuable addition to the town. Prof Maiden was largely instrumental in its erection. He is a man of marked ability and is one of the leading educators of Southwest Missouri. In 1881 he secured a State certificate for life. In connection with his regular school work he conducts a summer normal of four weeks for teachers, in which he has the assistance of some very able school workers. He is an earnest Christian, possesses marked ability, and commands the esteem and profound respect of all who know him. Politically he is a Democrat. In the spring of 1863 he enlisted in the Confederate army, joining Company B, Forty-eighth regiment of Virginia Infantry. In the battle of the Wilderness he was wounded in the left arm by a piece of shell, from which it was necessary to amputate the arm below the elbow the following day. In 1872 Prof. Maiden was nominated for the office of superintendent of Greene County, and in 1876 was appointed school commissioner, serving an unexpired term. In 1883 he was elected school commissioner of Barry County and having been twice re-elected, is the present incumbent. He has raised the standard of educational work in the county to a high rank, for which he has the well-merited thanks of the people. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and of the Missionary Baptist Church. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

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This family biography is one of 103 biographies included in The History of Barry County, Missouri published in 1888.  For the complete description, click here: Barry County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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