Washington County, MO Pioneer Families


To contribute your pioneer family, send the information to Larry Flesher for posting on the page.


BOYER, Charles

DESGAGNE (DeGONIA), Francois

DICKEY, Andrew Stuart

DICUS, John

DOGGETT, George

HENDERSON, Samuel

HUGHES, Captain John

HUITT, James, Sr.

JACKSON, William P.

KIRKPATRICK, David S.

MOYER, Jacob

MUNDY, Philip

PORTAIS, Jean Baptiste

SLOAN, William Alexander


Charles Boyer

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Charles Boyer (one of the Boyer brothers to settle around Old Mines) was born around 1750, the son of Nicolas Boyer of Montreal and his wife Dorothee Olivier. This Charles was born across the river at Kaskaskia, Illinois. His parents moved over to the old Ste. Genevieve settlement where they both died in 1785. Charles, with his brothers, wernt back and forth from Washington County to Ste Genevieve. Archives mention Charles as active in mining lead as early as 1778. In 1786, at Ste. Genevieve, Charles married Madeleine Maurice dit Chatillon and from this union produced a large family.

Charles took up permanent residence in Old Mines around 1801. He later received the Old Mines Concession number 18. Brothers Joseph and Pierre also received Old Mines concessions, as well as nephew Louis Boyer. In 1833 Charles Boyer testified that he had lived continuously in the Old Mines since 1801 and was 82 years of age. The priest at St. Joachim gave deposition that he was well acquainted with Charles Boyer and family, and noted Charles had ninety seven children and grandchildren living at Old Mines. He died in the late 1830s.

His wife lived on until 1858, and in her burial entry the priest noted "she left living, mostly in this parish (meaning St. Joachim at Old Mines) a posterity numbering four hundred souls."

Thanks to Patricia Weeks for the above information.


George Doggett

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George Doggett came from Tennessee circa 1800 and settled near Big River in that part of Washington County that later became St. Francois County. He was the father of six children:
John
Asa
Isaac
Rachel
Mary
Rhoda
George died in St. Louis, MO in 1822. His daughter Rhoda, born in 1797 in Tennessee, was first married to her cousin Jesse DOGGETT and had one son. She later married William JACKSON and had five more children. Rhoda died 1850-1860 in St. Francois County, MO

Thanks to Esther Carroll for the above information.


Francois Desgagne (DeGONIA)

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My gggggrandfather was Francois Desgagne (now known as DeGonia) who was born in Ste. Genevieve on 6 Mar 1799 to parents, John Bte and Elizabeth Girard. He died 9 Apr 1853 in Old Mines. Francois was married to Louise Berre in Ste. Genevieve and had one child, Vincent Felix. His second marriage after the death of Louise was to Marie Louise Bonne on 7 Jun 1825 in Old Mines and they had the following children: John Baptiste (my ggggrandfather), Rozine, Louise, Palagie Genevieve, Emily, Walley, Francois Frank, Marie Arthemise, Mary Madeline and Josephine.

If you need additional information, please let me know. The Desgagne line is very large in Old Mines area of Washington County.

Thanks to descendant Becky Millinger for the above information.


Andrew Stuart Dickey

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Born between April 19 and June 1, 1798 in Virginia, Andrew Stuart Dickey married Elizabeth Gortner on October 1, 1818 in Botetourt, Virginia. They then went to Tennessee and by 1830 had permanently relocated to Harmony Township, Washington County, Missouri. They were the parents of seven children:

Mary Jane, who first married William Hawkins then William Bailey Hillen;
Joseph H.;
Caroline, who married Robert H. Scott;
Adeline, who married George Scott;
Robert H., who married Nancy Ann Jenkins;
Catherine, who married Samuel Robinson;
Andrew S., Jr.
Andrew died before 1870, and Elizabeth in 1883. Many descendants of these families still reside in Washington County.

Thanks to descendant Esther Carroll for the above information.


