History of Johnson County, Missouri, Part 37

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

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DR. JAMES L. ANDERSON.

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rensburg and there filled the offices of deputy sheriff, tax collector, and later treasurer of Johnson county.

For several years William Harrison Anderson was employed as clerk in the different stores, working at one time in the employ of a country merchant named Gallaher and subsequently in the first store in Warrensburg. In the early forties he entered the mercantile busi- ness for himself in Warrensburg and was thus engaged until 1857, at which time the St. Louis Union Bank established a branch bank in Warrensburg and William Harrison Anderson was employed as cash- ier. The bank in Warrensburg was organized in July, 1858, and con- tinued in business until 1862, when the unsettled condition of affairs due to war times obliged the bank to close its doors.

At the time Mr. Anderson was cashier, the railroad had been built west only as far as Sedalia, Missouri. Fearing the bank might be looted, he placed seventy-five thousand dollars of the bank funds in five boxes, containing fifteen thousand dollars each, and hauled the boxes to the farm home of John Parr in June, 1861. The boxes were stored beneath the hearthstone of the fireplace in the Parr home and remained there in safety until the ensuing autumn, when the St. Louis bank sent their cashier in October for the funds. He, Mr. Anderson, and Mr. Parr loaded the five boxes upon a wagon and the two cashiers hauled them to Sedalia, from whence they were shipped to St. Louis. The thoughtfulness and precaution of the young cashier undoubtedly saved the bank's money, for Warrensburg was visited by both armies that summer. Colonel Dare, with his Federal troops, and General Sterling Price, with the Confederates, confiscated everything they could find of value belonging to the enemy. From 1862 to 1869 the Ander- son family resided in St. Louis, Missouri. They returned to War- rensburg in 1869 or 1870 and Mr. Anderson assisted in the organization of the Johnson County Savings Bank. He then entered the mercantile business, in which he was engaged for many years.

James Isaac Anderson is one of ten children born to William Harrison and Mary (Davis) Anderson, who were as follow: John D., who died in Nashville, Tennessee: Sarah, who died in childhood; Zachary T., whose death occurred about ten years ago in Nashville, Tennessee ; Henry B., who died in Warrensburg, Missouri, about 1892; Alice, who died in childhood; William Harrison, Jr., who resides in Helena, Arkansas; James Isaac, the subject of this review; Mary, for-

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merly the wife of Charles Davis of Helena, Arkansas, who is deceased, and she is now the wife of Reuben Reeves, of Warrensburg, Missouri; and Charles, Statesville. North Carolina. One child, Robert, died in infancy. The father died in 1892 in Warrensburg, Missouri.

Mary (Davis) Anderson was born at Bowling Green, Kentucky, She came to Johnson county, Missouri, with her parents when she was a child three years of age. She was the daughter of Zachary T. and Elizabeth (Bradley) Davis. Zachary T. Davis was one of the first county officers of Johnson county. Both parents of Mrs. Anderson were interred in the cemetery at Lees Summit, Missouri.

Doctor Anderson received his early education in the public schools of Warrensburg, Missouri. He later attended the Warrensburg State Normal School, Vandiver University of Nashville, Tennessee, and the New York Polyclinic at New York City. Thirty-five years ago he opened his office in Warrensburg, Missouri, on the corner of Pine and Holden streets, where he has ever since remained, enjoying one of the most extensive practices in the city.

In 1890, James Isaac Anderson was united in marriage with Eliza- beth Plumer, the daughter of M. A. and Sarah Plumer, of Warrensburg, Missouri. The parents of Mrs. Anderson came to Johnson county, Missouri, about 1870. Both are now deceased and their remains rest in the Warrensburg cemetery. To Dr. and Mrs. Anderson have been born four children: Gladys, who is a graduate of Pratt Institute, New York City and now supervisor of art in the Warrensburg State Normal School; A. P., who is a graduate of the Pratt Institute in the class of 1915 and is now employed as chemist for the Dupont Powder Com- pany in Virginia; Caroline, a graduate of the Warrensburg State Nor- mal School and now teaching in the Warrensburg schools: and Albert, who is employed in Helena, Arkansas, by the Pendergrass Cotton Com- pany.

