USA > Missouri > Dade County > History of Dade County and her people : from the date of the earliest settlements to the present time > Part 48
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
"My father and mother raised six sons and two daughters to be grown, one son and daughter dying in in- fancy. The six sons were named William, John, Charles, Andrew, Thomas and (myself) Joseph. My sisters' names were Rachael and Lydia Rowantree, and my father's name was Thomas.
"By some means the family have been spelling their name Rountree instead of Rowantree, but that is not proper, for they took the name from the tree under which that boy baby was found.
"We all raised families except William and Thomas, and we are scattered in different states. William died a single man. Thomas married, but raised no children. I raised a family of eight children to be grown. Six sons and two daughters. My sons are James Mendreth, Zanner Marion, Lucious Alexander, Margavin Jerome, Almna Linnacus and Allen Jones. My daughters' names are Louisa Amanda and Alınanda Caroline. My children all have families except Allen Jones. He died a young man. I immigrated from North Carolina to Tennessee in 1819, and from Tennessee to Missouri in the winter
248
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND HER PEOPLE
of 1830, and in 1831 got my family to where Springfield now stands on the 16th day of January. It is now the 18th day of December, 1867. On the 14th day of last April I was 85 years of age, and am now in good health.
(Signed) "JOSEPH ROUNTREE." 0 -
W. P. PRIDDY.
One of the substantial farmers of South Township. Was born in Dade County, Missouri, October 14th, 1861, son of Benjamin A. and Nancy J. (Scott) Priddy. Ben- jamin A. Priddy was born June 5th, 1820, in Hanover County, Virginia, while his wife, Nancy Jane Scott, was born about the year 1824. They were married about 1847. John H. Priddy, the grandfather of W. P. Priddy, was born in Virginia January 4th, 1787, of English par- entage. His wife, Nancy Harris, also a native of Vir- ginia, was born March 13th, 1794.
The Priddys were farmers in Virginia and emigrated to Dade County in an ox wagon in 1839, being a long time on the road. They brought a family of four chil- dren, Benjamin A. Priddy being the only boy. They settled on Limestone Creek on the farm now owned by Smith Pelts. Benjamin A. Priddy built the first house on this land. There were no saw mills in the country at that time, so that the lumber was sawed by him and his brother by hand for the floors, doors and gabel ends, the rest of the house being built out of logs. Nancy Jane (Scott) Priddy, the mother of W. P. Priddy, was a sis- ter of D. W. Scott, familiarly known as Uncle Bud Scott. She was the mother of six children, five boys and one girl.
At the breaking out of the Civil war Benjamin A. Priddy enlisted in the Confederate army in Company A, Third Missouri Cavalry, and served throughout the war. He was paroled at Shreveport, La., and returned to his home in Dade County, intending to move to Texas. They started in the winter of 1865-66, but got only as far as Arkansas, where he stopped to raise a crop, and worked
W. O. WILSON.
At Home in Polk Township. W. S. WILSON AND FAMILY.
A
-
2.20
249
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
also at the carpenter trade. The principal reason for stopping in Arkansas was the fact that the yoke of oxen he was working to the wagon died, leaving him but one horse, so that going on was out of the question. The older boys of the family worked out at anything they could find to do, and after about one year the father died. Joseph J., the oldest boy, then came back to Dade County to make some arrangements about moving the family back. At this time Lewis Renfro and Sanford Bowles were starting for Texas, and on their return home they came back through Arkansas and hauled the Priddy family to their home in Dade County, thereby gaining their everlasting praise for this act of lasting friendship.
On their return to Dade County the family took up their residence on the old homestead, where the mother again married in September, 1871, to an old doctor by the name of B. M. Murwin. Shortly afterward they moved to the Indian Territory, taking the two youngest boys with them. In 1872 they moved back to Joplin, where the mother died, leaving the two little boys among strangers. Two kind-hearted women took these chil- dren and inquired of them concerning their relatives, and were informed that Aunt Mary Bird, who lived in Dade County, was a sister of their father. They wrote to her, and in a short time she came with her sister and a friend who stayed with them and brought the boys home with them. They lived on Sac river, northeast of Everton. They stayed there during the winter of 1873, and went with them to Taney County, where they re- mained till fall, when the family, in moving from there to Joplin, left the boys at Mt. Vernon. A friend brought them to Dade County, where they made their perma- nent home.
