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Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Lewis County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  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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Thomas L. Durkee was born in this county, April 7, 1834, the son of Chauncey and Lucy A. (Lewis) Durkee, natives of Vermont and Kentucky. The father, born in 1803, came to this State with his father, Boswell, in 1808, and located in St. Charles County, where he was killed by the Indians in 1812. He assisted in the surveying of the county, and was one of the company who laid out the town of Canton in 1845. He first helped to lay out the town of Monticello, and was a merchant there, and afterward a miller in this city. He was also a general in the Black Hawk war. His children are Napoleon B., of Lincoln, Neb.; Thomas L.; Julius E., of Los Angeles, Cal.; and Annie E., the wife of Mr. Tasker, of Tombstone, Ariz. The father died in December, 1853. Our subject was fairly educated; in 1846 became a clerk in Canton, and in 1854 established a mercantile business, which he conducted until July, 1861. He then joined Martin E. Green’s Northeast Missouri Regiment, serving until September, the following year. In 1867 he became a partner with M. C. Hawkins & Bro., merchants, and in 1870 the firm became Hawkins & Durkee, but in 1876 our subject assumed entire control. He has occupied his present large storehouse since 1870, and has a large stock of staple and fancy goods, notions, hats, shoes, carpets, trunks, etc.; has one of the leading trades of the county, and is probably the oldest pioneer merchant of Canton. October 29, 1856, he married Annie M. Eads, a native of St. Louis County. Their children are Alice B. and Henry K. Our subject is a Democrat, a Knight Templar, and he and his wife are members of the Christian Church.

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This family biography is one of 293 biographies included in the Lewis County, Missouri portion of the book,  The History of Lewis, Clark, Knox and Scotland Counties, Missouri published in 1887.  For the complete description, click here: Lewis County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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

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