USA > Missouri > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Missouri > Part 60
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A. C. Fitch and Adah Holderman, daughter of Gilderoy and Jane Holderman, were united in marriage on October 7, 1894. Mrs. Fitch is a native of Bates county, Missouri, and at the time of her marriage was residing in the state of Washington. Both her parents are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Fitch have been born ten children, all of whom are now living: Mattie E., born September 31, 1895, at home; Mary C., born May 5, 1897, who is engaged in teaching school at the Liberty school house near her home; Esther F., born July 2. 1899, a student in the Warrensburg High School; Albert H. born June 10, 1901. a student in the Warrensburg High School ; James Sherman, born July 29, 1903; Louis Quentin, born September 27, 1905; Ada Cava, born September 23, 1907: Hadley, born December 29. 1909; Beulah Ailene, born March 12, 1912; and Rodney Bee, born March 27, 1914, all at home with their parents. Mr. Fitch possesses some very excellent ideas about farm management which he is successfully putting in operation on his place. He is constantly at work making substantial improvements and has made an enviable name for himself among the best stockmen of this part of Missouri. The Fitch family is one of the most valued and respected families in Johnson county.
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Mrs. Adah (Holderman) Fitch was born October 22, 1873, in Bates county, Missouri, a daughter of Gilderoy and Jane (Francis) Holder- man. Gilderoy Holderman was born in Wyandotte county, Ohio, January 23, 1833, a son of Jacob Holderman, of German descent ,born in Pennsyl- vania. Gilderoy Holderman came to Missouri and settled in Bates county in 1857. He died in the state of Washington October 28, 1883, where he had gone in 1881 ; was a Union veteran and was wounded in battle. Jane (Francis) Holderman, born near Joliet, Illinois, February 16, 1838, a daughter of Thomas B. and Hannah Francis, natives of Ireland and Holland, respectively. The Francis family came to Bates county in 1856. Governor David R. Francis is a relative of Mrs. Fitch. Mrs. Holderman died February 14, 1890. There were ten Holderman children, three living: Mrs. Louisa J. Danielson, Waitsburg, Washing- ton : Mrs. Fitch: and Arthur B., Portland, Oregon.
J. J. Phillips, of Windsor, Missouri, is a descendant of one of the most respected and honored of the early colonial families and the son of a leading pioneer of Johnson county. He was born in 1857 in Johnson county, Missouri, son of Charles P. and Louisiana Phillips, the former a son of Jesse Phillips, a prominent farmer in Kentucky and the latter, a daughter of John Coats, ex-sheriff of Callaway county, Missouri. Charles P. Phillips came to Johnson county, Missouri, about 1850 and settled in Jefferson township, where he homesteaded one hundred twenty acres of land and engaged in farming and stock raising. He was at one time, prior to the Civil War, justice of peace in this county. Mr. Phillips was industrious, capable, and enterprising and succeeded well in life. He was held in the highest esteem by all and his death in 1899 was mourned by countless men and women throughout the county. He was a valued and worthy member of the Presbyterian church, of which he had been an estimable deacon for many years. Ten years later, in 1909, he was followed in death by his wife, Louisiana (Coats) Phillips, one of the bravest and noblest of the pioneer women, who came to Johnson county in those early days. J. J. Phillips has but one sister living: Mrs. Mattie Steele, Marshall. Missouri.
In early youth. J. J. Phillips began life for himself on the farm. For many years he engaged in general farming and stock raising, but recently he has been devoting practically his entire attention to the stock business. He is now the owner of two hundred eighty acres of the best farm land and one hundred acres are in pasture. The Phillips stock
HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY
farm is well watered and nicely improved with numerous barns and farm buildings and one of the most handsome residences in the township.
