History of Johnson County, Missouri, Part 36

Author: Cockrell, Ewing
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Topeka, Kan. : Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1234

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twenty-eight years later his son, C. L., the subject of this review, was born. George Gilillan died shortly after coming West and his remains were interred in Mt. Tabor cemetery in Lafayette county. This ceme- tery is one of the oldest in Missouri and was laid out by John McNeel, an uncle of C. L. Gillilan. Rachel Ruth (Kelly) Gillilan was born March 1, 1842 in Columbus township, Johnson county within two and a half miles of her present home. She is the daughter of Captain John Kelly, who received his title while in service in the Mormon war. His wife's maiden name was Ray and Ray county, Missouri was named in honor of her father. Both parents of Mrs. Gillilan are now deceased and their remains were buried in the Kelly cemetery on the old homestead in Columbus township. To John M. and Rachel Ruth Gillilan were born the following children: Mrs. Martha Grinstead, wife of W. D. Grinstead, who resides near Holden, Missouri; W. P., de- ceased; Mrs. Anna F. Van Meter, wife of Joseph A. Van Meter of Odessa, Missouri; Mrs. Lydia C. Violet, who was the wife of Harry Violet, who is now deceased, and she resides at Fayetteville; J. G., Co- lumbus; R. R., Odessa, Missouri; Beatrice, Centerview; Mrs. Gertrude Anderson, wife of Leonard Anderson of Odessa, Missouri; C. L., the subject of this sketch; Ethel, Centerview; C. G .. Centerview; and W. R., deceased. John M. Gillilan is a well-known and highly respected farmer and stockman of Columbus township. He was eighty years of age June 16, 1917. For sixty-five years he has lived in Johnson county and he has nobly done his part in aiding the development of his township and county.

C. L. Gillilan attended the public schools of Johnson county. His boyhood was spent on the farm and until he was twenty-one years of age he was engaged in the pursuits of agriculture. In 1902 he was appointed deputy assessor and served under T. J. Summers for seven years. In the election of 1908 C. L. Gillilan was elected county assessor of Johnson county and in 1912 was reelected, his term of office expiring June 1, 1917. Mr. Gillilan has been elected secretary of the American Trust Company of Warrensburg, a position which he now holds. He is unmarried.

The American Trust Company of Warrensburg was organized in 1908 and was known as the Johnson County Trust Company. In 1913 the Johnson County Trust Company consolidated with the American Bank and the name was changed to American Trust Company. The

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present capital stock is fifty thousand dollars with a surplus fund of twenty-five thousand dollars. The deposits on March 5, 1917 amounted to two hundred forty thousand dollars. The present officials of the bank are: C. A. Harrison, president; George W. Lemmon, vice- president ; C. L. Gillilan, secretary and treasurer; W. E. Crissey, gen- eral manager; R. L. Campbell, P. D. Fitch, C. A. Shepard, T. H. Doolin, T. B. Montgomery, C. J. Rucker, Nick M. Bradley, and Wm. Shockey, directors. The American Trust Company is one of the best managed and soundest financial institutions in Johnson county.

E. F. Tracy, presiding judge of Johnson county, Missouri, was born in Lafayette county, Missouri, November 23, 1855. He is the son of William F. and Sarah L. (Atkinson) Tracy, natives of Kentucky. Will- iam F. Tracy was born November 22, 1827, in Montgomery county near Mt. Sterling. He was the son of Noland Tracy, who came to Mis- souri in 1835 or 1836, when his son, William F., was about eight years of age, and settled on a farm in Lafayette county, near the present Johnson county line. Noland Tracy resided on his farm in Lafayette county the remainder of his life. His son, William F., was reared on his father's farm and when he had attained maturity purchased a farm near his father's place, on Davis creek. Sarah L. (Atkinson) Tracy was born in Kentucky in 1825. William F. and Sarah L. Tracy were the parents of four children: E. F., the subject of this review; Anna C., who married Monroe Fox, now deceased, and she is now the wife of Alfred Bishop, of Odessa, Missouri, where they are at present residing although their home is near Mt. Tabor: Theodore, who died in infancy ; and one child, who died in infancy. In 1899. William F. Tracy died at the age of seventy-two years. Interment was made in the cemetery at Mt. Tabor. He was followed in death by his wife in 1900. She was seventy-four years of age. Her remains were also interred in the Mt. Tabor cemetery.