John Dicus

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My 4th great grandfather was: John DICUS (DYCUS)
John Dicus and his wife, Celila Sloan, came to Missouri from Jackson County, Tennessee approximately 1844. They first resided in Dade County then later relocated to Washington County. John died approximately 1868 and Celila died 1880 - 1900. John and Celila had eleven children: William born 1834 in Tenn., John born 1836 Tenn., Julia born 1839 Tenn., Larkin 1840 Tenn., Samuel 1839-41 Tenn., T.B. born 1843 Tenn., Brad 1845 in Missouri, Hugh 1846 Mo., Riley 1850 Mo., Mary 1853 Mo., and Marvin 1856 Mo. During the Civil War Samuel served with Co. B, 31st regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry. Brad was with Co. F, 32nd regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry. Hugh was with Co. E, 50th Missouri Infantry.

Thanks to descendant Esther Carroll for the above information.


Samuel Henderson

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Samuel Henderson was born in Tennessee in 1785. In 1804 he married Mary Goforth. They would become the parents of twelve children. About 1810 the Henderson family came to Missouri and settled in Caledonia, Washington County. After Mary died in 1825 Samuel married Elizabeth Harris in 1827. They became the parents of nine children. Samuel & Elizabeth resided southwest of Belgrade. Samuel was first a member of the Belleview Presbyterian Church but later converted to the Mormon faith. The Mormons fled Missouri in 1839 going to Illinois where the town of Nauvoo was founded. There Samuel became a High Priest. In 1846 the Mormons were forced to abandon Nauvoo. They began their famous historic trek to Utah, where they established Salt Lake City. Samuel Henderson died there in 1856.

Thanks to descendant Esther Carroll for the above information.


Captain John Hughes

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Captain Hughes' information is on a separate page.

Thanks to descendant Tom Caulley for the above information.


James Huitt, Sr.

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James HUITT, (Sr.)  B: circa 1774  N/S Carolina
wife: Elizabeth WEBB  B: circa 1774  S. Carolina
Children:
Lemuel  B: 1798  Georgia
Elijah  B: 1800  Georgia
John  B: 1802  Georgia
William  B: 1804  Georgia
James  B: 1806  Missouri
Green  B: 1809  Missouri
Wilkinson  B: 1812  Mississippi
Mary Ann  B: 1814  Missouri
The Huitt family came to Missouri in 1805 & settled in Caledonia, Washington Co. James (Sr.) died in 1814. His estate included 14 negro slaves: Hannah & ?no name, Robin & Rachel (an infant), Isami, Rapell (son of Hannah), Major (son of Rachel), Jackson, David, Joseph, a girl (no name given), Rachel, Eliza Alson (Hannah´s son).

James´ widow, Elizabeth, later married Thomas Brock who was from Sussex, England.

Thanks to descendant Esther Carroll for the above information.


William P. JACKSON

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William P. JACKSON (1786 ?90 to 1867-70) was born in Green County, KY and many of his descendants are living today in Phelps County, MO and Washington County, MO, where he first settled. William P. (Pentecost or Philip?) JACKSON was, if nothing else, very fertile. He sired 16 children by two known wives - Jane "Jinney" SALLY and Mahala HAMILTON GARRETT. He may have married first Ann MARPLE in Green County, KY in 1802 and sired three or four children by her.

William's father was John Pentecost JACKSON, said to have been a Revolutionary War soldier, though this has not been documented. John's father was also named John, as was his grandfather. They were born in Augusta County, VA and migrated to the area known today as Green County, KY. William P. has had thousands of descendants. Just one of his first sons, ?Philip - has over 1600 descendants.

William P. migrated from Green County, KY to Washington County by about 1830. His "first family" was born there, and many of them moved on to Phelps County by 1850.

Much information on this family can be found in two volumes placed in the Mine Au Breton Historical Society archives in Potosi by Eugene W. Jackson, and also in the Washington County Library in Potosi.

Thanks to descendant Gene Jackson for the above information.


