Surnames Beginning With 'M'
JOHN JACKSON MACE
John Jackson Mace, known in his twilight years as 'Uncle Jack', was born 21 February 1847 in Camden County, MO near old Linn Creek. He was the youngest son of John and Malinda Mace, natives of Virginia and Kentucky. By 1840, John Mace, his wife and 3 children were found in the Miller County census living in Richwoods Township. It is difficult keeping up with some of these pioneer families as they continued to move so often. The Mace family evidently was in Dent County, MO, near Salem, about 1838; in Miller County in 1840; in Camden County by 1847; then back to Miller County by 1850.
John Mace Sr. was born in Virginia c/1811 and his wife, Malinda, was a native of Alabama, born c/1813. If she was born in Alabama in 1813, it was not a state yet but was part of the territory of Mississippi. In the 1880 Miller County census, John stated he was born in Virginia and his father was born in Pennsylvania. Malinda stated she was born in Alabama as well as her parents. I would venture a guess her parents were not born in that area, but went there before Malinda was born.
The children of John and Malinda Mace were: Celia M. Mace b. c/1833 m. John Burton; a daughter was b. c/1835 and probably died as an infant; William C. Mace 1838-1922 m. (1)_______(2) Amelia E._______; Margaret Mace b. 1840; Nancy Mace b. 1843; George Mace b. 1845; and John Jackson Mace 1847-1931 m. Mahala McKay. In 1850 they were living in the Big Richwoods of Miller County living near the families of John J. Lane, Andrew Brumley, John Birdsong, C. T. DeGraffenreid, and David Castleman.
John Jackson Mace, son of John and Malinda, probably married Mahala McKay in Camden County about 1867. No record was found of their marriage in Miller County. They do not appear in Miller County records until the 1900 census. During that year they were living in the east part of Glaize Township near William Trusley, Soverign George, James Warren, Willard Spearman, Samuel Payne, Millard Hawkins and William Karr. His obituary stated that John/Jack Mace and his family lived around Brumley and Iberia most of their lives and he had joined the Brumley Baptist Church about 1874. For some reason they do not appear in Miller County records until 1900.
John/Jack and Mahala Mace were parents of 9 children but only 4 survived their father at his death in 1931. They were: Mary Mace Witmer, Celia Mace Shelton, Harrison Mace, and George Mace. Mahala McKay Mace died in 1908 and Jack remarried twice after her death. His third wife, Marguerite Withers, survived him at his death on December 26, 1931. John/Jack's funeral services were held at the Iberia Baptist Church, conducted by Rev. Sooter. He was buried beside his first wife, Mahala, at the Iberia Cemetery.
OBITUARY OF THOMAS WALKER MACE
Thomas Walker Mace was born Dec. 10, 1842 in Saline Co., Illiniois. On Nov. 1, 1860, he married J. Ann Tate and they became parents of 11 children. Three children preceded him in death. The surviving children were: George A. Mace, Wm.T. Mace, Louisa (Groff), Mary (Arnold), Josie (Heltzell), Lillian Farnham), Cora (Benage), and Ollie (Musick). Thomas came to Missouri in 1881 and the same year he bought and moved to the farm where he lived the rest of his life. He died in Iberia on October 29, 1923 at the age of 80 years. He was also survived by a brother, Dr. George R. Mace.
EMMA JANE MACHON WILSON
Emma Jane Machon was born 20 February 1864 (some records say 1866). Family legend says she was born aboard the ship that brought her parents to America from England. Her mother died at Emma's birth, so if the family legend is true, then her mother was probably buried at sea. Emma's father was Charles Thomas Machon, born circa 1824, but I do not know the name of her mother.
After coming to eastern Miller County, Thomas Machon married Mary J. Moss, a widow. They were living in Richwoods Township in 1880 near the families of Dake, McKee, Brandon, Green, Humphrey, Whitaker, Hickey, and Lawson. In their home were Emma's older brother, Charles Machon, and Mary's two children, John and Permelia Moss. During the same year, Emma Jane was living in the home of James and Mathilda (Whitaker) Rowden in neighboring Osage township.
Emma Jane Machon married John Andrew Jackson Wilson on November 27, 1883. The marriage was performed by Granville B. Hickey, a minister of the gospel. Her brother, Charles Machon, married Martha Lee in 1889. If there were other children other than Emma and Charles, I have not found record of them.
John Andrew Jackson Wilson (called Jack), Emma's husband, was born 29 February 1860 in Miller County. He was a son of Nathaniel Wilson (1834-1877) and Matilda Lawson (1841-1866). The children of Nathaniel and Matilda were: ELIZA J. WILSON 1859-1873; JOHN ANDREW JACKSON WILSON 1860-1933 m. Emma Jane Machon; GEORGE W. WILSON 1862-1910; JAMES H. WILSON b. c/1864; and NATHAN WILSON 1865-1899 m. Anna Lawson. Matilda Lawson Wilson died in 1866 and Nathaniel married her younger sister, Susan Lawson. His wives were daughters of Jim Matt Lawson. Nathaniel and Susan became parents of two children: WILLIAM J. WILSON b. c/1869 and SARAH M. WILSON 1870-1875.
Emma (Machon) and Jack Wilson reared a large family on their farm about six miles northeast of Iberia.
Emma Jane Machon-Wilson died at the age of 67 years on January 12, 1932. She was survived by her husband, to whom she had been married for almost 50 years. She was also survived by 8 children and 29 grandchildren. Her funeral services were conducted by Rev. Fred Curtman and she was buried at Jim Matt Lawson Cemetery in Maries County. Her obituary stated she was a member of the Pentecostal Church but did not give the location of the church. John Andrew Jackson Wilson lived until December 1933 when he died at the age of 73 years. He was buried beside Emma at Jim Matt Lawson Cemetery.
MARION J. MANNING
Marion J. Manning was born 22 Feb 1851 in Missouri and died 21 Aug 1881 in Saline Township at the age of 30 years. In the MILLER COUNTY VINDICATOR, published in August 1881, I found only a brief notice of Marion's death which stated "Died---Marion Manning of the Sand Hill Congregation". He was one of 12 children born to Smith and Frances (Litzenby) Manning, natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. His Manning ancestors came to America from England, probably in the late 18th century. There were several Manning families in Halifax and Newbern counties of North Carolina in the first American census, taken in 1790. Some moved on to Tennessee, settling in Cocke and Claiborne counties of East Tennessee.
Sometime about 1830-32, Smith Manning married Frances Lizenby in Tennessee and their two oldest children, John and James, were born there before they made a move to Moniteau Co., MO c/1836. It was in the extreme northwest corner of today's Saline Township of Miller County. The following are the 12 children (11 sons and 1 daughter) born to Smith and Frances Manning: JOHN MANNING b. c/1833 TN; JAMES H. MANNING 1836-1884 TN; ROBERT MANNING b. 1839; WILLIAM MANNING b. c/a841; LUCY JANE MANNING b. c/1843 m. David B. Taylor; THOMAS B. MANNING 1843-1873; CONSTANTINE MANNING 1846-1909; GEORGE W. MANNING b. c/1849; MARION J. MANNING 1851-1881; PHILLIP M. MANNING 1853-1888; FRANCIS S. b. c/1856; and ALBERT C. MANNING b. c/1858.
Phillip M. Manning was a doctor at Olean in the 1880's; Francis S. Manning was a doctor at Versailles and youngest brother, Albert Manning, was a druggist at Spring Garden during the same years. George W. Manning was an early-day schoolteacher in the northern section of Miller County. In the 1880's there was a school located near the Manning farm and was called by two different names----Black Oak Grove School and Manning School. During the school years 1881-83, George Manning taught this country school.
In the news item of 1881, telling of Marion Manning's death, it stated he was "of the Sand Hill congregation". There was a school called Sand Hill School #1 located in the near vicinity of the Manning family, so I would imagine there was also a church by the same name and the Manning family may have been attending it at the time of Marion's death. The name Manning remains in the same area today with two roads having the name "Manning" on the signs....Manning School Road and Manning Drive.
There is a cemetery northwest of Eldon called Manning Family Cemetery. It is located near State Route CC.
OBITUARY OF MRS.THOMAS MARCHANT
Mrs. Thomas J. Marchant (known as Grandma Marchant) was born in Typton Co., Tennesse near Trenton on Nov. 27, 1834 and died in Iberia on July 23, 1923, reaching the advanced age of 88 years. She went to Arkansas from Tenn. in 1854 and was married to Thomas J. Marchant there in 1856. They lived in Arkansas until 1862 and then moved to Missouri location at Iberia. Thomas died in 1918. She was survived by 4 children: Mrs. C.K. Clark, Miss Anna Marchant, Sherman Marchant, and W.W. Marchant. She was also survived by a niece, Bertha Fancher, who was a member of the Marchant family since childhood. Grandma Marchant's funeral was held at the Iberia Baptist church and conducted by Rev. R.B. Cornett of Lebanon. She was buried at Iberia Cemetery. (Her obit. did not mention her first name.)
AMANDA V. MARTIN
Amanda V. Martin was born in Miller County in May 1861, a daughter of Thomas and Martha Martin. Both her parents were natives of Tennessee, born c/1835 and c/1833 respectively.
