A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 96

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864- , ed
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 912

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JOSEPH TOLSON. A representative agriculturist of Howard county, Joseph Tolson is busily and prosperously engaged in his chosen calling in Richmond township, owning and occupying the fine estate known as Oakhurst. A son of the late Judge B. H. Tolson, he was born, Jan- uary 22, 1850, on the old Tolson homestead, in Howard county, of Revolutionary stock.

His grandfather, John Tolson, a native of Stafford county, Virginia, was a son of George Tolson, who emigrated from England to Virginia in colonial days, and served as a Revolutionary soldier under General Washington, while one of his brothers, Major Benjamin Tolson, was an officer in the Revolutionary army. In 1810 John Tolson moved from Virginia to Kentucky, and subsequently took part in the War of 1812. He was taken prisoner by the Indians, and forced to run the gauntlet, and be beaten by the savages with clubs. In 1819 he migrated still further westward, coming to Missouri, and settling in Howard county in pioneer days, while the state was still under territorial government. He married Rebecca Howard, daughter of Benjamin Howard, of Ken- tucky.

Born, January 10, 1815, in Madison county, Kentucky, B. H. Tol- son was but four years of age when brought by his parents to Missouri. He received excellent educational advantages, and as a young man taught school in Boone county, this state. Subsequently returning to Kentucky, he taught school at Boonesboro for three years, being very successful as a teacher and as a disciplinarian. In 1842 he married for his first wife Eliza Downing, a daughter of David A. and Elizabeth (Hurd) Downing. She died in early life, leaving two children, as follows: John Tolson, of Fayette; and Joseph, the special subject of this brief narrative. By this second wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Gibbs, he had two children, namely: Annie, wife of C. Fowler, of Fayette; and Elizabeth Tolson Gibbs. He married for his third wife Miss Zelo Manion.

After leaving the district schools, Joseph Tolson continued his

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studies at Central College for a time. Beginning life for himself as a merchant, he located in Fayette, where he first conducted a general store, later being engaged in the grocery business, and then, for fifteen years being a druggist. Since that time, Mr. Tolson has devoted his energies to the care of his valuable farm, and as a stock-raiser and general farmer is meeting with undoubted success, his well-improved and well-appointed farm lying three and one-half miles northeast of Fayette.

Mr. Tolson married Dolly Payne, a daughter of Richard Johnson Payne, and to them three children have been born, namely: Joseph Howard, Benjamin Payne and Bedford Payne. Joseph Howard Tol- son was born August 24, 1882, in Howard county, and was educated at Central College, and in Washington University, at St. Louis. He married Gertrude McCord, of Coleman, Texas, and is now successfully employed as a dentist in Victoria, Texas. Benjamin Payne Tolson, the second son, was born October 15, 1884, and died at the age of seven- teen months. Bedford Payne Tolson, the youngest child, was born January 20, 1888. He attended the public schools, later taking a course at Central College, and completing his studies in St. Louis, at Wash- ington University. He is now a prominent druggist at Springfield, Missouri.

Gen. John Payne, the immigrant ancestor of Mrs. Dolly (Payne) Tolson, served in the Revolutionary war as a member of General Wash- ington's staff, being present at the siege of Fort Meigs. He married Betsey Johnson, a daughter of Robert Johnson, who was a Virginian by birth, and a pioneer settler of Scott county, Kentucky, where, in 1782, he erected a fort. He was born in 1745, in Virginia, where the founder of the branch of the Johnson family from which he sprung settled on coming to America from England. Robert Johnson married, in 1770, Jemima Suggett, and they reared a large family of children, among whom were Betsey, who became the wife of Gen. John Payne; James; Col. Richard Mentor Johnson, who served in Congress twenty- nine years, and was vice-president under Martin Van Buren. Col. R. M. Johnson was an officer in Gen. William Henry Harrison's army dur- ing the War of 1812, and as commander of a body of Kentucky cavalry took part in many engagements, in one winning the honor of killing the noted Indian Chief, Tecumseh. Benjamin Johnson, another son of Robert and Jemima (Suggett) Johnson, migrated to Arkansas in 1821, and there became prominent in public affairs, serving as lieuten- ant governor during the presidency of James Monroe, afterwards being a representative to the state legislature, and still later serving as judge of the supreme court. Another son, Rev. John Johnson, served on the staff of Gen. William Henry Harrison in the War of 1812, and was afterwards for eight years a member of Congress, going from Lexing- ton, Kentucky, where he continued a resident until his death.

