Surnames Beginning With 'L'
NANCY J. LAMB
Nancy J. Lamb was born in August 1833 in Ohio. She died in Miller Co. 14 Nov 1901 at the age of 68 years. When she was 19 years old, about 1852, she married Isaac Lamb in Ohio. At the age of 23, she united with the German Baptist Church at Dayton, Ohio. Shortly thereafter the little family moved to Mound Hill, Illinois. According to the 1900 census, the ancestors of Nancy were born in the states of Delaware and Ohio. Isaac was born in Virginia in October 1833 as well as his father and mother.
In the 1860s, Nancy and Isaac moved to Miller County and settled on 130 acres of prime land in the Ulman area (then called Ulman's Ridge).
NOTE: The name of the other 2 children was not found.
In the census of 1880, the Lamb family was living in Glaize Township in the Ulman community. Their neighbors included the families of Martin, Kinder, Wickham, Rinehart, Wyrick, Coburn, and Admire.
When Nancy Lamb died in 1901, she was survived by her husband, Isaac, (called Uncle Isaac by many) and 7 children, but their names were not listed in the obituary. Her funeral services were held at Hickory Point Church and conducted by Elder J. C. Thompson and Rev. Samuel O. Burks. Burial was in the old churchyard beside the church.
FRITZ LAMPE
Ferdinand Lampe (aka Fred) was born in Oldenburg, Germany c/1842 and his wife, Mary Annie Evers was born at Westphalia, Osage County, MO c/1852. She was a daughter of Theodore Evers, born c/1800, a native of Westphalen, Germany. The Lampe family came to America in 1871.
Fred and Mary married about 1872, probably at Westphalia's St. Joseph Church. By 1880, they were living in Miller County in Jim Henry Township near Old St. Elizabeth on the Osage River. I believe they came to Miller County in the early 1870s because during that time era two German immigrants, named Lampe and Goodmann/Gudemann, operated an old mill northeast of Iberia, today known as Brays Mill. The two immigrants were John Gudemann and Fred Lampe, brothers-in-law. John Gudemann was married to Fred's sister, Anna Elizabeth (Lampe).
The children of Fred and Mary/Annie were: LAURA LAMPE b. c/1873 m. Bernard Hake 1890; THEODORE 'Tade' LAMPE b. c/1877 m. Mary Dickneite 1903; MARY LAMPE b. c/1880 m. Peter T. Bax 1902; FRITZ LAMPE b. 1882 m. Mary Dickneite Bax 1906. There may have been another daughter named Iowa Lampe, born c/1878. She was listed in the l880 census in the home of John and Anna Elizabeth Gudemann.
According to family history, Ferdinand/Fred Lampe became blind as he lived out the last years of his life. His wife, Mary Anna, served as a local midwife in the St. Elizabeth area and delivered many babies.
Fritz Lampe, son of Fred and Mary, was born at St. Elizabeth on 1 July 1882. At the age of 24, on Sept. 25, 1906, he married Mary Dickneite Bax, widow of John Bax. Their marriage was performed by Frederick Bruch, Catholic priest. Mary had two daughters by her first husband; Rose A. Bax 1893-1962 m. Herman Buechter and Emma E. Bax 1898-1992 m. John Schaffer. Fritz and Mary had three children of their own including Estella Lampe m. Raymond Boedicker; Hedwig Lampe (never married); and Albert Lampe 1912-1917 (died of pneumonia at age 4 ).
Fritz Lampe sang in the church choir at St. Elizabeth for many years and also played in a local band. He worked for awhile at a mill owned by Frank Otto. The doctors advised Fritz to stop working at the mill for health reasons, so about 1919 he moved his family to a farm near St. Anthony. His wife, Mary (Evers), and her daughters once operated a telephone switchboard at St. Elizabeth. Before they moved to St. Anthony, Mary also worked as a seamstress making wedding dresses in her home. Her daughter, Estella, could remember when her mother and sisters also cooked and served wedding breakfasts.
In the 1940s, Fritz and Mary Lampe moved to the St. Louis area and lived next door to Estella and her family. The unmarried daughter, Hedwig, continued to make her home with her parents in St. Louis. Both of Mary's daughters by John Bax married in the St. Anthony area and reared their families there. Fritz Lampe died 17 May 1950 and Mary Dickneite-Bax-Lampe lived until 21 Sept. 1965. Both are buried in St. Louis.
NANCY H. LANE
Near Wilson Cave, northwest of Iberia, lies an old forgotten cemetery which has been inventoried as "Lane Cemetery". No road will lead you to this final resting place for some of Miller County's earliest pioneers. One grave in particular caught my curiosity and I wanted to learn more about a frontier mother named Nancy H. Lane, born 22 Jan 1805 and died 11 Aug 1844, at the age of 39 years. I imagine she was the first person buried in this old cemetery. After some research, the following is what I learned:
Mordica Lane bought land (80 acres) in 1839 from a couple named Peter and Jane Bilyeu---Lo and Behold, the Bilyeu's were my great-great-great grandparents who later moved to Linn County, Oregon. This land was directly east of present-day Iberia, owned in part today by the Hopkins family. About the same time era, a man named John J. Lane resided in Richwoods Township. I am speculating that John was a son of Mordica Lane. John Lane married Louisa Coffee/Coffey in 1842 and they acquired acreage in northwest Richwoods Township....the same land that is owned today by Kraml Wood Products. By 1850, Mordica had a wife named Celia. Other Lane pioneers included Mary Malissa Lane who married James T. Lynch in 1847 and Nancy Lane who married Creed T. Biggers in 1841. All these Lane folks were natives of Kentucky. There are so few records in Miller County for this Lane family, so I have to use my imagination and try to piece together what their may have been.
-------NOTE: Through research, Ken Shelton of Nevada, MO, has informed me he believes that Nancy Lane (mentioned above) was Nancy Whittle Lane, a daughter of Joseph and Susannah (Kinser) Whittle of Edmonson Co, KY...Kenneth believes Nancy married a man named Lane back in Kentucky (perhaps Mordica's son?) and came to Miller County with her parents in the early1840s. By then, she may have been a widow because in 1841, she married Creed T. Biggers in Miller County. The Lanes and Whittles lived near each other in the 1850 census. Joseph Whittle (Nancy's father?) was living in the Bigger's home during the 1850 census.
I believe that Mordica Lane and his first wife, Nancy H. Lane, came to Miller County in the latter part of the1830s from Kentucky and settled on land a short distance east of Iberia. According to census records, Mordica was a native of North Carolina and some of his children were born in Alabama. Mordica and Nancy may have been the parents of John J. Lane, Mary Lane Lynch, Priscilla Lane, Frances Lane, and Elmira Lane. The mother, Nancy, died in 1844 and was buried on land near her son and his wife, John and Lousia Lane where they were living in northern Richwoods Township. Later Mordica married his second wife, Celia (no record of their marriage was found in Miller County). He may have gone back to Kentucky for a new wife....those pioneers did not let a few hundred miles hold them back!
The Lane families disappeared from Miller County between 1850 and 1860 and I believe they all moved west during the 'gold-rush days' of the early 1850s. I know for certain that Creed T. Biggers and his wife, Nancy, with their young family, moved to Oregon Territory in 1853. Many families had a wanderlust in those days and moved westward across the great plains and mountain ranges in droves.....Since the name Lane disappeared from the county by 1860, I think my speculation may prove correct when I presume that Mordica and Celia Lane, John J. and Louisa Lane, Mary (Lane) and James Lynch, and Nancy (Whittle-Lane?) and Creed T. Biggers all have descendants living today near LaGrange, Oregon.
Nancy H. Lane (1805-1844) has been lying in our Missouri soil for over 150 years with no family left to tend or care for her overgrown and forgotten gravesite. In 1897, a son of Creed and Nancy Biggers stopped off in Miller County and visited the place where he had been born in 1845. Dr. George W. Biggers of LaGrange, Oregon, visited Miller County before the turn of the 20th century on a trip to New York City. I wonder if he searched for and found Nancy's grave? Has anyone come back searching for the site where she was laid to rest all those generations ago? It makes me rather sad to think that no one has known who she was for all these years. I still don't know for sure who she actually was, but perhaps my imagination has given her a new identity and if you happen to visit her grave someday, then she will not be a complete stranger to you.
THE LAWSON FAMILY
In the history of Miller County, there were many families with the surname Lawson. They all appeared to be prosperous farmers owning much acreage in Osage township. Some of the family also settled in neighboring Maries County to the east. There were several branches of the Lawson family who were only cousins. It has been difficult to piece together kinships of these early Lawson families.
Nathan Lawson Sr. was one of the older members of the Lawson clan who moved into Miller County in the 1830s. He lived on Greasy creek in Osage Township on what later was called "the Dubbert place". Nathan and his wife (Christina High per Mormon records) were the parents of at least 7 children: MARGARET/PEGGY, JACK, DAVID, CALVIN, GEORGE, ANDREW, & NATHAN JR. Evidently Nathan Sr. was a widower when he moved to Missouri. In the 1850 Miller County census, he was living in the home of his son, Nathan Jr.
The following is an excerpt from King's History of Maries County which has one chapter devoted to the Lawson family..."In taking up the Lawson family, we are confronted with the fact that at least 4 branches of it are represented in this county, and that even the oldest members of the various branches did not know their relationship each with the other. It is fairly certain that they were all kin, however, largely from the fact that they all came from the general territory of east Tennessee and the most of them reached this section about the same time" (Page 552). For anyone interested in the families, Mr. King chronicled each family very thoroughly.
Nathan Lawson Sr. was a native of Virginia (perhaps Charlotte County), born about 1775. During this period of time, Virginia consisted of a vast amount of territory. By the time his children were born they were designated as Tennesseans. Therefore, I do not know if Nathan Sr. was born somewhere in the present area of Virginia and later traveled westward and settled in East Tennessee where his children were born and reared. There were several members of the Lawson family in McMinn County, Tennessee in the 1820s and 30s.
The following Lawson families were residents of Miller County in the 1850 census: John & Louisa Lawson, James & Susan Lawson and their 6 children, Nathan & Delila (Green) Lawson and their 5 children, Colom & Rachel Lawson, William & Susan Lawson and their 5 children, David & Mary Lawson and 3 children, and John W. & Martha Lawson and their 4 children. All were close neighbors except John and Martha who lived some distance away.
Andrew Lawson, son of Nathan Sr., was born in Tennessee 25 Dec 1812. He married Sarah/Sally Rowden, daughter of Nathaniel and Nancy (Crain) Rowden of Roane Co., Tennessee. They homesteaded several acres in Osage Township of eastern Miller County in 1839. They were parents of 6 children; the 3 oldest born in Tennessee. They were: WILLIAM LAWSON b. 1834; GEORGE LAWSON b. 1835; MARY LAWSON b. 1838; NANCY CAROLINE LAWSON b. 1840; CLARISSA JANE LAWSON b. 1843, and MARGARET LOUISA LAWSON b. 1844. Andrew Lawson died at the age of 33 on January 25, 1846 leaving Sarah a young widow with 6 children to rear alone. Andrew was the first person buried at Duncan cemetery near the Maries County line. He was buried on land he had homesteaded in.