On coming to Dade County from Mt. Vernon, W. P. Priddy went to live with a cousin, Dan B. Scott, where he remained for five years, working on the farm in the summer and attending school in the winter. Afterwards he worked first in one place and then another, attending
250
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND HER PEOPLE
school only a small portion of the time. He spent two winters and one summer with William Slakel, attending school three months during the time. He worked at various places during the summer of 1881, and spent the winter with E. T. Chappel, attending school four months. This was his last school. The following spring and summer he worked out, receiving 50 cents per day as wages. In the spring of 1883 he arranged with Dan B. Scott to crop with him. He stayed with Mr. Scott three years, buying a team in the meantime. He was a tenant farmer until the spring of 1889, when he went to Oklahoma in the grand rush for claims. Failing to get a claim in Oklahoma, he returned to Dade County, where he farmed in the summer months and worked at the carpenter trade in the winter, till 1895, when he bought the place where he now resides .. He gave $2,090 for this tract of land, paying $300 down. The place was only partly improved, but Mr. Priddy moved onto it, cleared out and put more in cultivation each year. At this time he had three horses and some hogs. The task was a hard one. Sometimes crops were poor, but interest and taxes always came due. It was a struggle, but indus- try and perseverence won. In a few years Mr. Priddy began to climb toward the top financially. On the 2nd day of May, 1906, he married Louisa E. Lollar, daughter of James T. Lollar, a prominent farmer of South Town- ship.
From the records of the Priddy family, which are worn and yellow with age, but interesting, nevertheless, we gather the following facts:
John H. Priddy, born January 4th, 1787. Nancy (Harris) Priddy, born March 13th, 1794.
John H. Priddy and Nancy Harris were married May 12th, 1814. (These were the paternal grandparents of W. P. Priddy.)
These entries in the family register are followed by a long list of the Bowles and Harris families, written in that peculiar flourishing style of the eighteenth cen- tury, which marks it as a rare specimen of antiquity.
251
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
Of Mr. Priddy's brothers and sister, we gather the following:
Joseph J. (brother), now deceased.
John Daniel (brother), a resident of Newton County.
Benjamin F. (brother), lives in Kansas.
Elizabeth F. (sister), now Mrs. George Hoover.
W. P. Priddy (the subject of this sketch.)
Thomas J. (brother), a resident of Dade County.
Mrs. Priddy's mother's maiden name was Lydia Smith, a native of Dade County. James T. Lollar and Lydia Smith were married in Dade County, Missouri, and were the parents of eleven children, seven of whom are still living. Mrs. Priddy is the eighth child in point of birth.
Mr. and Mrs. Priddy are the parents of one child, William Bryan Priddy, born January 8th, 1908, who is at home, attending school.
Mr. and Mrs. Priddy are members of the Christian church. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. lodge at Pennsboro, joining in 1905.
In politics Mr. Priddy is a staunch Democrat. He was elected justice of the peace in 1909, and has con- tinued in that office to the present time. He has been township chairman of the Democratic committee for four years, and has served on the school board about eight years. He is a stockholder in the Bank of Pennsboro, and well fixed financially. His farm consists of 83 acres, all in cultivation, and improved with a comfortable dwell- ing house. Mr. Priddy is a self-made man, proud of his home and contented with his lot in life. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He is a carpenter by trade and a good workman. Few men stand higher in the estimation of their neighbors for honesty and integ- rity than Mr. Priddy. His life is a living example of what a poor boy under the most adverse circumstances may accomplish by honesty, industry and faithful per- severence.
252
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND HER PEOPLE
WILLIAM JONES PYLAND.
A native of Tennessee, was born November 21st, 1850, a son of Bennett Pyland and Elizabeth Pyland (cousins), both born in North Carolina, but married in Tennessee. They came to Dade County in 1851, when William J. was a baby. Settled near Dadeville on rented land, where they remained for one year, then moved to Greene County for two years, after which they purchased the land where William J. Pyland now lives. This tract consisted of 40 acres, little improved, with a one-room log cabin chinked with cobs and mud with a stick chim- ney. Here they lived for six years, and here they pros- pered. He built an addition to the house, entered 80 acres of land adjoining, and at the time of his death he was the owner of 200 acres in one body. Bennett Pyland was born June 25th, 1804, and died October 22nd, 1883, on the home place in Dade County. He was a Republican in politics, and a member of the M. E. church. Elizabeth Pyland, his wife, was born May 19th, 1812, and died on the home place in 1892.
William J. Pyland was of a family of nine children, two boys and seven girls:
(1) Terressa C., born March 19th, 1833, now de- ceased. She married J. M. Routh, also deceased.
(2) Permelia A., born February 19th, 1835, mar- ried Jolin Lyman, and both are now deceased. He was a soldier in the Union army.
