My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of Dent 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.

* * * *

John B. Fox, farmer and stock raiser of Watkins Township, was born in Haywood County, West Tenn., in 1838, and was brought by his parents to what is now Dent County, where the father died about 1844. About three years later the family removed to what is now Texas County, near Licking, where the son was reared to manhood, with very limited educational advantages. He was one of four sons and three daughters, who were reared by his widowed mother. She was born in South Carolina, has been a member of the Methodist Church for a great many years, and is now eighty-five years of age. Her father, Lewis Campbell, first moved to Tennessee, and later to Texas County, Mo., where he died. He was of Irish descent. William Fox, father of subject, was probably born in Tennessee, and his father, Enoch Fox, was of Dutch descent, and he and two brothers were in the War of 1812. John B. Fox was married in 1861 to Miss Julia A., daughter of William and Rachel Ratleff, natives of Pike County, Ky., born in 1811 and 1819, respectively. They came to Texas County, Mo., in 1858, and during the war went to Nebraska, where he remained one year. He then went to Bourbon, County, Kas., where the father died in 1868, and the mother in 1874. Mrs. Fox was born in Pike County, Ky., and to her union with the subject of this sketch were born eleven children, four sons and three daughters now living. He lived for about three years during the war in Phelps County, Mo., then returned to Texas County, and in 1867 to Dent County, where, since 1868, he has resided on his present farm. He has 560 acres now in the woods, and 280 acres improved. He served about six months, in 1862, in the Confederate Army, Company A, First Missouri Cavalry, in Missouri and Arkansas, and was in several skirmishes. He was captured in Shannon County, January 1, 1863, and imprisoned at Rolla one month, when he was paroled under bond, and returned home. He is a Democrat in politics, casting his first presidential vote for Breckenridge in 1860. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., Spring Creek, No. 416, also a member of the Grange, and a member of the Agricultural Wheel, both of Victor Mills Lodge. Mrs. Fox is a member of the Christian Church.

* * * *

This family biography is one of 82 biographies included in The History of Dent County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Dent County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

Use the links at the top right of this page to search or browse thousands of other family biographies.