After Andrew's death, Sarah married her cousin, John Hardin Rowden, who was 12 years younger than Sarah. He was 19 and she 31 when they married at the end of 1846. The children born of this marriage were: HARRIETT ROWDEN b. 1847; DANIEL ROWDEN b. 1848, ABRAHAM ROWDEN b. 1849; ANNA E. ROWDEN b. 1851, JAMES H. ROWDEN b. 1855, and LEVI MONROE ROWDEN b. 1857. Sarah (Rowden) Lawson-Rowden was a very interesting woman. She lived a very busy life serving her community as a midwife. She was in constant demand, traveling everywhere with the doctor and she always went where ever she was needed. Giving birth to at least 12 children of her own, she was well qualified to serve as an experienced midwife.
The following is a 'reminensce of memories' recalled by a granddaughter of Sarah's that I acquired from one of her descendants....."She could not remember Sarah's first husband who was Andrew Lawson. She knew he died as a fairly young man, but she did remember John Hardin Rowden. Of him she said, 'He was a very handsome man...the handsomest man in the county. He was a hard worker and a great pioneer'. They bought a farm and he worked hard tilling the soil. Finally, John bought a threshing machine and one day, while working on it, he received a sun stroke. This was to be the end of hard-working, handsome John. He was never able to physically work the land again. It was left up to the older children to do the laboring and farming of the land.
Finally the land was sold to James Duncan. Duncan cemetery is located on the original farm land of John Hardin and Sarah Rowden. Sarah's first husband, Andrew Lawson, is the first person buried in this old cemetery so it stands to reason that Sarah and her 2nd husband are also there in unmarked graves. Sarah spent the last days of her life with her daughter, Polly Ann, who married William Shelton. She was a wonderful person...having married two men...reared their families and helped to bring many lives into the world."
NOTE: I believe the farm was homesteaded by Andrew Lawson so was not the land of John Hardin Rowden, but was owned by widow Sarah Lawson when she married John Hardin shortly after Andrew's death.
Clarissa Jane Lawson, daughter of Andrew and Sarah, was born in Missouri in 1843. She married Edmund F. Shelton on June 29, 1858 at the age of 15 years. He was the son of George Washington Shelton and his first wife who name was_____Roberds (her first name has not been found). George and Ms. Roberds were married in McMinn Co., Tennessee but no record of their marriage has been found. The marriage of Clarissa Jane and George was performed by Jehu Carnes, a circuit-riding Methodist minister who lived in Maries County. Jehu was also a native of McMinn Co., TN. Clarissa's half-sister, Polly Ann/Mary Rowden, married Edmund's half-brother, William Shelton. Her sister, Margaret Louisa Lawson married James Shelton, another half-brother to Edmund.
In the 1860 census of Miller County, Clarissa and Edmund were a young, newly-wed couple living in Osage township near his brothers, William and John Shelton and their families. All were prosperous farmers with land valued and exceeding $1,000 each, which was a substantial amount in those years. During this same census, the farm land of John Hardin and Sarah Lawson-Rowden was valued at $5,000 which was a larger farm. All the neighbors of John and Sarah were of the Lawson family including David Lawson, John Lawson, and William Lawson. The children born to Edmund F. and Clarissa Jane (Lawson) Shelton were: SARAH EMELINE b. 1860 died young; CELIA ADELINE b. 1862 m. James Boyd; JAMES PINKNEY b. 1865; MARY CAROLINE b. 1869 m. James A. Crismon; LOUISA PARALEE b. 1872 m. Henry Singer; WILLIAM HARVEY b. 1874; NANCY AZALIA b. 1879 m. Elbert Osborne; and CLARA JANE b. 1881 m. Andrew Singer.
Celia/Cecelia Adeline Shelton, daughter of Edmund F. and Clarissa Jane (Lawson) Shelton was married to James Boyd on 7 August 1879. James was a son of Greenville and Jane (Freeman) Boyd of Osage Township. The marriage records show her name as "Seley Adeline" which was probably a nickname for Cecelia.
The children of Celia/Cecelia (Shelton) and James Boyd were: ISABELLE BOYD b. 1883 m. William Clark; LEONARD BOYD b. 1884 m.Mary Lou Bodford in Oklahoma; CONARD BOYD b. 1886 m. Dennie Moon in Oklahoma; SARAH ELIZA BOYD b. 1888 m. Henry Franklin Smith; MINNIE JANE BOYD b. 1890 m. Samuel Simmons in Oklahoma; AZALIA BOYD b. 1893 m. Carl Musgrove in Oklahoma; NOLLIE BOYD b. 1897 m. Michael Hanvey of Oklahoma; and CLARA ALTA BOYD b. & d. in 1898 in Oklahoma. After Celia's death (circa 1898 in Oklahoma) James Boyd married Gertie McGuire in Collinsville, OK and they had one son, William Boyd, a half-brother to the other children.
It appears that James and Celia (Shelton) Boyd moved their family to Oklahoma about 1897 or early 1898. They settled in the Chickasaw Indian Nation near Stroud, OK and it was there Celia died, probably at the birth of her last child, Clara Alta. I have tried over the years to find her gravesite but with no luck. She is most likely in an unmarked grave and her whereabouts are known only to God. In researching the history of the Lawson family, it appears they migrated westward from McMinn County, Tennessee and all moved to Missouri about the same time, settling in eastern Miller County and western Maries County in the 1830s.
The names of the older Lawson men who seemed to have headed up the family lines were NATHAN (probably Nathaniel), DAVID, JAMES MADISON, and CLEM. In King's HISTORY OF MARIES COUNTY, each of these families are listed, with their known descendants in the early 1940s when Mr. King wrote his Names of Lawson men found in McMinn County, Tennessee records include: Andrew Lawson, Stephen Lawson, Richard Lawson, David Lawson, Tyra Lawson, Nathan Lawson, Isham Lawson, Allen Lawson, Asa Lawson, Hugh Lawson, James Lawson, Jesse Lawson, John Lawson, and William Lawson.
While researching in East Tennessee, I found other familiar names who came westward in the Miller/Maries counties area of central Missouri and homestead near the Lawson families. They were: COPELAND, MASSEY, CARNES, ROWDEN, MORELAND, MOSS, RENFROW, JOHNSON, BURKS, BRANDON, GREEN, SHELTON, ELSEY, WRIGHT, MELTON, HALE, MARTIN, and WIGGINGTON.
LAWSON ANDREW LAWSON - PROBATE RECORDS OF MILLER COUNTY
dated 1847....He had 80 acres with many livestock. George W. Shelton appeared as an administrator of the estate with Isaiah Duke and Samuel Parks as securities.
Sarah Lawson was his widow and she signed an affidavit dated 27 Feb 1846 as the Administrix of the Estate. Some buyers at a sale held were: John Lawson, Nathan Lawson, William Crismon, David Lawson, William Rothwell, and James Helton.
On Nov. 2, 1847, Sarah Lawson signed a sale bill as:"Sarah Rowden, formerly Sarah Lawson". She had married her cousin, John Hardin Rowden by this time. Later Nathan Lawson became the Administrator when Sarah signed over her portion to him.
Heirs listed were: Sarah, the widow; William M. Lawson, George W. Lawson, Mary Ann (called Polly Ann) Lawson, Nancy C. Lawson, Clarissy (Clarissa) J. Lawson, Margaret L. Lawson, all minor children.
The estate was not settled until 1853......the original bond was set at $2,000 on 3 Feb 1846. Those who signed the bond were Sarah Lawson, Nathan Lawson, and John Lawson. On Aug. 5, 1856, 3 years after the estate was settled, another note was found in the records stating, "Cash paid to Polly Ann Shelton, late Polly Ann Lawson, one of the heirs, $9.60"
ESTATE OF DAVID LAWSON - dated 20 Apr 1860
Heirs listed were: Mary Lawson, wife, and 2 youngest sons--Harrison and David Lawson. Executors: Mary Lawson, wife; Harrison and David Lawson. Witnessed by William Rowden and Joseph Johnson. The probate was recorded 3 Oct 1865 at which time Susan McKee made an oath she was present when the will was signed.
PROBATE OF NATHAN LAWSON - dated 10 Sept 1874
Children listed: David A. Lawson, Mary Olive Palmer nee Lawson, Rachel Elizabeth Lawson, John N. Lawson and Delilah Malinda Lawson. Other heirs listed were: Nathan Otis Lawson and Delilah Ann Lawson, children of son, William G.B. Lawson; Granville A., William N. and Hannah D. Hickey, children of daughter Sarah Lawson Hickey (evidently son William and daughter Sarah were deceased). All the heirs received some real estate.
Executors: John Lawson, brother and David A. Lawson, son. Witnessed by Isaac L. Lawson, John T. Hickey and Isaiah Latchem.......Recorded 6 July 1875
ESTATE OF DAVID LAWSON - dated 1865
Executrix: Mary Lawson.......$2,000 bond singed by Mary Lawson, David Shelton, Martha M. Jones, George W. Dake, and George W. Karr.
Heirs: Mary Lawson, widow; Matilda Lawson Kellison; heirs of Riley Lawson; heirs of Mahala Karr, all of Miller County; heirs of Elizabeth Wiggington of Miller County.
In his will, David Lawson bequeathed all his real and personal property to his wife, Mary. At her death, it should be divided between his youngest sons: Harrison and David Lawson. (They did not appear in the list of heirs above). The will was witnessed by William Rowden and Joseph Johnson. Another affidavit was signed by Susan McKee NOTE: THIS IS THE SAME WILL AND PROBATE AS SHOWN ON PAGE 1 BUT SEEMS TO HAVE SOME DIFFERENT NAMES. THE HEIRS INCLUDE MATILDA LAWSON KELLISON, RILEY LAWSON (deceased), MAHALA KARR (probably a daughter who was deceased) and HEIRS OF ELIZABETH WIGGINTON (probably another deceased daughter). Harrison and David Lawson were given the property after their mother's death. I do not know what the other heirs received in the will/probate other than an "honorable mention".......
ESTATE OF EDMUND F. SHELTON (husband of Clarissa Jane Lawson) - dated 14 Oct 1886
Heirs listed: Clarissa Jane Shelton, widow (nee Lawson); James Pinkney Shelton, Celia A. (Shelton) Boyd, Mary Caroline Shelton, Paralee Shelton, William H. Shelton, Nancy A. Shelton, and Clara Jane Shelton. (Note: Another child, Sarah Emeline, born in 1860, died before 1886) At his death, Edmund F. Shelton owned 260 acres in Township 40 Range 12 of eastern Miller County. Each of the following received $3.10 as their share of the Edmund F. Shelton estate: Louisa Paralee Shelton, Clarissa J. Finney (his widow who had married John F. Finney after Edmund's death); William H. Shelton, James & Mary (Shelton) Crismon; and James & Celia A. (Shelton) Boyd.