In 1883, J. J. Phillips was united in marriage with Lula Peak, the daughter of George W. and Eliza (Draper) Peak, the former, a son of William Peak, a prosperous farmer and stockman, who was one of the earliest settlers of Missouri. George W. and Eliza ( Draper) Peak were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Carrie McDonald; Mrs. Lula Phillips, the wife of the subject of this review: Mrs. Bettie Lamp- kin; Mrs. Georgia Wheeler: Mrs. Jessie Cooper: Robert H .: and C. F. Peak. To J. J. and Lula (Peak) Phillips have been born five children : Charles, Windsor, Missouri, Rural Route 15: Jesse. Windsor, Missouri. Rural Route 15; Mrs. Fay Gunter. Eldon, Missouri; Russell P., Wind- sor. Missouri; and Lawrence P., Windsor, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips moved from the farm to Windsor, Missouri, in order to give their children the best educational advantages, but Mr. Phillips is still a citizen of Johnson county and he maintains the supervision of his farm in Jefferson township. The genealogy of Mrs. J. J. Phillips traces back to Augustine and Mary (Ball) Washington, of Westmoreland county, Virginia, who were the parents of six children, one of whom was the world-renowned George Washington.
Sixty years ago. J. J. Phillips was born in Johnson county. Many changes, incidental to growth and improvement. have taken place in this section of Missouri during the past half century and Mr. Phillips has been an eye witness of them all. He can recall when there were but few settlers in the county and most of the land was unfenced prairie. In those early days the young and old rode on horseback to church and people came from great distances to hear the pioneer preachers, among whom he remembers, Rev. B. F. Goodwin. "Uncle Billy" Lawler, and "Uncle Billy" Caldwell. Of the early day school teachers were two, whom he personally knew well. Mrs. Bright and Mollie Baunaugh.
Judge J. C. Wingfield, ex-judge of the county court of Johnson county. Missouri, is a son of one of the old pioneers and a member of one of the first families of Johnson county. He was born in a little log cabin, having one room below. 18x18 feet in dimensions, and a "loft" above, which his father had built in 1848. Judge Wingfield was born in 1858, the son of J. C. and Mary R. Wingfield. J. C. Wingfield was a son of William Wingfield, a native Virginian, who came to Missouri in 1835 and entered a large tract of land from the government. J. C. Wingfield engaged almost entirely in farming, for in the early days
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stock raising was not profitable, there being no good markets, as there are at the present time. He was a capable, industrious, intelligent agri- culturist and his efforts were rewarded with a fine degree of success, for he was the owner at one time of more than five hundred fifty acres of the choicest farm land in the state. In the latter part of his life, he engaged more and more in the stock business. His death occurred in 1870.
After the death of his father in 1870. J. C. Wingfield, with his brother, Newton, assumed charge of the farm in Johnson county. When Judge Wingfield was a lad, one might travel miles in Johnson county and never see a settlement. Those were the halcyon days of the cattle- men, for stock had unlimited range over the wide, unfenced prairie. He attended a "subscription school," which was held in the old Highpoint log church, where "Uncle Billy" Caldwell used to preach, and where Miss Sally Coleman taught school. He recalls seeing hundreds of wild turkeys, as he looked out the church window, when at school. Families came to church in wagons, drawn by oxen. The first buggy, which was. ever seen in this section of the country, was brought here in 1875 and was regarded as a curiosity.
There was little that one would call cozy or comfortable about the log cabin, in which Judge Wingfield was born and reared. When it snowed, one could track the family as they had moved about the room. There was one beautiful feature about the home and that was the open fire. The fireplace was immense and great logs could be burned in it, which would crackle and snap during the long winter evenings and fill the rude, unfinished room with bright, rosy heat. By the fireside the mother would sit with her knitting, spinning, or quilting while the father read his Bible or smoked his pipe and sometimes as the fire blazed, story- telling helped to while away the evening hours. The fireplace would accommodate a backlog five or six feet long and was large enough for roasting an entire sheep. Of course, all food was cooked at this open fire. Over it swung a great iron crane, on which kettles could be swung. The mother had a large iron skillet with legs and heavy lid in which she baked bread by placing coals on the lid and under the skillet. Some- times she made "Johnny cake," which was corn bread baked on a board, set up close to the fire until one side was done and then turned to let the other side bake. No one ever ate food which seemed so good as that cooked before the fire. The fire was not permitted to go out, but at night the coals would be covered with ashes, for it was no easy mat-
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ter to start a fire, which had to be done with flint. Matches were not to be had, when Judge Wingfield was a lad. All the clothing was made in the Wingfield home by the mother, who carded the wool, spun, wove, colored, and fashioned it into clothing for the entire family. Mr. Wing- field took a wagon load of bacon to Warsaw, Missouri, and sold the bacon for two and a half cents a pound in order to buy a cookstove. for which he paid twenty-eight dollars.