David Mohler, ex-county surveyor and president of the Johnson County Mutual Insurance Association, is a native of Ohio. He was born in 1852 in Miami county, Ohio, a son of Ephraim and Anna (Nill) Mohler. Ephraim Mohler was born in 1826 in Pennsylvania where he was reared and educated. When he attained maturity he left Pennsylvania and moved to Ohio. In 1869, when his son, David, was seventeen years of age, Ephraim Mohler came to Missouri with his family and settled in Johnson county on a farm twelve miles south

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of Warrensburg. Anna (Nill) Mohler, the mother of the subject of this review, was a native of Germany. She was born in 1826 and with her parents immigrated to America when she was six years of age, about 1832. Ephraim and Anna Mohler were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Mary Wenrick, Leeton, Missouri; George, Pleasant Hill, Ohio; J. B., Cleveland, Ohio; David, the subject of this sketch ; R. D., Warrensburg: Ephraim S., Covington, Ohio; John, who died at Gallipolis, Ohio; Mrs. Emma Colbert, Covington, Ohio; Mrs. Ida Coppock, Mechanicsburg, Ohio; and S. N., a Baptist minister, St. Louis, Missouri. Ephraim Mohler returned to Ohio at one time and remained in that state ten years when he came back to Johnson county. He was one of the charter members of the Brethren church of Leeton, which was organized about 1871. His death occurred in 1906 and he and his wife, who died the next year, were buried in the cemetery at Leeton.

David Mohler attended the public schools of Johnson county and the Warrensburg State Normal School. He took the two years' course at the State Normal and after he left college was engaged in teaching for fourteen years. In the summers he was employed in farming. In 1907 he moved to Leeton, Missouri when he was appointed road com- missioner and surveyor of Johnson county. Mr. Mohler served in this capacity ten years, his term of office expiring in February, 1917. Dur- ing his administration as surveyor the county road system was devel- oped and put successfully in operation. He, in connection with J. Ransom Grinstead, county clerk, and the county court, seriously con- sidered the need of a system of good roads and in 1909 built two concrete culverts to ascertain the cost as well as the durability. A cry was raised throughout the county against this innovation on account of the cost, but the builders proceeded undauntedly and the following year let the contract for sixty four-foot culverts and two crews were employed making culverts and placing from six to eight in each town- ship. In 1912 three crews of seven teams and ten men were employed in grading the roads. Sixty miles each year were completed at an average cost of about two hundred dollars a mile, not including the cost of the culverts. To-day, Johnson county has three hundred miles of good roads with splendid culverts, numbering more than a thou- sand on the different highways. All the roads were completed in the fall of 1916 and the people of the county are now unanimous in

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their approval. They have seen the wisdom and foresight of the county surveyor, clerk, and county judges. The judges who were as- sociated with Mr. Mohler in the work were: W. A. Stevens, R. H. Wood, W. B. Pemberton, E. F. Tracy, B. F. Summers, D. L. Day, E. S. Harte, and C. C. Atkins.

In 1878, David Mohler and Anna M. Davis were united in mar- riage. Anna M. (Davis) Mohler is the daughter of E. A. and Caroline Davis, of Leeton, Missouri. Both father and mother of Mrs. Mohler are now deceased and they are interred in Roop cemetery. To David H. and Anna M. Mohler have been born four children: Lee, Leeton, Missouri; Nellie, the wife of J. H. Duckwall of Warrensburg; Maurice, who is in charge of the Manual Training department in the schools of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; and Flora, the wife of W. H. Stacy of Leeton, Missouri.

Mr. Mohler was one of the organizers of the Johnson County Mutual Insurance Association. This company began with risks amounting to two hundred fifty thousand dollars and at present carries risks amounting to more than six million dollars. Mr. Mohler has been president of the company for the past twelve years. Losses are always promptly paid and the sound, prosperous condition of the as- sociation is principally due to the president's executive ability, keen business judgment, and initiative.

J. Wesley Harrison, a retired farmer and capitalist of Warrens- burg, is of noble pioneer lineage and a native of Johnson county. He was born February 28, 1838, six miles north of Warrensburg in Hazel Hill township. He is the son of Harvey and Zilphia (Bell) Harrison, natives of Tennessee. Harvey Harrison was born in Blount county, Tennessee, March 7, 1806 and Zilphia (Bell) Harrison was born in Davidson county, Tennessee, October 16, 1803. They were united in marriage November 28, 1824 and in 1829 or 1830 came in a one horse cart to Missouri and located near Dover in Lafayette county, where they remained for a few years when they moved to Hazel Hill township, Johnson county and settled on a farm of more than three hundred acres, a part of which Harvey Harrison had entered from the government. Several brothers of Harvey Harrison came to Missouri with him. He resided on his farm in Hazel Hill township until the Civil War when he moved to Warrensburg and for many years served as justice of peace and judge of the county court. Harvey and Zilphia

