John G. Rakes, a farmer of Cole County, Mo., and the son of Wilson P. Rakes, was born in Marion County, Ky., July 8, 1839. Wilson P. Rakes was born in Buckingham County, Va., in 1809, and immigrated to Kentucky when a small child. From there he came to Missouri in the fall of 1855, settling on the old Bolton place, and died within one mile of the same in February, 1889. He was twice married, his first wife being Miss Martha J. Crouse, a native of Virginia. To this union were born nine children, five of whom lived to maturity: Lucinda R., born in 1836; John G., born in 1839; Brunetta (deceased), born in 1840; William, born in 1846, and Nancy, born in 1848. Mrs. Rakes died in 1849, She was a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. Rakes married his second wife, Mrs. C. A. Spencer, in 1865. They have no children. Mr. Rakes came to Cole County, Mo., when it was a wilderness, and when his nearest neighbors were four or five miles distant. He was obliged to go thirteen miles to mill, and experienced all the privations incident to pioneer life. During the winter of 1856 he killed eighty-four turkeys, fourteen at one shot. making double shots frequently. That winter, he distinctly remembers, was very severe, the snow was three feet on an average, and the Osage River was frozen to a depth of four feet. Mr. Rakes was one of the finest rifle shots in Kentucky, and was a great lover of hunting. He followed farming all his life, and now (spring of 1889) there is corn in his crib, the result of his labor during the year 1888, and when in his eightieth year. His son, John G. Rakes, was married December 27, 1880 to Miss Margaret Gray, a native of Cole County Mo., and the daughter of Thomas Gray, one of the early settlers of the county, and a native of Kentucky. Mr. Gray was born in 1801, came to Cole County at a very early day, between 1815 and 1820, married, and was the father of ten children, five yet living: John, Thomas H. B., Francis M., Margaret and William. Those deceased are W. P., M. A., A. J., Robert and Minerva. To Mr. and Mrs. Rakes were born seven children, six sons and one daughter: Thomas, born October 4, 1861; Frank, born December 17, 1884; Charles, born November 3, 1870; Henry, October 4, 1872; Lucy (deceased), born June 12, 1878; Wilson P. born September 28, 1881; George, born November 19, 1888. Thomas and Henry were born on the same day of the same month and at the same hour of the day, but one is twelve years older than the other. Mr. Rakes has a splendid farm of eighty acres, with about forty acres under cultivation. He is a Democrat in politics, and although not active politically was elected constable, which position he held for ten or twelve years. He and Mrs. Rakes are members of the Missionary Baptist Church.

Transcribed from:
History of Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Benton, Miller, Maries, and Osage Counties, Missouri, Goodspeed Publishing Company (1889).