E. F. Tracy received his education in the public schools of Lafayette county, Missouri. He was reared on the farm and practically all his life has been engaged in agricultural pursuits. Until he had attained his majority he was employed in farming in Lafayette county. When he became of age he moved to Johnson county and located in Hazel Hill township, where he purchased a farm, after he had farmed the place for three years, and lived on that place for twenty-five years. This farm comprised two hundred twenty acres and upon it Judge Tracy

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JUDGE E. F. TRACY.

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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY

raised cattle and hogs, following the business of feeding and shipping, in which he has ever since been engaged, and while he lives in Warrens- burg he continues to direct the operation of the place. For the past ten years he has handled mules. He now owns four hundred ninety acres of land in Hazel Hill township, Johnson county.

In 1905 Judge Tracy moved from his farm to Warrensburg, where he purchased property at 208 Broad street. He has since rebuilt the home. He was elected judge of the county court in 1910 and re-elected in 1914, and is the presiding judge at the present time. Judge Tracy is a man of marked ability and he has filled the office of county judge with great credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. During his incumbency, he has given special attention to culverts, bridges, and roads and as a result a fine system of permanent roads will be covering Johnson county. Judge Tracy is very careful in the expenditure of money. The county is at the present time spending about seventy thousand dollars annually on roads. A bonus is given to the district which raises the half, or fifty per cent. of the required sum, by town- ship or private donations.

October 28, 1879, E. F. Tracy and Mary L. Redford were united in marriage. Mary L. (Redford) Tracy is the daughter of A. J. and Margaret E. (Harrison) Redford. A. J. Redford was born in 1827 in North Carolina. He came to Missouri when a boy and located in Moni- teau county. He later moved to Johnson county, where he settled tempo- rarily in Hazel Hill township. About 1870 he moved to Warrensburg. A. J. Redford was a prominent and influential stockman in the early days, his sales and purchases covering all Johnson county. He drove stock to Sedalia, Missouri, and shipped them from that place. He was also an early-day teamster, working between Warrensburg and Lexing- ton. Margaret E. (Harrison) Redford was born in Alabama. Mr. and Mrs. Redford were the parents of the following children: J. E., who resides in Hazel Hill township: Mrs. Phoebe A. Frost, Warrensburg, Missouri: Mrs. E. F. Tracy, wife of the subject of this review; Mrs. E. N. Johnson, Warrensburg, Missouri; Mrs. N. M. Naylor, Springfield, Missouri; and W. O., who resides in Hazel Hill township. In 1911, A. J. Redford died and his remains were interred in the cemetery at War- rensburg. Three years later he was followed in death by his wife, her death occurring in 1914, and she was also buried in the Warrensburg cemetery.

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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY

Judge Tracy is of pioneer lineage. His maternal grandfather, John Atkinson, came to Missouri in a "prairie schooner," and settled in John- son county in the early thirties. The "schooner" traveled the Warrens- burg-Lexington road.

Walter R. Greim, the manager of the City Steam Laundry, War- rensburg, is a native of Johnson county. He was born at 116 Broad street, Warrensurg, in the home which his father built when he was mar- ried. He is the son of Henry N. and Margaret (Reichle) Greim, both natives of Germany. Henry N. Greim was born September 22, 1840, in Bavaria, Germany. In 1853 he immigrated to America when he was four- teen years of age and in 1855 came to Warrensburg, where he began as a laborer. Before the Civil War he drove a stage from Warrensburg to Lexington and after the war engaged in the harness business in Warrensburg.

Henry N. Greim opened his harness shop February 11, 1867 on Holden street where the Commercial Bank of Warrensburg is now located. He was in the harness business for more than thirty years. During the Civil War he enlisted in Company E, First Missouri Cavalry under Colonel Fuller. Mr. Greim took active part in the battles of Prairie Grove and Little Rock. He was mustered out of service at Little Rock, Arkansas in June, 1865. Margaret (Reichle) Greim was born in Stuttgart, Germany. She came to America with her parents when she was eleven years of age. They settled in Fayette county, Ohio and there the daughter, Margaret, was reared to maturity and educated. She moved to Warrensburg with her parents in 1868 and was married the following year to Henry N. Greim, in 1869. Both parents of Margaret (Reichle) Greim, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Reichle, were natives of Germany. They are interred in Adams cemetery.

Henry N. and Margaret Greim were the parents of four children: Arch J., Warrensburg: Walter R., the subject of this review: Lula M., Warrensburg; and Nicholas E., in the employ of Citizens Bank of Warrensburg. Henry N. Greim died April 5, 1897. His wife died August 10, 1895. They are buried in the Warrensburg cemetery. Mr. Greim was an industrious, capable business man, and one of John- son county's most substantial citizens.

