Surnames Beginning With 'B'
WILLIAM BAILEY DIGS OWN GRAVE
"Wm. Bailey, who was buried at Livingston Cemetery last week, had his grave prepared two years before his death. He dug the grave himself in anticipation of his demise. He died at the county poor farm conducted by Mrs. Jennie Wyrick. Arrangements were being made to bury him at the Mt. Zion cemetery and a grave was partially dug when someone brought the information that his grave was dug at the Livingston Cemetery.
William was eccentric, but was a harmless and hard-working man. He realized that death was certain and unlike most of us, he prepared for death two years before it overtook him." I remember my aunt once telling me about a man called William/Willie Bailey who wandered around the countryside acting rather strangely at times but was harmless. She said the one thing she could remember about him was that he could be seen walking down a road in the summertime wearing a coat, gloves and cap. Folks would ask him why he was wearing all those heavy clothes on a hot day. His reply was, "What keeps out the cold in the winter, should keep out the heat in the summer"!
I think this may be the same man whose notice of death appeared in the February 25, 1926 issues of the Miller County Autogram. I think I may have found out who William Bailey was by researching in old Miller county records. William Bailey, born in December 1869, was a son of Julian Bailey and Matilda Smith. His parents married on July 19, 1868 in Miller County. Their marriage was performed by Thomas O. Workman, a minister of the gospel. There were two other children born to Julian and Matilda: SOPHRONIA BAILEY born c/1871 and JULIA M. BAILEY born c/1875. I do not know what happened to Julian Bailey because by 1880, Matilda (Smith) Bailey and her three children were living with her mother, Nancy (Stinnett) Smith. They were living in Richwoods Township, north of Iberia near what is known as the Hickory Point/Livingston Cemetery vicinity.
I could find no other record for Matilda or her two daughters after 1880. I suspect that Matilda may have died before 1900 and perhaps the two young girls did not survive either. In 1900, William Bailey, age 30 years (born Dec. 1869), was living in Saline township in the home of Harvey and Hattie Sutton. He was listed as a servant in their home, which was in the eastern part of Saline Township in what was recorded as the Greenridge area.
After reading the notice of William's death, it appears he may have had no family left and was being taken care of on the "county's poor farm" which was operated by Mrs. Jennie Wyrick. In 1926, I am not sure where the "poor farm" was located but I am sure it was in Equality Township, near Tuscumbia. It is my understanding that the Miller County Court hired people to take care of the aged and the indigent in their own homes until about 1930-31. The Court decided at that time to buy a farm and have a "County Home" built. A large, brick structure was built when the Miller County voters passed a tax levy in 1930. It was located on the south side of Highway 17 about 3 miles south of Tuscumbia. It was torn down a few years ago after the Miller County Nursing Home was built on the same grounds.
Unfortunately William Bailey does not have a gravestone to mark the place in Livingston Cemetery where he dug his own grave about 1924, as the article said, he dug it two years before he needed it. I can only speculate, but perhaps he walked from the "county poor farm" near Tuscumbia to Livingston Cemetery on several occasions, wearing his coat, gloves, and hat, in order to get his burial site dug and put in order!
OBITUARY OF ELLENDER WILSON BARR
Ellender(Eleanor) Wilson Barr was born 15 March 1835 and died 9 May 1920 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Bilyeu. She was 85 years old. Her death was due to dropsy. She married John F. Barr before the Civil War in 1856. Mr. Barr died 22 years earlier in 1898. She united with the Christian Church at an early age. Her surviving children were Mrs. George Golden (Sarah), Mrs. Elizabeth Bilyeu, E. A. (Edmond Alexander) Barr, Mrs. Jesse W. Burks (Alice), John Barr, Mrs. Stephen D. Helton (Malissa Eliza) and Joseph Barr. She was buried in Hicks Cemetery near present-day St. Anthony.
NOTE: I'm not sure who Ellender's parents were but suspect they were William Alexander Wilson and Mary/Martha Smith. I think they had at least 6 children including: Eliza Wilson b. c/1834 m. William Z. Burton; Eleanor/Ellender Wilson b. 1836 m. John F. Barr; Sicily Wilson b. c /1840 m. William C. Brumley; Alexander Wilson b. c/1842 m. Polly Ann Martin; William A. Wilson b. c/1844; and Owen Calvin Wilson b. c/1850 m. Matilda Ramsey. If this is not correct, I would like to have more accurate information about Ellender's family.
JOHN F. BARR
John F. Barr was born 7 November 1833 and died 20 January 1898. He married Ellender/Eleanor Wilson on November 16, 1856. Ellender was born on March 15, 1835 and died May 9, 1920.
John F. Barr was the youngest son of Margaret Barr. At this time I have not found the name of his father. Margaret Barr and her 8 children were living in Miller County as early as 1840. She was listed in the census of 1840 living in Equality Township, south of Tuscumbia, near the families of Nicholas, Martin, McComb, Cotten, and Davis.
John F. Barr married Eleanor/Ellender Wilson in November 1856. The marriage was conducted by William Scott, a justice of the peace. John and Ellender moved close to the Richwoods/Osage township line near present-day St. Anthony. In 1860, they were living near the families of Hicks, Blize, Kinworthy, Duncan, Shelton, Humphrey, and Grady.
John F. Barr died on January 20, 1898 at the age of 65 years. He was buried at Hicks Cemetery near St. Anthony. Ellender Wilson Barr remained his widow for 22 years and died on May 9, 1920 and was buried beside John at Hicks Cemetery which is located today on the farm of Herbert Otto.
MARTHA JANE BARTON-ADAMS
Martha Jane Barton was born in Miller County on February 11, 1859. According to her obituary, all her childhood years were spent in the Brumley community. She was a daughter of Margaret Barton, per census records, and I believe her father was James Barton who had died before the 1900 census were taken. In the 1900 census of Glaize Township, Martha Jane and her five children were living in the home of her widowed mother, Margaret Barton who was born in Kentucky in January 1828. Martha was one of 9 children born to her parents but the only names I found were Joseph, Bashaba, and Martha Jane.
On September 12, 1878, Martha married James Franklin Adams of near Iberia. Their marriage was performed by Elder Zachariah W. McCubbin of the Baptist faith. James was born in Missouri on 27 January 1859.
Martha Jane passed away on 1 Dec 1944 at the age of 85 years. Her husband, James Adams, died almost 20 years earlier on 28 Feb 1925. She was living in the home of her daughter, Dora Keeth, who lived southwest of Iberia near the old Rankin Wright Cemetery. Dora was the only child who survived her mother although the son, Bluford, may have been living at the time in the state of Washington. It was not known for sure if he was alive since he had not been heard from in several years.
Aunt Jane, as she was commonly known, had a stroke a year earlier and spent the last year of her life suffering the effects of the stroke. She was survived by her daughter, Dora Keeth; an aged sister, Basha Barton (who also lived with Dora Keeth); a grandson, Robert Allen, somewhere in the war zone (World War II); and a son-in-law, Robert Harrison Allen of Phillipsburg, MO.
Aunt Jane Barton-Adams joined the Methodist Church at Curry several years before her death and had her membership there until her death. Funeral services were conducted by Rev. Virgil Smith of Brumley at the Curry Chapel and burial was in the Curry cemetery nearby.
HENRY FRANK BASS FAMILY
Henry Frank Bass was born in Miller Co. in the Little Richwoods near the Hickory Point community. He was born 20 Aug 1880, the second child of Isaac T. Bass & Margaret Williams. Frank's ancestors were among the county's earliest settlers. I believe his great-grandfather was Isaac Bass who homesteaded some land in the county before 1833. He settled near the Osage River, south of Tuscumbia.
Isaac Bass Sr. may have had 4 children who were settled in the county as well. They were William Bass b. 1818 KY m. Melvina McCubbin c/1840; Tolbird/Tolbert Bass b. c/1820 KY m. Martha G. Martin; Metheldred Bass b. 1822 KY m. Paulina_____; and Lavenia Bass b. KY m. Jonathan Humphries/Humphrey. I found record of an Isaac Bass family in Barren County, KY in the 1820 census. I don't know if he was the same man who came to Miller County, but I suspect they were one and the same.
Sarah Elizabeth Bass b. 1865 m. (1) General C. Martin (2)James Parkhurst (3) William Martin; Henry Joshua Bass b. 1859 m. Mary EmmaNichols 1882; and Rial/Riley S. Bass b. 1862 m. Ada Martin 1880
William and Melvina (McCubbin) Bass are both buried at Hickory Point cemetery. He died in 1892 and Melvina lived with her children for 10 years before her death in 1902.
Isaac T. Bass, son of William and Melvina, was born in 1853 in Richwoods Township. About 1874, at the age of 21 years, Isaac married Margaret/Maggie Williams. She was a native of Indiana, born in 1859. I believe her sister, Alice Williams, married Isaac's brother, John M. Bass. At this time I have not identified the parents of Maggie and Alice Williams.
Charles and Leftie Burks Bass with Children Pauline and baby Emil
Isaac and Maggie were parents of 4 children, all born on the family farm in the Hickory Point vicinity. Their daughter, Myrtle Bass, was born in 1876 and married Allman E. Farmer in 1896. The three sons were; Henry Frank Bass 1880-1926 m. Dosha L. Groves 1900; Clyde M. Bass 1883-1920 m. (1) Mary L. Bain (2) Lou (Burks) Crisp; and Charles B. Bass 1886-1956 m. Leftie M. Burks 1906.
Henry Frank Bass, son of Isaac, grandson of William and great-grandson of Isaac Sr., was born 10 Aug 1880, the oldest son of Isaac and Maggie (Williams) Bass. On October 21, 1900 Frank Bass married Dosha L. Groves, oldest daughter of George Wash. Groves (1856-1927) and Manerva Jane Smith (1866-1956). Dosha was born in Miller Co. on 22 Sept 1882 and died 17 May 1969.
In the 1900 census, another daughter is listed; Millie M. Groves born December 1893. She must have died young.
Frank Bass, mail carrier for the Ulman/Iberia Star Route, was attempting to deliver the mail on Thursday, December 23, 1926. He picked up his mailbags at Ulman that morning and started back to Iberia. The days of December 20-23 were harsh ones. According to the "Diary of C. B. Wright" it has snowed hard and sleet came down in torrents on Dec 21. It continued to rain and by Dec 23 the creeks had swollen and were running out of their banks. Frank Bass arrived a the Brushy Fork and tried to ford the flood waters, but did not make it to the other side. He perished in the icy, flooded waters of Brushy Fork on 23 Dec 1926. His body was recovered and he was laid to rest in Hickory Point cemetery near where he had been born 47 years earlier.
NOTE: After publishing this story, Gene Waite of Eldon (now deceased in 2001), contacted me to say he remembered well the day Frank Bass died. His father, Elmer Waite, was the postmaster at the Watkins Post Office, which was a stop over on the Iberia-Ulman Star Route. Frank came by Watkins about 9:30 a.m. that morning on his way to Ulman to pick up the mail for delivery back to Iberia. Frank was driving a Ford touring car with room in the back seat for the extra heavy load of Christmas mail. Later, Elmer Waite recovered some of the mailbags from the creek; dried some of the letters so they could be delivered to their destination. Mr. Waite also informed me that Charlie Bass, brother to Frank, was the postmaster at Ulman at the time of Frank's death.
LEE FRANKLIN BEAN
Lee Franklin Bean was born in Virginia on 22 July 1840 and died at Crocker, Pulaski County, MO on 24 October 1932 at the age of 92 years. His gravestone gives the dates of 16 July 1840-14 Oct 1932. He was buried at Bethany Cemetery, located north of Highway 17, about half way between Crocker and Iberia.
Before coming to Pulaski County, he lived in Pettis County, Missouri and married his first wife, Elizabeth/Lizzie Hunt in Sedalia. She died in 1886 and two years later, in 1888, he married Sarah A. (Sally) H. Meng in Sedalia. Sally was born 26 July 1868 and died 8 May 1938. Lee was 28 years older than his second wife.
He was father of ten children. Two were born to his first wife including son, Thomas Bean, and another child died in infancy. He had eight children by his second wife. Four of his ten children survived him when he died in 1932 including Thomas Bean of South Dakota, William Bean of Crocker, George and Walter Bean, both of Mansfield, Missouri.
Lee Franklin Bean was a Civil War veteran and was a member of the Miles Carroll G.A.R. Post #11 at Iberia for many years. According to his brief obituary, he also lived at Iberia for awhile, but I found no record of him and his family there during any census years.
His funeral services were held at his home in Crocker and he was then carried to Bethany Cemetery for burial. Sarah/Sally (Meng) Bean, his wife of 43 years, lived until May 1938 and was laid to rest beside him at Bethany. They are the only family named Bean in the cemetery records of Pulaski County.
NOTE: At the Tuscumbia Cemetery there is a family buried there named Willie and Mary A. Bean. This may be William Bean, one of the sons of Lee Franklin and Sally Bean of Crocker.
OBITUARY OF ABSOLOM BEAR
Absolom Bear was born April 1, 1842 in Hocken Co., Ohio and died August 27, 1932 at the age of 90 years. He came with his parents to Miller Co. in 1857 where they first located near Tuscumbia. He was a son of George and Elizabeth Bear, the 6th in a family of 9 brothers and 2 sisters. They all preceded him in death with the exception of his youngest brother, David Bear of Tuscumbia. When the Civil War was declared, he enlisted in the Missouri State Militia Volunteers and served 3 1/2 years in the Union Army. At the close of the war, he returned to Miller Co. He married Mary Catherine Spearman on Dec. 5, 1872, and they settled near Hickory Point where he resided until his death. They were parents of 10 children, 2 who died as children. His wife, Mary Catherine, preceded him in death on April 1, 1905.
 Absalom Bear with great-grandson |
 Remains of the home of Absolom Bear |
Their children surviving were: Nancy, Edna, George, Martha (Atteberry), Zebedee, Zella (Livingston), John K., and Frank. Absolom helped to organize the Hickory Point Christian Church in 1878 and was Elder at the time of his death. He was also active in politics serving 2 terms as Judge of the County Courty, 2nd District; 1 term as Presiding Judge; and 1 term as a Representative in the state legislature. He was buried at Hickory Point Cemetery.
FRANCIS MARION BEARD
Francis Marion Beard was born in Miller County in 1848, a son of William R. and Martha Jane (Scott) Beard. His father was a native of Tennessee, born c/1820, and his mother was born in Indiana about 1825 (per census records). Sometime around 1848, they moved to Miller County and settled in Equality Township, south of the Osage River. They lived near the families of Scott, Nicholds, Dobson, Wiggington, and Shelton in 1850.
The children of William and Martha (Scott) Beard were: Nancy J. Beard b. 1844 m. James Blize 1860; James R. Beard b. 1846 m. (1) Sally Ann Hill (2) Mary J._______; Francis Marion Beard b. 1848 m. Emily Jane Martin 1867; Joseph M. Beard b. 1850 m. Joanna Barringer 1888; Sarah E. Beard b.1854 m. James M. Wyrick 1874; Thomas R. Beard b. 1855; Phoebe A. Beard b. 1856 m. James Griffin 1876; Obadiah Beard b. 1860 m. (1) Sarah Sullivan 1878 (2) Nevie Horton 1897; and Haziah Seigle? Beard b. 1862 m. Mary Elizabeth Henderson 1884.
On April 16, 1867, about the age of 19 years, Francis Marion Beard married Emily Jane Martin, a daughter of Charles D. and Malinda (Shelton) Martin, both natives of Tennessee. Charles and Malinda married in McMinn County, TN in July 1839. They came to Miller County in the mid 1840s with Malinda's family, the Sheltons, and settled in southern Richwoods Township.
The children of Charles and Malinda were: Sarah E. Martin b. 1840 m. William Burgess; Wm. T. Martin b. 1844 m. Ruah Lavina Setser; John W. Martin b. 1847; Emily Jane Martin b. 1849 m. Francis Marion Beard; James Zebedee Martin b. 1851 m. Mahala _____; Andrew J. Martin b. 1855.............Malinda (Shelton) Martin died in 1866 and Charles married Mary/Polly Hickman about 1869. They had 3 children: Paralee S. Martin b. 1870; Charles Frederick Martin b. 1872 m. Leona Gibson; and Francis M./Frank Martin b. 1874 m. Lectie _______.
In the early years of their marriage, Francis Marion and Emily Jane lived near her kinfolk in southern Richwoods Township. Some of their neighbors were the Maddens, Martins, Carrolls, Duncans, Sheltons, and Burgesses.
Francis and Emily became parents of several children including: James H. Beard b. 1868; Cordelia J. Beard b. 1871 m. William N. Clark 1888; George A. Beard b. 1873 m. Martha/Mattie Williams 1895; Lewis Beard b. 1880 m. Zella Carty 1900; Tony F. Beard b. 1885 m. Minnie Nally 1904; Hiram Beard b. 1888; Rosa E. Beard b. 1890; and Ollie Beard.
Before the turn of the century, the Beards moved to Glaize Township, closer to the area where Francis Marion's family lived. Francis died on 29 March 1897 and was buried at Sullivan Cemetery which is located one mile west of Ulman on Rt. JJ. The old cemetery is in a field on the north side of Rt. JJ and a few years ago it was still fenced. The only stones standing are that of Francis Marion Beard and several members of the Sullivan family. He was a veteran of the Civil War and has a military-issued stone to mark his gravesite. He served in Company K of the 48th Missouri Infantry. I do not know when Emily (Martin) Beard died or where she is buried, but I would presume she is buried beside Francis in an unmarked grave.