Edmund's burial suit cost $11.00; other items listed were 3 yards of lace 25cents and coffin screws. Clerissa J./Clarissa J. Shelton, the widow, received $400 in personal property from the administrator, Allen Taylor Shelton.....Note: I don't know if this was before or after she married John F. Finney, but I would wager it was before her second marriage.
DAVID LAWSON, SR.
David Lawson, Sr., was born circa 1785 in Virginia (per the census records of 1850). He died in May 1866 in Miller County and his probate records are filed in the Miller County Probate Court. In April, 1866, shortly before his death, he made his last will and testament in the presence of two men who lived in the same region of the Big Richwoods as David. They were William Rowden and Joseph Johnson (brothers-in-law from McMinn County, Tenn.). David and his family also came from McMinn County, so I would imagine they had known each other for a number of years.
In his will, he gave each of his children "now living" the sum of $10 each. His wife, Mary, was given the remainder of his estate including his personal property and real estate. After her death it was to be divided between his two youngest sons, Harrison and David Lawson, Jr. He designated his wife Mary and sons Harrison and David to also act as "executors of his will."
David and Mary Lawson (who I believe was his second wife -- she was 20 years younger than David) came to Miller County in the late 1840's from East Tennessee. There were several other Lawson families who had migrated from the same area of Tennessee several years earlier and settled in eastern Miller County and western Maries County. In the Miller County census of 1850, David and Mary were living in Osage Township near other Lawson families, the Rowdens, Greens, Branhams, Sheltons. All these families were from East Tennessee and probably knew one another while living there.
In 1870, Mary Lawson, David's widow, was living in Osage Township in the home of James and Sarah Plumlee. Nearby were her daughter and family (Susan Lawson McKee). There is no record of when Mary died or a burial place, but she probably died before 1880. She was a native of Georgia, born circa 1805. David Lawson was about 75 years old when he died in 1866. His burial place is also unknown.
GEORGE M. LAWSON
George M. Lawson died October 12, 1920 at his home on Dog Creek, Equality Township. Per his obituary, he had been in poor health for several years and was actually a rather young man; at his death, he was only 43 years of age. The obituary stated he was born in Maries County but did not give the name of his parents. There the problem began of trying to determine the ancestry of George M. Lawson.
Through research of my Lawson family files, I believe he was a son of William W. Lawson and his second wife, Hester/Esther_______. William W. Lawson was a brother to my great, great grandmother, Clarissa Jane (Lawson) Shelton, children of Andrew Lawson and Sarah Rowden, natives of East Tennessee. NOTE: If I am wrong in thinking George M. Lawson was a son of William M. Lawson, I hope someone can give me the correct information.
George M. Lawson married Melvia/Melvina Wyrick 26 July 1899. He was her third husband. She had previously been married to Charles Wesley Buster (1891) and Nicholas Fisher (1897). In the 1900 census of Osage Township, George and Melvia were newlyweds having married a few months earlier. Their neighbors included Ella Pierce McDonald, William Pierce, Stonewall Burks, Charles Pierce, William Burd, Mark & Betsy (Bilyeu) Colvin.
Melvia Wyrick was a daughter of Henry Callaway Wyrick and his wife, Brozonia Gibson. They were living in Osage township in 1880 with 2 young daughters in their home, Elva age 13, and Melva age 8. The grandparents of Melvia were Henry & Mary (Nipper) Wyrick, her great grandparents were Michael Richard Wyrick and Lucinda (Jones) of Grainger County, Tennessee. NOTE: Once again I have family ties to the Wyricks, the same as Melvia. My ancestors were Michael & Lucinda (Jones) Wyrick also. In family research you often find you have ancestral connections to the families of both the husband and the wife.
George M. Lawson became a member of the Hopewell congregation of the Christian Church several years before his death. The old Hopewell/Hopewill church was located in Osage township on Mt. Zion Road, less than a mile west of Highway A. There is still an old cemetery there with a few gravestones standing.
He was one of the 'south side's' most industrious farmers. For many years George and Melva lived on a farm near Ulman but about 1918, he bought the old Alvin Rine farm where he was living when he died. Alvin Rine and his wife, Leona, lived on the farm during the census of 1880. Alvin was born in Ohio about 1828 and married Leona Elizabeth Gibson in Miller County in 1859.
George M. Lawson died on Friday, October 12, 1920 and funeral services were held in his home by Elder John Davenport. Per information in his obituary, he was laid to rest in Mt. Zion cemetery but I could find no record of his burial there. I do not know how long Melva Wyrick Lawson survived George because her burial records are not inventoried either. No children were listed as survivors, so I am presuming they were childless.
NATHAN O. LAWSON
Nathan O. Lawson, called 'Big Nate', was born in northeast Richwoods Township on September 24, 1858. He was a son of George Lawson Sr. who died during the Civil War. George was buried near Little Rock, Arkansas and was one of the many casualties of that terrible war. Nathan had a younger sister, Delilah A. Lawson, who was born about 1862 before her father went off to war. Both children were reared by their grandparents, Nathan and Delilah (Green) Lawson, who lived in the same area of the Big Richwoods. I have no record of who George married, so at this time I do not know the name of Nathan and Delilah's mother. Evidently she died young also since they were reared by their Lawson grandparents.
On May 12, 1889, at the age of 31 years, Nathan O. Lawson married Rosa Anna Whitaker, daughter of Mark H. and Mary Jane Whitaker. Rosa was only 17 years old when she married Nate. She was born 19 February 1872 in the same community where the Lawson families lived. Rosa was one of six children born to Mark and Mary Whitaker. The children included: Sarah S. Whitaker b. 1868; Margaret J. Whitaker b. 1869; Rosa Anna Whitaker b. 1872; Thomas W. Whitaker b. 1880 and George W. Whitaker b. 1883. Her parents, Mark and Mary Jane, are buried at the old Brays cemetery.
In 1900, during the enumeration of the census, Nate and Rosa were living near the families of Hickey, Brandon, Whitaker, Kellison, Rowden, Boyd and Patterson. Their older children were attending the old Brown School, a one-room log structure located in their community near Greasy Creek.
On January 3, 1927, Nathan O. 'Big Nate' Lawson died at his farm home, only a half-mile from where he was born 68 years earlier. He was buried at Dick Lawson cemetery beside his wife, Rosa (Whitaker) Lawson, who had died 17 years earlier on 19 November 1910.
SAMUEL T. LAWSON
Samuel T. Lawson was born in Miller County on 16 Jan 1850, a son of Lewis J. Lawson (b. c/1823 TN) and Nancy Matthews (1829-1896). Nancy was a daughter of William and Ellen Matthews, natives of Tennessee. Lewis and Nancy were early settlers of Miller County moving from Tennessee in the 1840s. In the 1850 census of Miller Co., they were found living in Saline Township near the families of Jones, Ballance, Nolen, Dresser, Burris, Roark, and Bond.
During the Civil War the Lawsons had 3 sons who served in the Union army. William D. Lawson, the oldest son, enlisted in Co. G of the 8th MO Militia Cavalry. In 1863 he died of a fever at Lebanon, Laclede Co., MO. The second son Benjamin F. Lawson, served in Co. B of the 48th MO Militia during 1864-65. The third son, Samuel T. Lawson, enlisted in the spring of 1865 and served a few months in the Missouri Enrolled Militia.
Samuel T. Lawson, of whom this story is written, was the 4th child of his parents, born in 1850. In 1874, Samuel married Caldonia Meredith (b. 14 Jan 1854) a daughter of James & Elizabeth (McCubbin) Meredith. After Caldonia's father died, her mother married Miles Burris and they continued to live in the Tuscumbia area. Samuel was a successful farmer and stockdealer of Equality Township and owned a fine farm in 1889 with 65 acres under cultivation. He was a member of the Masonic Order and his wife, Caldonia, was a member of the Baptist church. (Note: Some of this info was found in the book, GOODSPEEDS HISTORY OF BENTON, COLE, MONITEAU, MILLER, MORGAN, & MARIES COUNTIES - 1889). Samuel and Caldonia had two children, one who died at the age of two years. They were: James Claud Lawson 1881-1961 m. Louise/Louie Clarke; and Maude Lawson 1878-1880.
In September 1936, Caldonia Meredith Lawson died at the age of 82 years and was buried at Tuscumbia cemetery. The next year, in November 1937, Samuel T. Lawson, her husband of 62 years, died and was placed beside Caldonia at Tuscumbia cemetery.
NOTE: Benjamin F. Lawson, brother to Samuel, owned and operated a restaurant and boarding house in Tuscumbia in 1889. He later became a storekeeper in the town. Benjamin first married Ellen Tarbutton and they had 5 children: Edward, William, Lucy E., Emma A., and Lena. Edward and William died young. After the death of Ellen, Benjamin married Annie M. (Clark) Tarbutton in 1892. She was the widow of Albert E. Tarbutton. Annie was several years younger than Benjamin. She had at least two children by her first husband, Albert Tarbutton, including Gertrude, born 1887, and P. Edward Tarbutton born 1888. Evidently Benjamin and Annie Lawson became parents of two sons, Clark born in 1893 and Afton born in 1896.
SARAH LAWSON FAMILY
Sarah Lawson was born in Maries County Missouri, on April 2, 1852, a daughter of James M. Lawson Sr. & Susan Knox, natives of East Tennessee. James (called James Matt) was born Nov. 13, 1816 and died Feb. 24, 1880. Susan Knox Lawson was born 3/20/1820 died 5/7/1879. Both are buried in an old cemetery located on land they owned in the 19th century and is today called Jim Matt Lawson Cemetery. Sarah Lawson was one of eleven children born to Jim Matt and Susan.
Sarah Lawson married Jesse C. Blankenship in Miller County on 2/6/1870, the marriage performed by Evan L. Short, a justice of the peace in Richwood Township. In the 1860 census of Miller County, Jesse C. Blankenship was found living in the home of Adam Brandon/Branham in the area where the Lawson families live in the eastern Richwoods. Jesse was born in 1848 in Missouri (probably Maries County). I do not know at this time who his parents were. He was the only Blankenship enumerated in Miller County in 1860.
Sarah Lawson & Jesse C. Blankenship had a large family of 13 children. Seven of the 13 died in early life and they reared only six.
Sarah & Jesse Blankenship reared their family in eastern Miller County in Osage Township. At one time, they lived over the line in Richwood Township near the families of Dake, Fike, Hannah, Park, Duncan, Berry, Shepherd, Rowden, Wilson, Bowlin and Jones. The neighbors in 1900 census in Osage Township included the Humphreys, Clarks, Crosses, Kirkwegs, Borgmeyers, Kinworthys, Deatleys, Volmerts and Dubberts.
Sarah Lawson Blankenship joined the Baptist Church at Carnes Campground (today called Campground Church) near Van Cleve in Maries County. She died 9/9/1937 and her funeral services were conducted by Rev. Edwin E. Bour of the Dixon Baptist Church. She was buried at Jim Matt Lawson Cemetery beside her husband, Jesse, who had died in 1932. Many Lawson family members are buried in this old cemetery which began as a family burial ground in 1866 when Sarah's sister, Matilda Lawson Wilson, was laid to rest on the family's homesteaded land. Sarah left many descendants at her death in 1937, six children, 38 grandchildren, 52 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.