Walter R. Greim received his education in the Warrensburg schools and in the State Normal. He was in attendance at the State Normal one year. March 1. 1903, he opened a steam laundry on Cul-

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ton street and two years later moved to his present location on the corner of Holden and Grover streets where he has continued in busi- ness for the past thirteen years. The City Steam Laundry is the only steam laundry in the city and does excellent work. Mr. Greim em- ploys ten people and all work is given the most careful and prompt attention.

In 1910, Walter R. Greim was united in marriage with Ida Mc- Clelland, daughter of George B. McClelland, a farmer near Holden, Missouri. Mrs. Greim's mother is deceased . Mr. and Mrs. Greim re- side at 116 Broad street in the home which Mr. Greim's father built when he started housekeeping in 1869. the birthplace of Walter R. When the Greim home was built there were not half a dozen houses south of the railroad in Warrensburg. The house was remodeled in 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Greim are widely known in Johnson county and have many friends.

R. F. Renick, a Civil War veteran and one of the pioneers of John- son county, was born January 15, 1837 in Lafayette county, Missouri. He is the son of Andrew E. and Sabina (Livesay) Renick, who came to Missouri in the early part of the nineteenth century. Andrew E. Renick was a native of Ohio, born in 1809 near Springfield, Clark county. In early manhood he left Ohio and went to Virginia and after a year or two came to Lafayette county, Missouri in 1830, and locat- ed near Wellington. He remained there for about five years when he moved to Johnson county. Sabina (Livesay) Renick was a native of Virginia. Her parents came to Missouri about 1825. The marriage of R. F. Renick's father and mother was solemnized in Lexington, Mis- souri, by Reverend John Worder. Andrew E. and Sabina Renick were the parents of the following children: William, who is living at the age of eighty-three years in Garden City, Kansas; R. F., subject of this review; Mrs. Mary R. Creasy, deceased; Mrs. Isabell Goodwin, deceased; Emma, deceased ; James W., Odessa, Missouri ; Mrs. Amanda Patterson, deceased: and Mrs. Josie Goodwin, deceased. Andrew E. Renick died July 3, 1852 at St. Charles, Missouri and is buried there.

R. F. Renick attended school in Wellington, Missouri. At the age of twenty years he entered the government service in Kansas, herding cattle on the plains. For a number of years he was assistant wagon boss of a train of twenty-six wagons which made the trip from Ft. Leavenworth. Kansas to Ft. Laramie, Wyoming in thirty-five days.

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The return trip was made in twenty days when the wagons were empty. At different times Mr. Renick was associated with Sitting Bull's Indians. He has in his possession a coat made by Sitting Bull's squaw. This coat is an extremely interesting relic, made of buckskin or black tailed deerskin. Prior to the war Mr. Renick made four trips to St. Louis on horseback, driving stock.

In 1861, R. F. Renick enlisted at Columbus, Missouri with Captain Newton's company, Hurst's regiment. He and Senator Francis M. Cockrell were in the same company and saw active service in the same battles. The first year Mr. Renick was in Missouri with his company and the second year took part in the southern campaign with General Price in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. R. F. Renick took an active and prominent part in the battles of Springfield, Missouri; Elk- horn Tavern, Arkansas; Corinth, Mississippi and Iuka, Mississippi. At the seige of Vicksburg, which was captured July 3, 1862, Mr. Renick fired the last gun. He was in the Georgia campaign, which was an almost continual fight and a series of steady and hard-won successes, taking part in the battles of Altoona Mountain, Georgia; Franklin, Tennessee; and many minor skirmishes. He was taken prisoner at Franklin, Tennessee and when the war closed was in prison at Ft. Delaware. Eight different times Mr. Renick was wounded, four times in the left leg, once in the right, twice in the right shoulder and once in the back of the head. A spyglass was shot out of his hand at one time and another out of his pocket. His saber was shot and broken in two once when he had it unsheathed. While in prison Mr. Renick almost reached the place where he could hear the "last taps" sound, for gangrene started in his wound. As it was feared the disease would spread he was placed in a tent alone. Mr. Renick entered the service as a private and shortly afterward was elected lieutenant of his com- pany, Company H. Fourth Missouri Infantry. Captain Norville Spangler of this company was killed at Baker's Creek, Mississippi, and Lieutenant Renick succeeded to the captaincy of the company and served in that capacity three years, or during the remainder of his military career.