NOTE: There were several different Martin families in Miller County and it is difficult to determine which person belongs to which family. There were two different Thomas W. Martins, one born in 1823 and one in 1835, and possibly no kin to one another.
Amanda V. Martin married Leander Thornsberry (called Lee) in Miller County on 8 August 1879, the marriage performed by J. M. Hibbs, minister of the gospel. Leander was born in November 1860, a son of William Thomas Thornsberry and his first wife, Martha Ann Steen. His father was a native of North Carolina, born in 1817,and his mother was born in Tennessee in 1826. William and Martha had 12 children before her death about 1860-61.
Martha (Steen) Thornsberry died about 1860 (maybe at the death of her youngest child, Leander)
On July 11, 1861, William Thomas Thornsberry married a widow, Mary Bozarth-McCrory, in Miller County. Her first husband was William McCrory and they had 3 children, Mary Jane (McCrory) Warren, William Robert McCrory, and John M. McCrory. Thomas and Mary (McCrory) Thornsberry became parents of one son, Franklin Thornsberry, born about 1862. He was a half brother to Leander Thornsberry. Amanda (Martin) and Leander/Lee Thornsberry lived most of their married lives on a farm south of Brumley.
In the 1900 Miller County census, Amanda and Lee Thornsberry were living in Glaize Township, near the families of Wright, Shelton, Williams, Davenport, and Robinett. Amanda V. Martin-Thornsberry died on January 10, 1929 at the age of 68 years. She suffered a fatal heart attack at her home. Leander had passed away earlier but I was not able to find the exact date of his death. She was survived by her seven children, three brothers--James, Edward, and Thomas Martin, and one sister, Betty Martin Abbett. Her funeral services were held at the Glover Chapel in neighboring Camden County and she was buried in the church cemetery nearby.
CHARLES D. MARTIN
Charles D. Martin was born in North Carolina on May 4, 1818. He was the oldest of seven children born to James and Tabitha (Martin) Martin, both born in North Carolina. He was a grandson of Isaac and Sarah Martin. In an 1889 biographical sketch of Charles Martin, it stated his parents and grandparents were all natives of the "Old North State" (No. Carolina).
When Charles was about 3 years old his parents moved to East Tennessee and settled in McMinn County. It was there he married Malinda Shelton in July 1839. Malinda was born in Tennessee in 1818 and her identity is somewhat confusing.....in the records of McMinn County marriages, her name was written as Malinda Shelton, but in the 1889 biographical sketch, it stated her name was Malinda Lawson, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Lawson. I feel she was a Shelton because when they moved to Miller County, they settled in the old Madden community near the Shelton families who had migrated from McMinn Co., TN.
In the early 1850s, Charles and Malinda, with several of their children, came to Miller County and settled in southern Richwoods Township. Charles Martin was a half-brother to William Rankin Wright, Elizabeth Wright Shelton, and Louisa Wright Griffin, all of McMinn County, TN and who also came to Miller County with their families. In 1860, some of Charles' neighbors were Peter and Rhoda (Burnett) Shelton, Larkin L. and Elmia Shelton, Haman and Sarah (Smith) Shelton, John and Catherine (Whittle) Keeth, and William and Melvina Kanatzer.
Charles and Malinda had at least 7 children including: SARAH E. MARTIN b. 1840 m. William N. Burgess; WILLIAM THOMAS MARTIN b. 1844 m. Ruah Levina Setser; JOHN W. MARTIN b. 1845 m. Mary Agnes Stanton; EDMUND S. MARTIN b. 1847 m. (no record); EMILY JANE MARTIN b. 1849 m. Francis Marion Beard; JAMES ZEBEDEE MARTIN b. 1851 m. Mahala J. Dean; and ANDREW J. MARTIN b. 1855 m. (no record).
James Zebedee and Mahala Dean Martin
In 1866, Malinda Martin died and about 1870, Charles married Mary/Polly Hickman, daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth Hickman who lived in neighboring Maries County. Charles and Mary/Polly had three children: PARALEE S. MARTIN b. c/1870 m. William G. Smith of Pulaski County; CHARLES FREDERICK MARTIN b. 1872 m. Leona Gibson; and FRANCIS/FRANK MARTIN b. 1874 m. Lectie_________.
At the beginning of the Civil War, in May 1861, some Home Guard Companies were organized at Camp Union near present-day Brumley. Charles D. Martin was made Captain of Company E of the Missouri Home Guards with 94 men under his command. Shortly thereafter, Capt. Martin and his Company joined forces with Colonel Emly Golden. They ad a combined force of about 400 mounted men and it was the greatest show of military power Miller County had ever known. Later in the war, Capt. Charles Martin, with Capts. Wesley Hackney, John Salsman, and William Hawkins, took their Miller County boys to the 6th Cavalry of Missouri Volunteers and marched off to Arkansas to fight the Rebel armies. An interesting footnote to this story is the fact that Charles' half-brother, William Rankin Wright, who was an important Civil War figure during the same era of time, was an officer of the Confederate Army.......
After the war, Charles became active in the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) at Iberia and was a member of the I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows). For many years he served as a notary public for Richwoods Township and favored the Republican party in his politics. He stated in his biography that the first president he voted for was James Buchanan in the election of 1856.
Charles D. Martin died prior to 1900. His second wife, Mary (Hickman) was in the 1900 census, a widow, living on the old home place near two of the Martin sons. Charles is buried at Madden Cemetery with a military-issued stone marking his gravesite. On the stone it states "Lt. Charles D. Martin, Co. H, 6th MO Cavalry". Also in the cemetery is Mary Jane Martin 1836-1925, whom I believe is Charles' second wife (Mary/Polly Hickman). His first wife, Malinda, is probably buried in Madden cemetery as well, but without a stone to mark her gravesite.
CISLY ANN MARTIN OBITUARY
Cisly Ann Martin died at the home of her son, George W. Martin at Ulmon's Ridge on 31 December 1890. Cisly Ann was born in Pulaski County,Tenn. on 27 August 1819 and moved to Missouri in 1857 with her husband, John Martin. (I'm sorry, but that is all the information I have on hand about Cisly Ann and her husband, John Martin. Perhaps there are descendants today who may have more detailed information.)
JAMES OLIVER MARTIN
James Oliver Martin was born near Tavern, Maries Co., MO (then Osage County) on 15 May 1844, a son of George W. Martin and his first wife, Mary Ann Vaughan. George Martin was the father of 8 children by four wives (Mary Vaughan, Louisa Atkinson, Nancy Hughes, and Elizabeth Breeding). The children were: William Martin, James Oliver Martin, John Martin, Lucinda Martin, Louisa Martin, Leander/Lee Martin, Elijah Martin, and Benjamin Martin.
James Oliver Martin married Margaret E. Rowden 5 March 1868. Margaret was born circa 1848, a daughter of Rufus and Mary Rowden (Note: I think this is incorrect-Margaret may have been the daughter of James E. and Margaret (Lawson) Rowden). She and James were parents of 7 children: Josephine Martin b. 1870 m. Elbin Duncan; Mary Isabella Martin b. 1872 m. Joseph Rowden; Bertha A. Martin b. 1874 m. Everett Gardner; George Monroe Martin b. 1878 m. Laura Ferguson; William Elmer Martin b. 1881 m. Maggie Koester; Chester A. Martin b. 1885 and Elva D. Martin (1889-1901).
In the Maries County census of 1881, James and Margaret were living in Boone Township. According to census records his parents were natives of Georgia and Kentucky while Margaret's parents were from Alabama and Tennessee. The Rowdens were from Roane County, Tennessee, but some of the family members did venture down to DeKalb County, Alabama. The neighbors to the Martins in 1880 were the families of Wilson, Rowden, Lawson, Shelton, Kinworthy, Crismon, and Barr.
George Monroe and Laura Ferguson Martin
By 1900, James and Margaret had moved to Miller County and were living in the village of Iberia. Their three older daughters probably married in Maries County because no record of their marriages were found in Miller County. The oldest son, George Monroe Martin, married Laura Ferguson in Miller County on 22 June 1902. She was a daughter of Squire John and Dorcas (Shelton) Ferguson. William Elmer Martin married Maggie E. Koester in Miller County in 1903. No record of a marriage for Chester Martin was found and evidently the youngest child, Elva, died at the age of 12 years in 1901.
James Oliver Martin was a Union soldier during the Civil War. He was a private in Company M, Regiment 3 of the Missouri Cavalry. He enlisted on 15 Aug 1862 and was discharged 29 May 1865. During his time of military service he incurred a gunshot wound to his ankle.
In 1890, his address was Tavern, Maries Co., MO. Apparently the Martin family moved to Miller County during the decade of the 1890s. James Oliver Martin was a member of the Iberia Miles Carroll G.A.R. Post for several years before his death. This post of old Civil War Union soldiers was an active organization for many years in the Iberia community.
Margaret (Rowden) Martin died in 1903 at her home in Iberia and James then married Mrs. Susan Meredith in 1905. I believe Susan was the widow of Zachariah Meredith whom she married in 1877. Susan was a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Wilson of Glaize Township, Miller County.