Jacob MOYER

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JACOB MOYER was born 1771 in Botetourt, Virginia, and died Bef. 1857 in Iron County, Missouri. He married ELIZABETH RUSSELL, daughter of JOSEPH RUSSELL and MARGARET CAMPBELL. She was born Abt. 1785 in Virginia, and died in Missouri. He arrived in Belleview, Washington County, Missouri in 1818 with his wife, Elizabeth Russell, and her brothers (Alexander and William Russell). William settled in St. Louis. He was a lawyer. Alexander stayed in Belleview. They came from Hawkins County, Tennessee. They settled on a farm in Belleview. May 15, 1818 purchased a lot in the City of Caledonia. Jacob and Elizabeth Russell Moyer are buried in the Bellevue Presbyterian Cemetery, Caledonia, Missouri

Their children were:

i. MARY MOYER, b. August 19, 1808, Tennessee; d. February 26, 1893; m. (1) PALMER BRECKENRIDGE, October 05, 1826, Washington County, Missouri; b. Aft. 1805; m. (2) ROBERT SLOAN, Aft. 1845; b. Abt. 1800. Burial: Bellevue Presbyterian Cemetery, Caledonia, Missouri
ii. MARGARET MOYER, b. May 10, 1810, Tennessee; d. December 11, 1889; m. (1) HUGH K HUGHES, February 28, 1836, Washington County, Missouri; m. (2) NATHANIEL HIGHLEY, April 05, 1852, Missouri; b. Abt. 1830. Burial: Bellevue Presbyterian Cemetery, Caledonia, Missouri
iii. WILLIAM RUSSELL MOYER, b. August 12, 1812, Tennessee; d. November 28, 1898, Missouri; m. SUSAN ELIZABETH RICE, Abt. November 28, 1837, Tennessee; b. November 28, 1819; d. March 22, 1906. Both husband and wife are buried in Edison Cemetery, Belleview, Iron County, Missouri
iv. JOSEPH CAMPBELL MOYER, b. October 25, 1814, Tennessee; d. September 25, 1888, Missouri; m. VIRGINIA KIRKPATRICK, July 29, 1847, Missouri; b. February 11, 1821; d. March 11, 1877. They lived about a mile north of Belleview. The place is still standing and has been remodeled and rooms added in the last 35 to 40 years. His children were born there and their three girls married there. Both husband and wife are buried in Bellevue Presbyterian Cemetery, Caledonia, Missouri. VIRGINIA KIRKPATRICK was the daughter of Dr. John and Hannah Kirkpatrick of Belleview. David W. Kirkpatrick and wife, Jane are buried at the Thomas Chapel Cemetery, Bellevue Valley; he was a Civil War Veteran.
v. ELIZA ANN MOYER, b. September 11, 1817, Tennessee; d. June 29, 1899; m. CAPT JOHN JAMISON, November 24, 1839; b. September 25, 1818, Washington County, Missouri; d. October 02, 1893. Both husband and wife are buried in Belleview Presbyterian Cemetery, Caledonia, Missouri
vi. ANGELINE REBECCA MOYER, b. 1822, Iron County, Missouri; d. June 29, 1902, Belleview, Iron County, Missouri; m. (1) BENJAMINE BAKER, Abt. 1850, Washington County, Missouri; m. (2) HARRISON SWEENEY, January 28, 1858, Iron County, Missouri; m. (3) SAMUEL JEFFERSON RAWLINS, August 08, 1863, Caledonia, Washington County, Missouri; b. July 06, 1843, Iron County, Missouri. She is buried in Belleview Presbyterian Cemetery, Caledonia, Missouri
vii. MARTHA JANE MOYER, b. 1824, Iron County, Missouri; d. Ozark, Franklin County, Arkansas; m. JEREMIAH ROBERTS.
viii. JOHN MOYER, b. 1826, Iron County, Missouri.
ix. BENJAMINE FRANKLIN MOYER, b. 1833, Belleview, Iron County, Missouri; d. Bef. 1875.

Thanks to descendant Karen Carty for the above information.


David S. Kirkpatrick

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David S. Kirkpatrick's information is on a separate page.