EMIL A. BECKER
Emil A. Becker was born in Prussia/Germany 31 January 1858, the third child born to P.W. and Caroline (Severing) Becker. About 1870, at the age of 12 years, Emil came to America with his parents and they first settled in St. Louis where his father practiced his trade as a blacksmith. Circa 1873, they moved to central Missouri and settled on a farm in Jim Henry Township in northern Miller County near the families of Wilbers, Bond, Klindt, Lepper, Kelly and Loesch. Emil had two brothers and one sister who also lived in Miller County: F. W. Becker born July 1853 in Germany m. Mary vonHoan (probably in Texas about 1882); Earnest D. Becker b. Nov. 1861 in Germany; and Emma P. Becker born January 1865 in Germany m. Robert J. Rush 1888.
About 1883 Emil opened a general merchandise store at Spring Garden and also went into a partnership venture at Ulman's Ridge. His store there was known as Becker & Belshe and was in existence for awhile. During the same era of time, Emil owned interests in lead mines in both Miller and Cole counties.
After the turn of the new century, he married Martha J. Steen of Camden County, on April 23, 1900, at the age of 42 years. They were the parents of Walter S. Becker, Lenah B. Becker (Mrs. Leland Mills), and Eula Becker (Mrs. Paul Killian). Emil and Martha lived in Eldon after their marriage and once again, he went into the business world. He formed a partnership with his younger brother, Earnest Becker, and they built the Becker Brothers General Merchandise Store in 1905, located in uptown Eldon. In later years it was the home of the Ben Franklin Store. During the early 1900s Emil also owned Becker's Osage Handle Factory in Eldon.
In 1903, when the Rock Island Railroad was being built through northern Miller and southern Cole counties, Emil Becker had a crew of laborers on the job and working daily with several head of mules ad they built the "road bed" for the railroad tracks. Near Henley, in Cole County, a stretch of the construction area was known as the "Becker Cut" where his crew worked diligently cutting road through the hilly countryside.
Emil A. Becker (1858-1947) and his wife, Martha Steenbecker (1870-1956) are buried at the Eldon City Cemetery. Emil was certainly an enterprising and successful businessman during his lifetime with his expertise and insight he helped to make our county very progressive at the beginning of the 20th century.
HENRY CLAY BELK
Henry Clay Belk was born in Osage Co., MO on 24 Mar 1844, a son of James Belk (b. c/1811 So. Carolina) and Emeline Helton (b. c/1819 Tenn.).
In 1850, James and Emeline Belk were living in Osage County, which later became part of Maries County (Miller Township). Their neighbors in 1850 were the families of Alfred and Martin Hicks who also moved to Miller Co. a few years later.
Henry Clay Belk married Priscilla_____about 1869. She was born in Osage County on 2 Apr 1854 and was very young (about 15 years old) when she married Henry. I believe Henry had been married previously because he had a son, Richard Belk, born about 1864. Priscilla was only 10 years older than Richard so was not a likely candidate as his mother.
Sometime between 1870 and 1880, Henry and Priscilla moved to Miller Co. and settled near the Big Tavern Creek northeast of Iberia. They reared 10 children on their Richwoods Township farm.
In 1900, the neighbors who lived near the Belks were John & Louisa Schubert, Thomas Bilyeu, Abraham & Rosa Gardner, Thomas & Sarah Grady, Martin & Hannah Humphrey, and John & Lucy Brumley. Henry Clay Belk died at his home, shortly before the Christmas season, on December 14, 1928 at the age of 84 years. He was buried in the Schubert Cemetery, later known as Belk Family Cemetery, located near his home. His wife of 59 years, Priscilla Belk, lived until March 4, 1931 when she died at the age of 77 years. She was buried beside Henry at Belk Family Cemetery and was survived by 7 children, 34 grandchildren, and 17 great grandchildren.
NOTE: Someone called Peggy and said Henry Clay Belk was married to two Helton women, Priscilla Helton and her older sister, he didn't recall the name.
MARY BELK FAMILY
Mary Belk was born in Maries County, in August 1872, a daughter of Henry & Priscilla Belk. Her grandparents were James & Emeline (Helton) Belk who were living in Osage County (today is part of Maries County) in 1850.
Mary was one of nine children born to Henry & Priscilla. Her father was married previously and had one son by his first wife....Richard Belk born 1864 married Alice Fancher in 1885.
When a small child, Mary moved to Miller County with her parents and they settled near Big Tavern Creek in the Brays area. Some of their neighbors in 1880 were the families of Arendall, Maxwell, Whitaker, Arnold, Null and Morrow.
At the young age of 16, Mary Belk married William T. Hensley on Oct. 14, 1888. Their marriage was solemnized by Rev. John H. Aust. William was the son of Benjamin F. & Magdalena (Miller) Hensley, born in Miller County in 1866. After their marriage, Mary and William acquired a farm in the Fairview community of Richwoods Township. There they became parents of four children and continued to live on the same farm until their deaths. Two of their children died young and two daughters lived to adulthood....Alma Hensley born 1891 married William T. Hightree and Maggie Hensley born 1900 married Edgar Keeth.
Among their neighbors at the turn of the century was Mary's father-in-law (Benjamin Hensley), Albert Vaughan, Charles Berry, John P. Jarrett, Selby Heltzell, George Ramsey and Ike Short.
Mary Belk Hensley, died at her home in the Fairview vicinity near Iberia in February 1938 at age 66. She and William did not quite make it to their 50th wedding anniversary, missing it by eight months. She was survived by her husband; two daughters; four brothers (Edward, Peter, Miller, and James Belk); a half-brother, Richard Belk, and one sister Josie Belk.
Mary's funeral service was conducted by Rev. Phillips of the Christian Newlight Church and she was buried at Jarrett Cemetery, which was in the community where she lived. William Hensley lived until 1961 and was buried beside Mary at Jarrett Cemetery overlooking Big Tavern Creek in the valley below.
OBITUARY OF PRISCILLA BELK
Priscilla Belk was born in Osage Co., MO approximately in the year 1851. She died at her home a few miles north of Iberia on March 24, 1931 at the age of 79 years. In 1869, at the age of 18, she married Henry Belk of Miller Co. Henry died 2 years prior to Priscilla in 1929. They were parents of 10 children. Three died at an early age and those surviving were James, Miller, Pete, Edward, Mrs. Willie Hensley, Mrs. Dessie Prater and Miss Josie Belk. There were 34 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren. Priscilla had lived on the same farm where she died for over 50 years. She was one of the pioneer mothers and had more than her share of life's hardships that were known to these early pioneer women of Miller County. She was buried beside her husband, Henry Belk, at the Schubert cemetery (later called Belk cemetery) near her home. Services were conducted by Rev. Charles W. Sooter.
ANDREW L. BENAGE
Andrew L. Benage was born in Union County, Pennsylvania in February 1844. He was a son of John Benage and his first wife (name not found). John was also a native of Union County and was born there 3 August 1804. John and his first wife were parents of several children including: MARTHA A. BENAGE m. Charles Guger/Getgen (they later moved to Butler County, Iowa); MARY C. BENAGE 1834-1891 (never married); JOHN WALLS BENAGE 1839-1893 (never married); ANDREW L. BENAGE 1844-1932 m. Margaret J.______; REBECCA BENAGE 1845-1899 (never married); and MARGARET J. BENAGE 1848-1896 (never married).
Sometime before John Benage came to Miller County, which was prior to the Civil War, he married Elizabeth M. Irland, a widow with three daughters. They came to the Big Richwoods and settled near Iberia. In the 1860 census, John, Elizabeth, and his children were living together and her daughters (Cornelia and Mary) lived on the adjoining farm. Her children were: Cornelia Irland b. c/1840 m. Nicholas Long 1861; Mary L. Irland b. c/1845; and Martha/Mattie Irland. Martha/Mattie did not appear in the 1860 census so she may have married back in Pennsylvania and remained there.
Elizabeth Ireland-Benage acquired 420 acres of land when they came to the county. That land today includes the present site of the old Eads airport, Rekus Funeral Home, Assembly of God Church, First Baptist Church, Pendleton Acres, part of the Kleo Robertson land, and part of the James Burks property.
At the age of 45 years, in 1863, Elizabeth died and her land was passed on to her three daughters. Her will and probate information is on file in Miller County probate records. Her three daughters were named as her heirs (Cornelia Irland Long, Mary L. Irland, and Martha E. Irland). They were given all her land, her personal property and family heirlooms. Cornelia Irland, who married Nicholas Long in 1861, died in 1866 and left him with 3 small children to rear. The other two daughters, Mary and Martha, do not appear in the 1870 census, so I tend to believe they may have returned back to their home in Union County, Pennsylvania.
John Benage applied for a land grant in January 1859, which contained 40 acres. This land and other Benage land was situated about 2 miles south of Iberia. I believe some of the Benage descendants are living on this land today.
Andrew L. Benage and his older sister, Martha, were the only children of John Benage to marry. Andrew was able to pass the family name on to his six children and his sons carried the name on to later generations. In January, 1872, Andrew married a girl named Margaret. I have not been able to find a record of their marriage in Miller County, so they either married in another county or I overlooked it in my search. They became parents to the following: ERNEST E. BENAGE 1872-1949 m. Cora M. Mace in 1898; JOHN L. BENAGE b. 1874 m. Ethel G. Harrison; OTTO BENAGE b. 1876 m._______; FREDERICK BENAGE b. 1878 m. 1-Hester Bear 2-Nellie Muth; ALICE MAUDE BENAGE b. 1884 m. William Bear; and SYLVIA MAE BENAGE b. 1891 m. Dr. John O. Bradshaw.
All six children of Andrew and Cora (Mace) Benage were graduates of the Iberia Academy. Ernest graduated in 1894, the second student to graduate from the old school. In 1895, Fred, John, and Otto graduated together; Maude in 1904; and Sylvia in 1909. John and Otto Benage became doctors and practiced medicine in Laclede County, MO. Fred moved to Oklahoma and the two daughters, Maude (Bradshaw) and Sylvia (Bear) lived in southwest Missouri.
Andrew Benage was an influential businessman in the Iberia area for a number of years and then moved to Lebanon, Laclede Co., MO where he died on May 30, 1932 at the age of 88 years. He had served with the Union Army in the Civil War and remained active in the G.A.R. Posts at both Iberia and Lebanon. He died on Memorial Day in 1932 while his G.A.R. comrades were honoring departed soldiers at the Lebanon cemetery.
He was survived by his aged wife, Margaret, with whom he had celebrated 50 years of marriage in January 1932. He was also survived by four sons, and two daughters. Andrew's funeral services and his burial were held in Lebanon.
ADDENDUM TO THE BENAGE STORY:
The Benage family was among several Pennsylvanians who came to Miller County and settled in the Big Richwoods including the families of Tallman, Brown, Moore, Getgen, Noyes, Lahr, Groff, Heltzell, Irwin, Farnham, Hedges, Newhart, and Johnston. Some remained, some moved on.
During the Civil War, the Benages and other Pennyslyvanias, were threatened and harassed by the Confederate troops in the area. Being from a northern state and voting for Republican Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 elections, they were prime targets of the Confederate forces roaming in Miller County.
The southern sympathizers went to the farm of John Benage, south of Iberia, but John had already taken his family, some of his livestock, food supplies, and some equipment to a safe place and was gone for 2 months in hiding. While gone, he lost his corn crop and 15 acres of wheat, which was ready to be harvested. Later, in October 1861, the Confederates came back to his farm and the farm of his son, Andrew, and threatened the life of John and his family again. They destroyed the Benage's home furnishings, carried away kitchen equipment, clothing, cornmeal, breads, and meats that were preserved for the winter ahead. They stole his guns, powder, powder horns, and ammunition.......They took his horses, wagon, saddles, bridles, and the grain from his barn. Still not satisfied with the damage that had been done, they set fire to his hay and wheat stacks......Needless to say, the Benage family was left destitute but with their lives intact.
Getting through the Civil War times for these Pennsylvania families was a real heartache and quite a challenge, but they did survive and their descendants are still living in Miller County, over 140 years later..............
ELIZABETH MOORE IRELAND BENAGE
Elizabeth M. Moore was born in Pennsylvania and eventually came to Miller County with her husband, John Bennage/Benage Sr. about 1860. They were part of a group of Pennsylvanians who migrated from their eastern homes before and after the Civil War and settled in the Big Richwoods near Iberia. I do not know at this time the identity of her parents but she was a sister to Colonel James Moore who also came to Miller County and settled in the same general area.
Elizabeth first married a man in Pennsylvania with the surname Ireland and had three daughters: Cornelia S. Ireland m. Nicholas Long in Miller Count; Mary L. Ireland; and Martha E. Ireland. She married John Benage Sr. in Union Co., Pennsylvania and after their marriage they ventured westward to central Missouri. John was about 12 years older than Elizabeth and had 6 children by his first wife, Catherine A. Hoffman (1807-1849). They were: Martha Ann Benage (1829-1900) m. Charles Getgen/Geyer; Mary C. Benage (1835-1894); John Walls Benage (1839-1893); Andrew Ludwig Benage (1844-1932) m. Margaret Jane Rowden of Maries Co., MO; Rebecca Benage (1845-1889); and Margaret J. Benage (1848-1896). Only 2 of his 6 children married (Martha Ann and Andrew Ludwig). The others died unmarried. At the Iberia Cemetery, John Benage shares a gravestone with 3 of his daughters-Mary C., Margaret J. and Rebecca. All the Bennage family members who remained in the Miller County area were descendants of Andrew Bennage. All of Andrew's children attended Iberia Academy and some of his sons became doctors in central Missouri.
During the Civil War years, the Confederate forces were very destructive to the Pennsylvanians because they were from the North and favored the Union. Times were very rough and hard on the families when they had their homes burned, livestock killed or stolen, crops destroyed and were forced to flee for their lives. Elizabeth Moore-Ireland-Bennage died in the early years of the war. According to family legend, she became so dissatisfied with life in Miller County that she decided to return to her eastern home in Pennsylvania. She was a frail woman and her health wasn't good, so she started east and got as far as Franklin County, MO where her brother, Colonel James Moore, lived near the town of St. Clair. She died there, enroute to the east, when she was 45 years of age. I could not find a burial for her so do not know if she is buried somewhere in Franklin County or was returned to Pennsylvania. In those days, it was very difficult to transport a corpse to any location except to a local cemetery……..
When Elizabeth came to Miller County before the Civil War she purchased some land in her own name and at her death, the land was left to her 3 daughters since they were her legal heirs. The land contained over 400 acres near Iberia and was located today where the old Eads Airport, Iberia Baptist Church, Fancher-Rekus Funeral Home, Iberia Assembly of God Church, Pendleton Acres, and part of the land owned today by Kleo Robertson and Jim Burks.
On the internet, I found a record of her death in THE LEWISBURG CHRONICLE, a newspaper published in 1862 in Lewisburg, Union County, Pennsylvania. It did not state if she was returned home for burial or laid to rest in Franklin County, Missouri. There is no record that she was ever returned to Miller County. Her husband, John, and some of his children are at Iberia Cemetery but there is no record of Elizabeth being there.
JAMES D. BERRY
James D. Berry was born in Maries County, MO in December 1848. He had a twin brother named William W. Berry. They were two of several children born to John and Matilda C. Berry who lived in Miller Township in Maries County during the 1880 census. John Berry was born in Tennessee about 1829 and Matilda was also a native of Tennessee, born about 1830.
The earliest record I could find for James D. Berry in Miller County was his marriage to Mary Margaret Duncan on 22 October 1871. Mary was a daughter of Alvis and Ann (Palmer) Duncan who lived in eastern Miller County near the Maries County line.
In census records it is stated the parents of James D. Berry were born in Tennessee and the Duncans were from Tennessee as well. I believe the Duncans once lived in McMinn County, in east Tennessee near the families of Rowden and Lawson who also came to Miller County. I am not sure where the Berry family lived in Tennessee but I do have record that some of the Berry families, who came to Jim Henry Township of Miller County in the 1840s, lived in Claiborne County, Tennessee. As far as I can determine, there is no connection between the Berry family of Maries/Miller County and the Berry family who settled in Jim Henry Township.
James Berry's twin brother, William W. Berry, died at his home near Myerstown in western Maries County in 1934. He and his wife, Bethitha Berry, are buried in Crismon Cemetery near the old Tavern store and post office which today is near the Brune store, located on Highway 183 in western Maries County. William W. Berry was the grandfather of Garrett Allman Berry who lived in Tuscumbia. Garrett was a former schoolteacher and also served as Miller County Clerk for several years.
In 1900, James & Mary Berry were living in eastern Miller County and their neighbors included the families of Duncan, Kellison, Pendleton, Helton, Green, Yoakum, Jones, Sherrell, Rowden, and Hannah. James and Mary (Duncan) Berry are buried at Brays Union Cemetery in northeast Richwoods township. Their son, Walter Berry, and wife, Ellen (Ponder) are also buried at Brays Union.
James D. Berry 1848-1937
Mary M. Berry 1849-1928
Notation from Berry ancestor
I have just read the article about James D. Berry and noticed that some of the information is incorrect. James David Berry's twin brother was my great-grandfather. I would just like to correct some of the information, as people (myself included) sometimes tend to accept the information they find re ancestors as correct.
Corrections are as follows:
James David and William Matthews Berry were born December 25, 1848, being the only sons of John and Eliza Copeland Berry.
John and Eliza were married on December 26, 1846 in Crawford County, MO. Eliza, born May 22, 1818 was the daughter of the Rev. John Copeland from his first marriage and was five years older than John Berry. Eliza died three weeks following the twins' birth, at age 30. The twins lived with Nancy Giesler (whom we feel was John's mother; she had married John Giesler, Sr. , b. 1779 York Co., PA. in 1833 in Carter County, TN. Her name was listed on the marriage certificate as Mrs. Nancy Berry). We have not been able to find out her maiden name, nor the name of her first husband.
John Berry was born June 23, 1823 in what was then called "Indian Territory" in Tennessee. As I said, we don't know who his parents were. We are aware of only one sister, Margaret, who was two or three years older than John.
