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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.

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Dr. Wilson M. Lenox, a practicing physician and surgeon of Lake Spring, was born in what is now Phelps County, Mo., in 1843. He is a son of Hamilton and Permelia M. (Harrison) Lenox, and grandson of William Lenox, a Virginian by birth, but who went to Kentucky at a very early day, and was an intimate friend of Daniel Boone, whom he aided against the Indians, both in Kentucky and Missouri. He was also a soldier in the Black Hawk War, when his son Hamilton was but a boy. The family moved from Kentucky to Missouri, and spent a number of years in Callaway and other counties of Northern Missouri. They then came to Phelps County, at still quite an early period, and here died. He was of a migratory disposition, and spent much of his time with the Indians in the wild Southwest, where he figured prominently in civilizing the same. His father was of Scotch descent; was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was wounded at the battle of Cowpens. The ancestors of our subject on the father’s side trace their lineage back to three brothers who were natives of Scotland; two of them came to America and from them sprang the Lenox families in America. Dr. Lenox’s maternal grandfather, James Harrison, was a native of Virginia, and went to South Carolina when a young man, was married there, and at a very early period, about 1820, came to Missouri and settled where the town of Arlington is now located. He owned a very large and valuable tract of land, on which he spent the remainder of his days. He was one of the most influential and prominent citizens of Southern Missouri in his day. He served as a judge, was notary public, county and circuit clerk, etc.; in fact, he transacted nearly all the business affairs of the people for years in South Central Missouri, acting as a general tribunal. His sons became representative citizens of Missouri. The Doctor’s great-grandfather, Benjamin Harrison, was a native of Virginia, of English descent, and a Revolutionary soldier. He is originally of the same family as President Benjamin Harrison. Dr. Lenox is the sixth of twelve children, and was educated at Jacksonville, Ill., and Lebanon Academy. At about the age of seventeen he began the study of medicine with his uncle, Dr. James P. Harrison, of Arlington, who was a graduate of McDowell Medical College, St. Louis. He studied with him until the opening of the late war between the North and South, and then enlisted in the Confederate army, and was afterward made medical purveyor of Parson’s division of the Confederate army for the remainder of the war, operating in Missouri and Arkansas. He was at the battle of Wilson’s Creek, Pea Ridge, Cane Hill, Camden, etc. After the war he went to Northeastern Texas, where he practiced with success for nearly two years. He returned to Missouri in 1867, located at Rolla until 1872, and one year later settled at Lake Spring, where he has since practiced with his usual success. He is one of the most prominent physicians of Dent County. At different times he has attended different medical institutions at New Orleans, Camden, Ark., St. Louis, etc., and graduated from the St. Louis College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1883. He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention at Chicago, in 1884, which nominated Grover Cleveland. He was also a delegate to the State Convention in 1870, and has frequently been a delegate to congressional conventions, etc. He is a member of the State Medical Association, and also of the Minor Medical Association. He cast his first presidential vote for Horace Greeley in 1872, and it is hardly necessary to add, after reading the sketch so far, that he is a Democrat in his political views. He is a Royal Arch Mason of Rolla Chapter, and like his ancestors on both sides, is a prominent and representative citizen. His first marriage occurred in February, 1876, to Miss Martha Frances Bradford, a native of Phelps County, Mo., and the daughter of John D. and Margaret A. (Lenox) Bradford, who were early settlers of Phelps County. Mrs. Lenox died in October, 1882, and September 29, 1884, the Doctor married Miss Elizabeth C. Cowen, daughter of Dr. Robert B. and Susannah B. (Lenox) Cowen, granddaughter of William B. Cowen, and great-granddaughter of William Cowen, who was from Scotland, and was a lawyer in Virginia. The grandfather of Mrs. Lenox was also a native of Virginia; was known as Col. Cowen, and was probably a soldier in one of the early wars. He was a wealthy Virginian, and died in Pulaski County, Mo. The father of Mrs. Lenox was born in Bedford County, Va., and came with his father when a boy to St. Louis, and afterward to Phelps County, where he spent the rest of his life. He died in 1869; was a practicing physician at Edgar Springs for fifteen years, and was a graduate of McDowell Medical College, St. Louis, Mo. His wife, and the mother of Mrs. Lenox, is still living, and is residing near Edgar Springs. Mrs. Lenox was educated at various schools in Dent and Phelps Counties, and at the Ursuline Convent of St. Louis. She is a refined and educated lady. Both wives were second cousins of Dr. Lenox.

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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

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