Thirteen children were born of the union of Gen. John and Betsey (Johnson) Payne, as follows: Asa, Robert, Richard Johnson, Nancy, Sally, John, Betsey, Newton, William J., Thomas J., Franklin, Cyrus, and Emeline. Asa Payne, the oldest son of the General, was major of a company of gallant soldiers in the War of 1812, in 1810 and 1811 serving as Indian agent. He was born in 1788, and died March 19, 1887, being very nearly one hundred years of age. Robert Payne, the second child, born in Scott county, Kentucky, December 20, 1789, located in Howard county, Missouri, in 1827, and bought from the government a large tract of wild land, paying a dollar an acre for it. William Payne, who was also born in Scott county, Kentucky, was three times married, the maiden name of his first wife having been

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Mary Robinson; that of his second wife Albina Viley; and that of his third wife Ellen Basket Potts. Another son, Benjamin Johnson, was born at Salt Lick, Kentucky. He followed the gold hunter's trail to California in 1849, making the tedious trip on mule back, and com- ing back the same way six years later, after which he lived in Mis- souri until his death, making his home with his brother, Richard John- son Payne.

Richard Johnson Payne, Mrs. Tolson's father, was born on the parental homestead, in Howard county, Missouri, where he obtained his preliminary education. He subsequently attended Columbia University, where he had as a friend and classmate Governor C. H. Hardin. He married, in 1848, Leonora Benson, a daughter of Zachariah and Martha (Redd) Benson, and they became the parents of the following-named children : Maria Sebree, born April 14, 1849, married Wm. Talbot, December 11, 1868, and died April 13, 1875, leaving four children- Leonard, Eff, Richard and Benjamin; Dolly, who was born on the home farm, August 3, 1852, and married, January 19, 1881; Joseph Tolson, the subject of this sketch; William Payne, born November 11, 1856, is a prominent citizen of Howard county ; Thomas Jefferson Payne, M. D., a well-known physician of Fayette, was born November 2, 1862; Robert W., born March 22, 1866, is a highly esteemed resident of Fayette. Richard Johnson Payne was for 'many years one of the most progressive and popular men in Howard county, where his death oc- curred December 30, 1891, at the age of sixty-seven years. At his funeral, which was one of the largest ever held in the county, the people turned out en masse to do him honor, paying him great respect. His wife, who was born March 12, 1829, died December 14, 1866, when but thirty-seven years old.

HENRY FLETCHER, now residing at Idaho Falls, Idaho, and whose son, Fred F. Fletcher, is the only representative of a former promi- nent family in Audrian county, Missouri, did much to advance material, moral, ethical and intellectual interests here during a long residence. In fact, it is safe to say that more credit is due to the Fletcher family in the cultivation of a cultured community than to the representatives of any other name, be it ever so well and prominently known. The Fletcher family was founded in Missouri in the year 1868, in which year its representatives came from the state of Maine, settling in the extreme western part of Pike county, some four miles southeast of the present site of Vandalia. Omar Fletcher, the father of Henry, was a broad- minded man, and through his encouragement and assistance all of the Fletcher children acquired excellent educations. Ruth Fletcher, his faithful wife, was a most worthy helpmate, and her influence was ever given to the support of morality and education. Their son Wendall Fletcher had a notable career as an educator in the states of Maine and Missouri. He was superintendent of the first normal school in Maine, and retained that important position for twelve years, and later was identified with other educational work in the state. In Missouri he gave some of his best years to educational work, also, and did effect- ive work as superintendent of the public schools of Louisiana, Missouri, while in that town, with one Mr. Clason, he established a college that enjoyed a pleasing popularity and did much for the uplifting of the state in an educational way. In later years he was the principal of other schools in Missouri and in his native state as well. His career as an educator continued for more than fifty years, and he barely missed the Carnegie pension on a technicality.

