Circa 1887 Samuel M. Skaggs, with his wife Nancy (E. Long) and two of his brothers and their families, moved from Tennessee to Missouri.[2,8] There Sam tried farming, managed a store and post office in Cato, Missouri. Between 1888 and 1900 he entered the Baptist Ministry and by 1900 settled in Newton County, Missouri. At the time of their move from Tennessee, Sam and Nancy had five children; in Missouri they had 10 more. Of the first 11 children, 9 were alive in 1900.