(3) Clarinda A., born March 3rd, 1838, now the widow of W. L. Lee, and lives on the old Lee homestead in Dade County.
(4) Melissa D., born March 18th, 1841, married William McDaniel, both now deceased. They left four children, who were taken and raised by William J. Py- land. They were: Ama W., now deceased; Joseph K., now living in Oregon at Freewater, a teacher and farmer: Bessie W., married C. R. McCalley, who is an accom- plished musician and is prominent on the platform, and Laura P., who married W. J. Douglas, a Methodist preacher at Ashland, Ore. Mr. Pyland raised and edu-
253
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
cated these children with as much care as if they had been his own.
(5) Sarah P., born January 2nd, 1843, married Jasper Blair, both living in Portland, Ore. He is a veteran of the Civil war.
(6) Louisa Ann, born December 8th, 1844, married Frame Blair, both now deceased. He was a veteran of the Civil war.
(7) Emaline A., born December 10th, 1846, mar- ried J. C. Galbraith, now deceased. She resides in Port- land, Ore. He was a veteran of the civil war.
(8) Joseph B., born October 19th, 1848, now living at Oswego, Kas.
(9) William J. Pyland, born November 21st, 1850.
William J. Pyland, being the youngest child, he re- mained upon the farm for 61 years, never deserting his father and mother. He received but a meager education in the common schools of the county, and has always been a farmer. After the death of his mother he bought out the other heirs, and now owns 120 acres of the old homestead. In 1903 he rebuilt the dwelling house, so that now it is a fine residence.
On the 13th day of December, 1893, he was married to Cora A. Kirby, born January 3rd, 1879, daughter of C. J. and Martha Speight Kirby, both now deceased. She was the youngest of a family of four children.
William J. Pyland and wife are the parents of three children:
(1) Vernon E., born January 10th, 1895, received a good education, finished at Springfield State Normal, received a life certificate in 1915, and began teaching at Ashland, Ore., in the primary department, where she is now located.
(2) Velma J., born February 21st, 1897, has good education, spent some time at State Normal, but finally decided upon a musical education. Is now studying music at Springfield, Mo.
(3) Theda P., born April 9th, 1900. Is now attend- ing the State Normal School.
254
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND HER PEOPLE
William J. Pyland is a Republican and has been a school director for many years. Both he and his family are members of the M. E. church, in which organization he has been an elder for many years.
Mr. Pyland is engaged in general farming, raises some good horses and mules, is a careful, painstaking farmer, and is a live wire on the question of good schools. Fraternally he is a member of the W. O. W.
The Pyland family were of Welsh descent, coming across the water prior to the Revolutionary war. Robbin and Caroline (Bell) Pyland were the grandparents of both Bennett and Elizabeth Pyland, they being cousins. Bennett Pyland was a son of William and Abagail (Jones) Pyland. Abagail Jones was a daughter of Jesse and Winnifred (Speight) Jones. Elizabeth Pyland was a daughter of Benjamin and Anna (Coplin) Pyland, Anna Coplin being a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Jolinson) Coplin. William J. Pyland's grandfather, William Pyland, had four brothers and one sister, viz: James, John, Benjamin, Robbin and Nan Elizabeth, who married Alsie Smart and moved to Georgia. Elizabeth Pyland, the mother of William J. Pyland, had three brothers and two sisters: Cullen, James, Carney, Celia and Cloe. William Pyland was twice married, his second wife being Annie Haithcon. Bennett Pyland had four brothers and two sisters of the whole blood: Benjamin, Berton, Bluford, Billy, Winnifred and Rebecca, and five brothers and four sisters of the half-blood: Britton, Blakley, Buckston, Branson, Brandford, Elizabeth, Capa- rity, Nancy and Delitha.
WILLIAM K. PYLE.
Was a son of William Pyle Sr. and his wife, Han- nah, born Standlee; the father of English and the mother of Scottish descent. The elder Pyle, whose original an- cestors in America came over with Willian Penn, emi- grated from the vicinity of Pinkneyville, Ill., near which place William K. Pyle spent his childhood and youth, to
255
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
Dade County, Missouri, in the year 1850, bringing with him his entire family, which consisted of his wife and several sons and daughters, the sons being all of the tall pioneer type. These sons, as well as the daughters, are now all dead, Carter S. having died in Kansas in the early 70's; David, the oldest son, in Tennessee in 1881, and Claudius L. (uncle Less), in January, 1913, in Dade County, Missouri.