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Harrison were the parents of thirteen children: Hugh Bell, who was born November 25, 1825 in Limestone county, Alabama; William Craig, born May 19, 1827 in Limestone county, Alabama; Margaret C., who was born February 16, 1829 in Limestone county, Alabama; Joseph Patton, who was born August 8, 1830 in Lafayette county, Mis- souri; Alfred Bell, who was born March 26, 1832 in Johnson county ; Robert Donell, who was born March 7, 1833 in Johnson county ; Harvey White, who was born March 13, 1835 in Johnson county; Andrew Jackson, who was born January 17, 1837 in Johnson county; John Wesley, the subject of this review; George Washington, who was born April 9, 1840 in Johnson county; Nancy Elizabeth, who was born September 26, 1842 in Johnson county; James K. Polk, who was born February 10, 1846 in Johnson county; and one child, a son, died in infancy. Harvey Harrison was prominent in the public affairs of his

day and he always took an active part in the politics of his county. He was a member of the Republican party. His death occurred March 7, 1890. His wife preceded him in death, having departed this life June 12, 1889. Both father and mother were interred in the Warrens- burg cemetery. At the time of their death Harvey Harrison and his wife had forty-eight grandchildren, forty-five great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild, Isaac Seamonds. Their first grandchild was Zilphia Isabel Eagan, the daughter of Margaret C. (Harrison) Eagan. She was born September 10. 1845.

J. Wesley Harrison was reared on his father's farm in Hazel Hill township and educated in the public schools of Johnson county. His boyhood was spent much as is the early life of the average boy on the farm and until he was seventeen years of age he remained at home with his parents. He then began life for himself driving ox teams across the plains for Russell Majors, Daniel White, and Mr. Wadell. Mr. Harrison recalls a blinding snowstorm which occurred May 3. 1856, the day the train started from Old Westport, Missouri for Ft. Union, New Mexico. At the time the Mountain Meadow massacre happened, his train was within forty miles of the train which was in the massacre. Mr. Harrison made these trips across the plains prior to the Civil War. During the war he lived in Leavenworth county, Kansas. After the war he returned to Johnson county, in 1865, and lived on the farm for about four years. He opened a livery stable, which he conducted in connection with farming. Mr. Harrison was

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thus engaged for about thirteen years. He erected a business house on Holden street in Warrensburg, and in addition to his city resi- dence, which he purchased in 1904 and remodeled, owns a fine farm of several hundred acres in Warrensburg and Hazel Hill townships. His time is spent looking after his farming interests and managing his city property.

J. Wesley Harrison was united in marriage with Eliza C. Ovens in 1859 by Reverend Jonathan Gott in Hazel Hill township. To J. Wesley and Eliza C. (Ovens) Harrison were born four children: Mrs. Emma Zilphia Shryack, Kirksville, Missouri; Charles Harvey, War- rensburg; Lee, died at the age of ten years; and Ada, died at the age of five years. Mrs. Harrison died in 1901. In 1904 Mr. Harrison mar- ried Georgia Dennis, daughter of George H. and Ann R. (Osborne) Dennis, of Monmouth, Illinois. George H. Dennis was engaged in the harness business in Monmouth. He and Mrs. Dennis were the parents of the following children: Mrs. T. B. Montgomery, Warrensburg; Mrs. Ella Carrigan, Calumet, Oklahoma; and Mrs. J. Wesley Harrison, the wife of the subject of this review.

Mr. Harrison has in his possession a Seth Thomas clock, which was purchased prior to 1846 by his father, Harvey Harrison. The clock is not only priceless as a relic but is still valuable as a timepiece, al- ways keeping good time. This clock has brass parts and old-fashioned weights that must be wound every twenty-four hours. He also has another relic of the days long gone by, a highly valued heirloom. This is an embroidered counterpane, made by his mother, Zilphia (Bell) Harrison, in 1818. She was then but a girl of fifteen years and the counterpane is the product of careful labor and much time, for the cotton seed was planted and the plants raised and later spun, woven, and the cloth made into the beautiful, old-fashioned bedspread and em- broidered, all by the hand of the young Zilphia. This precious relic tells, as pen cannot, of the painstaking care, application, and skill of a girl in her early teens a century ago, when each of the family had assigned duties and manual training was taught in the home.

