My Genealogy Hound

Robert Craig, farmer and stock dealer of Township 45, is the son of John and Margaret W. (Barkley) Craig. The father came to the United States from Ireland about 1847 or 1848, and died here in 1851. The mother and children did not come until 1853. Mrs. Craig is still living, and is over eighty years of age. She furnished three sons for the Union army, and now draws a pension for the eldest, who died while in service. The second son was a lawyer, and at one time was assistant United States district attorney, at Memphis. Tenn. He died about 1872. Robert was born in Ireland in 1840, and received but very meager educational advantages. In 1862 he enlisted in Company R, Thirty-first Missouri Infantry, was at Vicksburg and all through the Georgia and Atlanta campaigns, etc. He was in active service for nearly three years, and was discharged at St. Louis in 1865. December, 1871, he married Miss Caroline Custer, who died in 1883, leaving four children: Anna, William, Henry and Mary. In 1884 Mr. Craig married Mrs. Mary D. Schulte, who bore him one child, Maggie. She had four children by her first husband. Mr. Craig has made his home in Franklin County since 1853, and on his present farm since 1867. He owns about 325 acres, all the result of his own labor. He is a self-made man in every sense of the word, as he was obliged to make his own living in early childhood. He is a member of the G. A. R., and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.