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Below is a family biography included in the book, Portrait and Biographical Record of Johnson and Pettis County Missouri published by Chapman Publishing Company in 1895.  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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WILLIAM CALVERT. Among the self-made men of Johnson County, men who have accumulated a sufficiency of this world’s goods, may be reckoned the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He is a resident of township 44, range 25, Johnson County, where he has a fine farm. He was born in Cooper County, Mo., April 6, 1842, and is a son of Alfred and Nancy (Carson) Calvert, the former a native of Kentucky, but the latter of this state. Her father, Charles Carson, was a cousin of the noted Kit Carson. The paternal grandfather, William Calvert, who was a native of Kentucky and there followed farming, came to Missouri at an early day, locating in Cooper County, where his death occurred. The father of our subject was married in that county, where he engaged in farming and working at the cooper’s trade, and there his death occurred when William was quite young.

The mother later wedded J. R. Bowman, formerly of North Carolina, but who had come to Cooper County, where he followed farming. When our subject was about four years of age they removed to Pettis County, settling near Green Ridge, on what is now known as the Calvert Farm, where they remained ten years, at the end of which time they came to Johnson County, locating two miles north of Montserrat. Mr. Bowman there purchased six hundred and twenty acres of land, which he improved, making it his home for nine years, when he returned to Cooper County, but later came again to this county, where he bought two hundred and forty acres, and there spent his remaining days. His wife died on the 1st of February, 1885. By this union she had become the mother of five children, two of whom are yet living. Sallie married Robert McDonald, a farmer of Johnson County, where they still reside; Dona, who died in 1893, was the wife of William Perry of Windsor, Mo.; Columbus Ardell wedded Henry Coffey, of Knobnoster, where he is engaged in business; Allie became the wife of Andrew Williams, but is now deceased; and one child died in infancy. Mr. Bowman had also been previously married and by the former union had four children. Cary was killed by the Indians during the Civil War; Lizzie, now deceased, was the wife of Allen Pemberton, a farmer of Pettis County; Mary, widow of Phene Caldwell, makes her home in Warrensburg; and Carter died at the age of eighteen years.

Until the age of twenty-five, William Calvert, whose name introduces this sketch, remained at home with his mother, assisting in the labors of the farm. In 1861 he made a trip to Arkansas, helping move a family to Washington County, that state. On returning home he started for Iowa, making part of the journey by boat and the remainder on foot, trying to keep out of the reach of the war. From that state he proceeded to Nebraska City, Neb., and then went up the Missouri River, where he lived among the Indians. He made his home with certain tribes in western Nebraska until the surrender of General Lee, when, in 1865, he returned to his home in Cooper County. In 1870, however, he made a trip to Texas, where for two seasons he herded cattle, meeting with excellent success, and then for eighteen months worked on the home farm.

Mr. Calvert was married on the 26th of February, 1874, Miss Sarah Jane Cooper becoming his wife. The lady was born in this county, August 20, 1844, on the farm where she still resides. After his marriage our subject lived for one year at High Point Church, when he removed to a farm near his present home, which belonged to the Cooper estate, and consisted of a tract of one hundred acres, which he placed under a high state of cultivation, there residing for ten years. On the expiration of that time, in 1885, he removed to his present farm, and now owns altogether two hundred and eighty acres, about two hundred of which are under cultivation, and on which he carries on general farming and stock-raising.

Unto our subject and his worthy wife have been born five children: Lena, born March 9, 1875; Bessie, October 8, 1876; Owen, November 18, 1878; Sarah Frances, August 27, 1880; and Ursula, March 25, 1884. All of the children have received good educational privileges, being able to attend the normal and high schools of Warrensburg. The parents hold membership with the Baptist Church, and in politics Mr. Calvert formerly was a Democrat, but now supports the best men, independent of party.

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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in the Johnson County, Missouri portion of the book,  Portrait and Biographical Record of Johnson and Pettis County Missouri published in 1895 by Chapman Publishing Co.  For the complete description, click here: Johnson County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Johnson County, Missouri family biographies here: Johnson County, Missouri Biographies

View a map of 1904 Johnson County, Missouri here: Johnson County, Missouri Map

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