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Below is a family biography included in The History of Pulaski County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  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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George C. Cain, one of the wealthiest farmers of Pulaski County, Mo., was born in 1823 in what is now Pulaski County, and is the only surviving member of a family of four children born to the marriage of Jonathan and Narcisia (Henson) Cain, who were born in Tennessee in 1797 and 1805, and died in 1834 and 1882, respectively. They became residents of Crawford County, Mo., in 1820, and were there married and spent the remainder of their lives. They were among the very early settlers and farmers of that region, there being more Indians than whites in the section at that time. After the father’s death his widow married a Mr. Riddle, by whom she had four children, only one of whom (Elias) is still living. The maternal grandparents, George and Silence (Whipple) Henson, were Tennesseeans, and came to Missouri in 1819, spending the remainder of their days in Pulaski County, where George followed the occupation of blacksmithing. George C. Cain, whose name heads this sketch, has always resided in what is now Pulaski County, and received such education as the early schools of Missouri afforded. In 1840 he began life for himself as a farmer, and until 1844 was also engaged in rafting lumber to St. Louis. At the latter date he was married to Miss Elizabeth Jackson, who was born in Tennessee in 1821, and died in 1868, having borne a family of ten children, seven of whom are still living: Mary (Mrs. Underwood), George W., Frances (Mrs. Christeson), Jesse, Linda (Mrs. Christeson) Thomas and Louisiana (Mrs. Drake). In 1872 Mr. Cain married Miss Rebecca Underwood, a native of Tennessee, born in 1837, and a daughter of Samuel and Martha Underwood (the former was a sailor), by whom he has three living children: Isaac, Lizzie and William. His first wife was a daughter of John and Polly (Hughes) Jackson, who moved from Tennessee to Missouri in 1841, and there engaged in farming. Only three of their eleven children are now living. Mr. Cain made his first purchase of land in 1852, but has since made purchases from time to time until he has become the owner of 2,400 acres of good land. He has given seven of his children two good farms each, and still has 1,000 acres of his own. His property has been accumulated by raising corn and feeding it to stock, which illustrates what can be done in Arkansas by energy and judicious management. In 1865 he enlisted in the State Militia, in Company B, and received his discharge at Waynesville the same year. He is a Republican in politics, casting his first presidential vote for James K. Polk in 1844.

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This family biography is one of 80 biographies included in The History of Pulaski County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Pulaski County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Pulaski County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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