Thanks to descendant Tom Caulley for the above information.


Philip MUNDY

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My great-great grandfather Philip Mundy was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Ireland about 1790. He emigrated with his wife Catherine Mullanphy to Florissant, Missouri [in St. Louis County] in 1819 and then to Washington Co. by 1825. There he was widowed and married 19 year old Marie Govereau at St. Joachim Catholic Church at Old Mines on September 11, 1828. He mined lead and ran a general store in Richwoods. He purchased 517 acres of the Benoist land grant (Survey # 3019) in Richwoods on April 27, 1838. He and Marie had ten children in all; Catherine, Peter, Ann, Brigitte, Jeanne, Charles (Thomas), Helene, Sarah Celeste, Bernard (who was my great-grandfather), and Josephine. Philip died in Jun 1856. His daughters married into the Lannen, O'Hanlon and Kavanaugh families.

Thanks to descendant Earl W. Mundy, Jr. for the above information.


Jean Baptiste PORTAIS

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Jean Baptiste Portais was one of the Ste Genevieve residents who moved to the Old Mines area in 1801. He was of French Canadian birth, christened in 1751 at Terrebonne, Quebec, son of Francois Portais and Madeleine Monet dit Boismenu.

Jean Baptiste first settled in Ste Genevieve where he married Marguerite Chabot in 1794. Marguerite was a native of Vincennes and an orphan of the deceased Joseph Chabot and Ursule Clermont. At Ste Genevieve Jean Bte was granted land and lived there until 1801 when he moved his family to Old Mines.

The Portais couple were parents of Julie, Catiche, Jean, Ursule, Francois, Marie, Susanne, Melanie, Pierre, Joseph, Adele and Marguerite. Of note, six of these children married Boyers of Old Mines.

When the Old Mines concession was surveyed, Jean Bpt Portais was awarded Lot No. 4 In 1833, the priest at Old Mines testifying of the original claimants of Old Mines, stated that on Lot No. 4 resided the widow of Jean Portais, who had 45 children and grandchildren, nearly all of them living there on that concession.

The Portais name always appeared as such until the records of Washington County began, and then the name got changed to the spelling of Portell.

Thanks to descendant Patricia Weeks for the above information.


William Alexander SLOAN

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WILLIAM ALEXANDER SLOAN was born June 1752 in Statesville, Iredell County, North Carolina, and died June 22, 1821 in Caledonia, Washington County, Missouri. He married JANE STEVENSON May 13, 1783 in Rowan County, North Carolina, daughter of WILLIAM STEVENSON and MARY MCLELLAND. She was born December 28, 1762 in Iredell County, North Carolina, and died July 25, 1856 in Washington County, Missouri.

William Sloan served as a private in Sharp's Company, Tenth Regiment of NC Troops during the Revolutionary War. He and his brothers lived in what is now Cleveland County, NC, and somewhere between Shelby(town) and Kings Mt (town) and operated iron works. They were there prior to the Revolutionary War.

In 1807 about forty families left Bethany (adjoining congregation to Fourth Creek) for the West. William Sloan, Robert M. Stevenson (his brother in law) and Andrew McCormick, leaving their families in Christian County, Kentucky went in company with Daniel Boone on a tour of inspection into Missouri. They selected a site for the settlement of the colony at Caledonia, near Big River in Bellevue Valley, Washington County, Missouri. The colony set out from Kentucky on September 16, 1807 and arrived at Caledonia on the last day of November.

The following year, 1808, William Sloan located and opened up a farm about three miles south of Caledonia on Reed's Creek, and built his house on the south side of the present Main Road, running east and west, and on the east and south side of the creek in what is now Iron County, Missouri. He was appointed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas within the County of Washington, Missouri on Sept 1, 1813 by William Clark, Governor of the Territory of Missouri. The oath of office was administered on Nov 30, 1813. The term was for 4 years.

