Dr. Zachariah C. DENNEY is of Scotch-Irish descent; is a great-grandson of Zachariah DENNEY, who was born, lived, and died in Virginia, and a grandson of Elijah DENNEY, who was born in Virginia in 1753, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War, being present at the siege of Charleston, which was captured by the British. When the magazine was blown up he was severely wounded by the explosion, was taken prisoner, afterward receiving a pension from the United States Government. In 1793 he, accompanied by his mother, Mary DENNEY, moved to Kentucky, where the latter died at the age of one hundred and four years. He was an old line Whig and then a Democrat in politics, and lived to be one hundred and ten years of age, dying during the great Civil War. The Union soldiers would frequently call to see the veteran of the Revolutionary War, and would carry away with them some relic. He was the father of eight children who grew to maturity: Simeon, Levi, Levina, Levira, Levicy, Lucida, Winnie and Malinda. Simeon, Levira and Melinda are yet living. Simeon, the father of our subject, was born in North Carolina, December 12, 1785, and went to Kentucky with his father. He owned a good farm in Rock Castle County, and his sisters kept house for him until he was fifty-eight years of age, when he married Eliza J. PUMPHREY, who was born in 1823, a daughter of John PUMPHREY, of Kentucky, and granddaughter of Henry PUMPHREY, of Kentucky, and by her became the father of five children: Zachariah C., John M., Elijah M., Andrew I. and Mary C. Mr. Denney has always lived on the farm on which he first settled, and has always taken a great interest in fine stock breeding, owning some fine horses. He was the owner of 500 acres of land, which he distributed among his children. He is a Democrat, and has reached the age of one hundred and two years, being in good health, and retaining his faculties to a remarkable degree. He is well known in Rock Castle County, and is honored and liked by all who know him. His wife is a member of the Christian Church. Dr. Zachariah C. Denney, their son, was born on his father's farm in Kentucky, July 16, 1846, and received an academic education in Pulaski County, Ky. He taught school for several years, and in 1870 began the study of medicine, graduating from the University of Louisville, Ky., in 1874, and from the Miami Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1876. He practiced at the home of his boyhood until 1878, and met with good and well-deserved success. He then came to Lawrence County, Mo., where he has since been a successful and skillful practitioner. In 1882 he visited Scotland and attended the clinics of the Royal Infirmary, and also the John Watson and Heriot's Hospital. He is a member of the Southwest Missouri Medical Association, the State Medical Association, the Mississippi Valley Medical Association and the American Medical Association. He was married, December 12, 1877, to Bettie PROCTOR, a daughter of Alfred PROCTOR, and by her is the father of one child--Lolo Mabel, born July 30, 1879.
From "A Reprint of Goodspeed's 1888 History of Lawrence County; Reprint Lawrence County Section of Goodspeed's Newton, Lawrence, Barry And McDonald Counties History; published by the Goodspeed Publishing Co., in 1888; Reprinted by Litho Printers Of Cassville, Missouri In 1973." as transcribed by JJR.Return to Lawrence County Biographies