Barton County, Missouri Biographies-William B. COUCHMAN History Of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade And Barton Counties, Missouri, 1889. Published by Goodspeed. Pages 875 William B. Couchman is a native of Nicholas County, Ky., where he was born on the 4th of March, 1840. His parents, Andrew and Julia (Henderson) Couchman, were also born in Nicholas County, and died in Kentucky and Barton County, Mo., 1854 and 1878, at the ages of fifty-four and seventy-five years, respectively. Both were members of the Christian Church, and the former, when young, learned the tanner's and harness-maker's trade, and afterward became quite an extensive manufacturer of saddles, harness, hats, etc., becoming quite wealthy. He was strictly temperate in his habits, and was one of the first to advocate that cause in his neighborhood. Politically, he was a Democrat. William B. Couchman is the fourth of six surviving members of a family of eight children, and resided in his native state until 1857, when he came to Missouri, and located first in Lafayette County, and in 1881 came to Barton County, where he is the owner of some valuable farming lands. In December, 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private, and served until October, 1865, two years of this time being spent as lieutenant of Company E. He participated in thirty-five battles, and was wounded three times, first at Corinth, then at Kenesaw Mountain,where he receivlted two wounds. He was taken prisoner on the battle-field at Corinth, but was only kept in captivity a short time. On the 10th of October, 1866, be was married. to Miss Sarah Gum, a daughter of H. P. Gum, who was born in Allen County, Ky. To them were born three children: S. B., Mary and Charles B.; the two eldest of whom are school teachers. Mr. Couchman and family are members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is a Democrat, and was elected by that party to Office of township treasurer and trustee, which position he is ably filling. He is a Mason. His wife was educated at Scottsville, Ky., and was engaged in teaching school for a number of years. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Kay Griffin Snow ====================================================================