James Oliver Martin died 12 January, but I haven't been able to find the exact date of his death. He was living in Eldon, MO with his second wife when he died. Susan died in 1933 and is buried in the Eldon Cemetery but there is no record of James being buried in Eldon. I suspect he was brought back to Iberia and perhaps buried in the cemetery there. Several members of his family were laid to rest in the Iberia Cemetery.
NOTE: According to an obituary I found for James O. Martin, it states he was buried at Iberia Cemetery, but there is no inventoried record or gravestone there for him.
LUCY ANN MARTIN
Lucy Ann Martin was born in Kentucky on 30 Jan 1859. She was a daughter of George and Nancy Martin, natives of Kentucky and early pioneers of Miller County. Since there were several men named George Martin, her father was called 'Big George' Martin. When they came to Miller County the family settled in Glaize Township near Ulman's Ridge.
Lucy Ann Martin married John M. Brumley in Miller County 31 January 1878, their marriage performed by Hiram Reed, Justice of the Peace in Glaize Township.
John M. Brumley died 10 Sept 1906 at the age of 48 years. He was buried in Mylee Cemetery in Osage township with other members of the Brumley family. Lucy Ann Martin-Brumley married Jobe H. Wickham on Sept. 30, 1909.
After her marriage to Jobe Wickham, they moved to Eldon and remained the rest of their lives there. Lucy Ann died in December 1929 at the age of 70 years and was laid to rest in Eldon Cemetery. She was survived by her husband, Jobe, her only son, Ivey Brumley who lived in Detroit, Michigan, and two granddaughters (Lucy Lurton Wickham & Lola Lurton Morrow). Her daughter, Cisley Livonia Brumleuy-Lurton was deceased in 1929. Lucy was also survived by two brothers: George H. Martin of Chicago and William Martin of Oklahoma; two sisters: Luvernia Martin Wyrick of Eldon and Isabella Martin Quinsey of Wood River, Illinois.
THE MARTIN FAMILY
Moses Martin, progenitor of some Miller Co. families, was born in Bedford Co., Virginia on 12 January 1755. In June 1777, he married Ann Heath of North Carolina. In 1776, Moses enlisted for service in the Revolutionary War. At the time of enlistment he was living in Surry Co., No. Carolina. He was a member of Capt. Richard Goode's Company of Col. Martin Armstrong's North Carolina Regiment---a drummer. He took part in an expedition into Indian country and was involved in several skirmishes with the Indians. He had served for 8 months and 21 days when discharged. In his elderly years, he was pensioned while living in Pulaski Co., Kentucky (Pension Claim # 5435). After his discharge, they continued to live in Surry County, No. Carolina for ten years; then moved to Knox County, in eastern Tennessee and lived a few years; and finally moved to Pulaski Co., Kentucky where he remained until his death on August 29, 1837.
John Martin, Sr. was a son of Moses and Ann (Heath) Martin. He was born in Surry Co., No. Carolina on May 17, 1784. In 1802, at an early age, he married Rachel Smith, probably in Pulaski Co., KY. John and Rachel continued to live in Kentucky where they reared their family. John died in April 1860 in Pulaski Co., KY. During the War of 1812 John Martin served as a private under the command of Capt. Samuel Tate of the Kentucky 7th Regiment, Mounted Volunteers. He received bounty land in Kentucky, 160 acres, for his military service during the War of 1812. His will was probated April 16, 1860 at Somerset, Pulaski Co., KY.
John Martin, Jr. son of John and Rachel (Smith) Martin and a grandson of Moses and Ann (Heath) Martin, was born 16 July 1814 in Pulaski Co., KY. On Nov. 22, 1834, he married Cicily/Sisley Ann Roberts in Pulaski Co., KY. About 1850, he and his family migrated to Miller County and settled in Glaize Township near Ulman's Ridge. At the age of 46 years, John enlisted in the 6th Regiment of the Missouri Cavalry in the Civil War and served mainly on scout duty in Missouri and Arkansas. Due to exposure during a long march from Batesville to Helena, Arkansas, he contacted health problems and was given a disability discharge after about a year of service.
John Martin III
John Martin III, son of John, Jr. and Cicily (Roberts) and a great grandson of Moses Martin, Revolutionary War soldier, was born in Pulaski Co., KY about 1843 and came to Miller Co. with his parents in the 1850's. He married Eliza M. Dunnington in Miller Co., on April 24, 1862. In the tradition of his ancestors, who had served in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, he served at the same time as his father in the Civil War. He was in battles across the South in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama.
His first wife, Eliza M., died in 1876 and was buried at Hawkins cemetery near Brumley. A few months later he married Eliza's sister, Violet Ann Dunnington, in Brownsville, Texas. By 1880, they were back in Miller Co.
His children by Violet were: Mira born ca 1878 and Benjamin L. born ca 1879. There were probably other children after the census of 1880.
About 1884, John Martin III, with most of his family, immigrated west and finally located at Joseph, Oregon. His oldest daughter, Mary Isabelle, who married Frank W. Fendorf, remained in Miller Co. John's second wife, Violet Ann, died in Joseph, Oregon in January 1899. About 1920 John moved to California and died in Sacramento on Feb. 11, 1925 and is buried in that city.
Another Martin immigrant to Miller County was George Martin. He and his family came to Miller County about 18676 after he had served in the Civil War with a Kentucky Regiment. George and his wife, Nancy, settled near the John Martin family in Glaize Township. It is certain they were kinfolks, probably cousins, and were most likely grandsons of Moses Martin, the Revolutionary War soldier. George and Nancy had a large family; at least 10 children. The 8 oldest were born in Pulaski Co., KY while the other 2 were born in Miller Co.
William C. Martin
Moses G. Martin, son of George and Nancy Martin, and probably a great grandson of old Moses Martin of Bedford Co., VA and Revolutionary War fame, was born 22 Dec. 1860 in Pulaski Co., KY. In 1881 he married Zelphia Winfrey, daughter of William C. and Christena Winfrey, natives of Kentucky and Ohio respectively. According to his obituary, he was survived by his wife, Zelphia and 5 children including Cordell Martin who married Vernetta (Nettie) Wyrick, daughter of John Henry Wyrick and Rachel Elizabeth (Kinder); George Martin, Mrs C.O. Robinson all of Miller County; Mrs. K.P.King of Kansas; and William C. Martin of Montana. He was also survived by a granddaughter, Nova Martin. Moses G. Martin united with the Baptist church at Gott in 1887 and later transferred his membership to the Ulman Methodist Church. He was a member of the Ulman Camp # 808 Woodmen of America. When Moses G. Martin died on October 10, 1928, at the age of 68 years, he was buried at Gott cemetery in Glaize Township.
There are many Martin descendants living in the same area of Miller County where their ancestors homesteaded and settled almost 125 years ago.
MOSES G. MARTIN
MOSES G. MARTIN was born 22 Dec 1860 in Pulaski County, Kentucky. He was a son of George W. Martin (19 Mar 1832-30 Jul 1903) and Nancy/Fannie Martin (23 Apr 1831-14 Oct 1950). His father and mother married in Pulaski Co., KY c/1849 and became parents of 12 children including: ANNA J., SUSAN M., GENERAL S., MOSES G., LUCY A., ISABELLA, GEORGE H., LUVERNIA, ANTHONY P., and WILLIAM C.
George W. and Nancy/Fannie Martin moved to Miller County about 1866 from Kentucky with their older children. Anthony and William were born after they arrived in central Missouri. Other members of the Martin family had come to Miller County prior to 1860 and had also settled in Glaize Township. There were two other Martin families in the census of 1860---Moses Tate Martin and his wife, Nancy (Bilyeu), and John Jr. & Sisley (Roberts) Martin. All had come from Pulaski Co., KY so there must have been some close kinship between all the Martin families.
Moses G. Martin grew to manhood on his parents' farm located east of Ulman in Glaize Township. He married Zilphia F. Winfrey on May 8, 1881. Their marriage was performed by John B. Wilson, a justice of the peace. Zilphia was a daughter of William C. and Christena Winfrey of Kentucky and Ohio, respectively. Zilphia was born in Miller County in June 1865 and was 16 years old when she married Moses.
In 1887, Moses and Zilphia became members of a Baptist church that was located at Gott Graveyard but later transferred to the Ulman Methodist Church. He and Zilphia are both buried at Gott Cemetery.
The Martin's family history has been traced back several generations to another Moses Martin, born circa 1760 in Surry County, North Carolina, and his wife, Anna Heath, also born in North Carolina. The name Moses was handed down through four generations of the Martin family.
MARY ELIZABETH MAXWELL
Mary Elizabeth Maxwell was born in Tunnel hills, Ga., on April 10, 1849. She was one of nine children born to Colwell Maxwell (1827-1907) and his wife, Frances (1829-1918). Her father was a native of Ireland who came to America in 1848, and her mother was born in South Carolina, although her maternal ancestors were also of Irish decent.
Sometime about 1865, probably after the Civil War had ended, the Maxwell family moved to Miller County and first settled in Osage Township near the families of Messersmith, West, Hill, Hensley, Bilyeu, Grosvenor, Capps, Hawk and Kinworthy.
