In the book's own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1834
From The history of Buchanan County, Missouri (1881)
CHARLES CHESNUT, of the firms of Chesnut & Son, dealers in stoves and tinware, C. & P. E. Chesnut, grocers, and.C. & P. E. Chesnut, livery. Few of the representative business men of St. Joseph have been more actively engaged in various branches of industry than Charles Chesnut. He is a native of Laurel County, Kentucky, and was born in 1834. His father Abraham, was among the early settlers of that state, and died when Charles was young. In 1850, our subject came to Missouri, locating in Chariton County, where he was ra'ised to manhood and educated. His boyhood days were spent in tilling the soil. In 1863,. he became a resident of Buchanan County, farming one year, after which he located in Platte County, residing there until 1865, when we find him in St. Joseph, engaged in the grocery trade, which he still pursues with a considerable degree of success. In 1876, he became the senior member of the firm of C. & P. E. Chesnut, liverymen. In 1851, Miss Mary E. Blakely, a native of Kentucky, became his wife, and by this union they have one son living, William, a promising young gentleman, and the junior member of the firm. Mr. Chesnut is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Master Mason and a member of the Chapter, and also a Forester.
As printed in The history of Buchanan County, Missouri (1881). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
The printed record stops around 1881. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.