Matilda Carline Carnes was born October 19, 1827. She was the daughter of Jehu Carnes. Jehu Carnes arrived in mid-Missouri in the middle 1830's from McMinn Co., TN. He was a Methodist Minister. John & Matilda married in 1849.
Most of this information was compiled by my cousin, Harry J. (Judson) Berry. Sources for the information are: King's "A History of Maries County"; Rolla (Missouri) Daily News, dated 19 July 1962; Ralph Rowden, Rolla, MO., great-grandson of John Berry; Lois Brown, Rolla MO., great-great-granddaughter of John Berry; U. S. census and various county records held in the Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City, MO. The birth dates of John Berry's children are written in his own handwriting in a little ledger book that he kept, copy of which I have.
I hope these corrections are taken as intended; I certainly don't want to offend or insult anyone. We would welcome any additional information that might help us in our search for John Berry's parents.
GARRETT ALLMAN BERRY
Garrett Allman Berry was born 4 Sept 1898 near Iberia. He was a son of Charles Benton Berry and Nevada Josephine Hensley. His father was born 1876 near Myerstown in western Maries County, MO and his mother was born in 1880 near Iberia. His paternal grandparents were William Matthews Berry and Beditha Ellen Hawkins and his maternal grandparents were Benjamin F. Hensley and Mary Elizabeth Cooper. His ancestors came from Tennessee and Indiana. The children of Charles Benton Berry and Nevada Josephine (Hensley) were:
As a young man, Garrett attended Iberia Academy and the St. James high school. He later studied extension courses at Central Missouri Teachers College and also at the University of Missouri. For 13 years he taught schools in Miller and Maries counties. He was elected as County Clerk of Miller County in November 1930 on the Republican ticket. In 1932 he was elected as a delegate at the State Republican Convention that was held in St. Louis. He was very active in politics and community affairs including being a member of the Missouri Association of County Clerks, president of the Tuscumbia school board, and a member of Fairview Church north of Iberia.
On August 19, 1920, in Kansas City, Garrett married Vesta Clarice Livingston (l897-1981) who was a daughter of Richard Monroe Livingston and Mary A. Burks. They became parents of four children:
In 1962, Garrett Allman Berry died and was buried at the Tuscumbia Cemetery. His wife, Clarice (Livingston) lived until 1981 and was laid to rest beside Garrett. Their son, Garrett Conley Berry, was also buried at Tuscumbia Cemetery after his death in 2002.
CREED T. BIGGERS
A Pioneer of Miller County, Missouri and Linn County, Oregon
Creed T. Biggers was born in the state of Virginia c/1805. He was one of the earliest settlers in Miller County, locating in the Big Richwoods. He came to Miller County prior to 1841 and settled on a farm near the Brushy Fork of the Big Tavern creek. Creed was well-known in the area as a fine cabinet maker and also served as an undertaker to the early settlers. In 1853, about the age of 50 years, Creed and his family moved to Oregon Territory with other Miller County families who had developed 'gold fever' and an ever-present wanderlust. He died in Linn County, Oregon in 1877.
In 1853, when they pulled up stakes and moved west, the land surrounding his old cabin home was an open pasture of fine grass. By 1897, when his son, Dr. George W. Biggers, a physician from LaGrande, Oregon, visited the home of his birth, he found a dense forest. The old log house where he had been born in 1845 was almost unchanged and was occupied by the Thomas Spearman family. It had an old spring that still flowed cool and clear with the same log springhouse nearby. It had been there for over 50 years.
Creed T. Biggers married Nancy Lane in Miller County on 19 January 1841. Their marriage was performed by Reuben Short, a Baptist minister in the Big Richwoods. Nancy was a native of Kentucky, born in 1814. In the Miller County census of 1850, Creed and Nancy lived in richwoods Township with their three children: George W. Biggers age 5, Elizabeth Biggers age 3, and James Biggers age 1. Also in the household was Joseph Whittle age 55 of KY; Priscilla Luree/Lane? age 23 of Alabama; Obediah and Benjamin Vaughan, ages 11 and 8 of Missouri. I believe Priscilla's name was actually Lane and she was a sister to Nancy. Also interesting to me was finding Joseph Whittle in their home. He was my great, great, great grandfather (a native of Edmonson Co., KY) and his wife and children were listed in a separate household during the same census. I do not know why he was in the home of Creed Biggers and his family living elsewhere.
Creed T. Biggers was granted additional land in Miller County from the U.S. government on 1 October 1845. The location of the 40 acres was northeast of Iberia, owned by the Prather family today. In the same section and to the southeast, a man named Mordecai Lane owned 80 acres of land which he had purchased in the 1830s. I believe that Creed's wife, Nancy (Lane), was a daughter of Mordecai. Mordecai and his wife, Celia (Atkinson), were parents of six known children: NANCY LANE b. c/ 1819 Kentucky m. Creed T. Biggers; JOHN J. LANE b. c/1821 Kentucky m. Louisa Coffey; MARY LANE b. 1824 Alabama m. James Lynch; FRANCES LANE b. c/1825 Alabama; PRISCILLA LANE (speculation) b. 1827 Alabama; and ELMIRA LANE b. c/1832 Alabama. All these people were in the 1850 census of Miller County in Richwoods Township.
The land where Creed and Nancy decided to build their log home was located about 5 miles west of Iberia near the Brushy Fork creek. Until a few years ago all this land was owned by the Spearman family, but has now been sold in tracts to various new owners. The old Spearman country school sat on part of this land for many years.
About 1853, Creed and Nancy Biggers, along with her Lane family, left Miller County and moved over the Oregon Trail to Linn County, Oregon, settling near Scio where other pioneers from Miller County had also located. I was not aware they had moved there until I did some research on the internet and found them living there during the 1860s and 1870s. I was looking for more information about my Bilyeu and Kinder ancestors who had moved to the Willamette Valley of Linn County and, by chance, found the name Creed T. Biggers. It was not a common name, and I realized it must have been the same family who once lived in the Big Richwoods! Looking further, I found Mordecai and Celia (Atkinson) Lane also had lived there during the same years and all are buried in Franklin Butte Cemetery, Linn County, Oregon........According to information gathered from the Linn County website, I learned that Celia (Atkinson) Lane was a daughter of Thomas Atkinson, a soldier of the Revolutionary War.
My stories come from some of the most unusual sources.......Creed T. Biggers had been a name I had seen in some of my old files and I had kept it because of the unusual name. Also, he was among our earliest settlers and that was reason enough for me to keep his name on file.........In an old copy of the Miller County Autogram, dated 6 July 1897, I found a news item which stated that Dr. George W. Biggers from LeGrande, Oregon had stopped in Miller County on his way to New York City. He wanted to take the time to see his old home where he was born in 1845. He told his interviewer about his family's trip to Oregon and spoke of his many memories of Miller County, even though he was only 8 years old when they left Missouri. It was a great article and very informative. Now, a few years after reading the 1897 article, I learn the Biggers and the Lane families moved to the same Oregon County as my Bilyeu and Kinder ancestors.
JOHN BILYEU FAMILY
John Bilyeu was my great-great-great-great-grandfather, who was born in Maryland circa 1775. He was a descendant of early immigrants to America, Pierre and Francoise (DuBois) Billiou, who were French Hugenots from LaBasse in French Flanders. They were part of the religious sect called Walloons, a segment of the Huguenots.
In the 17th century, LaBasse was part of Belgium territory. Pierre and Francoise came to America in 1661 and settled what is today Staten Island, New York. The later Billiou/Bilyeu families moved to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland…then on to East Tennessee…to Indiana and Illinois…and finally many of the Bilyeu families came to Miller County, where their descendants remain today. Typical of many pioneer families, some of the Bilyeu ancestors continued to move west and settled in Oregon Territory. The Pacific Ocean put a stop to the overland migration!
John Bilyeu, my ancestor, married Sarah McGrew in the late 18th century…the place not known.
John's first wife, Sarah (McGrew), died after giving birth to 13 children. Where she died is not known, but perhaps in East Tennessee. John then married Rachel Carr, a young woman who was 35 years younger than he.
John and Rachel Bilyeu came to Miller County in the 1830's from Illinois where they had lived for a while after leaving East Tennessee. They settled near Iberia, in the Big Tavern Creek area east and north of Iberia, in the area known today as the Brays community. In the 1840 census, their neighbors were the families of Osborn, Bryant, Mace, Lane, Austin, Shelton and Workman. By 1850, some of their neighbors were the Rowdens, Renfrows, Bowlins, Johnsons, Duncans and Jones.
John Bilyeu made his will on Aug. 18, 1852, which was witnessed by Thomas W. Whitaker and John Rowden. A few months later, in February 1853, he died at the age of about 78 years. His probate and estate records are found in the probate Court of Miller County. A son, Joseph Bilyeu, signed an affidavit dated Feb. 15, 1853, stating who the heirs of John Bilyeu were and where they lived. Those remaining in Miller County in 1853 were his widow, Rachel and children: Isaac, William, Cornelius, Joseph, Mary/Polly, Melton, Andrew and Larkin. Two daughters were living in Illinois: Deliah Osborn and Lydia Parrack. Three of the children were living in Indiana: John, James and Didama Denny. His oldest son, Peter Bilyeu, was in Oregon Territory, and his daughter, Sarah Bilyeu McGlothin, was deceased. Her children were listed as her heirs: Rachel, John, Bluford, and Priscilla McGlothin. Their whereabouts were unknown. I believe their father went to Oregon about the same time as Peter Bilyeu, and he may have taken his children with him. Peter Bilyeu, son of John and Sarah (McGrew) Bilyeu, was my great-great-great-grandfather and I have followed his wanderings out to Oregon Territory when he left Miller County in 1850. In another document, I found Peter has signed a note stating that he "Was leaving for the state of California in May 1850"… actually he went to Linn County, Oregon Territory.
He was one of thousands of pioneers who traveled the Oregon Trail in the 1840's and 1850's and settled on a new frontier in America's northwest. John Bilyeu is buried somewhere in the Big Richwoods, but no one today knows the location of his gravesite. There are so many old pioneer ancestors who moved across the country in search of a new home, settled the land, reared their families and eventually died on their homesteaded land and were probably buried in unmarked grave somewhere near where they live. I feel that was the fate of John Bilyeu, an early Miller County pioneer who was also my elusive ancestor. Too bad I know his beginnings, but not his final resting-place.
BENJAMIN F. BIRDSONG
Benjamin F. Birdsong, son of John and Catherine Birdsong of Grainger County, Tennessee, was born in Tennessee in November 1846. His tombstone has his birth year recorded 1856, but in the census of 1850, he was listed as four years old......
His parents came to Miller County from East Tennessee when Benjamin was a very small child and they settled in Osage Township. His father, John, was born in Tennessee circa 1797 and his mother circa 1806. They were parents of several children including LOUISA born 1828; SARAH b. 1830; CAROLINE b. 1833; MARY b. 1834; THOMAS b. 1836; LUCINDA b. 1840; JOHN b. 1841; GEORGE b. 1843; BENJAMIN F. b. 1846; and MELCINA D. b. 1851. Benjamin F. Birdsong married Lauretta/Loretta C. _____(maiden name not found). They married c/1870. There is no record of their marriage in Miller County. Loretta was born in Virginia in January 1851. There is the possibility she was born to the Neal family, but definite proof has been found.
Benjamin and Loretta had eleven children: HERBERT b. July 1871; MARY CATHERINE b. January 1873; LORA ELLEN b. February 1877; JOHN M. b. January 1879; EVERETT J. b. December 1881; AUGUSTA A. b. December 1884; FLAVIUS A. b. October 1888; AULTA A. b. November 1894; ELMER M. b. March 1897; and NELLIE M. b. September 1899.
Benjamin died in 1921 and was buried in Capps Cemetery overlooking the beautiful Osage River valley near the Old Capps settlement. He and Loretta had spent over 50 years together. Loretta sometimes called Loretty, lived to reach the age of 86 years. On November 16, 1936, she died of pneumonia at the Miller County Home near Tuscumbia where she had been living for 4 years. She was survived by 3 daughters, 5 sons, many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her funeral services were held at Capps Cemetery by Rev. Charles M. Sooter. She was buried beside Benjamin, who had died 15 years earlier.
OBITUARY OF JOHN N. BIRDSONG
John N. Birdsong was born in Grainger Co., Tennessee on Sept. 13, 1839 and died in Miller Co. on March 23, 1928, being 88 years old. He came to Miller Co. in 1846 and resided her for the rest of his life. In 1864, he enlisted in the Missouri Militia and served under Capt. Sayles Brown's Company C. Later he enrolled in Capt. John B. Salesman's Co. of Volunteers. He served approximately 1 year of service. Any of his descendants may obtain his Civil War records by submitting this information to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. He was a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. After reading his obituary, he apparently never married and left no children as heirs. His nieces and nephews were named as his heirs. He was from an old pioneer Miller County family and was the last of him family to survive. He was buried at Gott Cemetery that lies on Highway C midway between Ulman and Brumley.
WILLIAM BIRDSONG
William Birdsong was born in Lafayette Co., Tennessee (near Memphis) on l July 1828. He was one of 12 children born to Josiah and Nancy (Huddleston) Birdsong, natives of Alabama. Josiah was born c/1798 and Nancy about 1802.
In the 1820s, the Birdsong family moved to Tennessee and by 1835 had ventured to Missouri, first settling in Maries County. They remained there about a year and moved west to Miller Co. and settled near present-day Iberia. By 1838, they had pulled up stakes once again and moved to the Osage River country of Equality Township. All these moves were made by wagon and oxen team which were tedious and tiresome, to say the least!
Josiah Birdsong started a hatter's store (maker of men's hats) at Tuscumbia, the first in Miller Co. He bought land south of Tuscumbia near the Osage which later became the site of the "county poor farm". Josiah died on his farm in December 1859 and was buried in the family's cemetery where his two sons, Calvin and Benjamin, had been buried in the early 1850s.
The children of Josiah and Nancy (Huddleston) Birdsong included: GEORGE G. b. c/1820 m. Martha_____; BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 1822-1851; LUCINDA b. c/1823 m. Edward H. Gibson; MALINDA . c/1826 m. Owen Riggs; WILLIAM b. 1828 m. Mary A. Stapp; CALVIN 1831-1852; LAVINA b. c/1835 m. John Barr; EVALINE b. 1836 m. Joseph G. Lurton; JOSIAH Jr. b. c/1840; MARY b. c/1843; JOHN b. c/1845; & NANCY b. c/1849 m. Daniel Welchons.
William Birdsong, son of Josiah & Nancy, was about 7 years old when his family moved to Missouri from West Tennessee. In Miller Co.'s early history, there were not many schools established and often children lived too far away to attend classes regularly. William only attended school occasionally, but in his teen years had a desire to acquire an education. He 'ran away' and entered school at Spring Garden, quite a few miles north of his Osage River home.
At the age of 18, he began his first job clerking in a mercantile store in Tuscumbia. Later, about the age of 21, he decided to try to experience a new adventure on the river and became a pilot and boat builder. After a few years he settled down and spent the rest of his life as a farmer.
During the Civil War he enlisted in Capt. Sayles Brown's Company for a year and took part in Price's raid which lasted 21 days. On September 22, 1853 William married Mary A. Stapp in Miller Co. Mary was born in Missouri in 1836, one of 8 children born to John and Mary Stapp, natives of Virginia. The children born to William and Mary were: MARTHA E. b. 1855 m. Nicholas Weitz 1874; NANCY J. b. 1857 m. James Morris 1895; LUCY E. 1858-1929 m. John C. Bassman; JOSIAH b. c/1860 (no other record found); WILLIAM F. b. 1864 m. Christina Findlay 1891; MARY ELIZABETH/LIZZIE b. 1866 m. (no record); THERESA/TRESSIE b. 1871 m. Albert B. Breen 1894; and CHARLES M. 1873-1899.
Mary Stapp Birdsong died in 1906 and was buried at Tuscumbia Cemetery. William lived until 1920 when he died at the advanced age of 92 years. He was buried beside Mary with whom he had spent 53 years of marriage.
LOUISA BLACKBURN
Louisa C. Blackburn was born in Miller County 17 April 1859, a daughter of James G. and Angeline Blackburn. Her father was born in 1828 in Tennessee but no record could be found for her mother because she had died before 1880 and did not appear in the census taken that year. Her father, James, was living in Osage township in 1880 with two sons and his parents, John Blackburn (born c/1804 KY) and Christina Blackburn (born c/1806, also in KY).
Louisa C. Blackburn married William H. Mitchell in 1877. William was born in Kentucky on March 1, 1858.
Sometime between 1880 and 1900, Louisa and William moved to Texas and lived there for several years. In 1909 they returned to Miller County and settled near Tuscumbia where they lived the remainder of their lives. William Mitchell died on March 6, 1922 and was buried at Tuscumbia cemetery. In September 1926, Louisa married her second husband, James L. Waddell (1850-1936), a widower, age 75 years.
Louisa Blackburn-Mitchell-Waddell survived both her husbands and lived to reach the age of 86 years. She died at the home of her daughter, Abbie Abbett, near Tuscumbia on July 16, 1945. Her funeral services were held at the Tuscumbia Baptist Church, conducted by Rev. J. D. Gilliam. She was survived by six children (Cleona had died in 1936)--Charles Mitchell of Arizona, William Mitchell of Washington, Robert Mitchell of Kansas, Lula Mitchell Jeffries and James Mitchell of Versailles, and Abbie Mitchell Abbett of Tuscumbia. Louisa was buried beside her first husband, William Mitchell, at Tuscumbia cemetery.
WILLIAM NOLEN BLACKBURN
William Nolen Blackburn was born in Moniteau Co., MO in October 1860. He was the third of nine children born to William W. and Elizabeth Blackburn. Sometime prior to 1870 the Blackburn family moved to Miller County and settled northeast of Tuscumbia near the Gageville community.
