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 1822, Davison county
From History of Ray County, Mo. (1881)
JOSEPH D. CRAVEN.
Joseph D. Craven was born in Davison county, North Carolina, on the 4th day of August, 1822. His parents, Thompson and Mary Craven, had a family of twelve children. At the age of four years he was taken by his parents to Randolph county, and lived there until 1854, working, after he grew up, at carpentering and farming. He then went to Pottawattamie county, near Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he lived until 1870, and then came to Ray county, Missouri, and has lived here ever since, engaged in farming. (Section twenty-two, township fifty-four, range twenty-seven). He enlisted in the Union army while living in Iowa, in the autumn of 1864, company B, 17th Iowa infantry, commanded by Colonel Newcomb. The first battle in which our subject engaged was at Nashville, Tennessee. He was discharged from the army in the spring of 1865, and returned home in the month of August of the same year. Mr. Craven was married on the lath of July, 1844, to Miss Bethenia Arledge. She was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, on the 16th day of August, 1821. The issue of this union was ten children, six of whom are now living: Jessie T., born October 16, 1847; Sarah J., born July 18, 1850; Elkana, born February 4, 1856; Amelia S., born October 6, 1858; Elcym, born August 18, 1860; Charles J., born January 18, 1864. Mr. Craven is an elder of the Church of Latter Day Saints, and has been presiding elder of the Missouri conference since 1872.
As printed in History of Ray County, Mo. (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.