 Jesse Applegate was born in Henry County, Kentucky, on July 5, 1811.In 1821, he moved with his family to Missouri where he soon was employed in the law office of Edward Bates.He attended seminary in Illinois, worked as a schoolteacher, clerk, and deputy surveyor to the Missouri Surveyor General, where he met Jedediah Smith, William Sublette, and David Edward Jackson—men who were instrumental in blazing the Oregon Trail.