DANIEL THOMAS LEE
Daniel Thomas Lee was born in Osage County, MO on 9 November 1865, a son of Isaac and Caroline (Glascow) Lee. Isaac (born c/1840) and Caroline (born c/1842) married 5 March 1865 in Osage County. They came to Miller County before 1880 and settled in eastern Richwoods Township near the families of Alexander, Kinsley, Thompson, Martin, Jones, Slone, Pankey, and Dake. They were parents of two children: DANIEL THOMAS LEE 1865-1933 m. Dora A. Alexander 1890; and SARAH JANE LEE b. 1867 m. Leroy Pankey 1884, son of Leroy and Elizabeth (Dake) Pankey.
Evidently Sarah (Lee) Pankey was the second wife of Leroy Pankey and they became parents of two children: MARY A. PANKEY b. 1886 and LEFTY A. PANKEY b. 1889. During the census taken in Miller County in 1900, the two children were living with their grandparents, Isaac and Caroline Lee. I would presume their mother had died since they were living in the home of their Lee grandparents.
Daniel Thomas Lee married Dora A. Alexander in Miller County on 16 January 1890. Their marriage was performed by George H. Shepherd, a minister of the gospel. Dora was born 19 August 1874, a daughter of Benjamin Clark Alexander and Elizabeth Ann/Betsy Jones. Betsy was living with a son, John Alexander, during the 1900 census. The census record stated she was born in October 1829 in Kentucky. The best I can determine, the children of Benjamin and Betsy (Jones) Alexander were: ELIZABETH ALEXANDER b. c/1852; HENRY ALEXANDER b. c/1855 m. Elizabeth_____; JOHN ALEXANDER b. c/1859 m. Martha Lee; ORVIL ALEXANDER 1862-1945 m. Mary E. Cross; SHERMAN ALEXANDER b. c/1865 m. Sarilda Holycross; MELVIN ALEXANDER 1867-1917 m. Mary Ellen Bilyeu; PARADINE ALEXADNER b. c/1871 m. Frank M. Bilyeu; DORA A. ALEXANDER 1874-1953 m. Daniel Thomas Lee; and IDA ALEXANDER b.___m. Wm. T. Morrow. NOTE: According to the 1900 census, Betsy Alexander, mother of the above children, stated she had 10 of 12 children still living in 1900.
According to the obituary of Daniel Thomas Lee, he became a member of the Christian Church in 1905. Later he became a member of the Mt. Gilead Christian Church where he served as Sunday school superintendent for many years.
The children of Daniel and Dora (Alexander) Lee included: INFANT born and died c/1892; JOSEPHINE/JOSIE LEE b. 1894 m. (1) Joseph Albert Dake 1912 (2) Everett Lea 1921; WILLIAM SAMPSON LEE 1898-1976 m. Nora B. Lawson 1921; MARY ELSIE LEE 1901-1946 m. Lem Jones 1918 (son of John Marshall Jones and Mary Louella Smith); JAMES CLARK LEE 1904-1945 m. Anna Irene Helton 1928; ANNA EUNICE LEE 1906-1992 m. (1) Manley M. Dake 1924 (2) Oliver Pendleton 1944; DOLLIE MARSHIE LEE 1909-1992 m. Truman P. Shelton 1929; INFANT born and died 1914; and NANCY MADGE LEE 1915-1998 m. Walter Wayne Humphrey 1932.
Daniel Thomas Lee, who was living in the Alder Springs community, died on July 27, 1933 at the age of 67 years. His funeral services were held at Mt. Gilead Church by Rev. Neddie Sooter. According to his obituary, he was "buried in a small cemetery on the old home place near High Knob". For many years it was called the Lee Family Cemetery but has been inventoried today as Pankey Cemetery. High Knob was a country store/creamery, which was operated by a man named Lee for 15 years and I suppose it may have been Daniel who was the proprietor of the old storehouse/creamery. Dora Alexander Lee, Daniel's wife of 43 years, remained his widow for 20 years and died on August 25, 1953. She was buried at Lee/Pankey Cemetery beside Daniel.
RHODA ANN LEE
Rhoda Ann Lee, daughter of Frank and Anna E. Lee, was born in Tennessee on February 26, 1856. She came to Missouri with her parents when only a child and they settled in Miller County in eastern Richwoods Township.
Three children preceded her in death. Rhoda was a member of the Christian Newlight Church for many years. In the census of 1900, Joel and Rhoda lived in southeastern Miller County and their neighbors included Samuel Willis, Dr. Cross, John Forbis, Mart Morrow, Charles Thomas (their son-in-law), Warren Alexander and Martha Smith.
Rhoda died July 6, 1934 at the age of 78 years. Her husband, Joel Atwell, died two years earlier on April 9, 1932. Her services were held at the Atwell church by Rev. W. M. Sooter, Jr. with burial in Atwell cemetery beside her husband. The cemetery is also known as Tyler Cemetery in some records.
WILSON & SUSANNAH LENOX
In a 1993 issue of the Phelps County Genealogical Society's quarterly publication, several pages were devoted to old records from meetings of the Dry Creek Regular Baptist Church at Lake Spring, Phelps County. While reading through the pages, I found a familiar name to Miller County's early history---Wilson Lenox.
In January 1835, Wilson Lenox and his wife, Susannah/Susan, were received into the church and within a month he was chosen as moderator for the congregation. By August 1835, some problems had surfaced at the old church. Some of the elders made a decree that Dry Forks Church would NOT support any foreign mission, Sunday school, Bible society, or ecclesiastical school which was in favor to 'learn men to preach'! Wilson Lenox would not support this decree so he evidently was thrown out of the church.
Almost 9 years later, in June 1844, Wilson and Susan Lenox were received back into the church. I don't know where they were during those nine years. In September 1847, Wilson and Susan called for their letters of membership and were granted them. I imagine by this time they were ready to make their move to Richwoods Township in Miller County.
By 1850, Wilson Lenox and his business partner, Andrew Corley, had built a trading post on Rabbithead Creek, southwest of Iberia where a town (to be called Williamsburg) was proposed in the 1840s. The town was never built; it was only the dream of a land speculator named Squire Williams.
Lenox and Corley's trading post was a popular place in Richwoods Township before the Civil War. Traders and hunters used the old trail that passed by the trading post and it became one of their 'stopping off' places. A post office was established at the trading post at the beginning of the Civil War. It was called Oakhurst and remained at that location until about 1871 when Iberia re-established its post office. Iberia's first post office was begun about 1838 but discontinued in 1861 when Oakhurst came into existence.
Wilson Lenox and his partner, Andrew Corley, were both slave-owners and were supporters of the Confederacy. They took an active part for the Southern cause in Miller County at the beginning of the Civil War. Their trading post was destroyed by the Missouri Home Guards during the war and was never rebuilt. Wilson Lenox died in 1863 at the approximate age of 60 years. I do not know if he was a casualty of the war of if he died of natural causes.
Susannah/Susan Lenox moved back to Phelps County after her husband's death. He and Croley had incurred many debts over the years, so she sold the land and the business to satisfy the outstanding debts against the property. There were other members of the Lenox family back in Phelps County, so she probably moved back to be near her kinsmen and perhaps to live among friendlier neighbors.
LEUTKEMEYER FAMILY
Anton and Christian Leutkemeyer were brothers who came from Schwancey, Prussia/Germany to America in 1871. Evidently they both came to central Missouri and first settled in Osage County for a short while. Anton was the oldest, born 2 Feb 1848 and Christian in 1851. In 1876, Anton married Anna Massman at St. Thomas, Cole County, MO. Witnesses to their marriage were Christian Leutkemeyer and Catherine Massman, who married a year or so later. Christian was a brother to Anton and Catherine was probably a sister to Anna. Anna Massman was born in Koeltztown, Osage County, MO in February 1859. Catherine was three years older, born in 1856.
Before 1880, Christian and Catherine Luetkemeyer had moved to Miller County and had settled in Jim Henry Township near the families of Barnhart, West, Volmert, Riggs, and Oligschlaeger. Among their closest neighbors were John and Lena Massman, ages 55 and 40 respectively, who were natives of Prussia. They were probably kinsmen of the Massman sisters who married Anton and Christian Leutkemeyer.
In August 1880, Anton and Anna Leutkemeyer moved into Miller County and bought a farm on the Osage River between St. Elizabeth and Tuscumbia which is still owned today by descendants of the Leutkmeyer family. It has been in their family for well over 100 years and could qualify as a "Century Farm".
Anton and Anna (Massman) Leutkemeyer were parents of 17 children, 15 who grew to adulthood. Two children died in infancy. The surviving children included: ANNA C. b. July 1879; CHRISTOPHER O. b. Sep 1881; HENRY b. Jun 1883; CATHERINE b. Sep 1884; LAWRENCE J. b. July 1887 (went into the priesthood); CHARLES b. May 1889; ELIZABETH C. b. May 1889 twin to Charles; SILAS F. b. Mar 1891; JOHN A. b. May 1892; WILLIAM B. b. Dec 1893; BERNARD J. b. Jan 1897; MARTHA D. b. May 1899; AGNES b. after 1900; and JOSEPH b. after 1900.
In the census of 1900, Anton and Anna were living on their Osage River farm with 13 of their children. Two had already died in infancy and two more were yet to be born. Their neighbors listed living nearby in the same vicinity included John and Caroline Huhmann, John and Josephine Meiberger, Joseph and Minerva Lurton, and George and Tennessee Edwards.
In 1992, the old two-story Leutkemeyer home was still standing on the farm that was owned by a grandson. A story of the Leutkemeyer family reunion appeared in the Miller County Autogram-Sentinel, dated 23 July 1992, and a picture was printed of the family's ancestral home. Descendants of the twelve children, who married and had families, were in attendance and the gathering numbered about several hundred persons...............
NOTE: While researching the old German families, the names were often spelled differently in various records. I found Leutkemeyer also spelled Lutgemeyer and Massman may have originally been Matschmann.
VIRGNIA P. LIVINGSTON
Virginia P. Livingston (called Jennie) was born in Hart County, Kentucky on March 15, 1848. She was one of thirteen children born to Daniel Livingston (1807-1864) and Parthenia Parish (1811-1894).