John Adam Zimmerman, the veteran jewelryman of Warrensburg, Missouri, was born April 20, 1863 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Alfred F. and Isabella Fearon (Hill) Zimmerman, both natives of Pennsylvania. Alfred F. Zimmerman sold out his jewelry store at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on account of failing health and

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came with his family to Missouri and located on a farm in Johnson county, five miles southeast of Warrensburg. John Adam Zimmerman was a child of three years when he came with his parents to Missouri. The mother, Isabella Fearon ( Hill) Zimmerman, was born April 15, 1832, in Pennsylvania. To Alfred F. and Isabella Zimmerman were born the following children: Mollie, who died at the age of ten years; Anna Kate, married B. F. Wood, and died in 1915 in Tennessee: John Adam, the subject of this review; Nettie, wife of Will Beacon, Har- risonville, Missouri; Frederick, died unmarried, in 1899; and Albert, died unmarried in September, 1898 as the result of fever contracted while on a vacation.

Alfred F. Zimmerman remained on the farm near Warrensburg, until 1870. when he moved to Warrensburg. He opened a grocery store on the corner of Culton and Holden streets, which store he con- ducted for two years when he purchased the jewelry stock of H. J. Ruthrauf, and engaged in the jewelry business. The Ruthrauf store was located on the east side of Holden street and Mr. Zimmerman con- tinued the business there until 1886 when he moved to the present location of the Zimmerman Jewelry Company. In 1897 his sons, John Adam and Albert, purchased the store and Alfred F. Zimmerman retired from business.

August 16, 1897, the death of Mrs. Zimmerman occurred and her husband died November 16, 1902. Their remains rest in the Warrens- burg cemetery ..

John Adam Zimmerman received his education in the Warrens- burg schools and the State Normal School. After leaving school he was associated with his father in the jewelry business from 1879 until 1897. In 1897, he and his brother, Albert, purchased the store. and Mr. Zim- merman has continued the business for the past thirty-eight years. The Zimmerman store, which is located at 121 Holden street, was the first store in the city of Warrensburg carrying their line of goods. Mr. Zim- merman has an attractive, well-kept store and he handles only the best articles, keeping his stock clean, new, and up-to-date.

In 1890, Mr. Zimmerman was united in marriage with Ella J. Rob- inson, the daughter of Dr. C. W. Robinson. a prominent pioneer physi- cian of Warrensburg, Missouri. Dr. Robinson was practicing medicine in Warrensburg during the Civil War days. Mrs. Zimmerman's mother, Lisette Robinson, lives with her daughter since the death of Dr. Rob-

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inson. To Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman have been born three children: Adeline, Frances, and Ella.

Mr. Zimmerman remembers how Warrensburg looked in the early days when the site south of the present depot was covered with timber and .court held its sessions in the old town. He recalls an amusing incident of the early days, relative to road work in the vicinity of his father's farm southeast of Warrensburg. The men had been noti- fied in the neighborhood to report for work on the roads and Tater Wiley, an "old timer", had but a faint conception of what was required of him but he was ready and willing to "do his bit". He showed up right on time carrying a pitchfork on his shoulder.

Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman are widely known and respected in Johnson county. They are numbered among the county's best and most substantial citizens.

Mrs. J. H. Houx, widow of the late Reverend J. H. Houx, one of the pioneer ministers of Johnson county, was born in Kanawha county, Virginia, now West Virginia, in 1838, but was reared and educated in Henry county, Missouri, to which county her parents had moved when she was three years of age. Mrs. Houx is the daughter of James R. and Susan (Everett) Wilson. James R. Wilson was born in 1803 in Maysville, Kentucky. With his parents he moved to Virginia, in which state he grew to maturity. In Virginia, James R. Wilson and Susan Everett were united in marriage and in 1841 they came to Henry county, Missouri, where Mr. Wilson entered land from the govern- ment. He built the frame house for their home in 1849. Hard oak and walnut lumber were used for the floors and made by hand into doors and window-sashes. James R. Wilson increased his holdings by purchase and at one time was owner of more than a thousand acres of land in Henry county. James R. and Susan ( Everett) Wilson were the parents of the following children: John M., whose death occurred about 1914 at El Paso, Texas ; Mary E., the widow of Reverend J. H. Houx, the subject of this review; Joseph H., Montrose, Missouri; Edwin, who died in Austin, Texas, in 1910; Susan E., Montrose, Mis- souri: William W., Montrose, Missouri; and Richard B., who is post- master at Montrose, Missouri. Mr. Wilson died in 1898. Mrs. Wil- son had preceded him in death twenty-three years, her death occurring in 1875. Both parents of Mrs. Houx are interred in the family ceme- tery in Bates county, which is known as the Stratton cemetery and is

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JAMES H. HOUX.

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now owned by the Methodist church, South, to which both Mr. and Mrs. Wilson belonged.