William Pyle Sr. settled near the old Mt. Zion church in Sac Township, or, rather, not far from where that church was after located, he being one of the organ- izers of it. He preached there occasionally, or, maybe, regularly, for a while, being an early adherent of Alex- ander Campbell and member of the Christian, or Dis- ciples', church. Besides preaching, he tilled the soil, ran the Seybert mill for a while, and, to diminish the mon- otony, read a great deal out of some ancient histories and other books, which he was fortunate in possessing, and of whose contents he was thoroughly familiar. Died in the year 1875, not rich, but well esteemed.
William K. Pyle, while still a young man and in a few years after coming to this country, married a distant relative of his, a daughter of Benjamin Pyle, an early settler here. Of this marriage were born Sheridan B., Siria O. (Mrs. Brayshaw), and Rosalia, who died in De- cember, 1876. His wife having died some time before 1860, and the war of the Rebellion coming on in 1861, he entered the Missouri Home Guards, as he wished to be near his family. He afterwards served as second lieutenant of Company I, Fifteenth Missouri Regiment, Cavalry Volunteers, to the conclusion of the war. Mar- ried again December 31st, 1868, this time Mary E. Fin- ley, who is still living and who was born in Dade County (then Polk) December 29th, 1839. There were born of this marriage: Willie (now Mrs. Hamner), Elmer E. and Jessie (Mrs. Dawson.) He entered land not far from where Cane Hill now is, and began clearing up the same about the time of his first marriage, but afterward sold this to G. N. Alder; continued, however, to reside in that
256
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND HER PEOPLE
vicinity on a farm in Dade County, which he bought in 1867, or at Dadeville, alternating two or three times, till his removal to Greenfield February 9th, 1881.
In early manhood he began to study law, when pro- cured Blackstone somewhere. His opportunities for edu- cation had been considerably less than of at least two of his brothers. The task of taking care of a family and of procuring books, or getting any kind of instruction in the backwoods of primitive Dade County, couldn't be overcome, so the notion of becoming a lawyer was given up.
At the close of the war he was elected Representa- tive to the Missouri Legislature, re-elected in 1868, and again in 1872, after an interval of one term. Having had several years of experience in public life, and owing somewhat to rheumatic attacks, which interferred with other pursuits, he took up the study of law again, this time more seriously, and was admitted to the bar at Greenfield, Mo., in company with Mason Talbutt and George E. Bowling, in 1879. in 1880 he assisted in the defense of one Ernest, who was on trial for murder. Was elected prosecuting attorney in the fall of 1880, re-elected in 1882, and again in 1884; elected probate judge in 1886, making his seventh time to be elected to office in Dade County.
His six years as prosecuting attorney were coeval with Judge Burton's term as judge of this circuit, and the greatest amity and good will ever existed between them. This was rather an exciting period. The K. C. & Gulf Railroad had been built to Dade County and was advanced as far as South Greenfield in the winter of 1880-1881. There were everyday brawls, and "knock- outs" on the part of construction hands (Irish) for sov- oral months. In June, 1881, occurred the assassination of Marshal MeElwrath by Taylor Underwood in the saloon at Greenfield. He and others pursued Underwood down the hill, eastward from the square, until they were brought to a sudden halt by Underwood's bullets, he being at the time of small stature and unarmed. A few
J. C. GRISHAM AND FAMILY.
257
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
days afterward (the night of July 2nd or 3rd) a mob, supposed to have been formed principally in northern Dade County, came to Greenfield, and, going to the sheriff's home, which was somewhere west of the Ozark College building, overpowered the sheriff (George W. Whiteside), obtained the keys to the county jail from him, and, leaving Whiteside tied hand and foot and gagged under an apple tree near the east line of the college inclosure (whither they had brought him), pro- ceeded to the jail, and, getting possession of three of the four prisoners confined there without opposition except on the part of one prisoner Craft, who fought desperately but in vain, hanged them to locust trees near the west door of the courthouse.
The prisoners had been brought to Greenfield from the Arcola neighborhood by Uel Murphy and B. A. Pyle on the day of McElwrath's murder, but were not gotten here till after the killing. A mob had followed them for several miles, threatening. These men were believed to have been engaged, along with Underwood, and under his leadership, in stealing horses and hurrying them out of the country into the Indian Territory; and one of the men, Box Mitchell by name, confessed that they were organized for such a business, and on account of this confession he was spared by the mob. He served several years at Jefferson City upon a plea of guilty, and died a few days after his release or pardon at or near his old abode of tuberculosis. Underwood was captured within a few weeks following his escape and was sentenced, after a mistrial or so, to a term of 99 years in the Mis- souri state prison. He was eventually pardoned by the governor, and is now living in the state of Oklahoma.