The children were:
1. Mary Jane Livingston 1833-1909 m. William Shelton Watkins
2. William Noe Livingston 1835-1909 m. Mary I. Castleman
3. John T. Livingston 1836-1896 m. Mary McCubbin
4. Joseph B. Livingston 1838-1910 m. ?
5. Henry B. Livingston 1840-1869 m. Jane Castleman
6. Elizabeth Ellen Livingston 1842-1922 m. Zadoc Casey
7. Richard Livingston 1844- ? m. Emily Womack
8. Peter Livingston 1844- ? m. Albertine Gover
(twin to Richard)
9. Martha Susan Livingston 1846- ? m. Joseph Hanks
10. Virginia P. Livingston 1848-1932 m. 1- Benjamin Castleman
2- Henry Bear
11. Lucy Ann Livingston 1850-1872 m. Lewis Castleman
12. Laura E. Livingston 1852-1900 m. Simeon Casey
13. Benjamin F. Livingston 1855-1876 m. Martha Cooper
Virginia/Jennie first married Benjamin A. Castleman who died in 1880. On May 7, 1885, she married Henry Bear in Miller County. Henry Bear was first married to Lucinda Spearman who bore him a daughter, Lucinda Ann Bear in 1868. The mother evidently died a couple of days after the birth of her only child. He then married Geraldine Robinson with whom he had 4 daughters: Eva Bear Umstead b. 1872, Dora Bear Mitchell b. 1874, Anna Bear Ihmels b. 1878 and Olive Bear Reed b. 1880.
Henry Bear was a son of George Bear (1806-1876) and Elizabeth Vogt (1811-1887) and was born in Hocking County, Ohio.
The children of George and Elizabeth Bear were:
1. John Bear 1834-1912 m. 1- Laura Birdsong
2- Delilah Dobson
2. Mary Ann/Polly Bear 1836-1877 m. (single)
3. Henry Bear 1837-1915 m. 1- Lucinda Spearman 1868
2- Geraldine Robinson 1871
3- Virginia Livingston-Castleman 1885
4. Catherine Bear 1838-1905 m. (single)
5. Andrew Bear 1840-1874 m. Catherine Loveall
6. Absolem Bear 1842-1932 m. Mary C. Spearman
7. Simeon Bear 1843-1918 m. Louisa Cleveland McDonald
8. Madison Bear 1845-1882 m. (died in Arizona Territory)
9. unknown child died in infancy
10. George Bear 1849-1918 m. Jennie Curry
11. Benjamin F. Bear 1851-1879 m. (single)
12. David Christian Bear 1853-1942 m. Mary Samantha Winfrey
During the Civil War, Henry Bear served with the Union Army in Capt. Capp's Company H, Osage Regiment of the Missouri Home Guards; in Capt. Brumley's Company I in the 47th Regiment of the Enrolled Missouri Militia; and in Company E of the 48th Regiment of the Missouri Infantry. He joined in 1861 and served until 1865. Henry died on December 23, 1915 at the age of 78 years and was buried at Hickory Point Cemetery in the Little Richwoods of southern Miller County.
In early life, Virginia Livingston-Bear joined the Hickory Point Baptist Church and later she joined the Ulman church by letter in November 1914 and according to her obituary, 'she lived a consistent Christian life and attended her church as long as she was able.' She was the last of her large family of 13 children to survive and died just 3 days past her 84th birthday on March 18, 1932. Her death was attributed to pneumonia fever.
She was the mother of 4 children by Henry Bear including 2 children who died young and a son, Willard Bear who died 28 Feb 1928. She was survived by a daughter, Lucy Bear Ratliff, 5 step-daughters: Lucinda Bear of Iberia; Eva Bear Umstead of Tuscumbia; Dora Bear Mitchell and Olive Bear Reed of Alberta, Canada; and Anna Bear Ihmels of Colville, Washington.
Her funeral services were held at the Hickory Point Baptist Church with the Rev. W. W. Bunch officiating and then she was laid to rest in the cemetery nearby.
ZED M. LIVINGSTON
Zed M. Livingston was a son of Peter P. Livingston (1844-1913) and Martha Albertine Gover (1853-1905). He was born in Miller County, MO in June 1874, the oldest son of Peter and Martha. In some census records his name is recorded as Zadoc. The children of Peter and Martha (Gover) Livingston were:
1. Augusta A. Livingston c. c/1872 m. William A. Colvin 1891 2. Zed M. Livingston 1874-1922 m. Eva Elsie Casey 1900 3. Octavia Livingston b. 1877 m. William T. Nigh 1909 4. Malvin Livingston 1879-1953 m. Cora Alice Karr 1906 5. Alvin Livingston 1879- (twin to Malvin and probably died young) 6. Nevada Livingston b. 1882 m. Robert Cooper 1913 7. Cleveland Livingston 1884-1913 m. (single) 8. Wesley Livingston b. 1887 m. Mildred Waite 1909
Zed M. Livingston married Eva Elsie Casey on 6 May 1900. Their marriage was performed by R. Boyd Cornett, a minister of the gospel. Eva Elsie was a daughter of Zadoc Casey (1837-1913) and Sarah Ann Castleman (1841-1892). Zadoc and Sarah married in Miller County on 10 Mar 1859. Their children included:
1. Mary Ann Casey b. 1860 m. George W. Barton 1881 2. John S. Casey b. 1865 m. Martha Barlow 1884 3. Drury Edward Casey b. 1867 m. Minerva Davidson 1886 4. William S. Casey b. 1870 m. no record 5. Eva Elsie Casey 1881-1959 m. Zed M. Livingston 1900 6. Ray Casey 1885-1959 m. Naomi Pemberton 1908
Sarah Ann (Castleman) Casey died in 1892 at the age of 51 years. Zadoc married his second wife, Elizabeth Livingston, in 1893. She was an aunt of Zed M. Livingston, Zadoc's son-in-law. Elizabeth was in her 50s when she married Zadoc so she never had any children of her own.
Zed M. Livingston and Eva (Casey) Livingston had several children including:
1. Hal Livingston 2. an infant son died young 3. Ruth Livingston m. Lynn Lupardus 4. Zedna May Livingston m. Eugene Downing 5. Grace Livingston m. single 6. Eleanor Alma Livingston m. Edgar Henry Traugott 7. Ada Lee Livingston m. Woodrow Douglas
NOTE: All 5 daughters of Zed and Eva Livingston attended the Iberia Academy and some graduated from the Junior College as well….Ruth from the Academy in1924; Grace from the Academy in 1928; Eleanor from the Academy in 1932; Zedna from the Academy in 1934 and the Jr. College in 1936; Ada from the Academy in 1937 and the Jr. College in 1939.
Zed M. Livingston died in 1913 at the age of 48 years. Eva Elsie remained his widow for 37 years and died in 1959 at the age of 78 years. Both are buried in Hickory Point Cemetery in the Little Richwoods of southern Miller County.
THE LOMBAR FAMILY
Frederick Lombar was from a prominent family who came to the Iberia area before the Civil War from the east coast. He was a son of Francis/Frank E. Lombar (1836-1903) and Mary Ellen Fancher (1842-1923). The Lombar family first settled in Canada when they arrived in North America and then moved to New York and the Fancher family was living in Greene County, New York. According to bible records of the Lombar family, Frank E. Lombar and Mary E. Fancher of Windham Center, Greene County, New York, married in Miller County, MO on 22 March 1862, the marriage performed by Rev. W. H. Monroe of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Frank D. Lombar - Frank E. Lombar - Fred Lombar
Frank E. Lombar was a son of Peter and Julia (DuPery) Lombar of Leeds County, Canada and Mary Ellen Fancher was a daughter of David and Catherine (Hurley) Fancher, of New York. The Lombars came to Missouri in 1852 from New York. Frank enlisted in Company F of the 33rd MO Infantry during the Civil War and fought in battles at Helena, Arkansas, Ft. Pemberton, Palo Alto Prairie and others. He was discharged at Brownsville, Texas in January 1866. He was in Osage County, MO in 1857 and then came on to Miller County in 1861.
Francis/Frank Lombar built a general merchandise store in Iberia prior to 1870 and became a prominent merchant for several years. He built a fine, majestic home that was called "the Lombar mansion' in Iberia and it sat facing the street named for the family---Lombar Avenue. The home was a spacious 2-story Victorian style house that was surrounded by an iron fence all around the property. It was there when I was a child growing up in Iberia but was lived in at that time by the Brown family who were kin to Mary Fancher Lombar. Her sister, Julia Ann Fancher had married John D. Brown and it was their descendants who lived in the house in the 1930s and 40s.....today the house is gone and has been replaced by the Bank of Iberia. At the Miller County Museum in Tuscumbia there is an exhibit of the Lombar family with pictures of the old house and the family bible.
Francis/Frank Lombar was a member of the Masonic Lodge of Iberia; select knight of the A.O.U.W (Ancient Order of United Workmen), the Grand Army of the Republic, and served as a state representative of Miller County on the Republican ticket.
Frederick Lombar, the oldest son of Francis/Frank and Mary (Fancher) Lombar, was born at Iberia on August 12, 1873. He may have attended the old Iberia Academy briefly though I did not find his name listed. His obituary stated..."After completing his preparatory education, Mr. Lombar entered the Law Department of Washington University (St. Louis) from which school he graduated with honors in 1895. He entered immediately upon the practice of his profession in this, his home county, and his success was phenomental."
Frederick married Lalla McGee in Jefferson City on January 30, 1902. She was a daughter of Dr. James McGee and his wife, Eliza Ann (Cummings) of Tuscumbia. Frederick and Lalla became parents of one child, Catherine Lombar, born December 20, 1902. She was their only child. Catherine Lombar lived until July 1997 when she died at the age of 95 years in Wichita, Kansas. She never married, so the descendants of the Lombar family were few to carry on their traditions. Catherine Lombar became a member of the Miller County Historical Society in the early 1980s and donated several items to the museum including the family bible, pictures, documents, and other items for an exhibit. She also donated some items from her mother's family, the McGees of Tuscumbia.
Frederick Lombar served as prosecuting attorney in Miller County two terms and was also elected to the Missouri Legislature serving in the 41st general assembly. Sometime after 1900, Frederick moved his family to San Angelo, Texas and continued to practice law in that state. He died in San Angelo on 17 July 1908 at the young age of 36 years. He was brought back to Iberia and buried in the family's plot at the Iberia Cemetery. His funeral service was held at the old Lombar home which by then was the Brown residence, conducted by Rev. Dunn, pastor of the Congregational Church at Lebanon. The Masons preceded the funeral procession to the cemetery where the usual Masonic honors were paid to Frederick. He was survived by his wife, Lalla (McGee) Lombar, daughter Catherine, his mother Mary E. (Fancher) Lombar, sister Minnie Lombar Wiggenhorn, and his brother, Frank D. Lombar.
MARY ANN LONG
Mary Ann Long was born in Miller County 25 Feb 1870, a daughter of Alexander Long (1838-1890) and Lucinda F. Keeth (1844-1905). Her parents married in Miller County 14 Apr 1864, the marriage performed by Joshua D. Cochran, minister of the gospel. Alexander Long was a son of George Long and his first wife, Sarah (Stewart) of Tennessee. Lucinda Keeth was a daughter of John & Ruhama (Allen) Keeth of Edmonson Co., Kentucky.
Mary Ann's father, Alexander Long, died in 1890 and her mother, Lucinda, married William R. Thomas on Nov. 22, 1896, the marriage performed by Elder Jackson D. Thompson. Lucinda died in 1905 and was buried beside Alexander at Pleasant Hill cemetery in southwest Richwoods Township.