The children of Willam M. Blackburn (b. c/1833) and his wife, Elizabeth (b. c/1837) were: JAMES BLACKBURN b. c/1855; ELVIRA FRANCES BLACKBURN b. c/1857 m. Edward P. Spalding 1873; WILLIAM NOLEN BLACKBURN b. 1860 m. (l) Hannah Spalding 1882 (2) Lucinda Spalding-Mitchell 1904; MARTHA ELLEN BLACKBURN b. c/1866 m. Wm. T. Albertson 1882; IDA B. BLACKBURN b. c/1868 m. Robert M. Pinkston 1883; PHILLIPINE BLACKBURN b. 1870; LENA J. BLACKBURN b. c/ 1872 m. George B. Johnston 1892; ANDREW J. BLACKBURN b. c/1875 m. Caldonia Spalding 1890; & REBECCA BLACKBURN b. c/1878.
Without having definite proof or data, I tend to believe the grandparents of William Nolen Blackburn were John and Christina Blackburn, born 1804 and 1806 respectively, both in Kentucky. William Nolen named his oldest daughter Christina, perhaps after his paternal grandmother.
William Nolen Blackburn married Hannah J. Spalding in Miller Co. on 12 January 1882. She was the oldest child of Francis Marion and Ella (Miller) Spalding. She was born in Miller Co. on February 29, 1860. The brothers and sisters of Hannah were: LUCINDA ANN SPALDING b. 1866 m. (1) Charles N. Mitchell 1884 (2) William Nolen Blackburn 1904; ANNA M. SPALDING b. 1867 m. John F. Belshe 1891; SARAH A. SPALDING b. 1869; MARY/POLLY SPALDING b. 1872; EDWARD L. SPALDING b. 1875; WILLIAM G. SPALDING b. 1878 m. Alice Bell 1906; & EMMA MAY SPALDING b. 1880 m. John B. Mattock 1902.
Hannah (Spalding) Blackburn died 11 August 1899 at the age of 39 years. She and Nolen produced two sons and two daughters including: Clarence Blackburn, March 1883; Christina Blackburn b. 30 Apr 1884 m. Rasmussen; Oscar O. Blackburn b. 23 Apr 1886; and Pearl Ethel Blackburn b. Nov 1888 m. Eugene N. Bennett 1905.
On October 29, 1904, William Nolen Blackburn married Lucinda Ann Spalding-Mitchell. Lucinda's first husband was Charles N. Mitchell of Texas whom she married in Miller Co. in 1884. Lucinda was a younger sister to William's first wife, Hannah. Nolen and Lucinda Ann (called Lou Ann) had one child, but it lived only two years (per Wm. Nolen's obituary). William Nolen Blackburn lived until August 5, 1937 when he died at the age of 77 years. He was survived by his second wife, Lucinda, two sons (Clarence and Oscar), and one daughter, Christina Rasmussen. His oldest daughter, Pearl Ethel Blackburn-Bennett preceded him in death several years earlier in July 1920 at the age of 31 years. He was buried at Gageville Cemetery in southeast Saline Township beside his first wife, Hannah Spalding Blackburn.
MYRTLE EFFIE BLANKENSHIP
Myrtle Effie Blankenship was born 28 Oct 1877 in Miller County, MO. Her parents were Joel R. Blankenship (1850-1917) and Mary Josephine Shockley (1853-1939). She was one of seven children born to the Blankenships including: John Blankenship b. 1874 m. Emma Hensley; Myrtle Blankenship b. 1877 m. Albert D. Vaughan; Gertie Blankenship b. 1885 m. Oscar Jarrett; Floy Blankenship b. 1888; Nellie Blankenship b. 1893 m. Jasper Lewis. Two children died in infancy.
On December 28, 1893, at the age of 16 years, Myrtle married Albert D. Vaughan. Since she was only 16 years old, the consent for their marriage was given by her father, Joel R. Blankenship. Their marriage was performed by John H. Aust, a minister of the gospel in Richwoods Township.
Albert D. Vaughan was the only child of John B. Vaughan (1836-1872) and Mary Elizabeth Cooper (1852-1919) who were married In Miller County on March 16, 1871. Albert was only one year old when his father died in 1872. Mary Elizabeth Cooper-Vaughan married Benjamin F. Hensley in December 1876 and they had two daughters who were half-sisters to Albert. They were Nevada/Levada J. Hensley b. 1880 m. Charles Berry and Orpha M. Hensley b. 1877 m. Fred Berry.
In the census of 1900, Albert and Myrtle were living near her Blankenship family in Richwoods Township. They had been married for seven years and had become parents of three children, but only one survived. Over the next few years they had ten more children.
Myrtle Effie Blankenship-Vaughan died on June 27, 1945, almost reaching her 68th birthday. She was survived by her husband, Albert Vaughan (to whom she had been married for 52 years); 6 children; 13 grandchildren; 2 great grandchildren; a brother, John Blankenship and 2 sisters, Mrs. Oscar Jarrett (Gertie) and Mrs. Jasper Lewis (Nellie). She was buried at Livingston cemetery beside seven of her children who had preceded her in death. Albert D. Vaughan lived until 1955 when he died at the age of 84 years. He was buried beside Myrtle at Livingston.
NOTE: A correction for last week's story of Myrtle Effie Blankenship-Vaughan: Myrtle and Albert Vaughan had a son named Dale B. Vaughan who was born in 1914 and died in 1941. I am sorry for the omission of Dale's name in the article. He is buried at Livingston Cemetery.
BLANKENSHIP - WAITE
Ora Blankenship married Mattie Waite in Miller County. They were the parents of Bonnie Marie Blankenship who married Radford Barr. Her brothers included Berry, Freddy, and Frankie. Ora Blankenship was a son of John E. Blankenship and his wife, Emma Hensley. John was born in November 1874 in Miller County, a son of Joel R. Blankenship (1850-1917) and Mary Josephine Shockley (1853-1939).
Joel was from Kentucky and according to census records Mary Josephine was born in Missouri. Emma Hensley, wife of John E. Blankenship, was a daughter of Thomas Hensley and Avazena Jarrett who married in 1873.
Mattie Waite Blankenship was a daughter of Arthur Waite and Della Bond. Her grandparents were John W. Waite and Ellen C. Reed and Lewis Bond & Martha Blize.
BLEVANS-KIRKLAND FAMILIES
Although the surname Blevans no longer appears in Miller County, the family was among the earlier settlers. Stephen A. Blevins and his wife, Nancy (Kirkland) Blevans came to the present bounds of the county in 1831 from Tennessee. They married in Tennessee in 1810 and by 1815 had moved to Alabama where they remained until 1823. At that time, they moved back to Bledsoe County, Tennessee.
Nancy was a daughter of John Kirkland who immigrated to the United States from Scotland before the Revolutionary War. He settled briefly in Virginia and then was in South Carolina until about 1800. With four sons and four daughters, he moved into Tennessee around 1800 and is thought to have died there. The name of his wife is not known. The sons of John Kirkland were Archibald, Daniel, Robert, and James Kirkland. His daughters were Nancy K. Blevans, Sarah K. Hix-Evans, Jane K. Hale, and an unknown daughter. These children were all born in South Carolina between 180-1800.
Stephen and Nancy (Kirkland) Blevans were in Pulaski County, Missouri records prior to 1837 when Miller County was formed from part of Pulaski. I believe they settled in the Big Richwoods near present-day Iberia and remained there from about 1831 till about 1850.
During their stay in central Missouri, Stephen Blevans served as a Justice of the Pulaski County Court and was one of Miller County's first Associate Justices after formation in February, 1837. He is referred to as Judge Blevans in county records.
Stephen and Nancy (Kirkland) Blevans had at least three sons, Jonathan, Robert and Jefferson. Jonathan married (1) Julia Ann Allen in Miller Co. in 1843 and (2) Julia Ann Coates in 1855: Robert married (1)Dorinda Gardner in Miller Co. in 1854 and (2) Catherine Hoskins in 1860. No record of a marriage is found for Jefferson. It is believed they also had 3 daughters, Hannah Blevans Good (Mrs. Joseph), Sarah Blevans Anderson (Mrs. John), and Margaret Blevans Rickman (Mrs. William).
Jonathan Blevins/Blevans, the son of Stephen and Nancy, is thought to have been one of the first schoolteachers in the region of the Big Richwoods of southern Miller Couty in the 1830s and 40s. Some census records state that Jonathan could neither read nor write, but it is known he was an early-day schoolteacher and in 1846 he was given the job of enumerating the school children in Richwoods Township and again performed the same duties in 1852. It is not very likely he was illiterate!
Jonathan Blevans, born ca 1815 in Tennessee married Julia Ann Allen, born ca 1824 in Kentucky, in Miller County 12 April 1843. She was a member of the Allen family who came to the county from Barren County, Kentucky about 1841. Jonathan and Julia had four children: Lafayette Allen Born ca 1844 m. Rosaline Norfleet 1864; John S. born ca 1846 m. Ann Eliza How in Cass Co. MO. 1866; James born ca 1848: and Robert B. born ca 1851.
Julia died sometime between 1851 and 1855 because on 1 April 1855, Jonathan his second wife, Julia Ann Coates, who I believe was a niece of Julia (Allen) Blevans. His second wife was several years younger than Jonathan, born about 1837 in Kentucky.
By 1860, Stephen A. Blevins/Blevans had died somewhere in Missouri, possibly in Platte, Buchanan, or Cass county. His will and estate records have not been found. In 1860, Jonathan and Julia (Coates) Blevans was found in Cass County, MO living in Big Creek township. With them were his four children born to his first wife and two children of their own, Mary E. Blevans born ca 1857 and George D. Blevans born ca. 1859. Living nearby was Jonathan's mother, Nancy Kirkland Blevans, in the home of her daughter, Hanna Blevans Good. Jonathan and Julia Ann were still living in Cass County, near the town of Pleasant Hill, in the census of 1870. By the time of this census, they had produced another daughter, Louise born ca 1865.
The Blevans/Kirkland families are being researched by Patricia West of St. Louis, Missouri. A book about these families will be published in the future. Ms. West graciously supplied me with her researched material so that a segment on this early Miller County family can be recorded in this history of "MILLER COUNTY'S PIONEERING FAMILIES".
THE BLISS FAMILY
CHEESE....in several counties of this state considerable attention is paid to the making of this article. In St. Charles, Morgan, and Miller, we know that a good deal is made, but from other counties we have very little information. One thing is certain, that of all we use, at least 9/10th is made in other states. This ought not to be so, especially when we can make as good an article as any of our sister states. Mr. Cordell, one of our merchants, placed on our table a few days ago a cheese made by Mr. Daniel Bliss of Miller County. It is a capital article, and we seldom get as good from Ohio. It was a good Democratic cheese, for it was made in Democratic Missouri. Mr. Cordell said it was made by a Whig, but we think he must have been in a joking mood, for it had to us a fine Democratic taste. For the cheese, though it has been devoured, we return our thanks, and give our promise to treat all future favors of the kind in the same way.
This very interesting news item was found in the Missouri Historical Review, Volume 36, No. 1, dated October 1941. It was listed under the section called, "Missouri History Not Found in Textbooks". With the mention of a Miller Co. resident in a Jefferson City newspaper printed in 1847, I thought it might be interesting to learn more about Daniel Bliss.
According to census records, Daniel was a native of the state of Connecticut, born circa 1802. There were 33 Bliss families listed in the Connecticut census of 1790, the first census taken in the new United States. They were living in the counties of Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New London, Tolland, and Windham. The Bliss family was from England and according to the census records of 1790, about 97% of all the residents of the state were of English origin. It is difficult to determine from which family Daniel originated, but using pure speculation and intuition, it is possible he was a son of Samuel Bliss of Windham County. Daniel's father was born in England and his mother was a native of New York per the Miller County 1880 census.
Daniel's oldest son was Samuel David Bliss and as was the custom in those days, he was probably named for his paternal grandfather. It was interesting to note that the Bliss family was very prevalent in the 1790 census in New England with almost 200 families enumerated in the states of Connecticut, Massaschuetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Daniel Bliss and his first wife, Nancy, came to Missouri in the late 1830's the best I can determine. He homesteaded land in northern Miller Co. in 1836, but I am not sure when they actually moved here from Connecticut.
After Nancy's death, Daniel married again and fathered at least 3 more children by his second wife, Martha Jane Manes. They were: Daniel W. Bliss II, Thomas B. Bliss, and T. Bliss.
In 1851, Daniel W. Bliss, son of Daniel and Nancy, was killed by Indians on a trip to California on the Green River Road near Deseret in central Utah. He was a partner of the California Gold Diggin Company which was made up of men from Miller and Morgan counties who went on an expedition to the gold fields of California in 1851. When the Company dissolved in California, Daniel, Sr. sued the other owners for his son's portion of the proceeds. The estate of Daniel W. Bliss can be found in the Probate records of Miller County.
In 1847, Daniel and Nancy Bliss were living in the Mt. Pleasant area of Saline Township. Some of their neighbors included Hiram B. Russell, William Miller, Samuel Allen, Samuel Jones, Nathaniel Wyrick, and William Etter. This was the same year Daniel made his delicious "Democratic" cheese and sent it up to the City of Jefferson to a merchant named Mr. Cordell.
Nancy Bliss died in 1858 and was buried at the Dooley Cemetery, west of Eldon. Beside her is a daughter, Victoria, who died at the age of 17 years in 1857. There is no record of Daniel being buried there or anywhere else in Miller Co.
In 1869, Daniel married his second wife, Martha Jane Manes, who was much younger than he. Daniel was 67 years old and Martha was a very young 21 years when they married. He fathered at least 3 children by Martha including Daniel W., Thomas B., and Benj. Frank. It was interesting to note that he gave the same name to two of his sons--Daniel W. Bliss. The older son named Daniel was killed in 1851 and the second son whom he named Daniel W. was born in 1870.
Daniel, his 2nd wife Martha, and their 3 children were in the 1880 Miller Co. census, but do not appear in later records. They lived on an adjoining farm to his son, Samuel D. Bliss and his family in Franklin Township. Evidently old Daniel and his 2nd wife had moved from the Mt. Pleasant area and into the Dooley Cemetery area prior to the 1880 census. He does not appear in other records and if he died in Miller Co., there is no record of his burial place. Martha Manes Bliss probably remarried after the death of Daniel because she would have still been a young woman with young children to rear alone.
Samuel Davis Bliss, son of Daniel and Nancy, was an early physician in Miller Co. and remained in Franklin Township in the northwest section of the county. His children married into the families of Babcock, Bowlin, Hader, and Rains. Dr. Samuel Bliss and his two wives, Mary Lumpkin and Rebecca Conner, are buried at Dooley Cemetery.
Thomas Bliss, son of Samuel and grandson of Daniel, became a merchant in the booming town of Aurora Springs in its heyday. He owned a grocery store and a restaurant. His wife, Nancy (Bowlin) Bliss owned a millinery shop in the town in 1889.
The pioneer family name of Bliss is no longer familiar in the Miller County area. If there are descendants still living in our central Missouri region, I am not aware of their whereabouts. In 1905, William P. Bliss, another son of Dr. Samuel and a grandson of Daniel Bliss of Connecticut, was living in Parsons, Kansas. Perhaps other members of the family also moved west.
JONATHAN BLIZE
Jonathan Blize was an early settler in Miller County who died only one year after the county was formed (Feb. 6, 1837). His probate records were filed in the Miller County Court and were among the first recorded. The administrator's bond is dated Feb. 23, 1838, and the administrator of his estate was William Blize, whom I believe was his oldest son. The bond was for $1000, a substantial amount for that era of time. It was signed by William Blize and secured by two local residents of the Big Richwoods, Daniel Brumley and John M. Wisdom.
The appraisement of his personal property was made by Reuben Short, John Hale and Josiah Birdsong. All that was listed in the estate were three bay mares, three colts, a saddle, bridle & blanket...I don't think those items had a value of $1000 in those days. When sold on April 7, 1838, the horses, saddle, bridle and blanket brought $256. The buyers included Jesse Kendrick, a justice of the peace of Tuscumbia; Daniel Brumley, William Blize and John Shelton.
Jonathan Blize married a Miss Shelton in Grainger County, Tennessee in 1798 according to some family records.
The only one of the seven children who remained in Miller County was William Blize, the oldest son. In 1840, William and his first wife, Elizabeth (Davis) were living in Richwood Township. They had married in Cole County, Mo., in 1831. During the census of 1850 & 1860, they were still living the same area and their neighbors included the families of Jarrett, West, Lawson, Humphrey and Whitaker. According to the Jenkin's History of Miller County, William Blyze/Blize operated an early grist mill on the Big Tavern Creek, in partnership with a West...it was called West & Blyze Grist Mill.
William Blize was married three times and fathered at least 10 children: Pauline, Prior, James C., Malvina, Nancy, William N., Rachel, Sarah Jane, Emily and Amanda. His three wives were (1.) Elizabeth Davis 1831, (2.) Sarah Witten 1854, (3.) Caroline Coxey 1858.
Prior Lee and Eliza Kanatzer Blize
William and two of his wives, Elizabeth and Caroline are buried at the Belk Family Cemetery, located a few miles northeast of Iberia.
William Blize 1798-1875
Elizabeth Blize 1816-1853
Nancy Caroline Blize 1828-1875
It would appear from the probate records of Jonathan Blize, that he came to Miller County with his son, William and evidently died a short while later. All his children had moved to Missouri from Tennessee by 1838, but only three lived in Central Missouri...William Blize and Mary Blize Craig in Miller County, and Sarah Blize Starks in Cole County.
BOECKMANN BRIDGE AND THE BOECKMANN FAMILY
The BOECKMANN FAMILY was German immigrants who came to America in the mid 1800s from Prussia/Germany and first settled in Osage County. There were four different Boeckmann families who came to Central Missouri including:
I am sure all the men listed above were related to one another, perhaps some were brothers. The Boeckmann families settled at Weshphalia, Rich Fountain, and Koeltztown in Osage Co., MO.
