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Below is a family biography included in The History of Newton County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1888.  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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Isaac H. Carmichael is of Scotch-Irish descent, and is a grandson of John Carmichael, who immigrated from Ireland and settled in Tennessee. His son, John, the father of Isaac H., was born in that State, but went to Kentucky when a young man, thence to Illinois about 1838. Here he married Miss Ann Brown a daughter of Burr Brown, who resided near Fort Massac, made famous in the French and Indian war. Mrs. Carmichael’s mother was of French descent, and when a little girl she assisted to run bullets for the French settlers during one of the French and Indian wars. Only two of Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael’s seven children are living: Isaac, and Maria, who married a Mr. House, and resides in Benton Township. The father was a successful merchant in Metropolis, Ill., for about thirty years, and also operated a grist-mill with success. He was worth at one time $75,000. In 1871 he located in Southwest Missouri, where he built a mill at Poplar Bluff, but died of cholera the next year at the age of sixty-three years. He was a Methodist in religious belief, and politically supported the principles of the Republican Party, being a Union man during the war. He was circuit clerk and recorder of Johnson County, Ill., and also held the office of justice of the peace for many years. Isaac H. Carmichael was born in Massac County, Ill., in 1844, secured a good education in the common branches, and learned the black-smith’s trade. In 1861 he enlisted in Company K, Twenty-ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was in the battles of Belmont, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson (where he was shot through the arm, and was sent home on a four months furlough), siege of Corinth, battle of Purdy, and in many skirmishes. He returned to Illinois in 1867, and married Minerva Beck, a daughter of Geoffrey and Sarah Beck, of Mississippi, who were refugees on account of the war, leaving a good farm of 320 acres, which has never been recovered. Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael have six children living: John H., Rhoda B., Aaron L., Bertha, Louella, Juanita. John H. is a teacher in Arkansas. Mr. Carmichael was engaged in the milling business in Illinois for ten years, and in 1874 came to Missouri, settling on his present farm of eighty acres in 1875, which he homesteaded and purchased, fifty acres of which have been cleared and seventy-five put under cultivation. He also has a nice orchard of 500 fruit trees, all bearing. Mr. Carmichael is a Republican, and he and his wife are members of the Christian Church.

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This family biography is one of 220 biographies included in The History of Newton County, Missouri published in 1888.  For the complete description, click here: Newton County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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