My Genealogy Hound

William J. Hannah, a prominent stock farmer of Knox County, was born October 3, 1827, in Bourbon County, Ky., near Paris, and is the eldest of seven children born to Joseph and Mary (Sparks) Hannah, three of the above mentioned children being dead. The parents were natives of Bourbon and Harrison Counties, respectively, where they were reared, and lived until their marriage, after which they located in Bourbon County, where they remained until 1830, then immigrating to Missouri. They first settled near the present site of Palmyra, being among the earliest settlers in Northeast Missouri. In 1838 they removed to Monroe County, and, after two years’ residence there, returned to Marion County in 1843, making their final move, this time locating in Knox County, Mo., where they entered a tract of land in the southeastern part of Lyon Township. The father died in 1847, and the mother in 1870. Our subject was educated at the common schools of Marion County, living at home until twenty-four years old, when he married and settled upon a farm in the northeastern part of Shelton Township, which he had purchased, and in the neighborhood of which he has since resided. His wife, Killarney, daughter of Abram and Killarney Sharp, was born in Kentucky in 1827, came to Missouri after her marriage with Atwell Jackman, and after his death in 1850 was united in marriage to our subject in September, 1851, and to the latter union three children have been born: Martha Jane, wife of Jefferson Van Horn; Caroline, wife of Alex Rimer, and Virginia, wife of William Fickle. When our subject first settled upon his present farm the land was in its wild condition, but by hard labor he has succeeded in making a finely improved and cultivated farm of 1,000 acres, one of the finest in the county. Seven hundred acres are in the tract upon which he lives, the greater part of same being cleared, improved and cultivated. This property is the result of a life of unassisted toil, and Mr. Hannah is a self-made man, highly respected for his high principles and good qualities. He is considered a substantial farmer of Knox County, and his family is interested in the religious work of the community. He is a Republican in politics, but, as previous to the war he was a Democrat, his first presidential vote was cast for the Democratic nominee, in 1848.