Mary Ann Long married Albert E. Whittle on 25 Aug 1890, conducted by Rev. Thomas Owen Workman. Albert was a son of Peter J. Whittle (1836-1910) and Serilda S. Hoskins (1836-1917). His paternal grandparents were Joseph and Susannah (Kinser) Whittle of Edmonson County, Kentucky. Peter and Serilda married in Miller County on March 21, 1855. In 1900, Mary Ann (Long) and Albert Whittle were living southwest of Iberia in the Pleasant Hill community. Some of their neighbors included the families of Long, Keeth, Thomas, Short, Thompson, Allen, Wright, Duncan, Shelton, and Wall. They were parents of five children, but only three survived to adulthood. Two young daughters are buried at the old Rankin Wright/Spearman cemetery.
Mary Ann Long-Whittle died 27 July 1952 at the age of 82 years and was buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery. She was survived by her aged husband, three children, 10 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. She was also survived by her brother, Joseph Long. Albert Whittle died in 1962 at the age of 94 years and was buried beside Mary Ann at Pleasant Hill.
WILLIAM RILEY LONG
William Riley Long was born in Miller County on March 27, 1859, a son of George Long and his second wife, Mary/Polly Pennington. George Long was the father of at least twenty children by his two wives....eight by the first, Sarah Stewart Long, and thirteen by Polly. He came to Missouri before 1840 and settled in the Big Richwoods of southern Miller County. In 1840, he and Sarah were enumerated in Richwoods Township with 2 sons and 2 daughters in their household. In 1850, Sarah had died and left George with eight young children to rear alone. On April 18, 1850, he married Mary/Polly Pennington, a young woman about 22 years younger than George. Their marriage was performed by Jonathan Blevans, a justice of the peace in Richwoods Township.
I suspect that many of the children of George Long died in infancy and childhood because they seemed to disappear from census records and no marriages were found for several of his offspring.
William Riley Long was among the youngest of the twenty children of George Long, born 27 March 1859. William Riley was about 32 years old when he married Nancy Harriett Shelton in Miller County on 23 Oct 1891. Their marriage was conducted by Allen J. Henderson, a minister of the gospel. Nancy was born in March 1863, shortly after her parents moved from Illinois to Pulaski County, MO. She was a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Shelton. Her father was born in Kentucky about 1805 and her mother (quite a few years younger than Thomas) was born in Tennessee circa 1827. She may have been his second wife.
William Riley and Nancy Harriett were parents of two sons and two daughters, all born in southern Richwoods Township. There were ZYLPHIA ANN LONG b. July 1892 m. Charles Ross Rowden; CLARENCE LONG b. August 1893; WILLIS V. LONG b. July 1896; and LYDIA J. LONG b. April 1899 m. Clarence E. Sloan.
William Riley Long lived to reach the age of 81 years when he died on October 29, 1940. His funeral service was held at Pleasant Hill church, in southwest Richwoods Township, by Rev. John Phillips and he was buried in the churchyard nearby. He was survived by his wife and all four of his children. He was also survived by two brothers: Joseph Long and Thomas Long; and two sisters: Sarah Long Sloan and Caroline (Elizabeth?) Long Holloway.
JAMES J. LOVEALL
James J. Loveall, born in Miller County, MO in 1879, was a son of Silas and Amanda (Colvin) Loveall. His parents married in Miller Co. in 1861.
James and Rosa moved to Miami, Ottawa County, Oklahoma about 1905 and lived the remainder of their lives there. He worked for the lead and zinc mines which were very prevalent in northeast Oklahoma in the early 20th century. He retired from the mines after spending many years working in the underground caverns of the mines.
James was survived by his wife, Rosa; three daughters, Gertrude Quigg, Virgie Wilcox, and Goldie Giles. His only son, Bill Loveall, died a few months prior to his father death in 1950. He was also survived by one brother, Jasper Loveall of Sand Springs, OK and three sisters: Barbara Evans of Shamrock, OK, Frances Gauches of Stillwell, OK and Stace Gauches, also of Stillwell, OK.
LEATHA JANE LOVEALL
Leatha Jane Loveall was born in Miller County on April 10, 1864. She the oldest daughter of Silas Loveall (b. 1842 in Miller County) and Amanda Colvin (b. 1845 in Grainger Co., Tenn.) Silas and Amanda married in Miller County 18 July 1861 and became parents of several children. The Loveall family came to Miller County in the 1830s from Kentucky and the Colvin family came from Grainger/Union Counties, Tennessee in the 1850s and settled in Glaize Township near Bear Creek. Some of the early Loveall families settled in Jim Henry Township and also in the Saline valley of Equality Township. Later a branch of the family settled in Glaize Township near the Colvin family.
Amanda Colvin Loveall died in the early 1890s and Silas then married Elizabeth J. Loveall in Miller County 7 November 1896. They moved to southern Missouri and it was there he died and was buried. Most of the children of Silas and Amanda Loveall moved to Oklahoma and remained there the remainder of their lives. Leatha Jane, the oldest child, married Josephus Whittle on August 29, 1878 at the young age of 14 years. She was the only one of her Loveall family to remain in Miller County. She and Josephus reared their large family in southwest Richwoods Township in the Pleasant Hill community. Josephus Whittle was born in Miller County 8 September 1856, a son of John Levi Whittle and Nancy Jane Keeth. Both his Whittle and Keeth families came to Miller County from Edmonson County, Kentucky in the early 1840s and homesteaded land in Richwoods Township in the Pleasant Hill community.
When Leatha Jane was born in 1864, her parents gave her the names of all her aunts on both the maternal and paternal side of the family. Her full name was Mary Martha Vina Temperance Roseanne Elizabeth Lorraine Leatha Jane!....I can understand why she only used the last two!
Leatha Jane and Josephus observed their 50th wedding anniversary in August 1928 with a large crowd on hand to help them celebrate their special day. Large tables of food were set outside under shade trees (as was the custom in the early 20th century) and everyone enjoyed the day visiting and sharing memories..........You might wonder why I know all this......I was not born yet but I have pictures of their 50th wedding anniversary with the crowd on hand and the abundance of good country food set up on the tables.......Josephus and Leatha Jane were my great grandparents and I wish I could have been there to see all the activity and joined in on the fun time that everyone had that day.
Josephus died just 2 months later in October 1928 at the age of 72 years. He was buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery near the farm where they had reared their children. Leatha Jane lived with her youngest daughter, Sylvia Whittle Alexander and family, most of her remaining years. She died on March 20, 1946 almost reaching her 82nd birthday. Her funeral services were held at Pleasant Hill Christian Church where she had been an active member for many years. Her services were conducted by Rev. Otto Shearrer, pastor of the Iberia Nazarene Church and she was buried beside Josephus in the cemetery nearby. She was survived by 8 children, 39 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren, and 2 great great-grandchildren. Also surviving were some of her brothers and sisters in Oklahoma---Stacey Loveall Gaches, Frances Loveall Gaches, Barbara Loveall Brown, James J. Loveall, and Jasper Loveall.
LUCY EMILY LOVEALL
Lucy Emily Loveall was born near present-day Marys Home, Jim Henry Township, Miller County, MO on June 13, 1861. She was a daughter of Stephen Loveall (born 1830 in Kentucky) and Amanda Jane Rush (born 1835 in Kentucky). Stephen and Amanda married in Adair County, Kentucky in 1850. Lucy's paternal grandparents were Jonathan Loveall and Amy Ruth Allen. The Loveall family was early emigrants from England who first settled in the Baltimore, Maryland area before moving on west into Kentucky. NOTE: I am a descendant of this Loveall family and have been able to trace my ancestry back several generations. Strangely, as often happens in genealogical research, I also learned I am descended from the family of Amy Ruth Allen.
Lucy Emily's maternal grandmother was Margaret Rush who was born in Kentucky about 1803. She was in Miller County in the mid 1800s living in Jim Henry Township with her children. I have found no record of her husband so he may have died before they came to Missouri.
By 1880, Stephen Loveall had died and in the 1880 census, in Jim Henry Township, Amanda was living with her mother, Margaret Rush. Also in the home was Mary (Loveall) Sweaney and her 2 children, and George Loveall and new wife, Nancy Jane (Johnston). Lucy Emily Loveall married Isaac Newton Bond on April 19, 1875, the marriage performed by Wm. H. Payne, a minister of the gospel. Isaac was born in April 1859, a son of Martin and Charlette Bond of Jim Henry Township. They became parents of ten children, six who died in infancy. In the 1900 census, Isaac, Lucy, and 5 of their children were living near the families of Gosney, Roberts, Tellman, Hicks, Klindt, Angenendt, and Mertens. Shortly after the census was taken, Isaac died leaving Lucy with 5 children to rear. She married her second husband, James Johnston, on 8 Feb 1904 and had one child from this second marriage. After James' death, she married George Thatcher. He died in 1935, so Lucy outlived three husbands and several of her children.
NOTE: She had 5 other children that I did not find record of and according to her obituary, they all died in infancy.
Lucy Emily (Loveall) Bond-Johnston-Thatcher lived until January 19, 1946 when she died at the age of 84 years. She was survived by 5 children, 18 grandchildren and 28 great grandchildren. Her funeral services were held at the Eugene Christian Church, conducted by Rev. A. L. Alexander of Eldon. She was buried at Spring Garden cemetery, but according to inventoried cemetery records, her gravesite is not marked. I would presume her first husband, Isaac Newton Bond is also buried there. Her daughter and son-in-law, Cora A. (Bond) and Isaac Jenkins are buried at Spring Garden Cemetery.
REV. HENRY LOVEALL
I recently received a great book from a distant cousin who lives in upstate New York and she has been searching our common ancestors for years. She and I are both descendants of the Loveall and Jenkins families of Miller County. The name of her book is THE LOVEALL REPORT…THE DESCENDANTS OF REV. HENRY LOVEALL, AN ABLE AND WORTHY PREACHER OF BALTIMORE COUNTY, MARYLAND by Gaynelle Jenkins Moore. When I have finished reading and researching some of our ancestors who appear in this wonderful book, it will be placed in the library at the Miller County Historical Society’s museum in Tuscumbia so it can be available to other researchers.
Rev. Henry Loveall came to America from Cambridge, England in the early 1700's as an indentured servant of a sea captain, Daniel Sears, where he was to work for his ship’s passage for seven years. He lived many places as a young man after arriving in his new homeland including Long Island, New York; Hebron, Conn.; Newport, Rhode Island; onward to the “Jersies”; Baltimore County, Maryland; and Frederick County, Virginia. He and his wife, Martha, had several children born in different places in Colonial America. In 1730 he was called to preach to the General Baptists at Piscataway, New Jersey. He spent his lifetime as a Baptist preacher but had to live down a terrible reputation that was given him by other sects of his chosen religion. He was called “unworthy, lustful, lewd, seeking worldly pleasures, adulterer, bigamist and escaped convict!” BUT HE KEPT ON PREACHING AND DARING THESE OTHER CHURCH OFFICIALS TO STOP HIM! We live in an enlightened world today where knowledge has increased so drastically and modern man can better understand the biblical prophesies from the books of Daniel and Revelations. If those church fathers had understood the meaning, they would have probably leveled the charges of being the Anti-Christ at him in that era of time. They tried to destroy his reputation and scoffed at his accomplishments but he kept spreading the Word until his death in the late 1700s. Rev. Henry Loveall was my 7th great grandfather…from his generation to mine numbers ten. With my great grandchildren, the generations can be enumerated to 13!
