John Burton Chasteen, Sr. and his family left Fayetteville, Tennessee
in 1847, when N. C. Chasteen was just three months old.  They first settled in Howell Co. Missouri.  The family stayed there for two years before relocating near Bloomfield, Missouri in Stoddard County.   John received his first land patent on  January 1, 1852, and his second land patent on  January 15, 1858.  The family settled  permanently in Stoddard County.  To this day many Chasteen descendants still live in Stoddard.

                During the Civil War there was much guerrilla fighting in the vicinity of Bloomfield.  John Burton's wife, Sarah,  and son, N.C. Chasteen were witnesses to the Round Pond Massacre, in which a number of Union soldiers were killed by guerillas.  Union Soldiers arrested John Burton Chasteen and charged him with aiding and abetting the enemy.   He was found not guilty and released.  However, on his way home after his release he was shot off his horse and killed by guerillas who were loyal to the Union.

*Sources:

1) Globe Democrat Magazine,  January 26, 1930.
        Reprinted in the Bloomfield Vindicator.
2) Family Legend.