By 1870, Joseph and Maria Josephine Boeckmann (who had come to America on the "Oldenburg" in 1851) had moved to Miller County and had located near the Big Tavern creek, southeast of present-day St. Elizabeth. They were parents of three sons, Herman Boeckmann b. 1846 in Germany; Francis/Frank Boeckmann b. 1850 Germany and Joseph Boeckmann born 1852 in Missouril. Among their neighbors in 1870 were the families of Weimmer, Whalen, Lee, Braiser, West, Hill, Hawk, Wade, and Broherhoff.
Joseph Boeckmann lived to the age of 84 years and died in 1895. He was buried at St. Lawrence Cemetery in St. Elizabeth. His wife, Maria Josephine, died one year earlier in 1894 at the age of 73 years and was also buried at St. Lawrence.
Herman Boeckmann, the oldest of the three sons, married Gertrude Dicke Buechter at Old St. Elizabeth on 18 Feb 1873. Their marriage was performed by J. M. Buergler, a Catholic priest at the old river town. Gertrude was the widow of Frank Buechter who had died in 1872 and is buried at Old St. Elizabeth Cemetery, sometimes called Charleytown Cemetery. Gertrude Buechter was several years older than Herman and had four children by Buechter when she married Herman. In 1880, they were living on the Boeckmann farm and also in their household were her two youngest children, Elizabeth age 17, and Catherine age 12. The older daughter, Gertrude, had already married and left home and the only son, Joseph Buechter, was living with another family in the same community.
Sometime between 1880 and 1886, Gertrude Buechter Boeckmann died. I have not been able to locate her burial place. It is possible she is buried beside her first husband at Old St. Elizabeth Cemetery in an unmarked grave. On November 23, 1886, Herman Boeckmann married his second wife, Theresa/Tracy Albers of neighboring Osage County, the marriage performed by Ferdinand Walser, a Catholic priest.
Herman Boeckmann and his second wife were parents of several children including: MARY JOSEPHINE BOECKMANN b. 1887; ANNA C. BOECKMANN b. 1889; KATHERINE O. BOECKMANN b. 1891; MARY BOECKMANN b. 1892: and JOSEPH A. BOECKMANN b. 1899. There may have been other children born after the 1900 census was taken.
In 1900, Herman and Tracy Boeckmann were living on the old Boeckmann farm where his parents had settled more than 30 years earlier. Among their neighbors at the turn of the century were the families of Buechter, Dose, Clark, Grosvenor, Crismon, Goeller, Ortbals, Heckemeyer, Steinman, Lindenbusch and Kesel. This is the farm and the family which gave the name to Boeckmann Bridge. The old bridge was constructed in 1926 within sight of the old Boeckmann homestead which still sits on a bluff overlooking the Big Tavern creek as it meanders north and east through Osage township before finally reaching the Osage River a few miles north of St. Elizabeth.
NOTE: Gertrude Dicke Buechter, the first wife of Herman Boeckmann, was the great grandmother of my husband, Ambrose Hake. She and Frank Buechter were parents of three daughters and one son. She had no children by Boeckmann. Ambrose's grandmother, Elizabeth Buechter, was the third child born to Gertrude and Frank Buechter. Elizabeth married John Volmert and had a large family. They reared their children "up the Big Tavern Creek" a few miles from Boeckmann Bridge.
BOECKMANN BRIDGE,
MILLER COUNTY'S NATIONAL REGISTER
HISTORIC SITE
Boeckmann Bridge was one of eight bridges built in Miller County in the mid 1920s and early 1930s. It was probably the earliest one built since it qualified for the National Register of Historic Places. All eight of the old 'swinging bridges' were still standing until about a year ago (1998).
Hoecker Bridge, north of St. Elizabeth, was replaced with a new structure last year and the old bridge was destroyed. Actually, only four of the eight bridges have been classified as timber "swinging' bridges (Boeckmann, Buechter, Brumley, and Singer) and all span the Big Tavern Creek. The other four (Kemna, Hoecker, Mill Creek, and Auglaize) are considered steel suspension bridges.
Boeckmann Bridge was under construction from March through May in 1926. Early that year, Joseph Boeckmann, his wife, and their son, Herman, signed a warranty deed conveying a right-of-way of approximately one acre to Miller County for construction of a new bridge which would be built near their home in Osage township. At the time the area was overseen by a Special Road District which was in existence until 1951. When the 'Special' was dissolved, the area roads and bridges were given back to Miller County to maintain.
Boeckmann Bridge was built under the supervision of Joseph A. Dice, a bridge builder and engineer from Warsaw, Benton Co., MO. He also supervised the building of Miller County's other swinging bridges during their five years of construction (1926-1931). There were eight workers who worked on the construction of Boeckmann Bridge including Mr. Dice, his son, Joseph Boeckmann and his son, Herman, Ralph Robinett and three others who were not named in the official report I was able to review.
Joseph A. Dice spent his entire career in bridge planning and building. He built the first suspension bridge to span the mighty Osage River in his native Benton County in 1894. When the Miller County Court decided the county would have to update their road system in the mid 1920s, they contacted Mr. Dice hoping he could help them with their plans. At the time, it was the general consensus that suspension bridges would be the best when considering the costs, the terrain, and Mr. Dice's expertise in the area of bridge-building techniques.
Boeckmann Bridge is located on the old St. Elizabeth-St. Anthony road, a few miles southeast of St. Elizabeth. It is 240 feet long, 16 feet wide, and crosses the Big Tavern creek in a northwest to southeast direction at an elevation of 29 feet above creek level. It is suspended by zinc-clad main and suspender cables (each cable consists of 300 strands of #9 bridge wire) and are secured in masonry anchors. The floor was made of untreated oak timbers and it was interesting to note that in 1978, 52 years after construction, the cables had never been touched.
The Lake of the Ozarks Council of Local Governments nominated the bridge for placement on the National Register of Historic Places in August 1978. The nomination was submitted by the Mo. Dept. of Natural Resource's office of preservation in October 1978 and it was officially placed on the National Register in Washington, D.C. on March 19, 1979.
The theme for its placement was considered under the title of "Technology" and according to the official report, the reason it was accepted was the following....."It is an unusual form of regional bridge construction which has survived with virtually all its original materials intact...Miller County may well have more suspension 'swinging' bridges than any other county in Missouri. Unfortunately, most of them have undergone tremendous changes to keep up with heavier loads and increased traffic on the county roads. But Boeckmann Bridge has not changed except for the replacement of an occasional floor beam or plank...it represents how other suspension bridges in the Osage River Valley once appeared."
Boeckman Bridge has been on the National Register of Historic Places for 20 years but like so many other historic places, time and the elements have a way of causing decay and deterioration. The daily flow of traffic has increased on the county roads and the loads have gotten heavier as farmers need to get their livestock and grains to market....When Boeckmann was built over 73 years ago (1926) , who would have suspected their 'technology' of building suspension "Swinging Bridges" would be overshadowed and swallowed up by our modern-day technology!
MARY ELIZABETH BOLTZ
Mary Elizabeth Boltz was born in Virginia (today the area is part of West Virginia) on February 14, 1844. She was a daughter of David Boltz (1811-1885, a native of Pennsylvania) and his wife, Nancy (born in Bartley Co., VA 1820 and died 1879). When they came to Miller County the family first settled in Osage township. Their neighbors in the census of 1860 were the families of Roark, Riggs, Capps, Fulkerson, Staton, Morgan and Stark. By 1870, they had moved to Glaize township and settled in the Bear Creek area.
From census records it appears the Boltz family came to Missouri from Virginia/West Virginia between 1855 and 1857. They had 6 children when they came to Miller County and 2 more were born after they came to central Missouri. Mary Elizabeth Boltz married George Barnett in Miller County on June 14, 1866. Their marriage was performed by Ambrose Brockman, justice of the peace. George Barnett was born in Pennsylvania in 1835.
Their second son, Simon, was born in 1868 and died at the age of 1-1/2 years in June 1869. He was the first person buried in Boltz Family Cemetery, located near where the family had settled in Glaize Township in "Bear Creek Country".
In 1875, Mary Elizabeth Boltz-Barnett became a member of the Methodist Church and later joined the Baptist Church. Her husband, George, preceded her in death by several years when he died in 1909. She remained his widow until her death at the age of 79 years on February 3, 1924. Both are buried at Boltz Cemetery. She was survived by three children; 3 sisters: Ella Boltz-Robinson, Samantha Jane Boltz-Graham, and Rachel Boltz-Crane; and one brother, Melvin Boltz.
THE BOND FAMILY
The branch of the Bond family in America is of English origin. The English stock coming originally from Saxony to England about the time of the Norman Conquest (1066). From Wiltshire notes and queries: (Quote) "Benjamin Bond, son of Edward Bond of Bewley Laycock Parish, and Ann Paradise of Stamterford, Wiltshire, were married second month, twentieth day, 1686 at Stamterford, England."
Joseph bond, son of Benjamin and Ann (Paradise) Bond of Devizes, Wiltshire, England, was born on 6 August 1704. His father was a Quaker, yet no evidence is found of Joseph being a Quaker. He arrived at Philadelphia around 1735 and was bound or put under contract to pay for his voyage. After gaining liberty, he married Martha Rogers, who came on the same boat and lived in Buck County, Pennsylvania for some years. His grandson wrote at the age of 81 years: (Quote) "My grandfather Bond's name was Joseph and grandmother's name was Martha Rogers before she married. They both came from England in one ship when young, and after working to pay passage, were married. Grandmother was thought to be a kinswoman of John Rogers, the martyr." Joseph Bond and his wife moved from Pennsylvania to North Carolina about 1750 to New Garden, now Guilford College, North Carolina. Joseph Bond was a grandson of Edward Bond of England and son of Benjamin Bond and Ann Paradise of Wiltshire, England. He was born in England and immigrated to America to Penn., moved to Rowan Co., N.C. (became Gilford Co. in 1791). Joseph Bond died before 1760 and is buried in New Garden, now Guildord College, North Carolina. The children of Joseph Bond & Martha Rogers Bond: Benjamin, Ruth, Steven, Samuel, and John.
John Bond, son of Joseph & Martha, was born May 13, 1755. He was married on Jan. 28, 1778, to Jane Beeson, daughter of Benjamin Beeson and Elizabeth, his wife, of Guilford College, No. Carolina. She died in 1792. They were members of Center Monthly Meeting of Friends, or Quakers, but in 1781, they moved their membership to Dure River Monthly Meeting. Eight children were born to John and Jane Bond before Jane's death. In New Hope Monthly meeting, we find where five sons of John Bond move their right of membership from Center Montly Meeting of N.C. to New Hope Monthly Meeting, Green Co., Tennessee. Those sons were: Benjamin Bond, Joel Bond, Isaac Bond, William Bond and Joseph Bond.
Joseph Bond, second & oldest son of John & Jane (Beeson) Bond, was born Feb. 29, 1780 in Guilford Co., N.C. His parents were Quakers. In 1795 Joseph Bond moved to Green Co., Kentucky. In 1797, Joseph moved to Jefferson Co., Tennessee. At the age of 17, Joseph married ' out of the meeting', contrary to the rules of the Society and thereby lost his membership. Joseph and his father-in-law settled in Wayne Co., KY near Cumberland River. Here he raised his family and her he is buried. He died in 1853. Joseph married Abigail Hinds in 1795, a daughter of Joseph Hinds, whose wife was a Ludlow. The children of Joseph and Abigail Bond: Joe Bond, Sarah Bond, John Bond, and 8 others.
John Bond, son of Joseph Bond and Abigail Hinds, was born in Wayne Co., KY about 1801. He married Brady. Their children were born in Wayne Co., KY including: Martin Bond, Isaac Bond, William Bond, Joseph Bond; four others died in childhood. John Bond married a second time to Polly Ann Barker of Wayne Co., KY and about 1838 they moved to Cole Co., MO. Their children were: Berry Bond, Joel Jasper Bond, Charity Bond, James S. Bond, Louis J. Bond, and John S. Bond.
Martin D. Bond, son of John and Abigail Hinds Bond, was born in Wayne Co., KY in 1827 and died in Miller Co., MO. He married Charlotte Newton 6 Sept 1846. She was born in 1824 and died in 1911 in Oklahoma. Children of Martin and Charlotte Bond were: Simon S. Bond, Martha Matilda Bond Malone, James Pl Bond, Catherine Bond, Julia Bond Todd, Isreal Newton Bond, Isabel Bond Smith.
Isreal Newton Bond, son of Martin D. and Charlotte Newton Bond, was married to Lucy Emily Loveall, daughter of Stephen and Amanda Rush Loveall, on April 9, 1876. Lucy Loveall was born near Marys Home on June 13, 1861 and died in Eugene, MO. January 19, 1946. Newton Bond died November 6, 1900, of rabies.
Ten children wre born to them: Cora Alice Bond Jenkins, Walter Bond, Arthur Bond, Archie Bond: five died in infancy. Lucy Loveall Bond married a second time to James Johnston and had one son, Harry Johnston. Lucy and Johnston were divorced; she then married Seaberry Bond, Newton's brother. After his death, she married George Thatcher, who died in 1935.
Cora Alice Bond, daughter of Israel Newton and Lucy (Loveall) Bond, was born April 28, 188 and married Issaac Anderson Jenkins September 1, 1901. He was the son of Benjamin Harrison and Sarah Spyres Jenkins. They were the parents of 12 children, including: Emily, Thelma, Desmond, Burie, Basil, Tandy, Eula, Arthur, Hershel, Robie, & Wanda. Emily and Arthur died in infancy.
I have a ggg-grandfather named Isaac Bond who married Temperance ? in 1836 TN.
CHARLES H. BOND
Charles Henderson Bond was born near Iberia on 9 July 1878, a son of Lewis Allen Bond and Martha Elizabeth Blize. Lewis and Martha were married in Miller County on August 23, 1877. Martha (1858-1936) was a daughter of Prior and Elizabeth Ann (Kanatzer) Blize. Lewis Bond (1858-1949) was a son of Felix H. and Elizabeth (Burks) Bond.
In 1900, the Bond family was living in Richwoods Township, northwest of Iberia near the families of Denton, Meredith, Groves, Wall, Arnold, Mace, Livingston, and Mayfield.
James Andrew & Margaret Sorters Barlow
On December 9, 1900 at the age of 21 years, Charles Henderson Bond married Sarah Isabel Barlow, the marriage performed by John H. Aust, minister. Most of her life she was called "Izzie". Her marriage record listed her name as Izzie Barlow. I learned her full name from a granddaughter, Peggy Bond Miller, who lives in the state of Washington. Izzie Barlow Bond was born 19 August 1878 in Miller County, a daughter of James Andrew Barlow (1853-1930) and Margaret C. Sorters (1848-1913). Izzie's Barlow grandparents were James M. Barlow and Julia Ann Robinett. Her grandfather was born c/1815 in Kentucky and died during the Civil War at Helena, Arkansas. Her grandmother, Julia, was born in 1817 and was a daughter of Joseph Robinett and Rachel Tatman. James and Julia married 18 June 1837 in Gallatin County, Illinois.
Bond, Charles H. and Sarah (Izzie) Barlow Bond
Charles H. Bond was a member of the Iberia Methodist Church and the Modern Woodmen of America. He died at the age of 93 years on March 8, 1971 with funeral services held at the Iberia Methodist Church. He was buried in Livingston Cemetery beside his wife, Sarah Isabel/Izzie (Barlow) who had preceded him in death 18 years earlier on 16 January 1953.
According to his obituary, Charley/Charles was survived by his son and daughter, six grandchildren, and eleven great grandchildren; one brother, John Dow Bond of Iberia, and two sisters, Nettie Bond Hensley of Ulman and Sadie Bond Law of Eldon.
NANCY ADELINE BOND
Nancy Adeline Bond was born in May 1850 in Miller County. She was a daughter of Felix H. Bond (b. c1824 Tennessee) and Elizabeth Burks (b. c1817 Tennessee). Her parents married in Miller County on February 4, 1842, the marriage performed by Peter Bilyeu, a justice of the peace in Richwoods Township.
Nancy Adeline Bond
Family of Louis and Martha Blize Bond.
Back row, l to r. Jessie, John, Charley, George, Perry, Joe.
Front row, l to r. Nellie, Lou, Martha, Sadie, Jenny, Della.
On 25 June 1866, Felix H. Bond married his second wife, Tabitha Record of Iberia. Their marriage was performed by John Bear, a justice of the peace. Nancy Adeline Bond married Jacob Denton on August 18, 1867 in Miller County. Jacob S. McComb, a minister of the gospel, conducted the ceremony.
Jacob Denton must have died between 1875 when Wesley was born and 1879 when Nancy married her second husband. I found no record of Jacob's death or burial.
Nancy Adeline married husband #2, Alexander Smith, on 21 December 1879 with the wedding performed by Elder B. Castleman of Richwoods Township. Alexander was a son of John Wesley Smith Sr. and Nancy Stinnett. Alexander was a younger brother to my great grandfather, William Harrison Smith, both born in Pulaski County, MO.
Nancy Adeline Bond-Denton-Smith died in early 1940. I found her probate records in the Miller County Probate files. She was survived by 2 of her 6 children, Otto Smith and Walksie Smith Wilson. Her son, Otto, was named as executor of her estate with Clarence Casey of Adams and Casey Funeral Home, as a security for a bond issued for the estate. She owned 40 acres of land on the east side of the Barren Fork creek near land owned today by the Powell and Spearman families. According to a plat map, dated 1988, the same 40 acres was owned by Gail Smith. I do not know if he was a descendant of Nancy or not.
The probate records were very good for genealogical research because it listed her two living children as well as the heirs of her deceased children and their places of residence in 1949.
I could not find a record for the burial site of Nancy Adeline, but believe she is buried at Livingston Cemetery beside her second husband, Alexander Smith, who had preceded her in death.