Some of the later generations of Lovealls moved west to Wayne County, Kentucky; onward to Miller County, Dade County, and Newton County in Missouri, and some continued moving on to California and the Pacific Northwest-- so they are scattered all over America today. When I was a child I remember visiting Loveall kinfolks near Ft. Smith, Arkansas and Sand Springs, Oklahoma.
The Miller County Lovealls were descendants of Zebulon Loveall, son of Rev. Henry and Martha. Zebulon was born in 1728 in Piscataway, New Jersey. Zebulon married Mary West in Maryland and they were parents of nine children. Zebulon died in Baltimore County, Maryland before 1786 according to D.A.R. records. They had a son, Henry (named for his grandfather), born 1741 in Maryland. He married Mary Eva Miles in 1765 in Baltimore and they were parents of 12 children including Zebulon Loveall II (1780-1845) who was born in Maryland and married Jane Lane c/1798 in Virginia.
One of the sons of Zebulon and Jane (Lane) Loveall was Jonathan who was a great, great grandson of Rev. Henry. He was born in Wayne Co., Kentucky in 1814. Jonathan was a farmer and furniture maker by profession. He married Nancy Sorter, a native of South Carolina, circa 1835. Some researchers say they married in Ozark County, MO and moved to Miller County later. Nancy’s family, the Sorters, were early settlers in Miller County and Jonathan and Nancy may have come to Miller County to be near her family. Jonathan and Nancy were parents of 9 children and she may have died at the birth of her last child about 1854. Later, Jonathan married Letha Booth and they had 9 children so he was the father of many children. He and Letha and most of their family moved to the area of Ft. Smith, Arkansas and it was there he died.
One of the children of Jonathan and Nancy Jane (Sorter) Loveall was Silas Marion Loveall, my great, great grandfather. He was born in Miller County in 1842 and married Amanda Colvin, native of Grainger County , Tennessee . She was a daughter of James Hamilton Colvin and Barbara Phipps of East Tennessee . Silas and Amanda were parents of 8 children. After her death, Silas married Elizabeth J. Loveall (it is not known exactly who she was---a cousin? widow of another Loveall? Or who?) Later Silas and Elizabeth moved to Newton County, Missouri where he died.
Leatha Jane Loveall (her real name was Mary Martha Vina Temperance Roseanne Elizabeth Lorraine Leatha Jane ---given the names of her aunts ! !) was my great grandmother, born in 1864. She married Josephus Whittle in 1878 at the age of 14 years. Josephus was a son of John Levi and Nancy Jane (Keeth) Whittle of Edmonson County, Kentucky.
Their children included: Silas Levi 1880-1881; James A. 1882-1882; Lallah Brooks b. 1883 m. Frank V. Andrews; Carrie Gertrude 1886 m. Perry Tolbert Wyrick; Olia Rayford 1888 m. Fannie Jane Luttrell; Arlie Everett 1891 m. Ida Johnson; Bertha Irene 1894 m. Nicholas Shelton; Amanda Elizabeth 1896 m. Chesley S.Wyrick; Otto E. 1900 m. Sarah Ann Stone; Sylvia Alice 1904 m. Ransome Alexander; and John Wilburn 1907 m. Lois Stites. MY GRANDPARENTS WERE AMANDA ELIZABETH WHITTLE AND CHESLEY SYLVESTER WYRICK who both were born and died in Miller County. Chesley was a son of John Henry Wyrick and Rachel Elizabeth Kinder of Miller County.
Following this generation of my grandparents, there are five more generations that have been added to the Loveall family over the past 100 years including my mother, myself, my children, grandchildren and my great grandchildren...included in that number are my brother, his children, grandchildren, and great children as well !! Time just keeps marching on.
LOVEALL - SORTER FAMILY
Rev. Henry Loveall was born in 1684 in Cambridge, England. His wife was named Martha, but nothing else is known of her ancestry. Henry was an early-day Baptist minister in Maryland after coming to America in the early 18th century. According to THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, Henry Loveall's real name was Desolate Baker and he settled in Rhode Island about 1729. He was ordained a minister in New Jersey and preached at churches in New Jersey for awhile. By 1742 he moved to Baltimore County, Maryland and started the first Baptist Church there at Falls Road. He was living at Chestnut Ridge, Maryland in 1772 and was 78 years old. He and Martha had 4 sons: Zebulon, Ethan, Luther, and Calvin. The Miller County, Missouri Loveall family was descendants of Zebulon, born 1728 in Piscataway, Rhode Island. He was father of several children including: Henry, Ruth, Zachariah, Jonathan, and Rebecca. The wife of Zebulon was Mary (maiden name unknown).
According to D.A.R. records, Zebulon Loveall died in Baltimore County, Maryland before 1786. Zebulon Loveall, grandson of the first Zebulon, was born in Baltimore County, Maryland circa 1776. His first wife was Jane Lane. They left Maryland and moved into Wayne County, Kentucky where they lived for awhile. By 1837, he was in Miller County, Missouri, living north of the Osage River in the Saline valley area. His known children were Abraham, Stephen, Jacob L., Jonathan, Fannie, Solomon, Silas Marion, and Sarah.
Zebulon moved on to Dade County, MO and died there circa 1845. Jonathan Loveall, son of Zebulon and great, great grandson of Rev. Henry Loveall of England, was born in Wayne County, Kentucky in 1814. Jonathan was a farmer and furniture maker by trade. He married Nancy Sorter of South Carolina circa 1835. They were parents of 8 children: Sarah Elizabeth b. 1838 m. Benjamin F. Russell 1857; William b. 1840 (no other record found); Silas b. 30 Jul 1842 m. Amanda Colvin 1861; Delilah F. b. 1845 m. James J.Russell 1859; Vienna and Martha, twins, b. 1847--both died young; Jasper Newton b. 1858 m. Rachel Emeline_____; Nancy Emeline b. 1855 m. Samuel W. Dial 1867.
Jonathan married his second wife, Leatha Booth, in Miller County, MO in 1856. Nancy may have died at the birth of her 8th child in 1855. Jonathan and his second wife, Leatha, had 8 children also and they moved from Miller County and located in the Ft. Smith, Arkansas area. He died there. Silas Loveall, son of Jonathan and Nancy (Sorter) was a great-great-great grandson of Rev. Henry Loveall of England and was born in Miller County 30 July 1842. He married Amanda Colvin, daughter of James Hamilton Colvin and Barbara Phipps who were both natives of Grainger County, Tennessee. Silas and Amanda married in Miller County on July 28, 1861. They were parents of 8 children: Leatha Jane b. 1864 m. Josephus Whittle 1878; Barbara Ann b. 1865 m. (1)_____Evans, (2) _____Brown; Vina Frances b. 1869 m. Edwin Gauches; Stacey Adeline b. 1872 m. Frank Gauches; Jasper M. b. 1875 m. Emma Wheat; James J. b. 1879 m. Rosa Spearman; Elizabeth m. Benton Workman and John m. Paradine Stout.
The only descendants of the Loveall family who are left in Miller County today are the families of Whittle, Spearman and Workman. The majority of the children of Silas Love all moved into Oklahoma and Arkansas and reared their families in those states.
SORTER
Jonathan Loveall, who was a great grandson of Rev. Henry Loveall of England married Nancy Sorter about 1837. No record has been found of their marriage, but it must have occurred in central Missouri. The name Sorter has been found spelled with many variations including Sartor, Sarter, Salter, Sooter, and Psalter.
Nancy Sorter was born in South Carolina in 1814 and was descended from William and Rebecca (Hughes) Sorter of Union District, South Carolina. William, born 11 Mar 1760 in South Carolina, married Rebecca Hughes in March 1783. William was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and fought in the famous Battle of Kings Mountain, North Carolina and also at Blackstocks and Cowpens. His Revolutionary War records are very informative and detailed. After his death, on June 11, 1829 in Union District, South Carolina, Rebecca filed a widow's pension and received $80 per year until her death.
The parents of Nancy Sorter Lovell are believed to have been William and Delila Sorter, also of South Carolina who came to Miller County, MO in the 1830s and settled northeast of Tuscumbia (Equality Township) and in the same area where the Loveall family had settled. Their children were: Thomas S. Sorter b. c/1895 m. Sarah Enoch 1832 Cole County, MO; Elizabeth Sorter b. c/1808 m. Allen Henderson in Tennessee; Peter Sorter b. c/1811 m. Patsy Enoch 1839 Miller Co., MO; and Nancy Sorter b. 1814 m. Jonathan Loveall c/1835 (perhaps in Cole Co., MO). There may have been older children who did not come to Missouri.
The Gilgal Baptist Church of Christ met to organize in 1835 at the home of William Sorter (per Jenkins' History of Miller County), so the Sorter and Loveall families were instrumental in organizing the first church of the Baptist faith in Miller County.Nancy Sorter Loveall died in 1855 leaving eight children. Jonathan, her husband, married Leatha Booth in Miller County in 1856 and they moved to Dade County, MO in western Missouri during the Civil War era. Later they moved into southern Missouri where Jonathan died. Silas Loveall, son of Nancy Sorter and Jonathan Loveall, remained in Miller County and married Amanda Colvin, daughter of James Hamilton Colvin and Barbara Phipps who lived in the Bear Creek area of Glaize/Equality township of Miller County.
Their children married into the families of Whittle, Workman, and Spearman and are the only Sorter descendants left in Miller County today. NOTE: Peggy Smith Hake is a direct descendant of the Loveall and Sorter families of Miller County. She is the great-great granddaughter of Silas Loveall and Amanda Colvin; and the great-great-great granddaughter of Jonathan Loveall and Nancy Sorter.
JOHN LUPARDUS FAMILY
John William Lupardus was born in Sharon, Noble County, Ohio, on Dec. 3, 1860. He was one of three children born to Peter Burton Lupardus and his first wife, Mary E. (Kyser). The Lupardus family originated in France, and some of this family came to America and first settled in New York. The grandparents of John William (called Will) were Peter and Mary (Demic) Lupardus of New York.
Peter Burton Lupardus, father of Will, was born in 1833 in Muskingum County, Ohio, where his parents had moved. Will's mother, Mary (Kyser) Lupardus, died in Ohio in 1862.
Harrison M. Sullivan and Nancy Jane Lupardus.
