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Below is a family biography included in the book, Portrait and Biographical Record of Johnson and Pettis County Missouri published by Chapman Publishing Company in 1895.  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 WEEKS CANADAY. Noticeable among the farms of Pettis County is one lying on section 34, township 44, range 22, the owner of which is the gentleman above named. There are the usual improvements of a first class farm, including a comfortable residence, substantial outbuildings, windmill, orchard, etc. In addition to cultivating the one hundred and forty acres included in the farm, Mr. Canaday has for years leased a tract of four hundred acres, a portion of which is under cultivation, while the remainder is in grass.

Born in Randolph County, Ill., March 31, 1836, our subject is the son of Emanuel and Mary Ann (McLaughlin) Canaday, natives of South Carolina. His father, who was orphaned in childhood, went north to Illinois at a very early day, and his first work was splitting rails, for which he was paid thirty cents per hundred. Throughout life he was a hardworking man, industrious and persevering, but he never gained wealth, and his children were obliged from an early age to become self-supporting. He was twice married, John W. being the eldest child of his first union.

The boyhood years of our subject were years of hard work and diligent effort, but having no means with which to start in life, he found the road to success a steep one. For his helpmate in life he chose Miss Nancy Mary Stroud, and their marriage was solemnized November 18, 1858. Mrs. Canaday was born September 6, 1838, and is a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Nichols) Stroud, who had removed to Illinois from Kentucky, and at the time of their daughter’s marriage were residents of Randolph County.

For a number of years after his marriage Mr. Canaday continued to live in Illinois, where he owned and operated eighty acres of farm land. In 1872 he sold his property and moved to Pettis County, Mo., the trip being made overland with wagon and team, and fifteen days being spent on the way. Arriving here, he rented land near his present farm. To this county he brought with him his wife and their four children, his brother, and an orphan girl who had been adopted into the family.

In 1875 Mr. Canaday purchased one hundred acres constituting a portion of his present property. The following year, accompanied by his family, he made a visit to his former home in Illinois, leaving Pettis County in August and returning in September. While there the children suffered greatly from ague, and they were not sorry to return to the more equable climate of Missouri. In purchasing his present farm, Mr. Canaday paid half down, going in debt for the remainder. So well was he prospered, that in a few years he bought a forty-acre tract, and now owns one hundred and forty acres. For some years he made a specialty of raising cattle, and at times had on his place as many as one hundred head. Upon his place there is a well that will furnish water for twelve hundred head of cattle, and that has never been known to fail in the dryest season.

Five children were born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Canaday, the eldest of whom died unnamed. Thomas Ira, who was born in Randolph County, Ill., July 28, 1861, received a common-school education, and in boyhood was his father’s main dependence. April 8, 1887, he married Miss Julia Kinnikin, and they reside upon his farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Pettis County; they have three children, Lawrence, Mary Catharine and John Maurice. Mary E., who was born in Randolph County, Ill., April 9, 1863, married Franklin P. Honefelt, November 6, 18S9, and they live on a farm in Pettis County. George W., whose birth occurred in Randolph County, Ill., November 17, 1864, attended a school at Danville, Ind., for a time, and is a well informed young man. When about twenty-two years of age he went to Montana, and has since made his home in York, Meagher County. He married Miss Celia C. Ingersoll, October 17, 1894. Joseph French, the youngest of the family, was born in Randolph County, Ill., January 9, 1871, and is a bright and intelligent young man; he makes his home with his parents, and assists in the cultivation of the home farm.

Before any of their children were born Mr. and Mrs. Canaday adopted an orphan child, Martha Ellen Steele, who was born in Randolph County, Ill., March 30, 1858. She was married, October 14, 1879, to Edgar M. Perkins, and they and their three children live near Lamonte, Pettis County. Politically our subject, following in the footsteps of his father, adheres to Democratic principles, as do his sons also. Since coming to Pettis County he has served almost uninterruptedly as School Director, and in that capacity has advanced the educational interests of this community. His wife and daughter, also his adopted daughter and her husband, are active members of the Christian Church, the services of which he attends, and to the support of which he contributes, though not himself a member.

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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in the Pettis County, Missouri portion of the book,  Portrait and Biographical Record of Johnson and Pettis County Missouri published in 1895 by Chapman Publishing Co.  For the complete description, click here: Pettis County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

View a map of 1904 Pettis County, Missouri here: Pettis County, Missouri Map

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