COL. FRANCIS MARION CURLEE 

Served as Camp Commander beginning in 1914. He was born in Corinth, Mississippi on February 1st, 1877, and was the son of William Peyton, and Mary Elizabeth (Boone) Curlee.  Col. Curlee graduated from the University of Mississippi LL.B in 1902, and practiced law in Corinth, Mississippi til 1905 when he moved to St. Louis. On November 25th, 1915 he married Miss Lucille Straubstadter in Charleston, West Virginia. Miss Straubstadter was a descendant of the St. Cyr family of St. Louis.  The couple had one son, F.M. Curlee Jr. and were divorced in 1930. F.M. Curlee Jr. died in a car wreck on February 22, 1944. Curlee served in the Field Artillery during World War I from 1917 til 1919 where he attained the rank of colonel In 1925 Col. Curlee bought the Nathan Boone Home near Defiance, Missouri, and his life’s work was the restoration of this historic site. He eventually purchased 509 acres with a value of $250,000 (during the depression era). In the 1950's Col. Curlee became ill, and offered the property for sale. In 1956 the “Daniel Boone Shrine Association” was formed, and opened the home to the public. Col. Curlee died in 1958, and it wasn’t til 1964 that  the home was finally sold to the present owners.   Curlee was the great-grand nephew of Daniel Boone who died in the home in 1820. . Col. Curlee’s brother, Shelby Hammond Curlee, died in 1944, leaving Col. Curlee the head of the Curlee Clothing Co. The company had been in business since 1900, and was originally the Corinth Woolen Mills. They relocated to St. Louis in 1903, and eventually became one of the most successful clothing manufacturers in the country. Col. Francis Marion Curlee died on March 17th, 1958 and was buried in Corinth, Mississippi.

Sources; The Book of St. Louisans 1912, p.143
              Missouri Historical Society Bulletin 1958
             “Daniel Boone” by Rolla P. Andrae