After the war closed, Mr. Renick returned to his farm in Columbus township. This is a fine place consisting of two hundred forty acres of some of the best land in the county. In 1868 he was married to Mary Wallace, daughter of Allen and Anna Wallace, pioneers of Co-

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lumbus township. Allen Wallace died in Illinois and his remains were buried there. His wife died in Columbus township and is buried there. To R. F. and Mary Renick were born two daughters: Fannie, the wife of Dr. T. L. Bradley, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; and Annie, the wife of Dr. Baxter Morrow, Columbus, Missouri. Both sons-in-law of Mr. Renick are Johnson county boys and were reared near Columbus. Mrs. Renick died November, 1912, at the age of seventy-two years. She was laid to rest in the Warrensburg cemetery. Mr. Renick makes his home with his two daughters in Columbus and Warrensburg. He is still active for one of his years, having passed his eightieth birthday, and were it not for the old wound in the left leg Mr. Renick would be able to put to shame many men a score of years younger than he. He can however do much work as it is. It has been a pleasure to find such a man still with us. The ranks of the brave pioneers and Civil War veterans are too rapidly thinning.

Dr. T. L. Bradley, successful physician of Warrensburg, was born August 26, 1870, near Columbus, Missouri. He is a member of a well- known pioneer family of Johnson county. His father, Gafford Bradley, is a native of Johnson county, born in 1846 at Pittsville. Gafford Brad- ley is the son of Dickey Bradley, Jr., who came to Johnson county about 1830. Dickey Bradley, Jr. was the son of Dickey Bradley, Sr. and he and his wife came to Johnson county a few years after their son had located on a farm near Pittsville. Dickey Bradley, Sr. was a veteran of the War of 1812. He was with General Jackson in the siege of New Orleans. He died in Johnson county in 1838 and was laid in his last resting place in Blackwater cemetery, the first to be buried in that historic place. The Blackwater Methodist church was the first Methodist church to be organized in Johnson county and it was organized with twenty-one members, six of whom were Bradleys. Dickey Bradley, Jr., was a highly respected farmer near Pittsville. He reared to maturity a large family. August 26, 1870, he died on the farm where he had resided for forty years and his remains were in- terred in Blackwater cemetery. Elizabeth (Fulkerson) Bradley, mother of the subject of this review, was the daughter of Dr. Monroe and Elizabeth (Houx) Fulkerson. Dr. Monroe Fulkerson is one of the early settlers of Johnson county and an esteemed pioneer physician residing two miles southwest of Columbus, Missouri. His family of boys served bravely in the Southern army during the Civil War. Eliza-

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beth (Houx) Fulkerson is the daughter of Nicholas Houx, one of the first four settlers in Johnson county. Nicholas Houx settled at Co- lumbus, Missouri and the first court held in Johnson county was held at his home under an elm tree. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Houx have long been deceased and their remains rest in the Columbus cemetery. To Gafford and Elizabeth Bradley were born two sons: Judge Nick M., who is a prominent attorney of Warrensburg, Missouri; and Dr. T. L., the subject of this review. Gafford Bradley died in Warrens- burg in 1900 and his wife passed away in 1904 and their remains are both buried in the Warrensburg cemetery.

Dr. T. L. Bradley attended the public schools of Warrensburg. He is a graduate of the State Normal School of Warrensburg and of the St. Louis Medical College, class of 1896. Dr. Bradley was the first student from Johnson county to graduate from the St. Louis Med- ical College and the first from Johnson county to receive an interne appointment in the City Hospital. He served as interne one year. In 1897 Dr. Bradley began the practice of medicine at Warrensburg. His office was located at that time in the old Montgomery building on the corner of Holden and Pine streets. He has since moved his office to the present location at 103 West Pine street. Dr. Bradley has an ex- cellent practice.

In 1898, Dr. Bradley was united in marriage with Fannie Renick, the daughter of R. F. and Mary (Wallace) Renick of Columbus town- ship, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. Mary (Wallace) Renick was born, reared, married, reared her family, and died in the same house. She died at the age of seventy-two years. The house still stands on the farm one and a half miles northeast of Columbus, Missouri. Dr. and Mrs. Bradley reside in Warrensburg on the corner of Broad and McGuire streets.

