My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Lewis County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  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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Elijah Cole, farmer, was born in Fairfield County, in 1816, the youngest of eight children of Stephen and Elizabeth (Gossage) Cole, natives of Maryland. They came to the above county where the father died in 1821. He was for many years the owner of a grist-mill and carding factory, and was also a farmer. By his first wife he had five sons. The mother died about 1853. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject was left fatherless at an early age, and so received, probably, but two months of school advantages. He has largely educated himself by private study, and at sixteen began for himself as a tenant farmer. In 1850 he married Lydia Rutledge, a Virginian, of German ancestry. Their children are William P., Louis E., and Mary E., the wife of B. Sickles. He came to this county about 1854, and has since been a resident of his farm and estate of ninety-nine acres. He has been a Methodist for about fifty-six years—thirty years as class leader, and twenty-five as Sunday-school superintendent. His wife was also a devoted Methodist. Politically he has been a Whig and a Republican, and first voted for Harrison.

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This family biography is one of 293 biographies included in the Lewis County, Missouri portion of the book,  The History of Lewis, Clark, Knox and Scotland Counties, Missouri published in 1887.  For the complete description, click here: Lewis County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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