SARAH HASELTINE BOND
Sarah Haseltine Bond was born 9 December 1848 in Miller County, a daughter of Felix H. Bond (1823-1903) and his first wife, Elizabeth Burks (1823-1865). Both Felix and Elizabeth were natives of East Tennessee. Elizabeth Burks Bond may have been a daughter of Willis Burks of McMinn County, TN. The Bond and Burks families came to Miller County in the 1840s and settled in Richwoods Township, north of Iberia. Their neighbors during the era of the 1850s and 60s were the families of Gardner, Castleman, Bailey, Stone, Burks, Short, Aust, Jones, Ponder, Wheeler, and Shelton.
Felix and Elizabeth (Burks) Bond were parents of several children including: JOHN ROBERTSON BOND b. 1844 m. Sarah A. Watkins 1861; SARAH HASELTINE BOND b. 1848 m. John W. Smith, Jr. 1865; NANCY ADELINE BOND b. 1850 m. (1) Jacob Denton 1867 (2) Alexander Smith 1879; LURANA V. BOND b. 1852 m. Thomas H. Fancher 1877; SOPHRONIA EMELINE BOND b. 1856 d. 1880 in childbirth m. John M. Duncan 1879; LEWIS ALLEN BOND b. 1859 m. Martha Elizabeth Blize 1877; and FELIX GRUNDY BOND b. 1860 m. Mary Elizabeth Jones 1885.
Sarah Haseltine Bond, oldest daughter of Felix and Elizabeth, married John Wesley Smith, Jr. in Miller County 14 November 1865, the marriage performed by George Mitchell, Baptist minister. John was a son of John Wesley Smith, Sr. and Nancy Stinnett, natives of Kentucky and Tennessee, respectively. The Smiths were living in Pulaski County during the census of 1840. John was born in Pulaski County in 1847. When he was very young (about 15 years old), he volunteered to fight for the Union army in the Civil War. He served in Company H, 11th Regiment of the Missouri Cavalry. In September 1864, John was taken a prisoner of war near Searcy, Arkansas and was later exchanged for a Confederate prisoner at Arnold's Ford on the Little White River in northern Arkansas. On 27 July 1865, he was mustered out of service at New Orleans, Louisiana. He was only 18 years old and had seen much of the South during his teenage years.
Sarah and John Smith were both very young when they married in November 1865. He had just returned from the Civil War and was about 18 years old; Sarah was 17 when they married. They became parents of twelve children, three whom died young before 1900. Much of their early married years were spent in the Iberia area but later they moved to Crocker, Pulaski County, and lived there the rest of their lives. Many of their children remained in the Crocker area and today several descendants of Sarah and John still live in Pulaski County.
The children of Sarah (Bond) and John Smith were: MINERVA J. SMITH b. 1866 (died young); MARY E. SMITH 1868-1892 m. Martin A. Jones 1885; CLARA ALICE SMITH 1870-1932 m. Joseph J. Cooper 1892; MATILDA A. SMITH b. 1872 m. (1) Nathan Hart 1890 (2) A. M. Stickney 1893; NANCY E. SMITH b. 1875 (died young); LUCY A. SMITH b. 1876 (died young); ANDORIA/DORA SMITH b. 1878 m. George H. Jones 1894; RENIA M. SMITH 1882-1967 m. Louis C. Faust 1903; FELIX LEANDER SMITH 1884-1942 m. Thressa Deardueff 1907; LEWIS WESLEY SMITH 1884-1959 m. Nora Ethel Haines 1907; DESSIE SMITH 1887-1959 m. John E. Barlow, Jr 1903; and HARVEY CLIFTON SMITH 1893-1971 m. Hazel _______. NOTE: Felix and Lewis were twins
John Wesley Smith Jr. died 22 Dec 1919 at the age of 72 years. He was brought to Iberia and buried in the Iberia Cemetery. Sarah Haseltine Bond-Smith lived until 11 April 1925 when she died at the age of 76 years at her home in Crocker. Sarah and John had spent 54 years together as husband and wife. She was also brought to Iberia where her funeral services were held at the Christian Newlight Church in north Iberia and conducted by Rev. Jess O. Brown. She was buried beside John at Iberia Cemetery.
NOTE: John Wesley Smith Jr. was a younger brother to my great grandfather, William Harrison Smith. Both were born in northwest Pulaski County, MO, in the Hawkeye area, sons of John Wesley Smith Sr. and Nancy Stinnett.
BOREN/BOURNE FAMILY
James Calvin Boren, was a son of William Henry Bourne/Boren and Mary Boutwell Drummond. His mother's parents were Henry Drummond and Mary Boutwell Taliaferro.
(It is said the older children were born Amherst Co., VA)
William Henry and Mary (Drummond) Bourne were found in Osage County, MO in the census of 1850. By 1860, William must have been deceased and Mary was living with their son, Zachariah, in Miller County. She was listed as "Mary B. Keeth". In 1858, Mary B. Bourne married John Keeth in Miller County. At this time I do not know who this John Keeth was. There was a John Keeth, born c/1827, who married Catherine J. Whittle and in 1860, they were living in Richwoods township with 6 children, ages 1 thru 12. This is surely not the same John Keeth who married Mary B. Bourne in 1858!!
In the Pulaski County census of 1860, James Bourne and his wife, Martha Catherine (Setser), were living in the Hawkeye area of northwest Tavern Township near the Miller County boundary line. Some of their neighbors included the families of Setser, Wall, Smith,Shelton, Thornton, Luttrell, Reynolds, McDowell, Stewart, and Glover.
THE HITE BOREN STORY
In 1983, I had the privilege of interviewing one of the area's oldest citizens, Hite Boren, of Hawkeye in Pulaski County. At the time he was in his 100th year and he lived for another 2 years after my interview. I had such a pleasure visiting and speaking with Uncle Hite Boren of Hawkeye. He is a marvelous old gentleman who celebrated his 100th birthday in February of this year (1983). He lives alone in his little home in Hawkeye and gets around remarkably well. His eyesight is nearly gone, but his other senses are so keen! His memory is like a computer that has stored facts and dates in a memory bank that can be tapped with just a little persuasion. Let me tell you his wonderful family history as he told it to me and his 100 years of life.
James Hite Boren
James Hite Boren was born just a short distance from where he now lives in February, 1883. He was one of 13 children born to James and Catherine (Setser) Boren. His brothers and sisters were: Manuel, Joseph/Joe, John, Scott, Charley, Adam, Jane, Sarah/Sally, Martha, Eva, Hattie, and Lillie. In 1904, at age 21 years, Hite married Zelphia E. McDowell, daughter of Wm. and Sarah (Legion) McDowell. The brothers and sisters of Zilphia were: Calvin, John, Monroe, Frank, Sadie (Wall), Margaret (Woods), Mary Jane (Shelton), and twins, Victoria (Lemmons) and Alice (Brumley).
The parents of both Hite and Zelphia came to Miller County in the mid 19th century from Georgia. Jim Boren, Hite's father, was born and reared to manhood in Macon, Georgia. Hite's mother, Catherine Setser, daughter of Manuel and Judy Setser, was born and reared in North Carolina. Jim, who was 26 years old, born in 1838, married Catherine, age 15, just before they started their trek to Missouri c/1860. Jim and Catherine were among a large group of immigrants who journeyed here together from Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. The Borens and McDowells were accompanied by other families including the Setsers, Steens, Legions, and Russells. They came in a group of 45 wagons which they called a 'wagon pack' and all settled in the same area of northern Pulaski and southern Miller counties.
Hite and Zelphia were parents of 3 children: Orville, who is deceased; Frank lives near his father and cares for him daily, and Pearl (Mrs. Homer Cochran). Zelphia passed on at the age of 82 in 1968. This wonderful couple celebrated 64 years of marriage before her death and they shared many years of happiness as they welcomed new Boren generations. Today, Hite has 6 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, and 4 great, great grandchildren. NOTE: Since 1983, I am sure that number has increased (PSH).
I taped our conversation that evening when I visited Hite. He told me he only attended school for about 2 years as a child because the times were 'rough' and the children were needed on the farm. After marriage, he learned to read and write, taught by his wife whom he called a 'good scholar'. His first job away from home was when he reached the age of 16. He worked 99 days for Charley Condra doing farm chores and field labor. As the years rolled along, he was a man of many trades--a farmer in Pulaski County, a harvest hand in Kansas, an employee of Hunter's Mill in Wellington, KS, a rural mail carrier, a state prison employee in MO, and a laborer when Ft. Leonard Wood was being constructed. His job as rural mail carrier (1915-1919) during World War I, must have been an interesting one. He carried the mail by team and wagon from Hawkeye to Crocker (Pulaski Co.). He and Ben McDowell were co-partners on this mail route. One week Hite would carry the mail and Ben would farm; the next week, vice-versa.
Hite registered for the draft during World War I but was never called. By this time he was almost 35 years old and the draft caught the younger men. When Hite was a child, everyone called their elders either uncle, aunt, grandma, or grandpa. He quipped to me that he didn't realize his neighbors had other names until he was grown! That is a custom which has disappeared over the years, although when you speak with him, it seems only natural to call him "Uncle Hite" or perhaps "Grandpa Hite". His family raised sugar cane each year to make a large supply of molasses for themselves and their neighbors. In the gardens, they raised most of their year's food. One of the methods used to preserve food for the oncoming months was to use mother earth for storage. Cabbages were turned upside down; the potatoes and turnips were kept in deep holes dug in the earth, and covered with straw and old sacks. They also raised pinto and white northern beans and black-eyed peas. The vegetables they picked were lain out in the sun to dry and when the shells broke, the beaus and peas were ready to store in sacks.
Hite remembered Hawkeye as a busy little village over the many years that have passed by. There were several general stores and mercantiles in the town. Some of the storekeepers were Anderson Keeth, Joe Whittle (my great grandfather), Fred Ferguson, Elijah Strutton, 'Black' Jim Wall, Elbert Pemberton, and Jack Brumley. A blacksmith shop was owned by Fred and Jim Slone. Upstairs over one of the stores was a Modern Woodmen of America hall, a civic organization of which Hite was a member. He could remember several post offices operated by his area neighbors in various locations. The churches of Hawkeye have been the Christian Church (Campbellite) built c/1880, a Baptist Church built on a hill about a half-mile from Hawkeye and later another Baptist Church was constructed in town. It is in use today, remodeled and renovated.
As a child, Hite could remember hearing fantastic eye-witness stories of the Civil War as experienced by the old soldiers who would gather at his father's house. On many Friday nights, these old veterans would get together and talk for hours of their experiences through the war years. He named these men who would share their memories at his father's house and they included: Squire John Ferguson, Willis Lively, 'Preacher' Rutter, George Steen, Smith Holden, Tom Thornsberry, Will Pemberton, Thomas Day, Abner Long, Henry Carroll, John Carroll, John Lowery, Jim Smith, Bill Madden, Nicholas Long, Jack Long, Peter Whittle, Solomon Keeth, 'Preacher' Jack Thompson, Thomas Owen Workman, 'old man' Hill, and Bill McDowell. See what I mean when I speak of his remarkable memory!
G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) encampments were held every year at Richland, Crocker, Brumley, and Iberia. For 4 days, excitement would overflow at these encampments. Many families would come into the towns in wagons and camp out during the 4 days of activities. Hite told me the first encampment held at Iberia was located on the "Irwin and Farnham farms" outside of town. I had always assumed all encampments and picnics had been held at old Hardy Park on the western edge of Iberia. He related so many other marvelous stories, but space does not permit me to write them all.
I asked him for whom he voted for President the first time, but at the time he could not remember. He said, "It was in 1904 and he was a Republican 'cause I've always voted the Republican ticket". Well, folks, the first President he voted for was none other than old Teddy Roosevelt who was elected in the November general election of 1904!
Hite has owned only one car in his lifetime and he refused to drive it on the highways! He preferred his trusted horse and would today if he could ride again. He also informed me he has never ridden in a boat or an airplane and what's more, he never will! Trains were a different story; he has ridden many and even tried "hoboing" the tracks to the Kansas wheat harvests as a young man.
Needless to say, my visit and interview with Uncle Hite Boren was a wonderful experience. As this grand, old man begins his second one hundred years of life, I can only envy him all those glorious memories of his first one hundred years. He has lived through the most exciting time of world history...he began life on a frontier farm in the 1880s; saw the horseless carriage arrive; then he witnessed the airplane soar across the skies; he saw electricity invented for our modern conveniences; and onward to a computerized age of space technology and man's first visit to the moon.
I, too, have seen all these so-called 'modern day miracles', but do you know what? I wish I could have sat around an open fireplace or campfire and heard all those tales told of the Civil War by old soldiers as they gathered together at the home of Jim Boren all those countless years ago!!!
MARY ELLEN BOURNE-KEETH
Mary Ellen Bourne was born in Virginia, probably in Augusta County, on April 23, 1839. She was a daughter of William Henry Bourne (b. c/1808) and Mary B. Drummond (b. c/1818), who were married in Augusta County on April 27, 1835.
William Henry and Mary B. Bourne came to Missouri about 1846-47 from Virginia and settled in Osage County, Missouri in Crawford Township. They were enumerated in the 1850 census of Osage County. Sometime before 1858, William Bourne died because the Bourne family was in Miller County during that census and he was not named. Zachariah, the oldest son, and his second wife, Harriett (Sanford), were living in Equality Township (near Richwoods) and in their home was his mother, Mary, and 6 siblings.
Mary Bourne was listed as Mary Keeth . She had married John R. Keeth in Miller County in March 1858. I am not sure who this John R. Keeth was because there were several men in the Keeth family named John.......After the 1860 census, no further record is found for Mary Bourne Keeth. There is a Civil War soldier named John R. Keeth who is buried at the old Rankin Wright cemetery, southwest of Iberia. I suspect he may have been Mary's second husband, but have no definite proof.
On May 14, 1856, Mary Ellen Bourne married Solomon Keeth in Miller County. He was a son of John Keeth Sr. and Ruhama Allen, natives of Edmonson County, Kentucky. The Keeth family came to Missouri in the late 1840s from Edmonson County and settled southwest of Iberia in the area later known as the Pleasant Hill community.
Zachariah Bourne, brother to Mary Ellen, and other members of the Bourne family left Miller County after the Civil War and moved to the Indian Territory of Oklahoma. Zachariah died in Silo, Oklahoma, which is in Bryan County, near Durant (bordering the Texas state line in central Oklahoma).
The Bourne family members who remained in Miller County was Mary Ellen who married Solomon Keeth, Emily who married 'Jack' Thompson, and William who married Elmira Shelton. Elmira and their 3 children were living with her parents (Shephard & Sarah Shelton) in 1880. William may have been deceased by that time.
2 children died young.
Solomon and Mary Ellen reared their family in southern Richwoods Township, southwest of Iberia. Their neighbors were the families of Long, Duncan, Madden, Short, Knatazer, Keeth, Allen, Whittle, and Loveall.
During the Civil War, Solomon served with the Union Army in Company A, 6th Missouri Cavalry. They were a young married couple with 3 young children when he went off to war. Several men from Miller County served in the 6th Missouri Cavalry with Solomon.
Solomon Keeth died in 1913 at the age of 76 years. He was buried at the old Rankin Wright Cemetery (today inventoried as Spearman Cemetery) in the same community where he and Mary Ellen had lived. He has a Civil War gravestone at his burial site. He and Mary Ellen had been married for 57 years when he died.
Mary Ellen lived until December 11, 1927 and died at the age of 88 years. Her services were held at Pleasant Hill Church where she had been a faithful member for many years. Rev. Rufus Moneymaker conducted her funeral and she was then taken to Rankin Wright cemetery and buried beside Solomon. She was survived by over 160 descendants at her death. She and Solomon left quite a legacy....................
ISAAC NEWTON BOYCE
Isaac Newton Boyce was born in Washington County, PA on October 21, 1846. He was a son of Richard and Mary E. Boyce, natives of Pennsylvania.
Richard, Mary and their children came to Miller County at the close of the Civil War, (about 1866) from Pennsylvania. They settled in Franklin Township in northwest Miller County on what was called "the old Jimmy Dooley place" a few miles east of Rocky Mount. Both Richard and his oldest son, Isaac, served with the Pennsylvania Union forces during the Civil War; Richard served in the 193rd PA. Infantry and Isaac in the lst PA.Cavalry. I know that many father and sons served as soldiers in the Civil War, but it is not often you find record where both served, survived the war, and later became members of the same G.A.R. Post in years following the close of the war. Richard and Isaac were members of the Samuel McClure G.A.R. Post #145 at Eldon. Richard Boyce (1817-1909) and Mary E. Boyce (1822-1912) are both buried at Eldon Cemetery. Their son, John R. Boyce (1859-1885) is also buried at Eldon.
Isaac Newton Boyce married Elizabeth Ann Russell in Miller County on January 6, 1870. Their marriage was performed by William McComb, County Court Judge. In 1880, Isaac and Elizabeth were living in Franklin township near the families of Jobe, Whitaker, Manes, Busic(k), Wood, and McConnell. Elizabeth Ann was a daughter of Alexander and Louisa Russell of Franklin Township.
The Boyce families were of Pennsylvania origins and when they came to Miller County, after the Civil War, they were strong supporters of the Radical Republican party. Richard Boyce was elected vice president of the Miller County group in April 1868, just a short time after coming to Missouri.
About 1909, Isaac Newton Boyce bought a farm east of Versailles, Morgan County, and moved his family there. In 1918, he moved to the town of Versailles and was living there in 1925, when he was featured in a Versailles newspaper as an "Old Soldier of the Civil War". He said he enlisted in February 1864 and served till the end of the war and was mustered out of service at Harrisburg, PA in August 1865. While living in Morgan County, he was elected as a county judge and was called "Judge Boyce" the rest of his life.