Another of the sons of Omar Fletcher, Charles by name, became one

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of the leading building contractors of his section, and William, also the son of Omar, followed in the footsteps of his worthy father, and also gained a more than local reputation in his vocation. Two daugh- ters, refined and cultured ladies exercised a great influence for good in this section, Martha teaching the first school at what has been for years known as the New Michigan school-house. She later married Hall Cunningham, and with him removed to Nebraska some thirty years ago, and there died. She was an unusually handsome and charming woman, as was also her sister, Lida, who, gifted in voice and manner, was the pattern which every young girl who knew her strove to emulate. Lida Fletcher became the wife of John Dye, an uncle of Frank P. Dye, the well-known merchant of Vandalia, and they removed to Nebraska, settled on a homestead there, and there her husband died. In addition to being an excellent business woman, her influence made for a higher refinement and culture wherever she lived. The parents died several years ago, the latter years of Ruth Fletcher's life being overshadowed in great measure by the loss of her eyesight. In spite of this, she was ever patient and cheerful, bearing her affliction with Christian forbear- ance, and keeping her intellect clear and keen until the last. Sorrow did not pass her by, but touched her heavily when two brilliant and promising sons, Fred and Elmer, were cut down in the very springtime of their lives, each being but fourteen years of age when death called him. The death of the latter named was caused by a peculiarly dis- tressing accident.

Henry C. Fletcher, the son of Omar and Ruth Fletcher, was a farmer and stockman in Missouri for many years, his activities in that line covering a period of four decades, and since he gave up his con- nection with the business and took up his residence .in Idaho Falls, his son, Fred F., has continued in the same vocation in Audrain county, Missouri. In 1872 Henry Fletcher married Cynthia Brownson, when they were both in the bloom of their youth, Mrs. Fletcher being the acknowledged beauty of her neighborhood. Their entire lives have reflected honor and credit upon themselves and their families, and now in the evening of their days their hearts are young with the youth that comes of a contentment in years well spent, and in the knowledge that they leave to their children the heritage of unsullied names. It is but recently that they left their Missouri home to take up their residence in Idaho Falls, Idaho, leaving behind them their son, Fred F. Fletcher, who is actively connected with the live stock business in his native com- munity. The latter married Orla M. Branstetter, daughter of the late Adam Grundy Branstetter, on October 12, 1897, and they have three children : Ruth, Youla and Dorothy.

EDWARD DABNEY TURLEY passed away in the prime and vigor of life, and in the flush of a successful business career. He was of the posterity of pioneers and was born near Frankford, Pike county, on February 18, 1852. His father was Harrison G. Turley, born in Ralls county, November 19, 1826. He passed through a long and useful life as a farmer and veteran stockman, acquired a valuable landed estate in Pike county, and served in the War of the Rebellion as sergeant of Company A, Second Provisional Regiment of Missouri, under Captain Meredith. He was a Republican and he died April 18, 1889.

The Turley family was founded in this section of the state by John Morton Turley and wife, Polly Hendrix Turley, the grandparents of the subject. John M. Turley was born November 17, 1794, in Ken- tucky, and coming to Missouri settled in Ralls county, where he was the owner of a grist mill, the first run by horsepower in the county. He

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subsequently lived in Pike county, but when he died he was buried in Salem church cemetery, Ralls county. He reared a family of fourteen children, among which number was Harrison G., the father of Edward Dabney.

Harrison G. Turley married Mary Ann Fowler October 5, 1848, a daughter of Asa Fowler and Polly Layne Fowler, who came in the year 1818 to Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Fowler were from Kanawha county, West Virginia, and two other families came with them, Dabney Jones and George Wellday. All married sisters. They made the trip in old Virginia four-horse wagons. After weeks of travel westward, through almost trackless forests, the families landed in Pike county, where many of their descendants are living. Asa Fowler made his home near Elk Lick, near a spring, where he raised a large family of girls and boys. He was noted for his truthfulness. If Uncle Asa Fowler said a thing it was so; no one doubted his truth and veracity. Polly Layne Fowler was the daughter of Thomas Layne and Polly Crafton Layne. Polly Crafton was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Crafton. Mrs. Turley died September 16, 1910. She was the mother of Sarah Amanda, who married William W. Epperson and resides in Center, Ralls county, Missouri; Edward D., whose name heads this review; Cynthia Ann, who became Mrs. Cash Adams and died in Pike county April 5, 1907; Asa F., a resident of Frankford, Missouri; Artimesa, the wife of John T. Smith of Frankford, and Harrison, who passed away in early life.

