CRUCE BIOGRAPHIES, Henry County, Missouri ==================================================================== CRUCE, George W. - b: 1829 Crittenden Co, KY source: 1883 History of Henry Missouri , National Historical Co. - page: 732 residence: Davis George W. Cruce is a native of Kentucky, having been born in Livingston County, (now Crittenden) September 11, 1829. His parents were James and Nancy (Harrison) Cruce, also natives of Kentucky. George was the fifth of nine children, and he has one brother, James, in Vernon County, Missouri. In 1854 he first came to Missouri and then entered a half section of land, but soon after went back to his native home. After an absence of two years he returned to Missouri and began to improve his land. On the 7th of February, 1858, he was married to Miss Frances Hester, originally of Tennessee. In 1862 he again returned to Kentucky, and remained there until the close of the rebellion, when he once more came to Missouri, and for four years was occupied at Warrensburg in clerking for the firm of Cruce & Bell. In 1869 he removed upon his farm. This contains 315 acres in one of the most agreeable sections of the county, all of which is in a fair state of cultivation, and he is improving his stock to some extent. Mr. Cruce is one of the more substantial and reliable men of this vicinity, and for ten years has held the office of justice of the peace. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having been admitted over thirty years ago. He has but two children, George, aged twenty-two, and Marshall, aged nineteen years. ==================================================================== CRUCE, George W. - b: 1829 Crittendon Co, KY source: 1919 History of Henry Co MO, Uel W. Lamkin, Historical Publishing Co - page: 861 residence: Davis Twp George W. Cruce - The late George W. Cruce was one of the oldest pioneer settlers of Henry County. Mr. Cruce was born September 11, 1829, in Crittendon County, Kentucky, and died March 26, 1912, at his home in Clinton, Missouri. He was the son of James and Nancy (Harrison) Cruce, who spent all of their lives in Kentucky. George W. Cruce made his first trip to Missouri in 1854, and after viewing the country with the intention of settling in the western part of the State he returned home. After a stay of two years in Kentucky he came to Henry County and purchased his farm in Davis township. Two years after coming to this county he was married to Miss Frances G. Hester. Three children were born of this marriage: Ella, died at the age of five years; George Cruce, born 1860, resides with his mother in Clinton; Marshall R., born 1863, resides in Nevada, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Cruce improved a splendid tract of 400 acres of land in the northwest corner of Davis township and resided there until 1898, when they retired to a home in Clinton. In 1880 they removed to Whitesboro, Texas, so as to be with their son who was engaged in business in that city. They resided in Texas for eleven years and then returned to Clinton. Mrs. Frances G. (Hester) Cruce was born May 22, 1838, in Tennessee, the daughter of Thomas and Mary E. (Baynum) Hester, natives of Virginia, who were pioneer settlers of Kentucky and who came to Missouri as early as 1840 and made a settlement in St. Clair County. Thomas Hester died in St. Clair County in 1841 and his widow then came to Henry County and lived here with her children. During the Civil War period the family removed to Kentucky, where they remained for a short time, and then came back to Missouri and made their home in Warrensburg for four years. After the war they came to Henry County. Mr. and Mrs. Cruce accompanied them to Kentucky, where Mrs. Cruce's youngest son was born. Her daughter, Mary E. Cruce, died in Crittendon County, Kentucky. There were fourteen children in the Hester family, eight of whom were reared: Anthony N., Robert, Thomas, Martha B., Mary A., Juliet, Eliza, and Frances G. (Cruce) the only surviving member of the family. George Cruce, who makes his home with his mother in Clinton, has been a successful farmer and has been married and is father of six children: George G., living in Canada; Robert J., lives in Montana; Mrs. Ella Clairy, lives near Urich, Missouri; James G., who is cultivating the Cruce home place; Mrs. Mary F. Hedland lives in Warrensburg; Paul lives in Clinton. Mrs. Frances G. Cruce has eleven great- grandchildren. For the past sixty-four years she has been a member of the Christian Church and active in religious works. She is the only living charter member of the Clinton Christian Church. Mrs. Cruce recalls the early pioneer days spent in St. Clair County and that the settlers went to mill at what was known as Captain Lena's Mill on Sac River. They went to market by ox-team to Osceola, at that time a landing port for the boats which came up the Osage River. Mrs. Hester owned a number of slaves, seventeen in all, who did all the work of the farm and were very devoted to their mistress. All of the children were well educated and received every advantage possible to give them during those early days. They were prosperous and happy until the war broke out, eventually causing Mrs. Hester to lose all of her slaves and the family fortunes were considerably weakened. George W. Cruce was a Democrat and was one of the leaders of his party in Henry County for a number of years. He was a self-educated man and was highly intelligent. For over twenty years he served as justice of the peace for Davis township. He was a member of the Christian Church and while a resident of Whitesboro, Texas, he served as deacon of the church. For over sixty-two years he was a Mason and took an active interest in the affairs of this order. ==================================================================== 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 the Henry County MOGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~mohenry/henryco.html Contact the Henry County Coordinator for comments or corrections. ====================================================================