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Below is a family biography included in The History of Dallas 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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Joseph Davis is a farmer and miller of Urbana, Dallas Co., Mo., where he was born in 1842. His parents were Shepherd and Nancy (Cox) Davis, the former born in New Jersey in 1819, and the latter in North Carolina in 1822. They first moved from New Jersey to Illinois, whence they went to Dallas County, Mo., in 1839, returning to Illinois in 1843. In their family of three children our subject is the only survivor. Shepherd Davis, who was a farmer by occupation, died in 1849. The paternal grandparents of our subject were Ezekiel and Rachel Davis, natives of New Jersey, who subsequently moved to Illinois; the former was a farmer and cooper. Mrs. Nancy Davis was a daughter of John and Sarah (Owens) Cox, who went to Illinois from North Carolina, and in 1839 removed to Dallas County, Mo. John Cox was also a farmer. Joseph Davis was reared to farming in his native county, and in 1863 he enlisted in Company I, Eighth Missouri Cavalry, Union Army; he participated in the battles of Little Rock, Brown’s Station, Pumpkin Bend and Augusta, and received an honorable discharge in August, 1865, when he returned to his home in Dallas County. Mr. Davis owns 540 acres of land, and a three-fourths interest in a flouring and saw mill at Urbana, as well as three lots in the town of Urbana. In 1872 he married Miss Rosetta White, who was born in Grant County, Wis., in 1849, and is a daughter of Nathan White, a native of the State of Tennessee, and a farmer by occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have four children, viz.: Olive Lula, Cora Nancy, Oscar Lee and Ruiah Rowena. Mr. Davis is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and his political sympathies are with the Republican party.

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This family biography is one of 74 biographies included in The History of Dallas County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Dallas County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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