Notes for Robert Jones McMahan.

1859, November 1, MOGENWEB Cooper County Marriages - McMahan, Robert G. to Wing, Sarah Eliz.

1860 Missouri Census, Cooper County, Lamine Township, Family 1240, dated 27 Aug, 1860, page 168.

Household Listing:

Married within the year.
R J McMahan, 27, M, Farmer, $10,000 Property Value, $6,000 Personal Property, born in Mo.
Elizabeth McMahan, 18, F, born in Mo.
A. J. Fisher, 40, M, Carpenter, born in Va.

1870 Missouri Census, Cooper County, Lamine Township, Household 54, Family 55, dated 19 Jul 1870, Page number 8.

Household listing:

R J McMahan, 36, M, W, Farmer, $16,800 property value, $3,000 personal property, born in Mo., Citizen.
S E McMahan, 28, F, W, Keep House, born in Mo.
Virginia C McMahan, 9, F, W, born in Mo, attending school.
Helena, 8, F, W, born in Mo., attending school.
Stella B McMahan, 6, F, W, born in Mo., attending school.
 

R. J. McMahan Biography

For twelve years our subject has held the responsible position of Clerk of Saline County, and during that time has established himself not only in the liking and confidence of the people, but high in their esteem, because of his diverse and through ability. He was first elected to the office in 1880, and after a service of two years was re-elected, and served four years, and in 1890 was re-elected for another term of four years.

Mr. McMahan was born in Cooper County, near the line, January 23, 1833. He is a son of James and Helena (Jones) McMahan, both natives of Kentucky, who came to Missouri while the Indians were still possessors of the land. They first went to Cooper's Fort, and later took up some new land which the father bent his efforts to improve, and to which he added until he had a farm of five hundred and eighty acres in Cooper County. There he made his home until his decease, which occurred in 1857. He and his wife were parents of nine children, named as follows: Araminta, Asenath, Jesse, Jane, Melissa, Laura L, Mary, Sophia T. and Robert J. The eldest daughter is now Mrs. John H. Sutherland; the second is Mrs. Robert K. Taylor; Jesse is deceased; Jane married W. H. Wallace, but is now deceased; Melissa is Mrs. W. H. Wallace, having married her brother-in-law on the decease of her sister Jane; Laura L, who became Mrs. Howard, is also deceased; and Sophia is the wife of George A. Murrell. The wife of this family died in 1867.

Mr. McMahan was educated in Cooper and Saline Counties and remained under the parental roof until 1854, when he joined a company who went to California by the overland route. On returning from the Pacific Coast he remained at home until the war, when he enlisted in the Confederate service, under Robinson, being first Aide to Col. Brown, at Boonville. He was captured at Black Water, and was sent to McDowell College and later to Alton, where he remained for seven months. On the Doctor's advice he finally took the oath and came home. In the meantime his father had traded his farm in Cooper County for one in Marshall Township. This continued to be his home until 1865, when he went to Montana with a mercantile stock, and was engaged in freighting goods for a year. On coming back he engaged in farming until 1871.

At the last named date our subject went to Arrow Rock and was engaged as a merchant there until the fall of 1880, when he was elected County Clerk. During the interval between his election and taking office, he was in the grain business, in which he still continues. He is interested in the Marshall Elevator, on the Chicago & Alton track, which has a capacity for thirty thousand bushels. He is a member of the Masonic lodge at Arrow Rock.

Mr. McMahan was married November 1, 1859 to Sarah E. Wing. They are the parents of five children, who are named as follows: Virginia C., Helena R., Stella B., Robert W., Jr., and Sophia A. The only son is now at college at Quincy, Ill.

Extracted from the "Portrait & Biographical Record of Lafayette & Saline Counties, Mo." By Chapman Brothers, 1893.

Death date from Park Ridge Cemetery record in Marshall Library, Marshall, Missouri. Birth date in cemetery record is June 23, 1823.

Notes for Sarah Elizabeth Wing:

Birth and Death dates from Park Ridge Cemetery record in Marshall Library, Marshall, Missouri.