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Below is a family biography included in The History of Webster 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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William L. Smith, editor and proprietor of the Marshfield Chronicle, is a native of Webster County, Mo., born May 19, 1857, being the son of C. C. and Sarah (Nichols) Smith. The father was born in Tennessee in 1829, and the mother in North Carolina in 1833. The family came to Webster County in 1844, settling twelve miles south of the county seat, and in 1869 moved to Marshfield. William L. Smith is the eldest of five children. He remained on his father’s farm until about thirteen years of age, and since then has resided in Marshfield. He received a common-school education, and October 9, 1872, he entered the office of the Marshfield Democrat, where he began learning the printer’s trade, and has since continued that calling. Since January, 1877, he has been publishing the Chronicle, which is newsy and full of interesting matter. Mr. Smith is a member of the Masonic fraternity, also a member of the I. O. O. F., and is Democratic in his political views.
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This family biography is one of 110 biographies included in The History of Webster County, Missouri published in 1889. For the complete description, click here: Webster County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps
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