I do not know the identity of the other three children who may have died before they came to Missouri. The four older children were born in Georgia and the younger two were born in Missouri, per census records. On Dec. 15, 1867, Mary Elizabeth married Jeremiah Whelan, son of Patrick Whalen (1797-1896) and his wife, Honorah Whalen (1810-1888), natives of Ireland.
For a few years, Elizabeth and Jeremiah Whalen lived in Osage Township near the Big Tavern Creek with neighbors from the families of Hamilton, Clark, Holtmeyer, Hawk, Buechter, Boyd, Grosvenor, Kinworthy, Myers and Rowden. They became parents of 12 children, but five died when young. Two are buried at Old St. Elizabeth/Charleytown Cemetery and three are buried in Billingsley Cemetery, east of Iberia.
About 1886, Jeremiah/Jerry and Elizabeth Whalen moved to Iberia, where he built a brick kiln. He produced many bricks and stones over the years that were used in construction of foundations, fireplaces and homes in the community. In 1905, they lived in east Iberia, near the John Casey and George Osborne families.
As a young woman, Elizabeth Maxwell Whalen was a member of the Presbyterian Church but later joined the Methodist Episcopal Church were she remained the rest of her life. Jeremiah Whalen died in July 1908 at age 62 and was buried at Billingsley Cemetery, east of Iberia, where three young sons of the Whalens were already buried.
Mary Elizabeth Maxwell Whalen lived for 22 years after the death of Jeremiah/Jerry. All their children had left Miller County and were living in Oklahoma, California and St. Louis. The last ten years of her life (1920-1930) Mary lived with a daughter in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she died April 13, 1930, at age 81. Her body was returned to Iberia where funeral services were held at Iberia Methodist Church, conducted by Professor G. Bryon Smith of the Iberia Academy. Mary was placed beside her husband and sons in Billingsley Cemetery. She was survived by three sons, four daughters, and two sisters--Emma Maxwell Smith of Dallas, Texas, and Amanda Maxwell Phillips of St. Louis.
NOTE: Today, Billingsley Cemetery is heavily overgrown with brush and weeds and has been neglected for many years. it is one of the oldest cemeteries in the country with the first-known burial occurring in 1845 for Mrs. Cornelius Bilyeu. There could be well over 100 persons buried at Billingsley. As far as can be determined, the last person buried there was Jasper Moss in 1971.
MAYLEE-THOMPSON-KALLENBACH
Hattie J. Maylee was born l8 October 1865 near Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her parents (names not found) came to America when Hattie was an infant. They first settled in Chicago, ILL; moved later to Hannibal, MO and finally came to Miller County in the late 1870s.
I believe there was a 4th Maylee child....Barbara Mahly/Maylee who married John Kalofa in Miller County 10 February 1880. On November 20, 1881 Hattie married John Robert Thompson, a son of Page & Mary Thompson. Their marriage was performed by Luke E. Melton, a minister of the gospel. John Thompson was born 9 March 186l and died at the age of 25 years on November 15, 1886.
On October 28, 1894 Hattie married her second husband, John Edward Kallenbach, son of Valentine & Mary M. Kallenbach, natives of Saxony, Germany. Rev. Edmund Wilkes performed the marriage of John Kallenbach & Hattie Maylee-Thompson. They were the first couple married in the new Tuscumbia Christian Church (in 1894). In the l900 census of Miller County, Hattie and John Kallenbach were living in the village of Tuscumbia. In their home were 6 children (3 were Thompson children and 3 were Kallenbach children). The neighbors of the Kallenbachs in 1900 were Walter Goodrich, James P. Wright, James Tomson, Samuel Adcock, Dr. James McGee, Dr.Kouns, and Arthur Small.
Hattie J. Maylee-Thompson-Kallenbach died at the age of 69 years on April 30, 1934. She was survived by her husband, John Kallenbach; 8 children; 9 grandchildren; l great grandchild and a half-brother, John Maylee. Her brother, Frank Maylee, preceded her in death in l931. She was a charter member of the Tuscumbia Christian Church where her funeral service was held, conducted by Rev. S. A. Crouch. She was buried at Tuscumbia Cemetery.
ALEXANDER MCCLAIN
Alexander McClain was born Feb. 2, 1853, in a log cabin, Glaize Township, near Brumley. He died March 15, 1935, at the age of 82 years. According to his death certificate, acquired by a descendant, his father was Milton McClain and his mother was Martha J. Plemmons. I believe his mother, born in October 1837 in Tennessee, was a daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth Plemmons who came to Miller County in the early 1850s from Kentucky. Evidently, Alexander was given the name of his maternal grandfather, Alexander Plemmons.
Martha Plemmons McClain Patterson
His father died when Alexander was very young and his mother remarried Dec. 23, 1855, in Miller County to Joseph Patterson of the Ulman area. Their marriage was performed by J. C. Glass, minister of the gospel. Alexander was reared by his stepfather in Glaize Township.
Alexander McClain married Ellen Hester McCommons, in Miller County, Jan. 5, 1877, Hiram Reed presiding. She was a daughter of Stanhope McCommons (1822-1895) and his wife, Julia Ann (1829-1901), of North Carolina and Illinois, respectively.
In 1880, Alexander and Ellen Hester were living in Glaize Township near the families of Wilson, Brickey, Payne, Tinsley, Plemmons, DeVore, and Brown. Twenty years later they were still living in the same area near some of the same families...a few names were enumerated in 1900-- the Grahams, Hickmans, Howsers, Catrons and Coopers.
Ellen (McCommons) McClain died in 1929 and was buried at Gott Cemetery. She and Alexander had been married for 62 years and had lived in Glaize Township all those years, where they reared their large family of four sons and seven daughters. Alexander lived until March 15, 1935, when he died at age 82. He was buried beside Ellen at Gott Cemetery.
NOTE: Charles MClain, of Quincy, Ill., supplied me with some of the information about his McClain ancestors. Alexander and Ellen were his great-grandparents. He wrote an interesting bit of information about Alexander McClain, and I quote..."Alexander was a Baptist by religion and earned a living as a farmer. When a young man, he rode a horse through the Oklahoma Indian territory. He wanted to move there, but Ellen talked him into staying in the Brumley area. In 1900, he had a farm near Brumley, with an orchard, also strawberries up and down the land, and blackberries on the surrounding hills...After the death of Ellen in 1929, he bought a Ford automobile and drove to Oklahoma with a grandson, Leland McClain. After visiting awhile with his children and grandchildren, he returned back to Brumley. He died in 1935 and was buried next to his wife in Gott Cemetery (between Brumley and Ulman, Glaize Township)."
ABSOLOM MCCOMB
Absolom McComb died 30 December 1940 at the age of 80 years (born 1850). He had been a minister since 1876 and was one of the oldest ministers to have served the county. He established six churches during his ministry. He was also a teacher for 31 years and served the county as a school commissioner. He married Miss Nannie Kelsey of Miller County who survives him. Also surviving him were five children: Anna (Johnson), Mary Ann, J.J., John, and Perry. He was living in the old Watkins community at death. His services were held at the Hickory Point Baptist Church on Jan. 1, 1941 by Rev. William Williams, pastor of the Brumley Baptist Church, with burial at the Hickory Point Cemetery.
ELIZA ANN CUMMINGS MCGEE
Eliza Ann McGee , known for years as 'Mother' McGee, died on Tuesday, June 4, 1934 at the age of 86 years at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Philip C. Hawken (Lalla A.) in Tulsa, Oklahoma.(The name is sometimes recorded as Hawkins also)
She was a daughter of Daniel and Amanda (Challes) Cummings of Tuscumbia. Her father was a native of the state of Maine and her mother was born in Missouri. They married in Miller County on 7 Dec 1843. Among the children of Daniel and Amanda Cummings were Martha E. Cummings b. c/1842; Edward S. Cummings b. c/1852; Josiah/Joseph L. Cummings b. c/1856; Eliza Ann b. 1849; Lucy A. Cummings b. c/1859; Maria B. Cummings b. c;1865; and William M. Cummings b. c/1869.
On 9 Dec 1873, Eliza married Dr. James B. McGee, a physician who was living at Tuscumbia. Their marriage was performed by Wm. D. Jordan, minister of the gospel. Her father, Daniel Cummings, was an early storekeeper in Tuscumbia before and after the Civil War. When Eliza married Dr. McGee, he had a medical profession in Tuscumbia and also dealt in drugs and owned an apothecary shop. In 1889, Eliza Ann McGee was a member of the Flatwoods Methodist Church, north of Tuscumbia, and her husband was a representative of a medical fraternity at the same time.
In 1900 they lived in the village of Tuscumbia with neighbors named Dr. Kouns, Small, Goodrich, Kallenbach, Wright, Tomson, Adcock, Grady, Burris, and Cummings. In 1908, they moved to the state of Arkansas where they lived with one of their children.
When Eliza Ann Cummings-McGee died she was survived by 6 children and a sister, Lucy A. Fancher of Georgia and William L. Cummings of Arkansas. Her husband had preceded her in death.
She lived for a while with her daughter and family, Mrs. E. P. Hawkins (Lalla A.) of Wichita, Kansas and in a short time before her death she lived with her daughter-in-law, Mrs. X. X. (Lillie Clarke) McGee of Wetumka, Oklahoma. At the time of her death she had children living in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Illinois.