In 1883, J. C. Wingfield was united in marriage with Viola Hern- don, the daughter of James and Sarah Herndon, pioneer settlers of Missouri. To. J. C. and Viola (Herndon) Wingfield have been born three sons: Newton, who resides at Baker City, Oregon; Stanley and Clinton. Judge Wingfield is the owner of five hundred acres of splendid land in Johnson county, and some valuable farm land in Oklahoma. He is engaged in both farming and stock raising. having adopted the policy of planting corn each alternate year. devoting the land to pas- ture during the intervals, so that he is constantly building up the fer- tility of his soil and the Wingfield farm is growing better every year. He has learned from experience that wheat and oats crops have not paid and he is of the opinion held by all the best informed agri- culturists, that it is foolish for Missouri to attempt to compete with other states in the growing of these crops, when there are other prod- ucts as valuable, which can better be raised in this section of the country.
J. C. Wingfield was elected judge of the county court in Johnson county in 1894. His name is carved on the tablet stone in the Warrens- burg court house as one of the builders and as a member of the court at that time. He is and has always been one of Johnson county's most highly valued citizens.
A. D. Cooper, an honored and highly esteemed pioneer of Johnson county and a member of one of the first families of Missouri. is a pros- perous and influential farmer and stockman of Jefferson township. He was born in 1850 in Johnson county, Missouri, in a log house, consisting of four rooms two below and two above, which is still standing on the farm now owned by Mr. Cooper. He is a son of A. J. and Eliza J. (McDonald) Cooper. A. J. Cooper was a son of David Cooper, who came to Missouri from Kentucky in 1832 and entered a vast tract of land from the government. Purchasing the "right" to the land from Joshua Gillam. A. J. Cooper, the father of the subject of this review, settled on a farm in Johnson county, which place he entered from the government.
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He was a native Kentuckian and was especially interested in stock, devoting much time and attention to stock raising in addition to farm- ing. He prospered and became widely known as a successful and lead- ing citizen of the county, being considered one of the wealthy men of his day. He was at one time owner of six hundred acres of land in Johnson county. His death occurred in 1888. Eliza Jane (McDonald) Cooper was born in 1820 in Howard county, Missouri. She was the daughter of Isaac McDonald, who moved with his family to Johnson county about 1830. Mrs. Cooper followed her husband in death in 1893.
Educational opportunities were very limited in Missouri when A. D. Cooper was a lad. There were no public schools before the Civil War and the "subscription schools" lasted but a few months in the year and even when the school was open big boys and girls could not always go for there was much work to be done at home. Early in life, he began working for himself on the farm of one hundred acres given him by his father.
In 1870, A. D. Cooper and Mary Frances Peak, the daughter of G. W. Peak, were united in marriage. G. W. Peak went to California in 1849, at the time the entire country was wild with excitement over the discovery of gold in Captain Sutter's millrace in that state. More fortunate than the thousands of emigrants, who died on the way, he reached California and for some time remained there, returning to Johnson county within a few years. His death occurred in 1880. To A. D. and Mary Frances (Peak) Cooper were born three children: George F., Windsor, Missouri and Eliza, J., who is the wife of Mr. Stiles, of Windsor, Missouri; and one died in infancy. The death of Mary F. (Peak) Cooper occurred in 1875. In 1892, Mr. Cooper was married to Parthena Drace, who died in 1904. He was again married in 1911, his wife being Ella R. (Craig) Cooper, the daughter of J. and Louisa Craig, natives of North Carolina, who came to Missouri in a very early day from Tennessee. Mr. Cooper is the owner of two hun- dred acres of land in Johnson county, most of his place being in pasture. He devotes his time and attention to stock raising, in which he has been successful to a remarkable degree.
