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Below is a family biography included in The History of Crawford 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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Joel Beezley is a son of Josiah and Charlotte (Napier) Beezley, the former born in Virginia, and the latter in South Carolina. The parents were married in Virginia and soon after moved to East Tennessee, settling in Cole County, Mo., in 1829. In 1832 they located in Crawford County, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Josiah Beezley was a farmer and stock-raiser, and lived to be about sixty-eight years of age; his wife died at the age of sixty-one. Joel Beezley was born in Crawford County, in 1832, in which county he was reared to the pursuit of farming, receiving but a common-school education. Between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five he spent the greater part of the time in driving an ox team to and from St. Louis. When the "bit act" was passed he entered 313 acres, and in 1855 married Mary J. Morrison, daughter of William Morrison. Mrs. Beezley died in 1862, leaving four children, viz.: Anderson V., Amanda E., Martha I. and William C. Mr. Beezley next married Sarah E. Coppedge, and to their union were born six children: Christopher, C., Mary M., Missouri M., Clara D., Joel A., and an infant. Deprived of his wife by death, in 1873, the following year Mr. Beezley married Mary A. Towell, who became the mother of six children, viz.: Ewel E., Cora E., Nora E., Rufus G., George T. and Josie P. Mr. Beezley owns 509 acres of land, and has been very successful in his chosen occupation; he is one of the most enterprising farmers and highly respected citizens of Crawford County, of which county he has been a resident all his life. He is a Republican in politics, and in religion affiliates with the Baptist Church, as does also his wife.

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This family biography is one of 117 biographies included in The History of Crawford County, Missouri published in 1888.  For the complete description, click here: Crawford County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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