J. Ransom Grinstead, ex-county clerk of Johnson county, was born April 9, 1862 in Post Oak township, Johnson county. He is a son of Abner and Charity A. (Wells) Grinstead. Abner Grinstead was born in 1829 near Richmond, Kentucky, son of Jesse Grinsted. When Abner Grinstead was four years of age his father moved with his family to Pettis county, Missouri, in 1833. Jesse Grinstead was a native of Vir- ginia. He was born in 1796 and he took an active and prominent part in the War of 1812 and subsequent Indian wars in which he served as colonel. He died in Pettis county at the age of eighty-six years on

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the farm which he had pre-empted and his remains were buried in the family cemetery near Longwood. Abner Grinstead was reared on his father's farm in Pettis county. In early manhood he came to Jolin- son county and located in Post Oak township in 1854 where he entered land from the government. In 1854 Abner Grinstead and Charity A. Wells, daughter of Colonel Ransom Wells, a pioneer of Washington township, Johnson county, were united in marriage and to them were born three children: Mrs. Alice Henshaw, Rinehart, Missouri; J. Ran- som, the subject of this review ; and A. Rector, Wichita, Kansas. Abner Grinstead was a well-known and highly respected farmer and stockman of Post Oak township where he lived for more than half a century on his farm of four hundred acres of splendid farm land. He died January 1, 1917 aged nearly eighty-eight years. His wife died in 1904 and the remains of both father and mother were buried in the Knob Noster cemetery.

J. Ransom Grinstead attended the public schools of Johnson county and the Warrensburg State Normal School, graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1881. After leaving college Mr. Grinstead entered the teaching profession and, having secured a state certificate, was engaged in teaching for four years. Mr. Grinstead was reared on his father's farm in Post Oak township and has all liis life been engaged in farming and stock raising. He taught school in addition to the work on the farm. In 1895 Mr. Grinstead, John J. Lee, and Henry E. Fewel purchased the townsite of Leeton, consisting of one hundred forty acres and platted the original town which has since grown into a prosperous town of six hundred inhabitants. Mr. Grinstead still holds valuable property interests in Leeton. For about seven years he was in the real estate, loan and insurance business at Leeton, Missouri, prior to his election as county clerk in 1906. Mr. Grinstead served two terms in the office of county clerk of Johnson county, being reelected in 1910. It was during Mr. Grinstead's term of office when David Mohler was highway engineer that he, Mr. Moh- ler, and the county court put in operation the county highway plan of making good dirt roads. This plan involves the making of roads at the rate of sixty miles a year for five years and has proven to be a great success. Three hundred miles of the best dirt roads were made at a cost of one hundred to four hundred dollars a mile, making a network connecting all the important trade centers of the county. The

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construction of more than a thousand concrete culverts was a part of the plan.

April 2, 1891, J. Ransom Grinstead was united in marriage with Josie Hall, the daughter of G. G. Hall and Lucy (Mitchell) Hall, of Jefferson township, Johnson county. Both parents of Mrs. Grinstead are deceased and they were placed in their last resting places in High Point cemetery in Jefferson township. To J. Ransom and Josie (Hall) Grinstead have been born three sons, all of whom are graduates of the Warrensburg State Normal School and now engaged in teaching: Lawrence H., superintendent of schools in Cole Camp, Missouri; Roland W., has charge of the history department and is coach of athletics in the Warrensburg High School; and Noel B., teacher of Manual Training and coach of athletics in the Nevada High School, Nevada, Missouri. The year previous he was engaged in teaching in the Windsor High School, Windsor, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Grin- stead's home in Warrensburg is located at 410 South Holden street.

J. Ransom Grinstead is owner of more than a thousand acres of land in Post Oak and Warrensburg townships, Johnson county and in addition to supervising his own business affairs he is manager of Black- water Company's land, which includes more than a thousand acres. Mr. Grinstead is of pioneer lineage and one of Johnson county's pros- perous and influential citizens.

James I. Anderson, M. D., one of the best-known practitioners in Johnson county, is a member of a highly respected pioneer family, who were prominently connected with the early history of both Johnson and Henry counties. Doctor Anderson was born in 1859 in Warrens- burg, Missouri the son of William Harrison and Mary (Davis) Ander- son. William Harrison Anderson was born in 1813 in Campbell county, Kentucky. He was the son of John H. Anderson, a native of Virginia. John H. Anderson's father, John Anderson, came with General Brad- dock from England to Virginia in March, 1755. John H. Anderson was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. He came to Missouri and settled in Johnson county after his sons had located here. His death occurred in Hazel Hill or Simpson township when he was one hundred three years of age. William Harrison Anderson came to Johnson county, Missouri from Tennessee in 1833. He first located north of Warrens- burg on a farm. This was before the town of Warrensburg was laid out or the county of Johnson established. In 1838 he moved to War-

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History of Johnson County, Missouri, Part 36

Author: Cockrell, Ewing Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Topeka, Kan. : Historical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1234

Author: Cockrell, Ewing
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Topeka, Kan. : Historical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1234