Many times in the early days, Mr. Cooper broke sod in Johnson county, driving three and four yoke of oxen. There was much open land, which was covered with a heavy growth of blue-stem prairie grass that grew to a great height. Wild game was in abundance and thou-
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sands of times Mr. Cooper has eaten dried venison. He has seen prairie chickens, in trees, as thick as blackbirds. Prairie fires were always feared and fire guards were kept burning around the farms of the early settlers. Supplies were secured at Boonville and Warsaw and hauled from there. Mr. Cooper recalls the pathetic and tragic accident, which occurred in his youth, when an old colored man, Nathan, was sent to Blackwater with a wagon drawn by oxen. He was to bring home provi- sions and while on the way drove into what appeared to be but a small pool, but which was really a very deep hole filled with water, because the oxen smelled water and made for the pool, jumped off a bank and the yokes held their heads under water. Both driver and team were drowned.
No one in Johnson county is better informed than A. D. Cooper as to the pioneers of Johnson county. Having lived in this county all his life and possessing a remarkable memory, he can remember many of the county's first families and the leading men and women, who moved amid the scenes of the life long past and have gone on before. It is a service to humanity of inestimable value to wrest their names from oblivion. Among the pioneer preachers, whom he recalls, were: Rev- erends Adams, "Uncle Billy" Caldwell, Frank Goodwin, all of whom were Baptist ministers: and Reverends George Langdon and Allen Wright, who were Christian ministers. Several of the early day teach- ers were: Edward C. Kearn: Fabius Butler, who had a stock story about peeling trees, which he told on every occasion, until he finally wore it and everyone out: Damos Stiles, Marsh Foster. "Rube" Sharp and Ham Smith. The following were some of the first families, who resided in Johnson county: Stiles, Owsley. Phillips, Clark, Woodard, Gibson, Goodwin, Farris, Gray. Wingfield. Neil. Draper, and Peak families.
Mr. Cooper has experienced all the hardships and privations of pioneer life and as he nears the seventieth milestone the recollection of all the hard, bitter days fades and in its place is a pleasant remembrance of countless bright. happy ones of long ago. When he was a young man, there was no dirth of amusements in Johnson county. The young people enjoyed themselves immensely at house-raisings. dancing, and corn-husking parties, and social gatherings for spinning, apple-paring, quilting, and singing. There were "spelling bees" and "singing schools" and the young men and women rode miles across the prairie on horse-
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back to attend church. On all the social occasions there was always much genuine fun.
Mr. and Mrs. Cooper are numbered among Johnson county's most respected citizens. We are particularly fortunate in having such a man as Mr. Cooper still with us, to aid in recording the past history of this beautiful county, the countless advantages of which could never exist were it not that hardy, brave men and women, such as he, lived and worked here long ago.
Mrs. Belle (Carter) Young, widow of Elijah W. Young, the late prominent farmer and stockman of Hazel Hill township, is a member of a well-known and highly respected pioneer family of Missouri. She was born in Cape Girardeau county, the daughter of Howard and Mary (Thompson) Alton Carter, the father, a native of Litchfield, Maine. Howard P. Carter came to Missouri in 1847 and settled in Cape Girar- deau county, where he followed the profession of teaching. He was an attorney in Litchfield, Maine prior to his coming West. Mary (Thomp- son) Alton Carter was the widow of John Alton and the mother of one child, a son, Amasa R. Alton, now of Pitman, Arkansas, previous to her marriage with Howard P. Carter. To Howard P. and Mary Carter were born two children: Howard P., Jr., Pitman, Arkansas; and Mrs. Belle (Carter) Young, the subject of this review. The father died in 1861 and the mother in 1910. Both parents are interred in the cemetery in Cape Girardeau county. Mr. and Mrs. Carter were upright, noble-minded, estimable citizens, a father and mother worthy of the highest praise and respect.
