My Genealogy Hound

William P. Carnes owns and cultivates a fine farm of 455 acres three miles east of Vienna, in Jackson Township, Maries County. He was born in McMinn County, Tenn., in 1830, and is a son of Jahu and Nancy (Burton) Carnes, natives of Virginia, who were early settlers of McMinn County, Tenn., where they lived until 1838, when they removed to what is now Osage County, Mo. The father died in Maries County, Mo., in 1868, and the mother in the same county in 1876. Jahu Carnes was an able Methodist minister for many years, and was one of the pioneer preachers of the southern part of Missouri, where he became well known and respected, and assisted in organizing many churches; he was a generous, cheerful giver, and at his death the church and community lost a most enterprising citizen. Josiah Carnes, grandfather of William P., was also a native of Virginia, and died in that State. William P. Carnes was but a boy when his parents located in Missouri, which was then a wild country, sparsely settled, except by wild animals, who made night hideous with the barking of wolves and screeching of panther, and the life of the pioneers was filled with many hardships. He received but a limited common-school education, and upon reaching his maturity turned his attention to farming. In 1856 he married Ruth Ann, daughter of David and Sarah Branson, natives, respectively, of Virginia and Tennessee, who were early settlers of Gasconade County, Mo., where they married and afterward settled in what is now Osage County. Mrs. Branson died in 1845, and Mr. Branson again married, and died in Phelps County in 1871. Mrs. Carnes was one of a family of six children, and was born in Osage County. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Carnes, viz.: Elizabeth, wife of Robert Kinnaird; Mary, who married W. D. Adkin, of Laclede County, and Nancy, who married W. T. Agee, and died January 1, 1887. Mr. Carnes lived in Osage County until 1869, when he removed to Maries County, and after living six years in Vichy located on his present farm, which lies on the Gasconade Bottom, and has over 200 acres under cultivation. He devotes considerable attention to stock-raising, and is one of the most enterprising farmers of Jackson Township. Politically Mr. Carnes is a Democrat. Both are consistent members of the Methodist Church.