Polk County, Missouri Biographies - Judge Benjamin W. APPLEBY
History Of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade And Barton Counties, 
Missouri 1889, published by Goodspeed, page 621, 622
Polk County Biography Section

    Judge Benjamin W. Appleby, farmer and stock-raiser,is the son
of James and Cynthia S. (McMurry) Appleby, natives of Georgia and
Tennessee, respectively.  James Appleby was of Irish descent, 
born in 1801.  He was nine years of age when his parent moved from
Georgia to Middle Tennessee, and there he met Miss McMurry, whom
he afterward married.  They settled in Bedford (now Marshall)
County, and remained there until 1833, when they came to Greene
County, Mo., and located in Springfield, which was then a village.
Here James Appleby followed the blacksmith trade during the winter,
and tilled the soil during the summer months.  In 1836 he and 
family moved to this county and located one and a half miles 
southeast of Morrisville.  At that time deer and wolves were
plantiful, but Mr Appleby never killed but one deer.  He came
to this county with very little means, but, by hard work and with 
the determination to succeed, became one of its  well-to-do
farmers.  He was a quiet, industrious citizen, and one universally 
esteemed.  Both he and wife were members of the Cumberland
Presbyterian Church.  After the death of his wife, which occurred
in 1839, he married Mrs. nancy Bond, who bore him eight children.
He died in 1869.  He was a Democrat in politics before the war,
but after that became a Republican.  Of the seven children born to
his father's first marriage, Judge Benjamin W. Appleby is the only
living son, and the fourth child in order of birth.  He wa born
in Bedford (now Marshall) County, Tenn., January 30, 1832, and 
was chiefly reared and educated in Polk County.  His early school
advantages were poor, but, after reaching manhood, he attended
school and prepared himself for teaching, which profession he 
followed for about five years.  When very small his father put
him to striking at the anvil, and, as he was too short to reach
the same, a box was made for him to stand on while striking, and
it wa also used for him while blowing the bellows.  August 26, 
1858, he married Miss Rebecca A. McClure, a native of Alabama,
and the daughter of Judge D. M. McClure.  After marriage he turned
his attention to the blacksmith trade, at which he worked until 1880.  
Toward the last of the war he shod horses for the Government for
about a year, and, all in all, worked at the trade for about 
twenty-five years.  In connection with this he also carried on
farming, at which he was quite successful.  When township 
organization was instituted he was elected assessor, and held the
position one year.  For eight years he was a member of the county
court, the last four years being presiding justice.  He is a 
Democrat in politics, a member of the Masonic order, and is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1873 his wife
died, and the same year he married Miss Susan E. Hamilton, who
died in 1882.  The following year he wedded Mrs. Bettie Logan,
nee Misemer.  To his first marriage were born five children:
Frances B., Homer O., Jerome M., Anna L. and Mack; and to his
second marriage were born four children: Troy, William M.,
Truckee, and an infant (deceased).  No children were born to the
third marriage.  Beginning with nothing, the Judge has, by his
own exertion and energy, acquired a good fortune, and is now the
owner of 400 acres of valuable land.

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