Her funeral services were held in Wetumka by her pastor, Rev. J. E. Snell and former pastor, Rev. R. C. Alexander. Burial was in the Wetumka Cemetery (where I suppose her husband was also buried).
NOTE: In years past, a relative of Dr. McGee was a member of the Miller County Historical Society. Her name was Katherine Lombar of Wichita, Kansas, but she has been deceased for quite a number of years. I know there was some kin between the Lombars (of Iberia) and the McGee families (of Tuscumbia). Miss Lombar donated some old pictures of the Lombar family and an old family bible to the museum many years ago.
MANERVA JAME MELTON
Manerva Jane Melton was born May 22, 1848 in Lincoln County, Kentucky. She was the oldest of several children born to John Harris Melton (1822-1868) and his wife, Eliza Cathrine Pittman (1828-1909). They married in Lincoln Co., KY in 1846. Manerva's father was an early-day circuit riding Methodist preacher and was a leader in the Methodist faith. When they came to Miller County, the Meltons settled on the Little Saline creek about 3 miles north of Tuscumbia.
Manerva Jane Melton married Henry Anthony Wright in Miller County 13 May 1866, the marriage performed by Elder Albert Warren of the Methodist Church. Henry Anthony was born 14 Nov 1846, a son of James Lawrence Wright (1818-1896) and his wife, Elizabeth Mace Thompson (1820-1874).
Manerva and Anthony Wright lived on a farm on the old Tuscumbia-Jefferson City road about 2 miles south of Spring Garden. Their neighbors in the census of 1880 were the families of Welshons, June, Hawken, Messersmtih, Sanford, Lawson, Wells, Buster, and Barnhart.
Manerva Jane Melton-Wright was reared in the Methodist faith of her parents but later joined the Christian Church in 1871. Henry Anthony Wright preceded Manerva Jane in death. He died on April 9, 1916 at the age of 70 years. They had spent almost 50 years together as husband and wife. He was buried at Eugene Cemetery. Manerva spent years suffering with rheumatism and was invalid for many years before her death. She died on September 14, 1927 at the age of 79 years. Her funeral services were held at the home of her daughter and son-in-law, Catherine/Kate and Tom Spalding. Rev. Frye, pastor of the Eugene Christian Church conducted the funeral and she was then buried beside her husband in the Eugene Cemetery. According to her obituary she was survived by seven children, twenty-four grandchildren, seven great grandchildren and one brother, John Melton.
MATHIAS MEREDITH FAMILY
Mathias Meredith was born in Miller County Oct. 29, 1866. He was a son of Daniel Mathias Meredith and Mary J. Pemberton. His parents married in Miller County on July 23, 1863, the marriage performed by A. J. Wilson, a justice of the peace. The Meredith family came to Missouri from Tenn. and according to census records Mary Pemberton Meredith was born in Illinois in 1843.
Mathias' father, Daniel Meredith, was a veteran of the Civil War. He served in Company H of the 9th Provost Enrolled Missouri Militia. In the 1880 census of Miller County the Merediths were living in Richwoods Township near the families of Dean, Plemmons, Neal, Loveall, Allen, Whittle, Clark, Brumley, and Shelton. Daniel and his wife, Mary (Pemberton) are buried at Hickory Point Cemetery in northern Richwoods Township. Daniel Mathias Meredith 1844-1907 & Mary J. Meredith 1843-1908.
On Oct. 17, 1884, Mathias Meredith married Margaret Stone, a daughter of Julius and Elizabeth (Anderson) Stone of Richwoods Township.
Margaret/Maggie Stone Meredith died as a young woman and Mathias married his second wife, Martha P. Dunham, on 11/24/1896.
Note: Fern was a graduate of Iberia Academy, Class of 1930.
In 1900, Mathias & Martha lived west of Iberia near the families of Groves, Bond, Wall, Arnold and Mace. His two children by Margaret (Stone) were living with their grandparents, Julius & Elizabeth Stone, in 1900. Their mother had been deceased for about five years and Mathias had a new wife and two children in the census of 1900. His parents Daniel and Mary (Pemberton) Meredith were living in the town of Iberia in 1900.
According to the obituary of Mathias Meredith he had spent several years as a carpenter and painter. Mathias died at the age 68 on 7/1/1935. Martha (Durham) Meredith had died 10 years earlier in1925, and was buried at Iberia Cemetery. His funeral services were at the Iberia Baptist Church and he was buried beside Martha at Iberia Cemetery. Mathias was survived by four children: James T. Meredith, Stella A. Reich, Ray Meredith and Fern Toupin. A brother, James Albert Meredith and three sisters, Nancy Ann Shelton, Miranda Carleton, and Mrs. James Sanders (Parthenia).
OBITUARY OF MATHIAS MEREDITH
Mathias Meredith, son of Daniel Monroe and Mary J. (Pemberton) Meredith, was born in Miller Co. on Oct. 29, 1866. His parents, Daniel (1844-1907) and Mary J. (1843-1908) produced 7 children including: James Albert, Mathias, Jr., Nancy A., Mary C., Sarah M., Miranda R., and Parthenia L. Mathias' father, Daniel, was a soldier in the Civil War serving in Company H-9th Pro.-Enrolled Missouri Militia. Both Daniel and Mary are buried at Hickory Point cemetery. On October 17, 1884, Matthias married Margaret (Maggie) Stone and they had 3 children: James, Stella (Reich), and an infant who died very young. After Maggie's death, he married Martha P. Durham on Nov 24, 1896 and he fathered 3 more children: Ray, Fern (Douphin), and the 3rd child died in infancy. Martha died in 1925. During his lifetime, Mathias was a carpenter and a painter in his home area. He lived to the age of 68 years and died on July 1, 1935. His service was held at the Iberia Baptist church with burial in the Iberia Cemetery. He was also survived by a brother, Albert Meredith and 3 sisters: James Carleton (Miranda Frances).
THE MILLER FAMILY OF MILLER COUNTY, MISSOURI
Boyd Miller Sr. was an Irishman who came to America prior to the Revolutionary War. He served under General George Washington. Boyd settled in Greenbriar County, Virginia and married Mary Story. They had 2 children, William Miller born 1795 and a daughter (name unknown). After Mary's death, Boyd married Elizabeth Stephenson and they had several more children including Boyd Jr., Elijah, Jacob, Jefferson, Samuel, John, Anna, Hannah, and Elizabeth. In 1809 Boyd moved his family to Kentucky and stayed until 1815. During this time, Boyd served in the War of 1812 serving with the Kentucky Militia. Circa 1815, they came to the new frontier, sometimes called "Upper Louisiana" and settled in the young city of St. Louis.
In 1818, the Millers moved and settled for a short time near Meramec. For some reason they did not linger there long and moved on to the Moniteau/Cole counties region of Central Missouri. Circa 1819, William and his brother, Boyd, bought the old Factory Fort which stood near the Missouri River about 30 miles west of Jefferson City. By 1821, they moved to the Spring Garden area of present Miller County.
The best I can determine, the nephew of Boyd Miller Sr. was John Miller, who became Missouri's 4th governor in 1825. My conclusion was drawn when I found an old obituary of Charity Miller Clay, niece of William Miller and daughter of Boyd Jr. In her obituary it stated she was a second cousin to Governor John Miller.
Boyd Miller Sr. died about 1824 and was buried at the place where he settled when he came to central Missouri (Old Factory Fort), now called Marion. Many of the Millers who came south into Cole & Miller counties are buried in the Spring Garden cemetery.
For a few years, the Millers had been 'squatters' on the prairie land near Spring Garden before they officially filed a land patent in 1826. William Miller married Sarah Mulkey in Cooper County, MO on 21 August 1820. Sarah was a daughter of John & Polly (Lewis) Mulkey of Rutherford County, So. Carolina. William was born in Virginia 23 Oct 1795 and died in Miller County on 7 Feb 1878. Sarah was born in So. Carolina 13 Dec 1800 and died in Miller County 2 May 1884. Both are buried in the old Spring Garden Cemetery. The father of Sarah, John Mulkey, is buried in a lone spot near present-day Mt. Pleasant in Saline Township. There is evidence that other graves could be there also.
Boyd Miller Jr. married Isabella Mulkey, sister to Sarah. Isabella and Boyd married in Cole Co., MO on March 10, 1825. John Mulkey, father of Sarah and Isabella, was born in Rutherford Co., SC in 1768 and was closely related to Phillip Mulkey, one of the first Campbellite preachers (later called Disciples of Christ) to come into central Missouri. Rev. Mulkey pastored the Spring Garden church, organized in 1840.
William Miller patented many acres of land along the Osage River in Equality Township in April 1833 and it was on this land he built his one-room log cabin in 1834 where he, Sarah and their children lived for a few years. I believe the old log cabin, hidden for many years inside the walls of the Tellman house, was the oldest structure standing in Miller County before it was destroyed by fire in the early 1980s. After 3 years of crop failure, due to high water covering his corn fields, William finally decided to move and trade the land back for his old homeplace near Spring Garden. Three of William's sons continued to farm on the Spring Garden prairie after his death in 1878. The children of William and Sarah (Mulkey) Miller included: Jennetta (Witten); Mary (Stephens); Cerena (Stephens); Delila (Williams); Margaret (Witten); Caroline (Jones); Isabella (Shipley); Pinkney S. Miller; Boyd Miller; John Mulkey Tate Miller; Thomas Hart Benton Miller; and Sarah Miller.