Mary E. (Wilson) Houx received her education in the Chapel Hill College and Independence Female College of Missouri. In 1861, J. H. Houx and Mary E. Wilson were united in marriage in Henry county, Missouri, at the Wilson home place. Reverend J. H. Houx was born April 7, 1827, in Lafayette county, Missouri, the son of Philip S. and Margaret ( Morrow) Houx. The Houx family were honored and beloved pioneers of Johnson county, where they settled in 1837, coming from Lafayette county where they had resided since 1817.

Rev. J. H. Houx attended Chapel Hill College and he and Senator Francis M. Cockrell were room-mates. Mr. Houx was an earnest and devout Christian, a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. His first pastorate was at Independence, Missouri. Later he was engaged in Mission work in St. Clair. Bates, and Henry counties from 1866 to 1867. Reverend Houx had many thrilling experiences, for at that time the heat of the Civil War had not yet subsided and he preached to congregations during his career which were "armed to the teeth," as it were. From 1867 to 1875. J. H. Houx was pastor of the Warrens- burg Cumberland church. In 1875 he took up work for the endowment of the Missouri Valley College at Marshall, Missouri, and in 1880 was made chairman of the board of that institution, a position he held for five years, until 1885. To J. H. and Mary E. Houx were born seven children, six of whom lived to maturity: Charles Henry, who married Ethel Clark and resides in Warrensburg. Missouri: Edwin W., who married Mrs. Lucy (Wharton) Rucker and resides in Kansas City, Missouri; Susan Elizabeth, who is the wife of Walter S. Williams of Columbia, Missouri: Albert B., who died in childhood at the age of seven years; Mary M., who was the wife of J. K. Tuttle and is now deceased, her death occurring at the age of forty years ; Roberta M., who is the wife of Henry H. Edmiston of St. Louis, Missouri; and Samuel B., who married Louise Patterson and is now residing in Houston. Texas. At the age of seventy-six, Reverend Houx was still active and of remarkable endurance. He often would ride ten and twenty miles in severe weather to fill appointments. His death occurred April 10. 1903, as the result of an accident which happened three weeks before. His last resting place is in the Warrensburg cemetery. Reverend J. H. Houx was a gentleman of the old school, a man beloved by all

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who knew him. He spent his life in the cause of Christianity and the world is better because he lived in it. He left as a precious legacy to his children a noble name, that "which is rather to be chosen than great riches."

Mrs. Houx is a descendant of colonial ancestors. Her great-grand- father, Samuel Bailey, was killed by the Indians thirty miles from Mays- ville, Kentucky, when he was on his way to see a large tract of land he had purchased from Simon Kenton. His widow exchanged the land for a farm near Maysville and as the children were heirs she could not give a good title to the land. She promised to see to it that the title was made good when the children became of age, and she kept her word. She gave her word of honor that her children would never disturb the title and they never did.

The grounds of the Houx home are located on South Holden street in Warrensburg, Missouri. Mr. Houx erected the residence in 1869 and remodeled it in 1892. The grounds originally included fifteen acres, and there are seven acres at present of beautifully wooded land surround- ing the residence, which is one of the attractive homes of Johnson county.

Adam Vernaz, a prominent citizen of Warrensburg, Missouri, is of Swiss descent. He was born October 3, 1863 in St. Louis, Missouri, son of Pierre and Callette (Pithoud) Vernaz, natives of Switzerland. Pierre Vernaz was born in December, 1823 and Callette (Pithond) Vernaz was born in 1828. They were united in marriage in Bulle, Switzerland, and about 1844, when Pierre Vernaz was twenty-one years of age, emigrated from Switzerland to America. They came to Ameri- ca on a sailing boat and were thirty-one days on the way. Mr. Jaccard. of the Jaccard Jewelry Company, of Kansas City, Missouri, came to America from Switzerland on the same boat. To Pierre and Callette Vernaz were born the following children: Eva, Dwight. Oklahoma ; Adam, the subject of this review: Mrs. Van Meter, Dwight, Oklahoma ; and Mrs. W. W. Scott, Darlington, Oklahoma. Her husband is Indian agent there. J. C. Vernaz, the fourth son of Pierre and Callette Vernaz. died in Warrensburg, Missouri in 1906.

After the Civil War Pierre Vernaz went west with a government train and when near Ft. Laramie, Wyoming, was attacked by the Indians. Mr. Vernaz was shot through the left hand, crippling him for life. He had no way of procuring medical attention until he returned to St. Louis, Missouri, and when he went to the hospital it was too late to

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cure the wound. Prior to the accident. Pierre Vernaz had been a tailor, but he was obliged to give up his trade because of the crippled hand. His death occurred in December, 1906, at Warrensburg, and in 1907 his wife died.

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History of Johnson County, Missouri, Part 37

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