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Below is a family biography included in The History of Barton County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  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 B. Couchman is a native of Nicholas County, Ky., where he was born on the 4th of March, 1840. His parents, Andrew and Julia (Henderson) Couchman, were also born in Nicholas County, and died in Kentucky and Barton County, Mo., in 1854 and 1878, at the ages of fifty-four and seventy-five years, respectively. Both were members of the Christian Church, and the former, when young, learned the tanner’s and harness-maker’s trade, and afterward became quite an extensive manufacturer of saddles, harness, hats, etc., becoming quite wealthy. He was strictly temperate in his habits, and was one of the first to advocate that cause in his neighborhood. Politically, he was a Democrat. William B. Couchman is the fourth of six surviving members of a family of eight children, and resided in his native State until 1857, when he came to Missouri, and located first in Lafayette County, and in 1881 came to Barton County, where he is the owner of some valuable farming lands. In December, 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private, and served until October, 1865, two years of this time being spent as lieutenant of Company E. He participated in thirty-five battles, and was wounded three times, first at Corinth, then at Kenesaw Mountain, where he received two wounds. He was taken prisoner on the battle-field at Corinth, but was only kept in captivity a short time. On the 10th of October, 1866, he was married to Miss Sarah Gum, a daughter of H. P. Gum, who was born in Allen County, Ky. To them were born three children: S. B., Mary and Charles B.; the two eldest of whom are school teachers. Mr. Couchman and family are members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is a Democrat, and was elected by that party to the office of township treasurer and trustee, which position he is still ably filling. He is a Mason. His wife was educated at Scottsville, Ky., and was engaged in teaching school for a number of years.

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This family biography is one of 166 biographies included in The History of Barton County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Barton County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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