Many other things which cannot be told here for lack of room happened during those six years, which made them very stirring and busy years for a prosecuting attorney, and kept his office from being a sinecure by any means.
After his retirement from the office of probate judge, for which he was nominated by the Republican conven-
258
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND HER PEOPLE
tion without his knowledge, he entered into the practice of law so far his increasing ill health would permit, but was compelled within a few years to retire from that and all other pursuits. From the time of his removal to Greenfield, and for years before, he was seldom ever free from bodily pain. Rheumatism, which he believed he contracted while following the "Price Raid," in a severe rainstorm, rendered the last years of his life years of suffering, and finally wore down his once vigorous con- stitution. He lived always temperate, forebore the use of medicines, practically, after due trial of them, and finding that they were useless in his case, and he stead- fastly refused opiates to the last day of his life. He died December 17th, 1896, aged 66 years and some months.
HON. SHERIDAN B. PYLE.
Son of William K. and Artimisia Pyle, was born in Dade County September 21st, 1856, near the line of Cedar County. William K. Pyle was one of the early settlers of Dade County. He came as a young man in the early 40's, and married here. His wife was a native of Kentucky, her people coming to Missouri in 1832, settling in Greene County, and later came to Dade County, where she met and married William K. Pyle. She de- parted this life in 1861, and he was later married to Mollie Finley, a native of Dade County. William K. Pyle was an active Republican, a veteran of the Civil war, serving about three years. After he returned from the war he was admitted to the bar and served as prose- cuting attorney of Dade County for three terms, served as probate judge one term and served in the state legis- lature for two terms. He departed this life in 1892.
Sheridan B. Pyle was the second of a family of three children. His sister, now living, is Lysira Bray- shaw of Lawrence County. He also has two half-sisters and one-half-brother:
(1) Elmer E. Pyle.
(2) Mrs. Jessie Dawson.
259
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
(3) Mrs. Willie Hamner.
Sheridan B. Pyle was raised by his grandparents and remained with them until he received his education, after which he engaged in teaching school in Dade County. He was married on the 31st day of March, 1877, to Matie Underwood, a daughter of Lewis and Nancy (Barber) Underwood, both of whom are still living. They are thoroughly imbued with the pioneer spirit and now reside in Oregon. He was a practical surveyor. Mrs. Pyle was a native of Minnesota, born March 5th, 1858, and came with her people to Dade County after the war.
Mr. Pyle has been more or less of a miner, having been engaged in that occupation both before and after his marriage, He mined in Galena, Kas., for about one year. About the year 1880 he was employed in the general merchandise store of Captain E. J. Morris in Dadeville as clerk, but at the end of 18 months became the proprietor, and conducted the business on his own account until 1900, when he opened up a drug store in Dadeville, which he has since conducted.
Mr. Pyle is a staunch Republican in politics, a man of pleasing personality, a public speaker of considerable note and always on the firing line in campaign times. He also has the distinction of being a 32nd degree Mason. He was educated at the Morrsville Academy in Polk County.
Mr. and Mrs. Pyle are the parents of two boys:
(1) Roscoe G., born March 21st, 1881, married Crete Dunaway, and is an electrician by occupation, and resides at Carthage, Mo. They have two children, Gerald and Thelma.
(2) Leslie C., born October 23rd, 1884, married Nora Stradley, a native of Nebraska, and for a few years he lived upon a large ranch, which he owned, at Rogerson, Idaho. Three children were born to this mar- riage: Byron, Eileen and Rahleigh.
260
HISTORY OF DADE COUNTY AND HER PEOPLE
HOWARD RAGSDALE.
Was born in Greenfield, Dade County, Missouri, Au- gust 16th, 1869, son of Benjamin F. and Nancy E. (Buck- ner) Ragsdale. His father was born in Greenfield in 1843, a son of Joshua and Sarah Ragsdale, early pioneers of the county, who came from Carolina in ox-teams away back in 1837, and settled five miles southwest of Greenfield on the prairie, entering 1,200 acres of govern- ment land. They hauled their timber from the Limestone neighborhood for fencing and houses. After improving the land he gave liberally of it to each of his children as they grew to maturity. There were eight children in this family, viz: Alexander, Harrison, Thomas, An- drew, Benjamin Franklin, Sarah (Mrs. McLemore), Har- riet (Mrs. S. W. Cox) and Jane (Mrs. Alex Morris), all of whom lived and died in Dade County. They are all buried on the old home place.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.