MANFORD E. EDMONDSON, who occupies an enviable position in the public regard and who is one of the enterprising farmers of the county, resides on section 15, Rockbridge township. It was in this township that he was born April 8, 1851, his parents being W. F. and Harriet (Hand) Edmondson, the former born in Garrett county, Kentucky, in 1806, and the latter in Illinois. The father was reared in his native state and when a young man came to Illinois, settling in Greene county, where he was married. He owned and operated a farm of nearly six hundred acres in Rockbridge township and thereon he reared his family. In 1868 he removed to Missouri, settling in Cass county, where his death occurred several years later. His wife died in Illinois several years before.

No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for Manford E. Edmondson in his youth. He attended the common schools but is largely self-educated, learning many valuable lessons in the school of experience. He remained with his father until twenty-three years of age, and assisted in the operation of the home farm, gaining the valuable experience which has enabled him to successfully carry on agricultural pursuits on his own account. For a year after his marriage he engaged in farming in Greene county and then removed to Cass county, Missouri, where he devoted his energies to the tilling of the soil for five years. He then returned to the old home farm in Greene county upon which he had been reared, and about 1886 he erected his present home and took up his abode therein. He has also built good outbuildings, has planted an orchard and has carried on the farm work along lines that are in keeping with modern ideas of agriculture. He raises good graded stock and is an energetic, industrious man, whose business success results from careful management and unfaltering perseverance.

On the 13th of May, 1875, Mr. Edmondson was united in marriage to Miss Alice Grove, a native of Virginia, but reared and educated in Morgan county, Illinois. Mr. Edmondson is a leader in local Republican circles and is deeply interested in the growth and success of his party. He cast his first presidential ballot for General U. S. Grant in 1872 and has since voted for each of the standard bearers of the party. He is now serving his second term as highway commissioner. He belongs to the Fraternal League, and in relation to public affairs he is always progressive-interested in whatever tends to prove of general good. His best friends are those who have known him longest-a fact which indicates that his has been an honorable, straightforward career.