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Below is a family biography included in The History of Camden 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 J. Payne, postmaster and tobacco manufacturer at Zebra, Mo., was born in Bedford County, Va., in October, 1835, and is the son of William and Nancy E. (Ashwell) Payne, both natives of Virginia, where they passed their last days. The father was a tiller of the soil and an honest, industrious citizen. His son, William J. Payne, was reared and educated in Bedford County, Va., and was reared to farm life. At the age of twenty-two he began to learn the tobacconist’s trade, and worked in a tobacco manufactory for some time. August 18, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Fifty-eighth Virginia Volunteer Infantry, and served nearly four years. He was commissioned as a lieutenant of his company, and came out in the same position. He was at the battles of McDowell, Cross Keys, Winchester, Richmond, Front Royal, battle of Wilderness, Fredericksburg, Spottsylvania and several other hard engagements. He was wounded on June 27, 1863, by a grape-shot, and was again wounded in 1864 by a gunshot. At the time of his first wound he was permitted a leave of absence, and went to the rear. He served most of his time as adjutant and drill-master. At the close of the war he went back home, and remained there until 1868, when he left, came west, and in 1878 he engaged in hauling ties and railroading. In 1879 he married Miss Elizabeth Frazier, a native of Meigs County, Ohio, who bore him one child, William H. In 1881 Mr. Payne moved to where he now resides, in Camden County, and is the owner of 167 acres of land, thirty acres under cultivation. He has made all the improvements, having first settled in the brush when he could not see a man at a distance of fifty yards. He is a member of the Agricultural Wheel, and is an enterprising and much respected citizen.

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This family biography is one of 46 biographies included in The History of Camden County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Camden County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Camden County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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