Richard Calton was born in Arkansas, but
moved to Missouri when he was a small child. It is not certain if
Richard and Talitha were married in Arkansas or Missouri, but it is believed
they were probably married in Camden county, Missouri as that was the location
of Talitha's family. Richard and Talitha had nine children, all of
whom lived to adulthood.
Stories were told by Charles Calton (son of Richard)
that when Richard and Talitha were first married they didn't have a kitchen
table and a tornado came and dumped a bundle of lumber in their yard, from
which Richard made a table.
Richard ran a small store in the Hurricne Deck area
and it is said that he couldn't count or read very well and when the ladies
brought in eggs to trade for groceries he would count out a dozen eggs
and then lay one egg to one side, count out another dozen and lay one egg
to the side with the first one, and on and on until all the eggs were counted.
This way he could keep track of how many eggs each lady had brought in.
Richard and Talitha were divorrced in about 1911
and he later married Sarah Frances McFarland. Richard and Sarah Frances
are buried side by side in the Versailles city cemetery, Versailles, Morgan
county, Missouri. Talitha is also buried in another section of the
cemetery, she never re-married.
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