The Miller family played an important role in the settlement and organization of the county. William Miller carried a petition, with many signatures, to Missouri's state legislature to request that Miller County be formed from land north of the Osage river (then Cole County) and an equal amount from the south side (then Pulaski County) and he was instrumental in the final success of county organization. Within the walls of William Miller's log cabin, the wheels of government began to grind on May 1, 1837. It was there, over 160 years ago, that five men met with William Miller and his family and held the first session of the Miller County Court.
William Ernest Miller, a grandson of William and Sarah (Mulkey) Miller, was still alive in Etterville, MO (Saline Township of Miller County) in 1990 when I wrote my book, PIONEER FAMILIES OF MILLER COUNTY, MISSOUR, not far from where his ancestors homesteaded all those years ago. He passed away a few years later. I visited with William Ernest Miller before his death and he realized he had a wonderful heritage. Who among you today can say that when your grandfather was born, George Washington was serving as the first President of the Unites States? In only three generations, the William Ernest Miller's ancestral family had lived under the leadership of 42 Presidents from Washington to Bush!!
CORA E. MILLER
Cora E. Miller was born near Iberia on November 12, 1885, a daughter of Stephen B. Miller and Amanda (Madden). Her father was born in Tennessee in October 1854 and her mother was also a native of Tennessee, born in July 1856. In the 1900 Miller County census, her parents were living in Richwoods Township, southwest of Iberia, near the families of Brumley, Duncan, Carroll, Madden, Woolery, Wright, Long, and Keeth. In 1900, Stephen and Amanda Miller had 6 children at home including: James W. Miller b. April 1878, William L. Miller b. Apr 1880; Walter Miller b. Jun 1883; Cora E. Miller b. Nov 1885; Sarah A. Miller b. Oct 1887; and Carrie N. Miller b. Jan 1891.
On August 25, 1904, Cora married Charles O. Short of Iberia. Charles was the oldest son of William Reuben and Martha J. (Shelton) Short and a grandson of Evan L. Short who was an early settler in the town of Iberia. The Short family once lived in Smith Falls, Kentucky before coming to Miller County in the late 1830s. The children of William Reuben and Martha Short were: Charles O. Short b. 1871; William L. Short b. 1872; Luly Ann Short b. 1876; John F. Short b. 1878; Elmer Short b. 1882; and Walter Short b. 1887.
Cora Miller Short taught in the rural schools of Miller County as well as her husband, Charles, in their younger years. Later Charles became a businessman in Iberia and Cora assisted him in his businesses. He owned a retail merchandise store, was a real estate and insurance agent. Charles also helped to organize the old Farmers and Traders Bank of Iberia where he served as cashier for 9 years; was a vice president on the board of trustees of Iberia Academy and Junior College; and served as Republican state representative from Miller County, elected in 1920. Charles and Cora became parents of two daughters: Lela Short, who later lived in Morris, Illinois and Edith Short Chittum, of Chicago. Both of the daughters are now deceased and were brought back to Iberia for burial beside their parents. Charles died in October 1937 and was buried at Iberia Cemetery. Cora lived for 36 years as his widow and died 25 Sep 1973 at the age of 87 years. When Cora died in 1973, she was survived by her two daughters and a sister, Carrie Miller Brooks of Phoenix, Arizona.
 Victorian Quilt by Cora Miller |
ADDENDUM:
Charles and Cora Short were members of the Iberia Methodist Church and sometime around 1900 (perhaps even earlier), Charles bought a quilt that was used as a fund-raising item for the Methodist Church, made by the ladies sewing circle. Today that beautiful, unique quilt is on display at the Miller County Historical Society's museum in Tuscumbia. After the death of Edith Short Chittum in 2002, the quilt was donated to the historical society. It was her wish that the quilt be given to the museum because there were no living relatives to inherit it and she thought the appropriate place would be in the museum for all Miller County residents and visitors to see and enjoy. It is displayed in a wooden cabinet behind a glass enclosure. The quilt is a "Friendship Quilt" and names of over 300 persons are embroidered on it. None of the 300 plus are alive today.
ISAAC MOON
Isaac S. Moon was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on 27 Mar 1815 where he lived until 1866 when he migrated to Missouri, locating in Miller County. For about 8 years he lived at Excelsior in Morgan County, but most the rest of his life was spent in Miller County.
For over 40 years he worked as a blacksmith until his age and hard work began to tell upon his physical powers and then began to solely farm the land.
Isaac married Margaret_____ (1810-1881)and they reared 4 children: James and Joseph (the original owner of the Virginia Hotel at Aurora), Margaret/Maggie Moon, and Martha E. Moon who married James M. Allee. He was living with Martha and her husband when he died in July 1887. The boys were both living in Kansas at the time of Isaac's death and Miss Maggie lived in Lawrence, Kansas while the other daughter, Martha Moon Allee lived in or near Eldon.
At the time of his death, on July 9, 1887, Isaac Moon was over 72 years of age. He was buried at the Mt. Pleasant Masonic Cemetery with Masonic honors to which order he had long been a member.
Two weeks before his death, he complained of feeling ill and it was not long after that the disease appeared in the form of flux and his physical forces soon gave way, completely prostrating him to a state of helplessness, notwithstanding the efforts of physicians and careful nursing...(as you can read, the old obituaries were quite colorful , realistic, and vivid in nature).
Their neighbors in 1870 included the families of Conner, Etter, Hayes, Bond, Clark, Thompson, Jemphrey, Jobe, Mulkey, Hicks, Crisp, and Tracy.
Both Isaac and his wife, Margaret (maiden name not found) are buried at Mt. Pleasant AF & AM Masonic Cemetery.
9 Jul 1887
Margaret 25 Sep 1810-
4 Nov 1881
DR. JOHN HARRY MOORE,
Early Iberia Physician and Merchant.......
John Harry Moore was born in Tennessee on July 4, 1846, one of 9 children born to Dr. Andrew J. Moore and his wife, Sarah Wright. John's father was born in Tennessee in 1818 and died in Missouri (date not found). His mother was a native of Virginia, born 20 Sept 1820 and died in Iberia on March 26, 1890. Dr. Andrew and Mary Moore had a son named Aaron H. Moore (1839-1877) and a daughter Laura Moore (1864-1879) who are both buried at the Iberia Cemetery.
Dr. Andrew Moore, father of John Harry, was a son of Daniel Moore of Maryland who was a soldier of the American Revolution. Sarah Wright Moore's father was also a soldier of the Revolutionary Warm. Evidently Andrew Moore married Sarah Wright in East Tennessee and they later moved into Kentucky for a short while. During their stay in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Andrew served as county sheriff and during the Civil War he was a surgeon in General Lowe's Division of the Confederate Army.
John Harry Moore came to Missouri before his parents and first settled in Crawford County where he attended the Steelville Seminary from 1860 to 1863 where he studied medicine. In 1867-68, he went to the McDowell College of St. Louis and later studied medicine under his father and Dr. Gregory if Washington. He taught school for one year in Crawford County and began his medical career in 1869. By 1870, he decided he wanted to move elsewhere and came to the Iberia area where he began to practice his profession for the early residents of the Big Richwoods.
Dr. John H. Moore opened a drug store and general merchandise store in Iberia in the 1870s and continued to practice medicine as well. On April 30, 1871, he married Alice Catherine Fancher, a daughter of David and Catherine (Hurley) Fancher, natives of New York. Alice was born in Greene County, New York in April 1853 and came to Miller County with her parents in the late 1850s. She a brother, Marquis Fancher, and two sisters Mary E. Fancher Lombar and Julia Fancher Brown who also lived in the Iberia vicinity.
Rosa EstellaeMoore-Garner was the first graduate of the Iberia Academy (Class of 1893). She was the only student who had the credentials to receive the honor of her graduation. Her future husband, Hugh Garner (whom she married in December 1893), was part of the Academy's commencement when he played a cornet solo, "The Emily Polka". Even though Estelle was the only graduate, the program was full of music, oratory, salutations, and other awards.
The Moores were members of the Iberia Congregational Church and were prominent people of the Iberia area for many years. Dr. John Moore died in 1920 at the age of 74 years. His wife, Alice (Fancher) Moore survived him as well as their only child, Estelle Moore Garner.
John Harry Moore was buried at Iberia Cemetery where his mother, Sarah Wright Moore (1820-1877), a sister Laura Moore (1864-1879) and his brother, Aaron H. Moore (1839-1877) are also buried. Dr. Andrew J. Moore, John's father, does not have a tombstone at Iberia Cemetery, so I would presume he died before his wife and children moved to Miller County.
There is an additional story that can be written about the life of Dr. John Harry Moore....I had been told a story many years go about an old doctor of the Iberia area who had fathered a child by a black woman who was in his employ following the Civil War. Until I began to research the life of John Moore, I did not know that he was most likely that doctor! I will try to tell the story as accurately as I found it recorded.