Isaac Newton Boyce lived until October 14, 1941 when he died at the advanced age of 95 years. Elizabeth Ann (Russell) Boyce, his wife of 66 years, died five years earlier on June 11, 1936 and both are buried at Dooley Cemetery in Franklin Township. Three of their sons are also buried at Dooley and their young son, Byron, is buried at the Taylor Family Cemetery, also in Franklin Township.
An interesting news item I found while searching through old county newspapers was published in July 1938. Isaac Newton Boyce from Eldon's Samuel McClure G.A.R. Post #124 and Squire John Ferguson of Iberia's Miles Carroll G.A.R. Post #11 attended the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. They were special guests of the United States government and were among 2500 Civil War veterans who attended the special ceremonies that day. Squire Ferguson was 99 years old and Isaac was 92! Squire Ferguson lived to reach the age of 101 when he died in 1940 and Isaac lived until 1941, dying at the age of 95 years. He was probably among the last of the surviving Civil War soldiers in Missouri.
BOYD/CLARK FAMILIES
The Boyd and Clark families lived in Greenup Co., Kentucky in the early portion of the 19th century. In 1811, they were landowners in that Kentucky county having purchased land on Barretts Creek and the Little Sandy River. The families of Boyd and Clark were neighbors and friends in those years in Greenup County so therefore, I am combining the history of both families.
In the early 1800s, Greenup County was still an unsettled and virgin land. Kentucky had acquired statehood only 20 years previously in 1792 and although there had been a steady migration in those 20 years, it was still a big, wide and spacious countryside the Boyds and Clarks inhabited.
This was an interesting era in our country's history...President James Madison was serving in the White House; the battle of Tippicanoe was being fought; Missouri Territory was being organized; war was declared on Great Britain; and the infamous Battle of New Orleans fought. The Boyd and Clark ancestors were new residents of Kentucky during those interesting years of American history.
Philip and Sarah Boyd, both natives of Virginia, were living in Greenup Co. in the early 1800s. They homesteaded 150 acres of land on Barrett's creek in 1817. They were parents of 8 children who were apparently all born in Virginia. Philip died in the time era of 1824/25. His widow, Sarah, was left his estate. In 1830, she sold off a portion of her property to her youngest son, James Boyd (my great, great, great grandfather. psh) The agreement was that he would provide her with a sufficient quantity of corn, meat, sugar, coffee, and other vegetables necessary for life. The children of Philip and Sarah Boyd were: Philip, Jr.; Catherine Boyd Farley; Joseph Boyd; Carey Boyd; Robert Boyd; Rhoda Boyd Davidson; Adam Boyd; and James Boyd.
Four of the eight children moved into Miller County in the mid 1830s and the remaining four apparently chose to remain in Greenup County. The four who migrated to Missouri were: Carey and Lydia Clark Boyd; Robert and Susannah Clark Boyd; Rhoda (Boyd) and William Davidson; and James and Ruth Clark Boyd. Philip, Jr., Joseph, Catherine, and Adam remained in Kentucky and I have no further history of those families.
James Boyd married Ruth Eles Clark in Greenup Co. on July 20, 1829. John Clark, her brother, was the bondsman and the consent for marriage was given by Ruth's mother and step-father, Susannah and Robert Boyd. Robert Boyd was an older brother of James, so not only was he her step-father, but he was her brother-in-law as well, but stranger yet, with this marriage performed, her mother became her sister-in-law! Carey Boyd, another brother to James, married Lydia Clark in Greenup Co. on July 9, 1822. There was a close kinship between the Boyd and Clark families in the early 1800s.
There has been a beautiful legend handed down through the generations about John 'Hoppin" Clark, brother to Ruth Boyd. He acquired this nickname through the impossible feat of jumping over covered wagons! He was a loner for a few years preferring to travel the wilds of Kentucky's back country. One night he ventured upon a wagon train traveling westward and they hired him to serve as the scout. On this wagon train was an Indian family with the English name of Farmber who had a beautiful young daughter named Snow Princess. Her English name was Elizabeth and John Hoppin' fell in love with this beautiful Indian maiden. He asked her father for his consent to marry her, but he refused, so John kidnapped Snow Princess and they were eventually married without her father's blessing. John Hoppin' & Elizabeth Clark moved into Miller Co. and settled near his sister and family who had bought land in Osage township.
As a child, I was told many stories about this colorful couple, but my favorite has to be this bit of legend: One day old Hoppin' went out squirrel hunting and was gone all day. By nightfall, Betsy (Elizabeth) was getting a little worried. After dark he finally came home but was a terrible mess---he was scratched, torn, and bleeding all over. He was dragging a big, black panther and as he threw it into the kitchen door, he said these infamous words..'Here Betsy, skin this squirrel!! It is also family legend that John Hoppin' Clark served as a scout for the Cherokee Indian Nation when they were forced from their homes in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina & eastern Tennessee. This was the "Trail of Tears" march to Oklahoma territory in the late 1830s.
After James Boyd married Ruth Clark, they lived in Greenup Co., KY for approximately 6 years. Their 3 older children were born in Kentucky (Sarah 1830); Susannah 1831; and Lydia 1833). The two older daughters were given the names of their grandmothers--Sarah Boyd & Susannah Clark Boyd. The 4th child, Greenville Boyd, was born in 1835 in Miller Co., so apparently they moved into Missouri in 1834 or 1835 and permanently settled in Osage township in the northeaster section of the county.
Carey Boyd, his wife Lydia, and her brother, Isaac Clark, may have been the first of the families to venture westward out of Kentucky. Notice of the death of Carey Boyd is found in Pulaski Co. records in 1833.
Between the years 1837-1870, there are many land transfers and purchases for these Boyd and Clark families in Miller Co. they were all located in Osage Township near present day St. Elizabeth and St. Anthony.
James Boyd died in 1856 and his widow, Ruth, married Thomas Millers on 21 July 1862. She died a short time later. There is no record of where either James or Ruth is buried, but it has been legend that Ruth was the first person buried in the Wickham cemetery on land owned today by Floyd Johnson near the Big Tavern creek southwest of St. Elizabeth.
Sarah Boyd, oldest daughter of James and Ruth, married Charles O. Curtman, a German immigrant who became very prominent in Miller & Maries County where he served the populace as a physician and chemist. From THE HISTORY OF MARIES COUNTY by Everett King..."In association with his practice and medical profession, Dr.Charles O. Curtman, a native of the Grand Dutchy of Hesse, Darmstadt of Germany, opened a store at Fair Play on the eastern side of the Osage river near St. Elizabeth. Dr. Curtman became a naturalized citizen in 1855. He was the husband of Sarah Boyd, having married her in 1852."
Greenville Boyd, oldest son of James and Ruth, married Jane Freeman in Miller Co. on Dec. 18, 1856. Their marriage was performed by Greenville's brother-in-law, Dr. Charles O. Curtman who was also a Justice of the Peace. Greenville was born in Miller County on October 18, 1835 and Jane Freeman was also born in Miller Co. on August 20, 1840.
The parents of Jane Freeman Boyd were James and Deborah (Jenkins) Freeman of Claiborne County, Tennessee. Jane was born after they came to Missouri. She was born in Jim Henry Township near present day Marys Home. James Freeman died as a young man in 1844 leaving his wife, Deborah, with 6 young children to rear.
After James' death, Deborah married Bluford Van Hoozer in 1847. She had 2 sons by Bluford--James born 1847 and John born 1849. Deborah Jenkins Freeman VanHooser died in the mid 1850's but the place of her burial is unknown.
Greenville was a veteran of the Civil War serving with the Union army in Co.K 12th Missouri Cavalry Volunteers. He also spent 14 months in the Home Guards under the command of Captain Jacob Capps in the Miller Co. area. When he enlisted, he was 27 years old and his occupation was a farmer. He was mustered out of service on 9 April 1866.
Greenville died on 18 Feb 1931 at his home, which was called Sudheimer during those years. He had lived a full, rich life reaching the advanced age of 95 years. Jane Freeman Boyd died 24 July 1928 at the age of 88 years. They celebrated 72 years of marriage. Both are buried in the Lawson cemetery near the Maries County boundary line.
James Boyd, son of Greenville and Jane, was born 20 June 1858. He married Cecelia Adeline Shelton on August 7, 1979. She was a daughter of Edmund and Clarissa (Lawson) Shelton of Miller Co.
About 1897, James and Cecelia Shelton Boyd moved to the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and settled near Stroud in Lincoln County, OK. Cecelia died there just a short time later after the birth of her 8th child. Cecelia is buried somewhere near Stroud, but the exact location is not known. Later James Boyd had one son, William Boyd born 1904. In 1906, James Boyd died of pneumonia and is buried in the Duncan Cemetery in eastern Miller Co. He had moved back to Miller County after his 2nd marriage. The majority of the children of James and Cecelia chose to remain in Oklahoma and reared their families there.
Sarah Eliza Boyd, daughter of James and Cecelia, remained in Miller County and married Henry Franklin Smith, son of William Harrison and Lucy Ann (Gardner) Smith on December 16, 1906. The children of Sarah Eliza and Henry F. Smith were: Carl Everett 1 Jan 1912-12 Jan 1912; Conard Isaac 23 June 1908-20 Apr 1970 m Tressie Gale; Gene Oliver 11 Nov 1914-15 Apr 1980 m. Verlie A.Wyrick; Priscilla Idolia 28 Mar 1919-m. (1) Clark Davis, (2) James Karr: James William Raymond 25 Jun 1925-15 Apr 1975 m. Dorothy Robinson.
Gene Oliver Smith, son of Sarah (Boyd) and Henry Frank Smith, was born 11 Nov 1914 and married Verlie Alberta Wyrick of Miller County.
Peggy Lee Smith, daughter of Oliver Gene and Verlie (Wyrick) Smith married (1) Kenneth Harold Warman of Dixon, MO. and (2) Ambrose Herman Hake, son of Conrad and Ida (Volmert) Hake of Marys Home, MO. The children of Peggy and Kenneth Warman were: Kevin Dean born 10 Sept 1955 died 27 Oct 1955; Kathy D'Ann born 16 Feb 1957 m. Richard Kemp II; Kerry Douglas born 24 July 1958 m. Tina Darlene Baston: Kelly Denise born 5 April 1960 m. Ray Edwards Stallings; Kirk Duane b. 16 Apr 1962 m. Twyla Luttrell....the grandchildren of Peggy Smith and Kenneth Warman include: ALICIA NICHOLE STALLINGS born 25 Dec 1976, AMANDA NICHELLE STALLINGS born 21 Oct 1979; RAY EDWARDS STALLINGS II born 24 May 1981; KYLE DOUGLAS WARMAN born 9 Jan 1980, KANDRA D'ANN WARMAN born 31 Jan 1981; KEIDRA DENISE WARMAN born 30 Dec 1984, KRYSTAL DAWN WARMAN born 28 Nov 1986, and KEISHA DANIELLE WARMAN born 1 June 1989.
Bill G. Smith, son of Gene Oliver and Verlie Smith, married Bonnie Alleta Luttrell, daughter of Milton and Opal Luttrell of Miller County. The children of Bill and Bonnie are: Randall Gene born 11 Dec 1962 and Russell Dean, born 1 Oct 1966: Mitzi Ann born and died April, 1960. The grandchildren of Bill and Bonnie are: Christopher Smith born 7 Apr 1985 and Jerry Dean Smith born 25 Aug 1986.
The grandchildren of Bill G. Smith and Peggy Smith Hake are the 9th generation from Philip and Sarah Boyd of Greenup County, Kentucky, pioneers of early Kentucky in the early 19th century.
GREENVILLE BOYD
Greenville Boyd was born October 18, 1835, a son of James Boyd and Ruth Eles Clark of Greenup County, Kentucky. It has been difficult to determine if Greenville was born in eastern Kentucky or in Miller County, Missouri. His parents were early settlers of Osage Township, south of the Osage River, in Miller County and came to Missouri in the mid 1830s. Some say he was born in Greenup County, KY while other researchers believe he was born in Miller County shortly after the Boyd family arrived in central Missouri. If he was born in Missouri, then he was actually born in what was then Pulaski County since Miller County was not formed until 1837.
The Boyd family homesteaded land near the Big Tavern creek, south of today's St. Elizabeth. Greenville was the fourth child born to James and Ruth Boyd.
Greenville Boyd married Jane Freeman on December 18, 1856 in Miller County. Jane's parents were James Freeman and Deborah Jenkins who moved to Jim Henry Township of Miller County prior to 1840. They migrated from Claiborne County in eastern Tennessee and settled on land near present-day Mary's Home. Jane was born in Miller County on August 20, 1840.
Greenville was a veteran of the Civil War. He enlisted in the Union Army on February 20, 1863 and served in Company K of the 12th Missouri Cavalry. Other Miller County soldiers who served with Greenville in Company K were Isaac D. Rowden, John Schuberth, John A. Setser, and Silas Capps. He was mustered out of the Union Army at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas on April 9, 1865.
Greenville's younger brother, Robert Boyd, died in the Civil War so the name Boyd was carried into new generations by the descendants of Greenville.
Greenville and Jane eventually moved into the Weimmer/Greasy creek area of northeastern Richwoods Township near the Maries County line. Jane died July 24, 1928, just a month short of reaching her 88th birthday. She was buried at the Lawson Cemetery near their old homeplace on Greasy Creek. Greenville died at the age of 95 years on February 18, 1931 and was buried beside Jane, with whom he had shared almost 75 years of marriage. His funeral was held at Wheeler church in neighboring Maries County and conducted by Fred Curtman.
Greenville was survived by six children, Edward Boyd of near Brays, John Boyd of Ulman, Sally Clark of Sedalia, Iva Rowden of Crocker, Laura Coffman of Eldon, and Lydia who remained at home all her life. According to his obituary, he left many descendants including "53 grandchildren, a great many great grandchildren, and several great, great grandchildren".
His obituary stated he lived in the Brays area, but actually they lived near the old Sudheimer settlement, which contained a general store and post office and was located south of the Boyd home.
Greenville and Jane (Freeman) Boyd were my great, great grandparents. I am descended from their son, James Boyd and his wife, Celia Adeline (Shelton). I have been to Greenup County, Kentucky and Claiborne County, Tennessee on two different occasions where I conducted research in their courthouses. Both counties have wonderful research materials and the courthouse staff members were so helpful when I conducted genealogical researching of my Boyd, Clark, Freeman, and Jenkins ancestors.
RUTH CLARK BOYD
Ruth Clark Boyd was my great, great, great grandmother who came to Miller County in the 1830s from Greenup County, Kentucky. She was the wife of James Boyd who was also from Greenup County. James was a son of Phillip and Sarah Boyd of Eastern Kentucky. I have been to Greenup County, Kentucky on two occasions to do research and was able to find some interesting information concerning my ancestors.
When Ruth and James Boyd came to Miller County, they settled in Osage township, south of today's St. Elizabeth. Ruth was a sister to John P. Clark (also known as 'Hoppin' Clark). John and his wife, Elizabeth/Betsy (Farmber) Clark also came to Miller County from Greenup Co., KY about the same time as the Boyd family and all settled near one another in Osage township. From research conducted in Greenup County, I believe the parents of Ruth (Clark) Boyd and John P. Clark were John Sr. and Susannah Clark. After the death of John Sr. (in Kentucky), Susannah married Robert Boyd, a brother to James Boyd and they are the ones who came to Miller County with Ruth and James Boyd.
James Boyd died in Miller County in the late 1850s and in1862, widow Ruth Boyd married Thomas Mills. In the Miller County Associate Probate Court are estate records for Ruth Clark-Boyd-Mills including her will and other legal instruments. She died in April 1869 and shortly before her death, she made out her last will and testament naming her son, Greenville, as her only heir. She had two daughters living at the time (Lydia and Susannah), but apparently, for some unknown reason, she cut them out of her will. I am sure there is a story within a story of this situation, but at the present time, one can only speculate.
It is believed that Ruth Clark-Boyd-Mills is buried at an old family cemetery in Osage township. Today it is known as the Wickham Cemetery, located on land owned by Floyd & Edith (Wickham) Johnson. There is no tombstone to mark Ruth's grave so it is only family legend that she is buried there. There are many unanswered questions concerning our ancestors, and I suppose it is just as well that we do not always know the real stories because time takes care of many family secrets, feuds, misunderstandings, etc.
THE BROWN FAMILY
Sayles Brown was born in Rhode Island on October 3, 1822 and came to Miller County, MO about 1858/59. He and his first wife, Sarah M. (Gerard) Brown (b. 2 Jan 1831 Ohio and died 27 Dec 1870 in Miller County), were enumerated in the 1860 Miller County census living in Equality township. In their home were two young children: Arthur Brown age 3 and Roselia Brown age 8 months. They lived near the families of Bear, Curry, Barton, Jones, Abbott , Allen, Wyrick, and Birdsong. I think this was south of the Osage River a few miles from present day Tuscumbia.
In 1870, Sayles and Sarah were living in Jim Henry Township, north of the Osage River, in what is known today as the Saline creek valley. They had become parents of several more children including: Eliza b. 1861, Frederick N. born 1864. In 1870, Cassius C. was born but died in 1872.
According to marriage records in Miller County, Sayles Brown married again on 23 Nov 1871 to Mary Pierce, the marriage performed by Thomas Thompson, justice of the peace. Mary Pierce Brown was born 15 Feb 1847 in Corinth, Mississippi. When I looked for the death or burial place of his wife, Sarah, I found her buried at Spring Garden Cemetery, Saline Township, and her death date (according to the written inventory records) was 2 Dec 1876. Actually she died in 1870 per a descendant, Harley Brown of Northglenn, Colorado.
NOTE: The child listed as O.S. Brown was a son born 6 Nov 1885 who was their 5th child. (This info was found in a book of births & deaths in the Miller Co. courthouse (1883-1891)...according to the book, he was their 5th child. No record has been found for another child born before O.S. but there is a lapse of time between the births of Julia and O.S. of about 6 years.
