W. C. STAPLES, Farmer, section 31, post-office Independence, was born in Jackson County, Missouri, July 15, 1830. His father, A. G. Staples, was a native of Augusta, Georgia, and when about thirty-eight years of age immigrated to Tennessee, where he remained till 1826, then coming to Jackson County, Missouri. Here he remained till the time of his demise in 1870. The subject of this sketch is one of a family of eight children, five boys and three girls, all of whom grew up, but only two are now living. In 1856 he went to Saline County, Missouri, where he was married to Miss Virginia Staples. In September, 1864, he enlisted in the Confederate service, Company H, Wood's Battalion, and shortly after his enlistment was taken prisoner and held in St. Louis five months, then transferred to Alton, Illinois, where he was detained four months, and was released on the evening of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, being the last man ever released by him. After being released he returned to his farm in Saline County, Missouri, where he remained but a short time when he returned to his native county. farm consists of 112 acres. Mrs. Staples is a native of Henry County, Virginia, and was born May 30, 1835, and came to Missouri when about five years of age; she is a daughter of Colonel James Staples.
