1917 Publication of the Lawrence Co., Mo. History. In many respects this history is amazingly correct, there are some errors that are easily recognized, making it of interest in its entirety, this despite the errors seen. L.C. Ferguson died in 1918, his wife Nancy in 1919, both are buried in the Cox Cemetery, located just out of Monett, Mo., on the road leading to Pierce City, Lawrence Co., Mo., and therefore at least a major portion of the history came from him, Johna Goade, a descendant of Lewis C. says the information was given by a son of Lewis C. Ferguson. One should consider that some 60 years had elapsed between the time Lewis C. Ferguson saw or heard of some that are mentioned, and the date this history was recorded. While this history is printed here exactly as seen in the book, I will show the errors by underlining the individual in question and will follow this by explanations that are in parenthesis or italics. L.C. Ferguson, one of the well known citizens of Pierce City, a man of the old south, the home of hospitality and chivalry, is L.C. Ferguson, who was born in White County, Georgia, 15 Mar 1849 (He was born in Habersham Co., Ga., White Co., Ga. being cut from that part of Habersham in 1857) He was reared on a farm and received his early education in subscription schools. His parents were Henry (Hugh, as can be seen in the Ga, census reports) and Mary A. (Garrin) Ferguson. The father was a native of South Carolina, and was of Scotch ancestry. His father William was but a boy when the Revolutionary War broke out, but at the age of sixteen he enlisted in the Army and served the last three years of that great struggle. After the War he migrated into Kentucky (As I have shown earlier, by the deposition of this William he moved several places before arriving in Cumberland Co., Ky.) where he married May A.Wood. (It was Juda, as is shown in both William's deposition and the Greene Co., Tenn. marriage records. We also see in her deposition for a widows pension that her name is Juda, and also in the 1860 White Co., Ga. census) She was also a native of Carolina, but it was North Carolina. They had children as follows, Champa (Champion), Edward, James, Belfine (Belfield), Elijah, Andrew, Elizabeth who became Mrs. Louis Wright, and Henry (Hugh), the father of our subject, who later went to Georgia. He joined the Georgia State Militia and became a Major in the army. Hence he was generally known as and called "Major Ferguson". He was married twice. The children by his first wife were William; John; Elijah; Sallie; who became Mrs. Adolphus Duckett, Nancy, married Josiah Duckett, Polly A. who became Mrs. Milton Moore and Elizabeth who married Martin Jones. MO-8 William is William J., who married Nancy Jane Brock, d/o Thomas Brock, John is John H., who married his cousin Martha Wright, see Clinton Co., Ky. & Rhea Co., Tenn. He also had a son Hugh H., who married Mary Ellen Service. This Hugh H. Ferguson has two children of Josiah Duckett and Nancy Ferguson in his home in 1860, White Co., Ga. Nancy died prior to 1850 and Josiah remarried, then he died c 1854. One of the children in question was Jane Duckett, and she married James Elijah Ferguson, he a son of William Ferguson and Nancy Jane Brock shown above. See 1870 and later census reports of Sebastian Co., Ark. William W. Ferguson is one of the sons of William and Juda (Wood) Ferguson who is not named in this history, probably the result of a confusion in William's as there were several. See the 1850 census of Morgan Co., Mo., the 1860 census of Sebastian Co., Ark., also deeds in Morgan Co., Mo., and the 1800 & 1810 census of the Pendleton Dist. SC. Also see the census reports of Cumberland Co., Ky., and the court orders in that county. The children by the second marriage were L.C.; Vinetta (Vanetta), now Mrs. Milligan Cox, Samantha C., now wife of James Stewart and John M. The father died in 1862, the mother died in 1914, having reached the age of almost 88 years. (The John M. Ferguson shown here could not have been a son of Hugh Ferguson, this as Hugh died in 1862 and this is apparently the John shown as age 1, this in the home of Mary A. (Garrin) Ferguson in the 1870 White Co., Ga. census. In 1880 this John Ferguson is in the home of Mary (Garrin) Ferguson, age 12, shown as son, therefore this John has to be an illegitimate son of Mary's). The rest of this history has to do with the children and wife of L.C. Ferguson so I wont go into it further. Omitted from this history are three children of William and Juda. One was Ellis who died at about 21 or 22 years of age in Hempstead Co., Ark. This the result of a bite by a rabid panther. There was also a William & a daughter who married a Davis, this can be seen in a deposition made by Judah regarding the Revolutionary pension of her husband William Ferguson. In this she refers to grandson J.S. Davis. What is of significance is that the majority of children of William and Juda are shown in this history. In some way there is an error and Henry is shown as the father of L.C. Ferguson. This has to be Henry Wood Ferguson, a brother to Hugh Ferguson who was the father of L.C. Ferguson. This can be determined beyond any doubts by the examination of the Habersham and White Co., Ga. records. I might also note that the shown children were determined to be children of William and Judah long before I had a copy of this history. MO-10 In large part I have confined the information in this book to documents themselves. In this History of Lawrence Co., Mo. I would like to indicate the mathematical possibilities of there being this many children of William and Judah being named by chance, add to this the names Belfield, who they call Belfine, and Champa, who was Champion and usually called Champ. One should also consider that both L.C. Ferguson and his mother Mary A. (Garrin) Ferguson resided in the same home as Judah (Wood) Ferguson, widow of the Rev. War soldier William Ferguson, from sometime in the 1850's until the death of Judah in Feb. of 1862. This would have made them both privy to any lineages given by Judah (Wood) Ferguson. See the 1850 and 1860 census reports of Habersham and White Co's., Ga. Also see the family history written by Gresham Duckett, son of Dolphus and Sarah, this Sarah the one named in the foregoing history as a dau. of Hugh by his first marriage. In this it names Hugh Ferguson & Mary Ann Higgins as the parents of Sarah, and goes beyond this to name William Ferguson & Judy Wood as the parents of Hugh. Also note that Dolphus & Sarah Duckett reside next door to Judah (Wood) Ferguson in the 1850 Habersham Co., Ga. census. This I think insures that Sarah would have known of the family history back to and including William and Judah (Wood) Ferguson. We also note in a letter written in 1905 to a Dr. P.Y. Duckett, (Pierce Young, s/o Dolphus) that the wife of Dolphus Duckett was Sarah Ferguson, she a dau. of Major Ferguson. This assures us that as given in the foregoing history, Hugh Ferguson was indeed known as Major Ferguson, and considering that Hugh died in 1862, Lewis C. being only about age 13 at the time, it is I think possible that he had never heard his father addressed by his given name, and this I think explains the problem we see in the foregoing history.