I believe Mary Pierce, 2nd wife of Sayles Brown, was a daughter of Daniel Pierce, born in the state of Mississippi, who came to the Miller County after the Civil War. I do not know the identity of her mother, but she did have a stepmother, also named Mary Pierce who was only about 6 years older than Mary Pierce Brown.
Sayles Brown played an important role in Miller County during the Civil War. He was from the northern state of Rhode Island, so naturally favored the Union. When war first broke out in Missouri, he became known as Captain Sayles Brown of the 42nd and 47th Enrolled Missouri Militia in Miller County. His fellow Captains included William and James Long of Iberia, Thomas J. Babcoke of Pleasant Mount, and Andrew Jackson Green of Cole County.
In 1861, Sayles Brown was one of the securities on a $10,000 bond for Sheriff Thomas Thompson. Both were strong Union men in their beliefs...In June 1864, Provisional Companies were formed in Miller County and Capt. Sayles Brown was given the district around the county seat at Tuscumbia. He was ordered to maintain order in the county during the worst part of the Civil War. He and his company of 100 men defended the courthouse against a threat from Price's Confederate army which was making plans to make an assault in the area. It was also Capt. Sayles Brown and 50 of his men (half of his company) who escorted Count Clerk Isaac M. Goodrich to Jefferson City where he carried the county's official records and placed from there for safekeeping.
In the mid 1880s, Capt. Sayles Brown operated a hotel at the new resort town of Aurora Springs in Saline Township. It was in existence for only a short while because, according to family records, the hotel/boarding house burned about a year before Sayles' death in 1889. The resort town had its popularity for only a few years. When the railroad bypassed Aurora Springs and was built a couple of miles north, then Aurora Springs began its demise and Eldon became the new hub of activity for Saline Township.
"Captain Sales/Sayles Brown Mustered Out" was the headlines of his death notice! He died on Thursday evening, May 9, 1889 at his home in West Aurora, Miller County, MO. He died in his 66th year. Per his obituary, printed in the Aurora Springs Democrat, he was once a member of the U.S. Navy for 4 years; cruised at the mouth of the Congo River on the western coast of Africa and then he went to the west coast of Mexico in 1846 when war was declared between America and Mexico...Capt. Brown left the Naval service and joined General Fremont, returning to the states after the Mexican War. Later he served in the Civil War being a staunch Union man, organizing and commanding a company of Enrolled Missouri Militia.
When he died in May 1889, he left a widow (2nd wife of Mary Pierce) and nine children. Since his obituary does not mention the place of his burial, no one knows exactly where he is buried. Some of his descendants think he could be at Gageville Cemetery in Saline Township. His first wife, Sarah Gerard, is buried at Spring Garden Cemetery with their young son, Cassius, buried beside her. Second wife, Mary Pierce Brown, many years younger than Sayles, is buried at Eldon Cemetery under the name Mary Blood, as she remarried after Sayles' death. She died at the age of 85 years on 7 March 1932.
NOTE: Sayles could be buried at Spring Garden Cemetery with first wife, Sarah, and their son, Cassius...or he could be at Eldon Cemetery...or Gageville Cemetery which was located not far from where his son, Arthur Brown, and his family lived. He may be in an unmarked grave at one of these cemeteries and his burial spot is known only to God.
I have a BROWN/LONG line I am actively pursuing that of Calloway H. Brown b. circa 1849-1851 to the parents of James BROWN and Paulina SULLIVAN/BROWN. He married Martha L. Long in Miller County MO. 1874. From: User920035@aol.com
JOHN G. BROWN - obituary
John G. Brown, a Civil War veteran, was born in Tennessee on 21 July 1845 and came to Missouri in 1860. He grew up on a farm near Bagnell and joined the Baptist Church at Old Gilgal across the Little Gravois Creek from the present site of Bagnell in the year 1860. On 25 Feb. 1864, he married Miss Sarah E. McComb. Sarah died in September of 1910. They were parents of eleven children including J. W. Brown, Sarah Jane (Robinson), Eliza (Hickman), Mary B. (Parks), George W. Brown, Mrs. J. A. Graham, Mrs. H.B. Graham, Nancy E. Miller, H.T. Brown, and David E. Brown. His second wife was Mrs. Josie Scott whom he married on 27 November 1924. He taught schools in Miller and Camden counties for many years. In the summer of 1864, he enlisted in the Civil War and served for the duration of that war. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic Post in Brumley. His funeral services were held at the Eldon Baptist Church (he had joined the Aurora Springs Baptist Church after the close of the Old Gilgal Church in 1863). His burial was in the Hawkins Cemetery near Brumley.
JOHN D. BRUMLEY
John D. Brumley was born in Miller County, Osage township, 22 Sept 1884. He may have been the only child of William F. Brumley and his wife, Margaret Elizabth Colvin. William Brumley died when John was 2 years old and his mother died when he was 3 1/2 years of age. In the 1900 census of Miller County, John was living with his uncle, Everett A. Brumley, and his family. During the census the neighbors included the families of Lily, Davidson, Davenport, McCubbin, Hensley, Burks, Nixdorf, and Pickering.
John D. Brumley was a grandson of William Carroll Brumley (1837-1891) and Sisley Wilson (1839-1891) and a great grandson of John Brumley (1801-1853) and his wife, Nancy Brumley (1813-1899), early settlers of Miller County. John D.Brumley married Aulta Ramsey in Miller Co. on March 20, 1904, the marriage performed by John H. Aust, minister of the gospel. Aulta was born in Miller Co. 2 Apr 1889, a daughter of George M. Ramsey and Sarah Elizabeth Forrester.
NOTE: There may have been other children born after 1900. The above children were listed in their home in the 1900 census. Also in the Ramsey home during the same census was Susan Forrester (b. July 1836), mother of Sarah Elizabeth (Forrester) Ramsey.
John D. Brumley began farming circa 1903 when he was about 19 years of age. In 1921-22 he farmed on Cat Tail Creek but by 1923, he had moved his family back to his "old farm" in Osage township. John Brumley became a successful farmer of the area serving as the president of the Miller Co. Farmers Association for 6 years; elected first president of the Farmers Exchange in Tuscumbia in 1921; and was the first shipping manager of the Tuscumbia Livestock Shipping Association. He was also active in Miller County Republican politics. He served as State Representative from the county in 1923-24. His Brumley ancestors before him also were active members of the Republican Party in the county and served in various elective offices. John was a charter member of the Fairview Christian church, north of Iberia, where he served for many years as a deacon and trustee.
John D. Brumley died in 1956 and was survived by his wife and 2 daughters. He was buried at Livingston Cemetery (Richwoods Township). The Brumley home place was not far from Livingston Cemetery, located on the old St. Anthony road in Osage township. Many older members of the Brumley family are buried in an old cemetery called "Brumley Cemetery," located on land owned today by Ralph and Ruby Hendley.
THE BUECHTER FAMILY
The Buechter family came to America from Westfalen/Westphalen, Prussia, a German province, sometime prior to 1850. After arriving in central Missouri, they first settled in Osage County near Rich Fountain. I believe Elizabeth Buechter, the widow of Heinrich/Henry Buechter, came from America with a son, Frank Buechter, and a daughter, Gertrude Buechter Boeckmann and their families. She was born circa 1786 in her native Germany
.Per information I have received from Mrs. Margaret Gentges of Great Falls, Virginia, the husband of Elizabeth was Henirich Buechter, born in Westfalen, Germany. Evidently he died in his native homeland and did not make the trip to America with his wife and children. The name is spelled several different ways in church and census records of Osage County including Buchter, Buscher, and Buescher.
In the 1850 census of Osage County, MO, Elizabeth Buchter/Buechter was living in the home of Ferdinand and Gertrude Boeckmann with their two children, Joseph and Elizabeth. Gertrude was Elizabeth's daughter....Elizabeth's son, Francis/Frank Buechter and his wife, Gertrude (Diecke), were living in Osage County in 1860 with a young daughter named Gertrude, age 2 years. Ferdinand and Gertrude (Buechter) Boeckmann were still living in Osage County in 1860 as well.
Elizabeth Buechter died at New Westphalia, Osage County, MO in 1858 at the age of 72 years, per church records, and is buried in the parish cemetery. Frank and Gertrude (Diecke) Buechter continued to live in the Rich Fountain area until about 1870. Over a 12-year period, five children were born to them and all baptized at Rich Fountain Sacred Heart Church.
Later records do not give the name of Walter Francis so I presume he died at an early age. Just prior to 1870, Frank and Gertrude Buechter moved to Miller County and located in Osage Township. This was new territory for the German immigrants who had first settled at New Westphalia and Rich Fountain in Osage County. The rich, Osage River country was like a magnet which drew the German farmers into the area. Their neighbors in 1870 included Robert and Eliza Hawk, Richard Holtmeyer, George and Matilda Grosvenor, William and Sarah Kinworthy, James and Martha Myers, John and Elizabeth Clark, and Greenville and Jane Frank Buechter died 2 February 1872 at the age of 49 years (born 12 Dec 1822). He is buried in the Charleytown Cemetery, located on top a hill overlooking the site of Old St. Elizabeth on the river. Within a year his widow, Gertrude Diecke Buechter, married Herman Boeckmann, who may have been a brother to Ferdinand Boeckmann, her brother-in-law.
By 1880, Gertrude Buechter Boeckmann and her second husband were living in Osage Township about three miles south of St. Elizabeth. I believe they were living near the site of the Boeckmann Bridge because their neighbors were Edmund & Clarissa (Lawson) Shelton who lived south of them on land which is known as the Omar Hickey farm. Other neighbors in 1880 were Frank & Conrad Kemna, Barbara West, William & Elizabeth (Shelton) Calbert, and Herman and Katie Lambeth.
After the 1880 census, no record is found for Gertrudue Buechter and her second husband, Herman Boeckmann. I think perhaps she is buried beside her first husband, Frank Buechter, in Charleytown/Old St. Elizabeth Cemetery with no gravestone. Her surviving children remained in the same vicinity and married locally. Most of the Buechter families today can trace their ancestry through the only surviving son, Francis Joseph Buechter, who married Katherine Volmert in Miller County in 1885. In 1882, Maria Elizabeth Buechter married John Volmert, a brother to Katherine. Maria Gertrude Buecther, the oldest child of Frank & Gertrude, married J. Henry Heckmeier/Heckemeyer in 1879. She died in 1882, probably due to childbirth complications, and Henry later married Mary Streump of Osage County. Catherine Anna Buechter, the youngest child, married twice. Her first husband was Anton Herman Tellman whom she married in 1886; her second husband was Anton Nicholas Schwaller (they married in 1889).
So the Buechter family history continues on in the Miller County families of Buechter, Volmert, Heckemeyer, Schwaller, and perhaps Boeckmann (Gertrude Buechter married Ferdinand Boeckmann all those generations ago in Germany).
SAMUEL OWENS BURKS
Samuel Owens Burks was born in Miller County on April 3, 1849. He was a son of William Warner Burks and Louisa Short who married in Miller County 22 July 1841, their marriage performed by William Jones, minister of the gospel. The children of William and Louisa (Short) Burks included: LEVINA JANE BURKS b. c/1843; NANCY CATHERINE BURKS b. c/1844; ADALINE BURKS b. c/1847 and died before 1860; SAMUEL OWENS BURKS b. 1849; EVAN L. BURKS b. c/1851; LUCINDA BURKS b. c/1853; MINNIE D. BURKS b. c/1856; LOUISA D. BURKS b. c/1858; and WILLIAM W. BURKS b. c/1860.
In 1843, William Burks lived north and west of present day Iberia near the families of William Short, Jesse Burks, and Reuben Short. They lived on what was called the Old Iberia-Jake's Prairie road that was near Rabbithead Creek where the old road crossed just a short distance west of Iberia. The area was sparsely populated during those years before Iberia actually became a village/settlement. By the census of 1860 the neighbors to the Burks' included the Noyes, Allen, Tallman, Dickerson, Dyer, James, and Wilson families.
Samuel's mother, Louisa Short Burks, was from an old pioneering family that came to the Big Richwoods and settled before 1840. She was a daughter of Rev. Reuben Short and Levina Owens. Reuben was an early-day minister in the area. It appears that Samuel was named for his mother's family (the Owens).
I do not know what may have happened to William W. and Louisa Burks after the 1860 census. They seem to have disappeared from Miller County. William Burks was in the Confederate army at the beginning of the Civil War, serving in the State Guard. Many families moved away after the war because of differences they encountered from neighbors who had a different outlook on the outcome of the Civil War.
Samuel Owens Burks, son of William and Louisa, married Eliza Jane McComb in Miller County on 20 Mar 1870. She was a daughter of Jacob Evans McComb and Mary/Polly DeGraffenreid. Evidently Samuel and Eliza stayed in central Missouri after their marriage. His obituary stated they became parents of ten children, but only one son was named, Hansford O. Burks, who was living at Henley, Cole Co., MO in 1919 when his father died. The ten children were: JESSE B. BURKS 1871-1946 m. single; REBECCA JANE BURKS 1873-1902 m. Abel Chandler; HANSFORD OWEN BURKS 1876-1958 m. Florence A. Chandler; CHARLES BURKS 1879-1902; ETHEL BURKS 1884-1902 m. Val Casteel; WILLIAM WARNER BURKS 1886-1911; MARY ETTHA BURKS 1887-1919 m. Clarence Walter Smith; ABIGAIL BURKS 1889-1889; MINNIE EFFIE BURKS 1891-1969 n, 1-Charles G. Crisp 2- Andrew Endeason; EVAN LELAND BURKS 1899-1988 m. (he had 4 marriages)
Samuel Owens Burks became a minister and first preached the Baptist faith. About 1893, he united with the Church of Christ and began preaching in that new fellowship. Samuel was also an educator in the country schools of Miller County and served as Superintendent of Schools in 1889-1892. According to the handwritten information of a descendant of this family, Samuel Burks and his brother-in-law, Absolem McComb, moved their families to Indian Territory (near Miami, Oklahoma) about 1900 and started an Indian school there. They returned back to Miller County before 1910.
Elder Samuel Owens Burks died on July 16, 1919 at the age of 70 years. He died at the home of his son, Hansford, who lived at Henley, Cole County, MO. At his death, he was survived by his wife and five children. His funeral was held at the Eugene Christian Church, conducted by W. H. Scott of Eldon, assisted by J. C. Thompson and J. S. Bonham, Christian ministers of Eldon, and Absolem McComb, a Baptist minister of Kansas City, who was a brother to Eliza McComb-Burks. He was buried at the Eugene Cemetery. Eliza Jane lived until January 1921 and was buried beside her husband at Eugene Cemetery. They had spent almost 50 years together as husband and wife and reared a large family.......
WILLIAM HASTEN BURKS
William Hasten Burks was born in Tennessee on January 29, 1861, a son of William and Laura Burks, natives of Georgia. His family came to Miller County about 1870 and settled in Osage township near the families of Flaugher, Abbett, Martin, Ramsey, Prock and Bilyeu.
Note: I could find no record of a marriage of Anna Burks (b. 1873) in Miller County. There was a girl named Mary Anna Burks who married Joseph Rowden, son of James W. and Matilda (Whitaker) Rowden, but I do not know if this was Anna, daughter of Wm. Hasten, or from another Burks family.
On November 13, 1884, William Hasten Burks married Mary Agnes Agnew, daughter of John and Mary Agnew, natives of Ohio. They were living in Jim Henry Township in the 1880 census. Mary Agnes was born in September 1866 in Ohio.
These children were listed in the 1900 census of Miller County, living in their parents home in Osage township. Evidently there were more children born after 1900, but I do not have their names. (I would like to have a complete list, if possible).
William Hasten Burks died on March 14, 1936 at the age of 75 years. His funeral service was held at Mt. Zion church, south of Tuscumbia. Rev. P. J. Echoff of the Iberia Congregational Christian Church conducted his funeral. He was buried in the cemetery near the church. In the inventoried records of Miller County cemeteries, there is no listing of this burial at Mt. Zion Cemetery, nor that of his wife, Mary (Agnew) Burks. His obituary stated he was buried there so he must be in an unmarked grave and I would imagine his wife is also buried beside him.
CARL BUTZER
In July 1916, a tragic accident happened on the steamboat, "Lieutenant Lewis", which was going upriver on the Missouri River toward Jefferson City. The accident caused the death of a Miller County man, Carl Butzer of Mary's Home who was 24 years old. Carl had been employed as a fireman on the steamboat for about four years.......The boat was coming up the river near Chamois when Butzer was missed by some of the workers on the vessel. One of the men ran to the back of the boat and saw Carl in the water about 300 yards behind the steamboat. He went down before they could reach him.
The men worked several hours trying to recover the body but finally gave up the search. Evidently his body was never found because no record is found for his burial. It was reported that Butzer had suffered from dizziness for a few weeks and it was thought he was seized with one of the spells and fell into the water.
Carl Butzer was a son of George J. and Lucy S. Butzer who lived near Marys Home. His father was born in Germany in September 1845 and his mother's parents were also of German descent. Lucy Butzer was several years younger than George, born in February 1859.
I do not know when the Butzer family came to Miller County and settled in Jim Henry Township. There is no record of them before the census was taken in 1900. That year the Butzer family lived near Marys Home and their neighbors included the families of Morgan, Boede, Fowler, Pendleton, Klindt, Hart, Hamacher, Payne, and McAllister.
The parents of Carl Butzer, George and Lucy, as well as two of his brothers (Otto and Adolph) are buried at the Jenkins-Bungart Cemetery, a short distance east of Marys Home. His brother, Phillip F. Butzer, is buried at Our Lady of the Snows Cemetery in Marys Home. I do not know what happened to G. R. Butzer and Guido Butzer because they are not found in any of the cemeteries of Jim Henry Township.
The story of the death of Carl Butzer was reported in "The Daily Post" a newspaper published in Jefferson City in 1916.