When Mr. Turley moved into Pike county his temporary home was a cabin, eighteen feet by eighteen feet in dimensions, with white ash floor, which he was wont to sand and scrub daily, so particular was he that no dirt should pollute his person, his property or his surroundings. No man even was allowed to whittle on the lawn. One of his most strik- ing characteristics was his hatred of dirt, and it is said of him that he went so far as to require the young men who courted his daughters to have their brass spurs as well as their fine boots polished and their dress immaculately clean. He was a slave owner and the cabin above alluded to was a two-story log house. The upper room was bed rooms and the lower room sitting room and dining room, and as soon as the scrubbing was done Mr. Turley drew a chalk mark across the room separating the dining room from sitting and over on the side of the large fireplace the old black cook prepared the meals and then walked to the chalk mark and announced the meals were ready. No negro crossed the mark.

Edward Dabney Turley was educated in the country and among his childhood teachers was Miss Armilda Porter, who conducted school in her father's house. His youthful environment was such as to give him the best practical training as a stockman and farmer, and when he established himself alone he engaged in that industry. He intro- duced blooded animals for the improvement of horses and for the rais- ing of mules, and his business interests increased with the passing of years. His father's penchant for trade and sale seems to have been imparted to him and his judgment upon stock was fine and unerring. As he entered the larger sphere of business his prominence was recog- nized and his acquaintance with others possessing like interests extended rapidly, and everywhere his reliability and responsibility were undis- puted. He was taken away before he reached the meridian of life and yet he left an ample estate for the maintenance and material comfort of his family. He was a member of the Presbyterian church. Polit- ically he was a Republican and was more active in behalf of party matters than was his father.

Mr. Turley was married on December 26, 1878, his wife having been

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Miss Laura Thomas Wasson, a daughter of William A. Wasson, who preceded this pioneer family from Shelby county, Kentucky, in 1834. Mr. Wasson was born there on May 3, 1816, and was a son of John Wasson, whose father was of Irish birth, who came to America and settled in Rockbridge county, Virginia. John Wasson came to Kentucky in 1812. He there learned the shoe-making trade, lived on his farm and did the neighboring shoe-making, teaching his sons the trade also. John Wasson married Nancy Jeffries in 1813 and died in Shelby county in 1832. His widow then brought the remainder of the family to Mis- souri and all have since passed away. Nancy Jeffries was of Scotch descent. The Jeffries first settled in Pennsylvania, then Virginia, and her father served seven years in the Revolutionary war, and it is family tradition that her oldest brother, John Jeffries, was the second white man to touch old Tecumseh's tomahawk when he was killed, and that some or all of the family went with Daniel Boone to Kentucky. The children of John and Nancy Wasson were John, William A., Harrison, Andrew, Robert and Milton. All spent their lives in Ralls county, except Robert, who died in childhood. William A. Wasson knew some- thing of carpenter work when he came to Missouri and his first work was given him by Nathan Shotwell in the erection of a log house. He seems to have been educated, for he taught some of the pioneer schools of Ralls county, but he eventually abandoned both the trade and the profession and engaged in farming. He was a strong Union man all through the Rebellion and joined the state militia as a volunteer. He was a mem- ber of G. A. R. Major Hunt Post, No. 385, Department of Missouri. His character as a neighbor was one to be admired. He was a peacemaker and often brought about settlement of family and neighborhood vexa- tions and disputes without resort to the law. He possessed an elastic vocabulary, was a bright and pleasing conversationalist, was a fine student of the bible, and all his life retained membership in his old home church, the "old school" Presbyterian. In early manhood he espoused the cause of temperance and was one of the lodge of the Sons of Temperance until the war came. The lodge burned and the member- ship scattered. In public affairs he always bore a prominent part. In 1864 and for two years following he was public administrator of Ralls county. He hoped to see the day when the women of the land would be granted the right of suffrage. He was honorable and upright in all of his dealings. He attributed the honorable path he has trod to his Christian mother and the sage advice of Uncle Billy McCune, whose advice to keep the best of company, eschew cards and all that could intoxicate, was willingly listened to and it became a rigid rule of conduct for all after life and he regarded the lessons taught in the New Testa- ment the best the world has ever known. In 1842 William A. Wasson married Miss Susan M. Turley, who died, leaving a daughter, Mary, who died in early girlhood, and one son, William M., who passed away in 1876, leaving a wife, son and daughter to mourn his loss. For his second wife Mr. Wasson married Mrs. Mary Neat Rice-Marksbury, a daughter of George and Elizabeth Hendrix (Smith) Rice. She was born August 8, 1818, in Garrard county, Kentucky, and married John Marksbury in 1837. They came with her parents to Missouri in 1839. Her father, George Rice, dug the first cistern in Ralls county on his farm south of Madisonville in 1840. A cotton wood trough led the water from the roof and for a long time it was only thought fit for wash- ing purposes. Until then it was not known that the sub-soil would hold water. Soon cisterns became common and grass grew over the paths to the springs. In 1849 her husband, father and two brothers crossed the plains to California. None ever returned. Her husband died soon

