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Below is a family biography included in The History of Franklin 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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Angus A. Cantley is a farmer and stock raiser of Boeuf Township, where he was born in 1828, and is one of the thirteen children of John and Sarah (Gibson) Cantley, natives of Virginia and Kentucky, respectively. The father was born in 1788, and in 1807 came to what is now Franklin County, whither his father had preceded him. Here he married about 1810 and, lived for a short time on Berger Bottom, then settled on Boeuf Creek, near where Detmold now is, being the first to settle so far up the creek, which was several miles distant from any white settlement. Here, with the aid of the Indians, he built a horse mill, which for years supplied the people with meal for miles around. He reared a large family of children, who became useful and exemplary citizens, and died in 1852. He was a great hunter, and was frequently called upon to aid in defense against the Indians; during the War of 1812 he was called up the Mississippi River. His father, John Cantley, was of Irish descent, and was also a native of Virginia. The mother of our subject died about 1858. Both parents were devout members of the Baptist Church for many years. Angus A. Cantley was educated in the common schools. In 1850 he married Miss Mary, daughter of Caleb and Rachel Bailey, who were born in North Carolina, married in Kentucky, and settled in Franklin County about 1804 or 1805, where they reared thirteen children. Mrs. Cantley, the eleventh child, was born in 1823. Of this large family all lived to have homes of their own, and were among the esteemed families of the county. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cantley, five of whom are living, viz.: James P., La Fayette, Amanda Alice, Livingston, and Angus A., Jr. Mr. Cantley settled about six miles west of New Haven, and in 1865 removed to two miles south of Dundee, where he has a farm of eighty-seven acres, the result of his own labor. He has led a quiet, industrious life and has long been known throughout the county as an honest and upright citizen. He served thirty days in Company F, under Col. Gague, of the Enrolled Missouri Militia, in 1862. Politically a life-long and consistent Democrat, Mr. Cantley cast his first presidential vote for Pierce, in 1852. Mrs. Cantley has long been a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Cantley’s eldest brother, John Lewis, is one of the oldest men in Franklin County, being now over seventy-two years old, and is still living near where he was born.

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This family biography is one of 305 biographies included in The History of Franklin County, Missouri published in 1888.  For the complete description, click here: Franklin County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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