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Source
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Fayette, Cooper Co., Mo.
In
1837, The Powell Brothers aided B.F. Massey to set up his own
Merchant Trader business at Fayette. He operated from this headquarters
during the 1837-1838 period, whether from the town itself, or from a
farmsite near Fayette, we do not know, but we believe he actually lived
on a farm.
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Barry Co., later Jasper Co., Mo.
By
11 Jun.1839, when he and Maria Hawkins Withers were married, he is
referred to as, "of Barry County," where he had settled, probably
having acquired a farm circa 1839. In 1840, the Newton Co. Census
listed him as "farmer".
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3; 4
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His eldest daughter, 43.Nina Massey Hough, writes:
"I was born at Sarcoxie,
Jasper Co., Mo., 12 Apr.1840. I lived on a farm until I was ten years
old on what was called Spring River Valley."
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2
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The 1850 Jasper Co., Mo. Census
listed him as "farmer." His eight eldest children, born 1840 through
1854, listed their birthplaces as:- "Sarcoxie," Jasper Co.," and
"Jasper Co., near Sarcoxie."
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5; 1
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At no time, from 1838 through
1854, does any member of the family mention directly that they lived in
the city of Sarcoxie itself. Nina Massey Hough states positively that
she lived on the Spring Valley farm from 1840 through 1850. I conclude
that this farm was the B.F. Massey home from about 1838 until 1854.
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The Spring River Valley was a
few miles North and East of Sarcoxie. We have not located records of
size and location of B.F. Massey's farm, but local historians suggest
it might have been what they identify as "the Old Graff Farm."
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Fayette, Cooper Co., Mo.
After
B.F. Massey's resignation as Missouri Secretary of State, near
the end of the Civil War about 1862, he is said to have lived on a
farmsite near Fayette. On 30 Mar.1864, in a letter to Dr.
Snyder, he writes that he was "at home" at Fayette; implying that he
had returned to a previously occupied locality. From a letter to Dr.
Snyder, 13 Feb.1865, we know that he was operating a farm near Fayette.
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6; 7
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A rather flimsy implication is
that the farm he occupied in 1864-1865 was the same farm he occupied in
1837-1838.
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On 1 Jun. 1868, he wrote Dr.
Snyder from St. Louis, Mo. that he had a herd of Texas steers in
Sedalia, Mo. that were for sale; and by 15 Jul.1869, he was selling
goods in Newtonia, Newton Co., Mo. It would seem, then, that B.F.
Massey operated a farm near Fayette , Cooper Co., Mo., from at least
1862 to 1865, and perhaps through the year 1868.
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7
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We have not located records
defining size or location of the Fayette Cooper Co., Mo. farm or farms.
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