In 1870, in the census of Miller County, Dr. J. H. Moore, a bachelor, was living in the Iberia are. In the same general location was a family named William P. and Sarah (Tucker) Burks, their two daughters, and a young black woman named Sally Patrick who was about 20 years old. Evidently Sally Patrick was a servant in the Burks home, perhaps a caretaker for the two young children. I do not know where she came from nor when she came to Miller County since no record was found of her prior to the 1870 census. She was probably born a slave and was given her freedom at the close of the Civil War, 5 years earlier in 1865.
Dr. John H. Moore married Alice Fancher in April 1871 and they made their home in Iberia from then on. Her brother, Marquis Fancher, was a storekeeper in Iberia and evidently Dr. Moore opened his medical practice and drug store in the town about the same time. In 1872, Sally Patrick gave birth to a mulatto child, a girl whom she named Ellen MOORE. One has to use speculation and lots of imagination when trying to piece together clues to a mystery. I think it is conceivable Sally Patrick may have gone to work for the newly-wed couple in 1871 and in "stranger than fiction" events that occur in history, she and Dr. Moore may have produced this child in the early years of his marriage.
In the census of 1880, Dr. John Moore, his wife Alice, and their daughter Rose Estelle, were living in Iberia. A few miles southwest of Iberia lived Lewis Frank Lawless including Frank (called Long Frank), his wife Sarah/Sally, and four children---one was named Ellen MOORE, age 8. She was listed as Frank's stepdaughter....Frank Lawless/Lollis was a black man who had married Sally Patrick in Miller County on February 14, 1876.
The story began to unfold as I placed names and dates together...Ellen Moore was born in 1872...she was listed as a mulatto (half white, half black)...she was born to Sally Patrick who later married Frank Lawless/Lollis in 1876...she was a stepdaughter to Frank Lawless....her name was listed in the family group as MOORE, not Lawless. I have searched census, marriage, cemetery, and death records of Miller County and found no listing for Ellen Moore other than the 1880 census where she was listed as a stepdaughter of Frank Lawless, and was 8 years old. I would like to know what happened to Ellen....did she remain in the area and marry? Did she die at an early age? Did she leave Iberia and go to another town or city? Does she have descendants who are living today?
Sarah/Sally Patrick was the mother of Walter Lollis, a black man who lived in Iberia in the years I was growing up there in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Ellen Moore would have been Walter's half-sister. I wish I had known these facts while Walter was still alive....I could have asked him about Ellen Moore, his half-sister......all that remains today are legends, half-truths, and speculation.
MORROW-HUMPHREY
Mary Ardella 'Deed' Humphrey was born in Miller County in May 1881, a daughter of Joseph Morrow and Sarah Duncan.
Mary's parents were married in Miller County on 10 May 1873. The marriage performed by George O. Morris, a minister.
Joseph C. Morrow, Mary's father, was born in Sept. 1854, a son of Thomas and Emily Morrow who were natives of South Carolina and Georgia, respectively. I believe her great grandfather was Joseph Morrow who came to Miller County in the 1850s; died in 1859 and was buried in eastern Miller County near the Maries County line. There is a grave just off Highway BB on a county road and there is a single stone with the following wording, "Joseph Morrow, aged 75 years; died 2 July 1859. He died as he lived, believing in God".
I have not found much about the Duncan family who were Mary's maternal ancestral family. I only know her mother's name was Sarah M. Duncan and Sarah, with 3 children, was living in her mother's household during the census of 1880. Her mother was Mary S. Duncan, born circa 1829 in Tennessee. I have not found the name of her husband. For some reason Joseph C. Morrow, Sarah's husband, was living in the home of his parents during the same census. He was about 27 years old and Sarah (Duncan) Morrow was about 21 years of age.
Sometime prior to 1900, Sarah (Duncan) Morrow must have died because in the census of 1900 (Richwoods Township), Joseph Morrow is listed as a widower and in his home was 3 sons: Columbus, William, and Arthur. His aged mother, Emily Morrow was living with them and she was listed as a widow (of Thomas Morrow), born in Sept. 1819 in Georgia.
Mary 'Deed' Morrow married Francis Marion Humphrey in Miller County on November 17, 1899, the marriage performed by James M. Renfrow, a minister of the gospel. Francis Marion (called Marion) was born in January 1878 and was a son of James and Mary E. Humphrey. In 1900, Marion and Mary/Deed, newlyweds, were living northeast of Iberia near the families of Irwin, Hedges, Wilson, Denton and Shockley.
Marion Humphrey died at the age of 58 years in 1936 and was buried at Brays Union Cemetery. Mary Ardella/'Deed' lived until 1960 almost reaching her 80th birthday.
JOHN THOMAS MORROW
John Thomas Morrow was born 6 Dec 1863 in Miller County. He was a son of James M. Morrow (born c/1827 in Georgia) and Bethia/Betharia Jones (born c/ 1840 in Missouri). James and Betharia married in Miller County on August 25, 1859. James was a son of Joseph A. Morrow and his first wife (name not known) and was born in Paulding Co., Georgia. Joseph Morrow had at least 11 children by his two wives including: Thomas b. c/1819 GA; Isham b. c/1824 GA; James M. b. 1826 GA; William Ailsey b. c/1828 GA; Elizabeth b c/1829 GA; Candace/Candy b. c/1831 GA; Margaret Catherine b. c/1845 GA; Frances Rebecca b. c/1847 TN; Martha Clarinda b. c/1849 GA; a male infant born & died 1851 GA; and Cinderella b. c/1852 GA.
John Thomas' mother, Bethia Jones, was a daughter of Henry Jones (b. c/1809 in KY) and Nancy Davis (b. c/1813 KY). The Davis family was early pioneers of Richwoods Township, settling in the area we know today as Alder Springs. Some of their neighbors included the families of Duncan, Johnson, Bowlin, Bilyeu, Thompson and Pittman.
John Thomas Morrow married Nancy Rowden about 1881. I haven't been able to determine who her parents were, but suspect they were William and Mary (Carnes) Rowden of Maries County. John and Nancy became parents of five children: Charles b. 1882; James b. 1884; Elmer A. 1888-1888; Everett b. 1889; and Gordon b. 1892............ Nancy Rowden Morrow died circa 1893 and John Thomas then married Lennie Almedia Humphrey, daughter of Mart Humphrey. They had seven children: Claude 1894-1947; Maudie 1896-1910; Owen 1897-1965; Lester Martin b. 1899; Hannah Octavia; Redus; and Hester.............In 1910 Lennie died and John then married his third wife, Millie (Whitaker) Leisman. They had a daughter, Mae Morrow. So all total, John Thomas Morrow was the father of 13 children by his three wives.
John survived all three of his wives (Nancy died c/1893; Lennie died in 1910; and Millie died in 1920). On March 1, 1934, he passed on at the age of 70 years. John was a member of the Brays Advent Christian Church and his funeral services were held at the church, conducted by Rev. Miles Bowden. He was buried at the Brays Union Cemetery, located near the church.
MARTHA MOSS-ALEXANDER FAMILY
Martha Moss was born near Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana in January 1841 (per the Miller County census of 1900). She was a daughter of Ransom Moss and Delilah Love.
Martha Moss married J. E. Alexander in Indiana, probably in the late 1850s. According to the 1900 census of Miller County, she was the mother of 12 children, but only 4 were living in 1900. After the death of J. E. Alexander, Martha married James Smith in Indiana.
The identity of the other 8 children is unknown at this time. It is very likely some died in infancy or childhood.
Martha and her family do not appear in the 1880 census of Miller County, so they must have made the move from Putnam County, Indiana to Miller County, MO sometime between1880-1900. In 1900, they were living in Richwoods Township, east of Iberia, near the families of Russell, Groves, Thompson, Hopkins, Thomas, Willis, and Atwell. In the 1900 census, Martha is listed as a widow so I do not know if she came to Miller County after the death of her second husband, James Smith. Her sister and brother-in-law, Elizabeth and John Russell, were living in the same general area of Richwoods Township, so it is likely Martha came to central Missouri to be near them. I do not know when nor where Martha died. There is no record of her burial in any of the inventoried cemetery records of Richwoods Township. Her daughter, Hester (Smith) Smith and husband, John Smith, moved to Oklahoma after the turn of the 20th century, so there is the possibility Martha may have gone to live with them and perhaps died in Oklahoma.
Warren Alexander, son of Martha Moss and her first husband, J. E. Alexander, was born in Indiana on 15 Nov 1870. He married Louisa Jane Johnson (1870-1953), a daughter of Samuel and Lucinda Johnson of Linn Creek, MO (Camden County). No record of their marriage is found in Miller County records, so they were probably married in Camden County.
NOTE: I have four granddaughters (great grandchildren of Ransom Alexander and Sylvia Whittle) who are the 6th generation descendants of Martha Moss and her first husband, J. E. Alexander. I have another connection to this family through the marriage of Martha's daughter, Hester Smith, to John Smith of Iberia. There was no kinship between John and Hester. She was descended from a Smith family of Indiana and John was descended from a Smith family of Pulaski County, MO and Kentucky. John Smith was a brother to my grandfather, Frank Smith, who were sons of William Harrison Smith and Lucy Ann Gardner of Iberia. (Peggy Hake)
THE MULKEY FAMILY OF CENTRAL MISSOURI
Per some local histories written for Cole, Miller, and Moniteau counties (all adjoining in central Missouri), it is stated that John Mulkey came to what was Cole County about 1815 with 2 sons. The history stated John Mulkey was part of a Tennessee group who settled near the mouth of Moniteau Creek in 1815. He surely had some daughters also because I have found marriages for five Mulkey women from 1820-1836 in Cole County.
