“I was born in Petersburg, Boone County, Missouri, on the 15th day of August, 1838. The town in which I was born is no more, but in its stead there has arisen the present flourishing town of Sturgeon. I am of Irish-French descent; my mother’s maiden name being La Fontaine, my father’s that of Cunningham. My father was Captain John M. Cunningham. My mother’s maiden name was Elizabeth Hicks La Fontaine. Continue reading