Back: Dora, Olive, Minnie, Gertrude, Charles Clinton, William Burton
Front: baby Ernest Ray and Roy Elston
In May 1863, Peter Burton Lupardus married Joanna Caine in Noble County, Ohio, and about 1868 they moved to Miller County where they settled in Glaize Township near Ulman's Ridge.
Peter Burton Lupardus and wife Joanna
Minnie Lupardus Patterson & Fred Patterson - Circa 1956
Peter and Joanna are buried at Gott Cemetery. He died in 1914 and she died in 1919. They left many: descendants in Miller County and other surrounding counties of Central Missouri.
 Lupardus Log Cabin |
 Lupardus Log Cabin Inside |
John Will Lupardus, oldest son of Peter, grew to adulthood on the Lupardus family farm in Glaize Township and was reared in a two-story log house that Peter built in the 19th century. The house still exists today and has been donated to the Miller County Historical Society. In 1995, family members reconstructed the old log home on the grounds of the museum in Tuscumbia.
On February 17, 1889, Will Lupardus married Sarah Catherine Cooper, a daughter of James M. and Louansa (Graham) Cooper, also of GlaizeTownship. Her father was born in Kentucky in January 1838 and her mother was a native or Virginia, born in March 1842.
 Anton P. Nixdorf |
 Ida Cooper Nixdorf |
John Will and Sarah Lupardus were living in the west part of Glaize Township during the census of 1900. Among their neighbors were the families of McMillian, Gover, Snellings, Edwards, McClain, Thornsberry, Catron and Hogue.
Will and Sarah (Cooper) Lupardus both died in 1940 after spending 51 years together as husband and wife. Sarah died. February 29, 1940, and Will lived until Oct. 10. They were survived by one daughter and four sons. Both are buried at Gott Cornetery near Brumley. Per his obituary, Will was also survived by a sister, Nancy Jane Sullivan; six haIf-sisters: Florence Gover, Rachel Wyrick, Priscilla May McDonald, Ida Helton, Esther Brown and Minnie Patterson; and three half-brothers; James E. Lupardus, Henry Burton Lupardus and Tolbert Chastine Lupardus.
JOSEPH G. LURTON
Joseph G. Lurton was born in 1838 in Jersey County, Illinois. He was one of nine children born to Henry G. Lurton (1799-1880) and Martha Gamble (b.? d. 1873). Joseph's father was a farmer and also a cabinetmaker by profession. In the late 1830s, Henry G. Lurton patented some land in Osage County, Missouri, and about 1848, moved his family from Jersey County, Illinois, to their new home in central Missouri. Joseph was reared in Osage County and attended the country schools there. His mother died in Osage County in 1873 and his father in 1880.
Joseph Lurton married Evaline Birdsong in Miller County on Sept. 3, 1865, the marriage performed by Julius Schildwachter, a justice of the peace in Osage Township. Evaline was the eighth of 12 children born to Major Josiah Birdsong and his wife Nancy (Huddleston).
Joseph and Eveline (Birdsong) Lurton were parents of two sons: Logan, who died as an infant in 1867 and Edward H. Lurton b. Feb. 10, 1875. In November 1894, Edward H. Lurton married Livonia Brumley, a daughter of John and Lucy Brumley. Edward and Livonia became parents of two daughters: Lucy J. Lurton born 1895 and Lulu E. Lurton born 1898. I believe that Edward and Livonia may have separated then divorced, because in 1900 they were living apart during the recording of the census. In December 1900, Edward married his second wife, Stella C. Burnett.
Eveline Birdsong Lurton, wife of Joseph, died in October 1884 and was buried at the Birdsong family cemetery, located south of the Osage River on what was later the Calvin Wyrick farm. Joseph married his second wife, Amanda Minerva Starling-Adcock, in April 1886. She was the widow of James Henry Adcock, whom she had married in 1865. After his death, she was briefly married to Eleazer L. Bliss in 1883 and by 1886 she had married Joseph G. Lurton. By this time Joseph was the presiding judge of the Miller County Court.
Joseph was a successful stockman of the county and raised many head of cattle and hogs. He had increased his farmland from 450 acres to over 1,200 acres by 1889. He was a Mason; school board member; and helped to organize his school district. In 1900, he and Minerva were living in Osage Township in the Osage River country and had as neighbors the families of Edwards, Abbett, Luetkemeyer, Flaugher, and Huhmann. His closest neighbor during that year was his surviving son, Edward H. Lurton.
Judge Joseph G. Lurton died on July 20, 1927, almost reaching his 90th year. I am not certain where he was buried but believe he was placed beside his first wife, Evaline (Birdsong) at the Birdsong family cemetery.
THE LUTTRELL FAMILY
The progenitor of the Luttrell family of Miller County was Nathan Luttrell, a native of Virginia. Nathan was the father of Bluford Luttrell, Sr. born ca 1810 in Tennessee. *Nathan moved with some of his family to Marion Co., IL before 1850 and he died in that county.* Bluford married Malinda Shelton in East Tennessee ca 1832. Malinda, daughter of Haman L. Shelton, was born in Tenn. Ca 1812. Her father, Haman, was a native of Virginia. He died in Miller Co. in 1856 and his will was probated in the Miller Co. Courts.
These were brothers and sisters of Malinda Shelton Luttrell, wife of Bluford.
Bluford and Malinda came to Miller Co. about 1851-52 from Tennessee, after a stay in Marion Co., Illinois. In the census of 1860, they were living in southern Glaize Township. Bluford was 49 years old, Malinda 48.
There were probably older children, but they were not living with their parents in the census of 1860 in Miller Co.
In neighboring Pulaski Co., several Litterell/Luttrell families were found in the 1860 census including: LEWIS LITTERELL, age 46 & Mahala, age 45, 2 children; SHELTON LITTERELL age 24, wife Cynthia 25 and 2 children; JAMES LITTERELL age 23 and wife Sarah, 20 with 1 son. It is possible that Shelton and James Litterell/Luttrell were sons of Bluford while Lewis Luttrell age 46, was his brother. The Luttrells, who lived in Pulaski Co., were neighbors to the families of Shelton, Thornton, Smith, Setser, Wall, McDowell, Day, Mashburn, Pemberton, and Boren. All these families homesteaded in northwest Pulaski Co. near Old Hawkeye. Miller County was only a stone's throw away.
In 1860, on an adjoining farm to Bluford, lived Silas Luttrell, born ca 1823 in Tennessee, with his wife Nancy born ca 1834 in Alabama. They married in Miller Co. on 15 Aug 1851. Silas was probably another brother to Bluford. *With further investigation, I learned that Nathan Luttrell died in 1840 in Hardeman Co., Tennessee and has a will probated in that county.
During the Civil War, Bluford Luttrell served as a soldier in Co. D, Osage Regiment, Missouri Home Guards [Confederates] . He was well past 50 years old when he served in that long-ago war. Bluford died sometime after 1880 and was buried in a small country cemetery in southwest Richwoods township called Smith Cemetery. There is a military stone marking his grave with only his name, and the Co. with whom he served during the Civil War. His wife, Malinda, died prior to 1880 and is buried in an unmarked grave. Since Bluford is resting in the old Smith Cemetery, it stands to reason that Malinda is there beside him.
Henry J. Luttrell, son of Bluford and Malinda, was born in 1839 in Tennessee. On October 12, 1862, he married Celia F. Witt in Miller Co., the marriage performed by Joseph D. McCubbin, Minister. Celia was born in Illinois in 1836, a daughter of John Witt born ca 1803 in Tennessee and his wife, Frances/Fanny _____, born ca 1806 in Kentucky.
William Seigel Luttrell, son of Henry J. and Celia [Witt] Luttrell and a grandson of Bluford and Malinda [Shelton] Luttrell, was born in Miller Co. 24 Aug. 1864. He married Nancy Mariah Thornton-Dunahay/Dunahue, daughter of Milton and Elizabeth [Floyd] Thornton of Illinois and Alabama, respectively. He married Nancy 20 Jan 1884 in Miller Co. Nancy was born October 4, 1866, also in Miller Co. She first married William H. Dunahue [sometimes spelled Dunahay] in 1881. Evidently they had no children before his death.
William Luttrell and his first wife, Nancy [Thornton -Dunahay] Luttrell are buried at Mt. Union cemetery in southern Miller Co.
William Shelton Luttrell, born ca 1836 in Illinois, married Cynthia Ann Reynolds born ca 1834 in Alabama, in Miller County on June 1, 1856. It is believed William was an older son of Bluford and Malinda [Shelton] Luttrell. In the census of 1860, William Luttrell [listed as Shelton Luttrell] was living in Pulaski Co., Mo near Old Hawkeye. He and Cynthia had two children by 1860, John H. Luttrell born ca 1857 and Sarah Luttrell born ca 1859. Living next door to Shelton/William and Cynthia were John C.
Also in their home was Sarah Reynolds, age 53, born ca 1807 in Tennessee. I believe John C. Reynolds was a brother to Cynthia Luttrell and Sarah Reynolds was their mother. In the same general area were James and Sarah [Luttrell] Luttrell who married in Miller Co. in 1857. I believe James was another son of Bluford and Malinda [Shelton] Luttrell. He was living near William/Shelton Luttrell in northwest Pulaski Co. Since both men were married in Miller Co., it is reasonable to presume they had lived with their parents [Bluford & Malinda] before marriage. After marriage, they moved a short distance south and lived near the Reynolds family in Pulaski Co.
By 1870, Cynthia [Reynolds] Luttrell was enumerated as the head of household in Tavern Township in northwest Pulaski Co.
Evidently her husband was deceased by 1870. Living on an adjoining farm was Melton/Milton Luttrell who did not come to Missouri as early as Bluford's family. I do not know if he was a brother or a nephew to Bluford. It is always possible he was another son, but his age given in 1870 was 45 years while Bluford was 60 years old. I do not rely too heavily on ages given in census records because I have found they are often wrong.
John H. Luttrell, son of William S. Luttrell and Cynthia Ann Reynolds, was born ca 1857 according to census records. According to his tombstone inscription he was born in 1864! Once again it is so exasperating trying to place our ancestors in the right families when names and dates are wrong. John H. Luttrell was alive in 1860 because he was listed in the home of Shelton and Cynthia Luttrell and was 3 years old.
John first married a woman with the last name Lett, but no record was found of their marriage. His second wife was Margaret [Phillips] Luttrell who had been previously married to a George W. Luttrell. She married George, son of Henry J. and Celia [Witt] Luttrell, on 12 August 1882. Margaret was a daughter of Irvine and Louisa Phillips of North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. Margaret was born in Miller Co. circa 1864. George W. Luttrell died in 1888 [buried in Mt. Union cemetery] and then Margaret married John H. Luttrell, a cousin to George.
The Luttrell ancestors were of English origin and came to America in the 1700's, settling in Colonial Virginia. They expanded westward into Tennessee, moved onward to Illinois for a while, and finally moved to the Miller/Pulaski Counties area of central Missouri. The generations of Luttrell have been carried into the late 20th century by numerous Luttrell and allied families who are still very prevalent in Miller County. *Wm. M. Leona Albertson