census of Indiana counties show a multitude of Fall names. George's name appears on the census of several counties in central and southern Indiana, but records of Boone County show that by 1850 George had been granted a bounty of one hundred twenty acres for his military service. Mary died on May 27, 1870, and it was apparently at this time that George went to live with his brother-in-law, Andrew Boone, since a letter exists directing that his mail be forwarded in care of A. J. Boone. George had applied for a veteran's pension of eight dollars per month, but government functioned then as it does today, and by the time the voucher was approved, George had died on August 12, l87l.
John R. Fall was the fifth child born to George Fall and Mary (Polly) Taylor. He was born on November 6, 1822 in Wayne County, Indiana. He was one of thirteen children including nine sons. John grew up on the farms of his father in southern and central Indiana. Little is known of John's early years except that he married Nancy Ann Aldrich on January 25, l849. In 1857 John moved his family including six children to St. Clair County, Missouri , about fifty miles southwest of Sedalia. The reason for this move is unclear except that it was probably due to the availability of cheaper land. In 1854 Missouri had enacted the Graduation Act, which provided that land held by the state for more than thirty years and still not sold, could be bought for twelve and a half cents per acre. The state desired to raise revenue by both selling its public land and adding more land to its tax base. Perhaps John took advantage of this new law enabling a man to purchase forty acres for only five dollars. During that period Missouri was a rapidly developing state, enjoying the increasing commerce from the flow of people and goods along its rivers to the west and north. The majority of the settlers coming to southern Missouri came from Kentucky, Tennessee and other slave states, and their sympathies were with the south in the brewing crisis. Within a few years the threat of civil war was becoming ominous, and John being of german background was strongly opposed to slavery. This apparently caused John to move his family back to Indiana where he felt they would be safer and if he were drafted he would at least fight on the Union side. John was supposedly drafted although no paper work has been found to prove this. However, John did have a bullet wound in his leg, suffered from a type of dysentery common to soldiers, wore a truss for a hernia he claimed was service connected, and Nancy later received a veteran's widow pension.
John again moved his family to Missouri, this time probably in the summer of 1869. According to Milton Fall, he was thirteen years old when they left Boone County, Indiana in a wagon drawn by an ox team. Milton and his three brothers walked barefoot much of the way to lighten the load. Milton later enjoyed regaling his grand children with tales of the trek. They traveled in a group of wagons for safety as well as helping each