By early 1837, the area they were living in became a part of northern Miller County when it formed on February 6, 1837. Old John Mulkey is the only one found in Miller County records. He appeared in the 1840 and 1850 censuses. John Mulkey owned several slaves and when he died in October 1850, they were put on the auction block and sold in January 1851. He had deeded one woman slave to his wife, Sarah (Williams) Mulkey (who he had married in 1847--maybe wife #3). When Sarah died in 1855, the woman slave was sold.
The name Phillip Mulkey appears in various history books but he is not found in Miller County census records. It is stated in Goodspeed's History of 1889, and Judge Jenkins' History of Miller County that Phillip Mulkey was an early Campbellite preacher of Cole, Moniteau and Miller counties. He performed several marriages and was the first minister of the Spring Garden Baptist Church, organized in 1840. Spring Garden was an early settlement in northern Miller County and was the home of many early settlers in both Cole and Miller counties. John Mulkey is buried in a small cemetery in Saline Township, a short distance east of Eldon, MO. It has been called Mulkey Cemetery because his stone is the only one found although it appears there are other gravesites in the immediate area. On the old tombstone is engraved..."John Mulkey, 25 Dec 1768-10 Oct 1850". I would wager that both his wives, Charity (Vernon) and Sarah (Williams), may be buried near John. Charity died prior to 1847 and Sarah died in 1855.
There are several Mulkey families in the census of 1870 and 1880 who are black and probably former slaves of John Mulkey. They all lived in Saline township north of Eldon and not far from where John Mulkey had lived. Many of these Mulkey family members are buried in the Greenridge Baptist Church Cemetery in the same area. There are two sections to this cemetery and the old part is in a very unkempt condition. I believe the majority of persons buried in the old part were black and former slaves.
I don't know at this time what the kinship could have been between John Mulkey who came to central Missouri as early as 1815 and the other Mulkey families back in East Tennessee and North Carolina. In the 1830 McMinn Co., Tennessee census records there were four heads of household named Mulkey (James H., John, Jonathan, and William)........and earlier, in 1790, James and John Mulkey were living in Morgan District, North Carolina per census records. In the same 1790 census there was a Phillip Mulkey living in Ninety-Six District, South Carolina. In the book, THE OVERMOUNTAIN MEN, by Pat Alderman, he states that Jonathan Mulkey was pastor of the Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church from 1785-1826 (which would eliminate the John Mulkey of Cole and Miller Counties). Buffalo Ridge Baptist Church was near the Watauga Settlement of East Tennessee. I believe the "Tennessee John Mulkey" also had a son named Phillip who went with a group to the Cumberland area of central Tennessee; later moved to Davidson County (Nashville). He may have come on up to Missouri after that......nothing has been proven about this theory, only speculation.
The Mulkey family was among the earliest to settle in both Cole and Miller Counties and it is unfortunate more information can not be found about them.
CHARLES P. MYERS JR. - THE MYERS HOUSE
In the Little Richwoods of Miller County stands a very unique structure which, to the passerby, may only appear as an ordinary farm home. Not so....look again! There is an opening in the center of the house that looks like a porch receding backward between two rooms. This old home has been sitting on that same spot since about 1867. It is steeped in history, one of the oldest buildings in the county. This type of house is very quaint and unique, almost "one of a kind" that is left in our midst today. I will tell you more about the house later, but first let me tell you about the family who built it almost 137 years ago.
Charles Philip Myers, the son of a German immigrant, married Nancy Bass in 1866. Charles had returned from the Civil War in 1865 after having spent three years as a soldier of the Union Army. He and his brother, James R. Myers, both served together in the 26th Infantry of the Missouri Volunteers where they marched across the South, fighting in battles at Corinth, Iuka, Vicksburg, and Missionary Ridge all in the state of Mississippi. At Missionary Ridge, Charles was wounded in the arm by a mini-cannonball, but continued on in the march of the Georgia campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta where they joined with General Sherman's troops, numbering 60,000, in the siege of Atlanta. It has been recorded in American history this group of soldiers were instrumental in breaking the 'backbone' of the Eastern Confederacy.
Charles was discharged from service on February 27, 1865 and returned back to Miller County where he resumed farming in Osage township, south of present-day St. Elizabeth. Before the war, he and James lived in the Big Tavern country of Osage township with their mother and stepfather, Alexander and Minerva (Davidson-Myers) Clark. The father of Charles and James was Charles Philip Myers, Sr., a native of Baden, Germany. He came to America in 1840 and settled in St. Louis. There he met and married Minerva Davidson, daughter of William and Rhoda (Boyd) Davidson, natives of Greenup County, Kentucky.
Charles P. Myers, Sr. was killed in a boating accident on the Mississippi river near St. Louis in 1844. Charles Jr. was born the same year. Shortly thereafter, Minerva and her two young sons moved to Miller County where she had Boyd kinfolk living in Osage township. Within a few months she married Alexander Clark who lived nearby. Alexander was the only father Charles and James ever knew because their father had died when the boys were so young. They grew to their adult years in the beautiful Osage River country and learned farming from early childhood. After the Civil War, James R. Myers married Martha (Clark) Boyd, widow of Robert Boyd. Later they moved to Cuba, Crawford County, MO where they remained for the rest of their lives.
Charles Philip Myers Jr. married Nancy Bass, daughter of William and Melvina (McCubbin) Bass of the Little Richwoods area. After their marriage on August 30, 1866, the couple remained near her parents. In 1867 they built their home near the Brushy Fork creek in the Hickory Point community. There they reared seven children including JAMES R. MYERS b. 1867 m. (1) Laura Dodson 1900 (2) Sadie Love 1901; WILLIAM M. MYERS b. 1870 m. Martha L. Pierce 1896; DESDEMONIA MYERS b. 1872 m. John H. Hix 1889; ASA M. MYERS b. 1875 m. Carrie Patterson 1911; EMMA C. MYERS b. 1877; DORA B. MYERS b. 1880 m. James L. Mayfield 1899 and PERRY F. MYERS 1883-1900.
Charles Philip Myers was active in Miller County politics serving as sheriff during 1880-1882 and collector 1886-1888. He was a staunch Republican; a Mason; and a member of the G.A.R. In 1889, Charles owned 393 acres of prime land; 160 acres under cultivation with a splendid house and good barns on his land.
All these folks are resting peacefully in the Hickory Point Cemetery, not far from the land that sustained them for many years and which remains in the Myers family to this day.
 Charles P. Myers Home Place – Charles Phillip Myers, Carrie Patterson Myers, Asa Myers |
NOW BACK TO THE HISTORY OF THE OLD MYERS LOG HOME.......The home sits in the Hickory Point community near the Brushy Fork Creek of Richwoods Township. An old road once led out of Iberia, crossed the Barren Fork, turned west and passed by the old Hickory Point church and school, then turned northwestward and crossed the Brushy Fork near the Myers home.
The log house, built in 1867, was unique and rare to our part of the country in those years. The style was known as a 'double-pen' log house. They had been prevalent in the eastern states prior to the Civil War. The structure was two log cabins interconnected to form one house. They were built 10 to 20 feet apart with a common roof built over the space between.
In 1820, a man named Zerah Hawley, while visiting in Ohio, wrote with wonderment of this type of home. He said that in the space between the two log units was "placed the swill-barrel (table garbage for the animals) tubs, posts, kettles, etc. Here the hogs almost every night dance a hornpipe to the swinish tune, which some one or more musicians of their own number play upon the pots and kettles, while others regale themselves at the swill barrel."
Other names given this type of structure was "dog-trot house", "dog-run house", "possum-trot house", "two-pen and a passage house.....These names were applied mainly in the states of Georgia and Tennessee.
One unit was usually used to serve as a kitchen and living room while the other was used as a bedroom. The covered passageway formed an area for family activities in the summer and a cool veranda on a hot summer's night. Each cabin had it's own fireplace for winter's heat and year-round cooking.
This type of house was widely distributed in the early American settlements and later in our country's history, the "dog-trot" house found its way to Texas and other western states. While researching this unusual type of log home, I found another way this double-house was used......Frontier doctors often used these breezeways between the units to "purge, bleed, blister, and salivate" their patients in order to bring on the "shakes", believed to cure anyone suffering from ague (a violent fever). One pioneer doctor wrote he suggested to a family that "they carry the patient into the passageway between the cabins, strip off his clothes that he might lie naked in the cold air upon the bare sacking, and then pour up him successive buckets of cold spring water and continue until he has a pretty powerful and smart chance of a shake"!!! I guess it either killed them or cured them!
As families increased in size, rooms were added to the top of each cabin with stairways on the outside. The only heat these bedrooms had was what could drift up from the floor below. At times, it must have been bitterly cold because in Miller County we have had "Artic blasts" from the north converge upon our peaceful countryside.....Oh! how comfortable is my 21st century home................