Holt County, MO Biography
Fountin DONAN
Mr. DONAN'S grandfather emigrated from Wales, settled in southern
Virginia, then moved to Kentucky at an early date, settling first
in Washington Co., afterward in Green Co., helping to clear the
land where now stands the town of Greensburg. Fountin DONAN was
born in Hart Co., Kentucky on Sept. 1, 1830, the son of David
C. DONAN and Elizabeth GILLASPY. He lived in Kentucky until the
spring of 1850 when he went to Calif. and mined gold on Deer Creek
and Yuba River. He returned to Kentucky in the fall of 1852 and
engaged in farming and distilling until the spring of 1856 when
he came to Mo. and that fall settled in Holt Co. He did surveying
work, dealt in land, and other endeavors until in the fall of
1868 he started for Colorado where gold had been discovered the
previous August. He reached that territory ahead of the great
tide of emigration which soon set in. He was on the site of present
day Denver when not a single cabin occupied the spot. In July,
1859, he returned to Holt Co. and began making improvements on
his farm three miles north of Mound City. For two years before
the Civil War he was deputy surveyor under Steve Collins and in
that capacity surveyed a considerable part of Holt Co. He has
also surveyed extensively in Colorado and Montana. In Sept., 1861,
he enlisted in the Confederate Army under Price and was in the
battles of Lexington and Blue Mills. He returned to Holt Co. in
Jan., 1862 and in 1863 went again to Colorado and, in the fall,
to Montana where he mined in the vicinity of Virginia City. He
farmed and did other work until 1867 when he returned to Holt
Co. He married Mary Ashby on Sept. 10, 1871. She was residing
in Holt Co., but was of Virginia parentage. He is an earnest Democrat.
He has had a life full of vicissitudes and adventures.