FRANKLIN RAYBON. In the subject of this biography we have a man who commenced life in this county with a capital of thirty-seven and a half cents, and who is now the owner of a well-regulated farm, embracing 125 acres of valuable land, upon which he has erected good buildings and otherwise added to the taxable property of his township. He was one of the earliest pioneers of this section, to which he came when there were but few evidences of civilization and people mostly dwelt in log cabins on the prairie, tilling their wild land under many difficulties and enduring all the hardships of life on the frontier. He and his wife also settled in a log cabin and farmed on fifty acres of land, which they rented on shares. Our subject did the work mostly himself, with the assistance of his wife, who dropped corn and did other light work.
The first purchase of Mr. Raybon was eighty acres on section 14, township 16, range 12, which he cleared, and from which he constructed a good farm. This they occupied until the years of 1876, when they removed to their present place. This has only been brought to a state of cultivation by downright hard work and good management, there being but few improvements when he took possession. The first year of his residence in this county Mr. Raybon worked for $100 and his board, and did not lose a single day by sickness or otherwise. He has, like other men, had his difficulties to contend with, but believing that "all things come to those who wait," labored with patience and hope, and finally met with his reward.
Mr. Raybon was born in Roane County, Tenn., Nov. 16, 1833, and came to this county with his brother John when a youth of fifteen years. He had only received a limited education, and for three years thereafter worked by the month. In January, 1850, before reaching the seventeenth year of his age, he was married to Miss Emaline Long, who was a few months older than her husband, and who was born March 26, 1832, and was, like him, a native of Tennessee. Her parents were Henry and Nancy (Gadberry) Long, likewise natives of Tennessee, and who came to this county when their daughter was an infant of five months. They settled on the raw prairie, in township 16, range 12, where the father put up a log cabin, cleared his land, and built up a comfortable homestead.
The four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Raybon are: Susan E., the wife of Alexander B. Condiff, of this county; Lewis A., a resident of Pleasant Hill, Mo.; Lucinda E., the wife of E. H. Williams, of this county; and Henry S., also living here.
Mr. and Mrs. Raybon, after their marriage, settled in a log cabin on section 25, township 16, range 12, the place which we have already mentioned, and lived in a manner corresponding to their means and surroundings. They have labored together with one purpose in view - that of providing for themselves and their children, and rearing the latter in a manner which should make of them good and worthy members of society.
To the parents of Mrs. Raybon there were born ten children, eight of them are living. The eldest daughter, Mary, is the widow of Humphrey May; Annie married Alexander Johnson, and lives in Virginia; Jane is the wife of Washington Filey, of Kansas; Mrs. Raybon is next in order of birth; Christina, Mrs. L. W. Wallack, lives in Altamont, this State; Nancy is a resident of Concord; Melinda, the wife of W.B. Rigler, resides in Chandlerville; Tabitha Q., Mrs. E.P. Taylor, makes her home in this precinct. The parents were members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Our subject, politically, votes the straight Democratic ticket, and has served as School Director in his district. His father, Jesse Raybon, was a native of North Carolina, and married Miss Susan Funk, who is supposed to have been born in Tennessee and traced her ancestry to Germany.