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after reaching the gold mines; the brothers were killed and scalped by Indians. Her great-grandfather, Thomas Smith, was in the War of the Revolution, a private in Nathaniel Girt's Virginia Regiment; was wounded, taken prisoner and sent from Quebec in 1782 to Philadelphia for exchange; died in Fauquier county, Virginia, 1797. William A. Wasson died February 4, 1904, and his wife preceded him to the grave on March 25, 1894. Their children were: Fannie S., of West Plains, Mis- souri, the wife of William H. Jones; Mrs. Turley, the wife of the subject, and Adele D., now Mrs. Van B. Elzea, of Center, Ralls county, Missouri.

The surviving issue of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Turley are Mary Vir- ginia, the wife of A. P. Robertson, a farmer of Pike county, with a son, A. P., Jr .; V. Maibelle, who married Luther Lucas Lemon of New Lon- don, Missouri, in 1910. Both daughters attended college in Lebanon, Tennessee, at Lebanon College for Young Ladies, for two years. Leav- ing there they spent one year together in Virginia Institute, Bristol, Virginia, the younger, V. Maibelle, remaining there the second year. While there she began to specialize in English, expression and physical training, preparing herself for a teacher. Her first degrees, B. L. and graduate of expression, were taken in Virginia College, Roanoke, Vir- ginia, in 1903. The year following was spent in Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, where she took the bachelor of oratory degree with the required supplementary English course of the university. Upon graduation she was tendered the chair of expression and physical train- ing in Bristol, Virginia, where she had spent happily part of her col- lege days, and this position she held successively two terms. Coming to her native state to take a similar position in a college that failed in a financial crisis, she entered Columbia College of Expression, Chicago, Illinois, where in two years the teacher's and reader's degrees from that institution, which include an English course from Chicago Univer- sity, were honorably given her. Mrs. Lemon filled the year following and one prior to her marriage the chair of expression in Southern Pres- byterian College, Red Springs, North Carolina.

Since the death of her husband on March 11, 1895, Mrs. Turley has continued his farming industry, and, as a woman farmer, follows up her interests closely and is as progressive as the times. She is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church and is one of the charter members of the literary club of Frankford, the Wednesday Club, organized in 1898 and federated in 1907. Of Revolutionary ancestry, she and daughters are members of the Daughters of the American Revolution ..

REV. FREDERICK JOHN ERNST. As pastor of the large and grow- ing congregation of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church, at Salis- bury, Missouri, the Rev. Father Frederick John Ernst is widely and favorably known throughout this whole section of the state. He has been in charge of the parish for four years and during this time has been able to increase its growth and to accomplish much, not only for the spiritual welfare of his people, but also along economic and social lines.

Father Ernst was born in St. Louis, on the 17th of October, 1869, the son of John Ernst and Margaret Ernst. John Ernst, the elder, was born in Germany, but since he was brought to the United States as a young boy he was practically an American. He was educated in the Catholic schools of St. Louis, and after completing this course he en- tered a business college and received a thorough preparation for what was to become his life work. He gave practically his entire life to the cares of business, but he did not allow his business to absorb him to the

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exclusion of either religion or politics. He was a devout member of the Roman Catholic church, and in politics he was a member of the Democratic party, being active in political affairs. He married Marga- ret Fischer, a daughter of Frederick Fischer, who had come to this coun- try from Germany. Mrs. Ernst was born in St. Louis in 1847 and is still living. She and her husband became the parents of ten children, only one of whom is deceased. John Ernst, who was born in 1837, died in 1890.

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A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 96

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864- , ed Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 912

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864- , ed
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 912