Biographical Sketch of Jacob Painter, Greene County, Missouri, Springfield >From "History of Greene County, Missouri," St. Louis: Western Historical Company, 1883. ********************************************************************** This gentleman is the son of Samuel and Betsy Painter, and was born in Burke county, N. C., in 1810. When he was two years of age his parents moved to Tennessee, and when he was fifteen they moved to Montgomery County, Illinois. In 1831 he came to Greene County, Mo., and settled at the "Big Spring," five miles southeast of Springfield. In 1832 Mr. Painter built a mill near his home. He built it all himself, hewing the timber and forging the iron for the machinery used. This was about the first or second mill erected in the county. People came for fifty miles to get their corn ground. He also ran a blacksmith shop, and he would fill up the hopper of the mill and start it grinding, and then work in the shop until it was ground. He is also a lock and gunsmith, and carried on the business before anyone else in the county. He made for years, on an average of two pistols per day, selling them for ten dollars a pair to those outfitting for trips across the plains. Mr. Painter was married, in 1830, to Miss Betsy Compton. Their union was blest with two sons and two daughters. His first wife died in 1836, and in 1839 he married Fannie Freeman of this county. They had four sons, all living. His second wife died May 15, 1880. Mr. Painters is the only living of a family of six children. He is living in the same house built by him forty five years ago. He is one of the old land- marks of the county, and politically is, and always has been, a Demo- crat. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joe Miller Penny Harrell ====================================================================