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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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FRANK DEERMESTER, who is Assistant Professor in Mathematics and Professional Training in the State Normal at Warrensburg, is a young man of superior talents and education, besides having a number of years of valuable experience as a teacher. His present position he was offered in the fall of 1892, and since accepting the same has given full satisfaction to all who have come under his jurisdiction. During the summers of 1889 to 1893, inclusive, he took up special work in the summer institutes, the first year in Barton County, and the remainder of the time in Bates County. The vacation of 1894 he spent profitably at Harvard University, making a special study of psychology. He has also made good progress in German and higher mathematics, having few equals, especially in the latter branch.

The parents of our subject are John and Mahala C. (Gunn) Deermester, the former a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, born June 21, 1842. When sixteen years of age he left the Fatherland in order to avoid military service, and after landing in New York he went to Philadelphia, where for two years he worked in a bakery. Then, going to Bond County, Ill., he engaged in milling, following the business until 1864. March 2 of that year he enlisted in the cavalry service, and while in Arkansas was under General Steele, and at Nashville and Franklin, Tenn., under General Thomas. He was honorably discharged in June, 1865, and was afterward sent to Dakota to assist in putting down the troublesome Indians. He was never wounded, but had some narrow escapes, and in one battle a ball lodged in a rail immediately in front of him. On his return to Bond County he engaged in farming on rented land, and in 1868 moved to Bates County, Mo., where he became the owner of two hundred acres of wild land, which he has since engaged in cultivating. He has been successful in his efforts, and is now the proprietor of four hundred and eighty acres of valuable land. March 4, 1864, he was married, in Bond County, Ill., to Miss Gunn, who was born in Pennsylvania, November 30, 1842, and whose father died while she was quite young.

Frank Deermester was born at Greenville, Ill., August 28, 1866, and was only about two years of age when his parents moved to Bates County. He attended the country schools, and in his seventeenth year entered the State Normal, graduating from the “C” Course in 1885. For the next three years he engaged in teaching country schools in Bates County, and as he liked this line of work, returned to the State Normal in the fall of 1888 for further instruction, graduating in June, 1889. The principalship of the public schools of Adrian, Mo., being offered him, he accepted the position, and the next year was made Principal of the Montrose School, in Henry County, at a better salary. While there he was elected Commissioner of Bates County, and filled the office for two years. In the mean time he was for one year first assistant in Butler Academy, and in the fall of 1892 resigned the office of Commissioner in order to accept the position he now holds.

The father of our subject has always taken a great interest in educational matters, and his children have doubtless inherited this tendency. He is a Republican, and has served as Township Trustee and Assessor. A brother of the Professor, Alva, is a graduate of Musselman’s Business College, of Quincy, Ill.; and a sister, Mrs. Cora Long, lives on a farm in Bates County. Since he was seventeen years of age our subject has been a member of the Christian Church, and is now Assistant Sunday-school Superintendent, and President of the Christian Endeavor Union of this city.

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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in the Johnson 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: Johnson County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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

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