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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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John Austin Smith, superintendent of the county infirmary was born near Lancaster, Ky., December 22, 1833, the son of Flavius J. and Permelia (Long) Smith, natives, respectively, of Garrett and Madison Counties, Ky. The father came to Monroe County in 1834, and removed afterward to Randolph County. He was a farmer and brick maker, near Paris, Mo., in early days, and in 1855 bought a farm six miles west of La Grange, where the mother died in 1865. Our subject is the only living child of four sons and six daughters, and since the father’s retirement in 1875, he has lived with our subject, and although at the age of seventy-three years, he still retains his mental faculties. He tells an incident of how our subject, when a little child, was sitting in the dooryard, and was approached by a large black bear. The mother saw it, however, and ran with the child into the house, and stayed bruin’s appetite with scraps from the window until the father came with dogs and a gun, and succeeded in shooting the animal. Our subject came to this county a year before his father, and two weeks later bought some land in Section 9, which he finally increased to 150 acres. Since 1877, however, he has been in his present position, managing the institution with marked success. December 16, 1852, he married Margaret E. Loudermilk, a native of this county. Their children are Albert C., a millwright and carpenter; Clarence N.; Elizabeth P., the wife of G. W. Selves, and Maggie J., the wife of James Patterson. Our subject is a Democrat, and member of the A. O. U. W., and he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.

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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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