Quoting from a history of Washington County, "Then on the first Monday of January 1814, Martin Ruggles, William Sloan and John Stanton, who had been commissioned by Governor William Clark as the first judges of the Common Pleas Court of Washington County, met in the village of Mine-a-Breton [today's Potosi: ed] and opened the first Court ever held in the county".

The Church Records and tradition at Caledonia, MO, show that William Sloan took a very active part in the organization of a Presbyterian congregation and the erection of a church building, which church history shows to have been the first Presbyterian Church established west of the Mississippi River. From the Missouri Gazette of Oct 12, 1816, we learn that, on Sept 16, 1816, the Washington County Bible Society was formed (first Bible Society west of the Mississippi River).

William and Jane lived in Lincoln County, NC until 1807. He was a farmer and Iron manufacturer. They left NC for KY. Left KY 9-16-1807 with family and others and arrived at Caledonia, MO last of Nov 1807. In 1808 located and opened up farm 3 miles south of Caledonia on Reed's Creek south side of road east and south of the creek.

There is a family tradition that William Sloan had a servant, Peter, who went with him as a body guard through the Revolution, and that Peter accompanied his sister to Missouri. Peter was fond of relating how on one occasion, while on guard, he shot a spy disguised in a bear skin prowling around their camp.

He was one of first judges of Common Pleas Court of Washington County formed in 1813, one of first elders of the first Presbyterian Church west of the Mississippi River, a lender of money and died possessing 640 acres of land and 26 slaves. He was one of the leading citizens of the pioneer community. Burial: Bellevue Presbyterian Cemetery, Caledonia, Missouri

Notes for JANE STEVENSON:
Jane Stevenson was sister of Robert M. Stevenson who, with William Sloan, Andrew McCormick and Daniel Boone made tour of inspection into Missouri in 1807 while their families remained in Christian County, KY. Another brother, James Stevenson was the grandfather of Adlai Stevenson, Vice Pres of U. S. during Cleveland's Administration. Burial: Bellevue Presbyterian Cemetery, Caledonia, Missouri

Children of WILLIAM SLOAN and JANE STEVENSON are:

i. SARAH CAROLINA4 SLOAN, b. 1780. Notes for SARAH CAROLINA SLOAN: May have remained in North Carolina when family migrated west.
ii. THOMAS SLOAN, b. August 01, 1785, Lincoln County, North Carolina; d. March 08, 1855, Caledonia, Washington County, Missouri.
iii. II FERGUS SLOAN, b. December 16, 1787, Lincolnton, Lincoln County, North Carolina; d. November 13, 1849, Caledonia, Washington County, Missouri.
iv. WILLIAM STEVENSON SLOAN, b. 1789, North Carolina; d. February 23, 1837, Washington County, Missouri.
v. JAMES SLOAN, b. September 28, 1793, Statesville, Iredell County, North Carolina; d. November 02, 1863, Dobyville, Clark County, Arkansas.
vi. JOHN SLOAN, b. 1794; d. 1823.
vii. ALEXANDER SLOAN, b. October 28, 1797, Lincoln County, North Carolina; d. February 21, 1880, Missouri.
viii. MARY EVALINE SLOAN, b. 1799.
ix. ELIZABETH R. SLOAN, b. November 19, 1801, North Carolina; d. October 25, 1868, Missouri; m. (1) REV THOMAS DONNELL; b. July 29, 1786, Guilford County, North Carolina; d. February 08, 1843, Washington, DC; m. (2) WILLIAM E JAMES. Burial: Bellevue Cemetery

Reverend Thomas Donnell, the first Presbyterian minister to work west of the Mississippi River, was called to be pastor of Bellevue Church, then called Old Concord Church. He was duly installed as pastor at the home of William Sloan on April 23, 1818. His wife, Eliza Sloan Donnell, was a daughter of William Sloan and Jane Stevenson, and a first cousin of Elizabeth Sloan McCormick, first wife of Joseph McCormick. The church under the leadership of Reverend Thomas Donnell, and as a result of the zeal of the elders, prospered greatly.

Thanks to descendant Karen Carty for the above information.


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