No known record of David Medlock's life exists but much can be gleaned from census and other documents. All dates are approximate, starting with his birth in 1806 in the Abbeville District of South Carolina. His parents, Nathaniel and (Mary) Henderson Medlock lived near thirty miles East of the town of Abbeville, S.C. along Mulberry Creek on the West bank of the Saluda River. Young David farmed with his father and brothers and when he was close to 22 years old, he married the young lady that would be his lifelong mate, Rachel Adams. The couple lived and farmed in the area until about 1835. By then, David and Rachel had increased their family size by five. They packed up their children and belongings and traveled North, settling in Hopkins County, Kentucky. We don't know whether he owned or rented land but here he farmed while Rachel tended their home and gave birth to eight more children. After seventeen years in Kentucky and their family nearly complete, word came that more fertile fields and beautiful streams could be found across the Mississippi River in Missouri. In 1852, With their household goods packed in an ox cart, the family crossed the Mississippi River by ferry boat and followed little more than Indian trails North West into the Cedar Grove area near the headwaters of the Current River in Shannon County, Missouri (now Dent County). By the end of the following year, 1853, the family had made a place for themselves and had welcomed their last child, Anna Doxie, into the fold. Over the next six years, by 1859, David had accumulated, by purchase, about 280 acres of prime bottom land right on the North bank of the Current River about 1/2 mile downstream from Cedar Grove. Here he farmed, with his family, for the rest of his life. Most of David and Rachel's children married and made homes of their own nearby. They lost two of their sons, David Ewen and Nathaniel R., to the Civil War. David was Baptist by faith and attended the Gladden Valley Baptist Church, one mile West of Rector, Mo., pastored by his good friend, Reverend John Adam Summers. David and Rachel are both buried in the church graveyard. David died in November 1872.

Known children of David and Rachel Medlock include : Lucy Caroline b.1829 ~ John S. b.1832 ~ Juaritta Catherine b. 1833 ~ David E. b.1834 ~ Nathaniel R. b.1836 ~ James died in infancy ~ Walter Briton b.1839 ~ William Henry b.1841 ~ Silas Henderson b.1842 ~ Doctor Owen died in infancy ~ Dicie Ann Elizabeth b.1846 ~ Rodolphus D. b.1848 ~ Luther Strum b.1850 and Anna Doxie born 1853.