John Curnutt was born in Howard County, Missouri, on January 24, 1824, the sixth of ten children. They were all given good school advantages and several attended colleges. At the age of nineteen years, he married Emily Stotts, their union being celebrated February 15, 1843. After his marriage, he engaged in farming in Pettis County on a rented place. His wife died in less than a year after their union, January 25, 1844, leaving one child, Emily A., born January 12, 1844. For several years he worked for farmers, and on April 28, 1848, he married for the second time to Martha Ann Martin. She died May 9, 1861, leaving six children, namely: William Francis, John Melville, Rhoda Ellen, Benjamin Allen, Sallie, and James Madison (who died at age eleven months). For eight years he managed a farm in Saline County, which he had purchased, but from the time of his second wife's death until 1863, he lived on a rented farm in Pettis County. On August 5, 1861, he enlisted in Company A. Twenty-seventh Missouri Volunteers, under Captain McGuire, and was placed on detail duty. His army experience, however, was brief, and he soon returned home. On July 2, 1862, when he received a partial discharge, being subject to further orders, but he was never called into service. In the spring of 1863, he moved to Johnson County, but two years later he became the owner of one hundred and twenty acres in Pettis County. This place he improved and cultivated from that time until 1880, and in 1882 sold out with intention of making his future abode in Johnson County. For four years he managed a farm on section 10, then moved to a finely situated homestead in township 46, range 25, Johnson County, comprising 80 acres, well improved with substantial fences, buildings, etc. On November 28, 1861, he married Nancy A. Scarbrough. She died August 8, 1869 (sic), after becoming the mother of six children, namely: Albert Beecher, who died in infancy, Mentor, Mary Jane, Rosa May and Martha Ann, who both died in infancy, and Albert M. After the death of his third wife, he married Mary Carroll on September 18, 1876. She passed away in 1877, leaving one child, Lena L. He married Mrs. Mollie Conner (Mary Ann Reed) on June 5, 1882, and they had a daughter Minnie Myrtle. John Curnutt married five times, having fifteen children. He witnessed much of the development of Pettis and Johnson Counties, and was present when Charles Cravens surveyed and laid out Pettis County. His first Presidential ballot was in favor of James K. Polk, but when the Republican party was organized, he became one of its loyal advocates. When he was seventeen years old, he joined the Christian Church, but became an active member of the United Brethren Church when he moved to Johnson County. - - - taken from "Portrait and Biographical Record, Johnson and Pettis Counties", 1895, pages 505-507.