In celebration of the 250th Anniversary of our country, local members of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution will highlight the patriots buried in Southeast Missouri.
Charles Friend was born about 1718 and died in 1814, buried in the Friend’s Hill Cemetery at Oran, Scott County, Missouri. He was married to Nancy Gough.
In 1796 or 1797, Capt. Charles Friend, with his family, came from Monongahela County, Virginia, to Southeast Missouri. They came to Bird’s Point and, soon after, removed to a concession of land (640 acres) near the present site of Benton, obtained from the Spanish government.
He had been a captain in the Revolutionary War and was at this time about 75 years of age. He had a family of 11 children, nine sons and two daughters. Three of the sons, Jonas, John, and Jacob, each received the customary concession of 800 arpens of land, an inducement to settlers at that time.
His sons were: Aaron Friend, Israel Friend, Teene Friend, Charles Friend, Jonas Friend, Jacob Friend, John Friend married Elizabeth Robinson, Alexander Friend, and David Friend. Aaron and Teene returned to Virginia, and two of his sons moved to Arkansas and Texas.
The John Friend family donated significant records to the Special Collections and Archive Repository located in Kent Library at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
For more information on Charles Friend, check out the sources below.
Sources:
History of Southeast Missouri, Goodspeed (1888), p. 927
History of Missouri: From the Earliest Explorations and Settlements until the Admission of the State into the Union, Volume 2 (1908), by Louis Houck, p. 153
Find a Grave, database and images, (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21342/charles-friend: accessed December 16, 2025), memorial page for Capt. Charles Friend (1718–1814), Find a Grave Memorial ID 21342, citing Friends Hill Cemetery, Oran, Scott County, Missouri, USA; Maintained by Ronald (contributor 51636782).
**Compiled by Pamela Johnson