May J. Tedford, a well
known and successful insurance men of
Moberly is s native of
Randolph County and a descendant of some of the
very early pioneers of this
section of the state, He was born in Sugar
Creek township, Feb. 22,
1869 and is a son of Frank and Mary Virginia
(Baird) Tedford.
J. Frank Tedford, was
also born in Sugar Creek township March 28,
1843, a son of pioneer
parents. During the Civil War he enlisted in the
Confederate army and
served with General Price, Randolph County
been his home practically
all his life. He furnished ties for the Wa
railroad when it was being
constructed in this vicinity, He now resi
at 112 Kirby street,
Moberly. His mother. Catherine Hannah Tedf
was a native of Tennessee
and came to Randolph with her parents a
1807. They settled in what
later became Sugar Creek township
were among the very first
settlers of this part of the state. They w
the organizers of Sugar
Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the
meeting being held in the
home of Andrew Hannah, the father of Cat
erine (Hannah) Tedford.
Andrew Hannah and his wife spent the
mainder of their lives in
Randolph County, after coming here, and their
remains are buried in
Sugar Creek Cemetery which perhaps is the oldest
regularly established
cemetery in Randolph County.
Mary Virginia Baird,
mother of May J. Tedford of this review, was
born in Pennsylvania in
1850 and came to Randolph County with her
parents, J. C. and Almina
Baird who settled in Sugar Creek township-
shortly after the close of
the Civil War, To J. Frank and Mary Virginia
(Baird) Tedford were born
the following children: May J., the subject
of this sketch; Fred H.,
who is engaged in the hotel business at Kansas I
City; Allie, married N. C.
Figley, of Los Angeles, Cal.
May J. Tedford received
his education in the district schools of Sugar
Creek township and the
Moberly. public schools, In 1893 he was elected
collector of the city of
Moberly and reelected in 1895 and in 1897, serving
six years in that office, He
was then engaged in farming and stock rais-
ing for four years when he
engaged in the insurance business in Moberly
and since that time has
successfully devoted himself to that field of
endeavor.
Mr. Tedford was married
in 1899 to Mrs. Ida L. (Elses) Last, of
Moberly, Mo. They have
one son, John Elsea, a student in the Moberly
High School.
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