Mrs. Belle (Carter) Young was a student of the Cape Girardeau Normal School. For six years prior to her marriage, she was engaged in teaching school. November 18, 1886, Elijah W. Young and Belle Carter were united in marriage and they went immediately after their marriage to "Edgewood Farm," the present home of Mrs. Young. Elijah W. Young was born in 1843 in White county, Illinois. When he was a child two years of age, his father, Elijah Young, Sr., moved with his wife and child from Illinois to Missouri and settled on a tract of land comprising five hundred acres, of which a part is now known as "Edge- wood Farm." The original farm was entered from the government by Elijah Young, Sr., whose death occurred April 15, 1887 on this place. His wife had preceded him in death but one week, her death occurring April 8, 1887. Both parents were interred in Hobson cemetery. Elijalı
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Young, Sr., was an inventor of note who invented the "Buncombe Wheat Drill .. "
Elijah W. Young received his education in the public schools of Johnson county. From early manhood, he was engaged in the pursuits of farming, stock raising, and horticulture. Mr. Young was one of the very first to plant a commercial orchard in Johnson county. His orchard embraced eight acres of land and was exclusively an apple orchard, with which he made a marked success. As a stockman, Mr. Young was equally as successful as he was as a horticulturist. He raised registered jacks, fine mules, horses, cattle, and hogs . At first, he kept Berkshire hogs, but later. he preferred the Duroc Jersey breed, of which he raised a large number. His death came in January, 1916, and burial was made in Hobson cemetery, where his parents were laid to rest. Elijah W. Young was an industrious, capable, intellectual citizen, whose long life of more than the allotted three score years and ten was an exemplary one. He had experienced all the privations and hardships of pioneer days, but he always spoke of them in a happy, jovial way. Mr. Young apparently believed that it is "the voice that ever singeth in the heart, that makes living worth the while," for he never made an exhibition of his cares and worries, always trying to keep that voice singing in his own heart and in the hearts of those about him.
To Elijah W. and Belle (Carter) Young were born seven children: George Vest, corporal of Company G. Tenth Infantry Regiment, Na- tional Army, U. S. A., who was in military training, in 1917, at Camp Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana ; Elijah R., who married Jessie Graham, the daughter of J. R. Graham, and to them has been born a daughter, Evelyn, and they reside on the home place where Elijah R. has charge of the farm work; James C .. of Company I, Forty-fifth In- fantry Regiment, who was in military training at Camp Benjamin Har- risonfi Indianapolis, Indiana: Ruth, the wife of Elba Newton, residing on the J. E. Newton farm in Hazel Hill township; Kate L., a student in the Fayetteville High School, at home with her mother; Maggie M., a student in the Fayetteville High School, at home with her mother ; and Nell E., at home. Mrs. Young is an ideal mother. an intelligent, cultured, refined lady, who may well be justly proud of her fine family of boys and girls.
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Mr. Young was married three times. While a resident of Illinois he married Pauline Robinson in 1858. She died June 25, 1878, leaving three children: Herbert C., ranchman near Perkins, Oklahoma; Hattie, wife of William Farner, Rialto, California; Mrs. Pauline Holland, Smoky Butte, Montana. In December, 1880, he married Margaret Pol- lock, who died December, 1885, leaving one son: Cleo O., Rialto, Cali- fornia, an inventor and plumber.
Noah Beard, a successful agriculturist and well-known merchant of Johnson county, is one of Simpson township's most enterprising and valued citizens. Mr. Beard is a representative of a highly respected pioneer family of Fayette county, Kentucky. He was born July 20, 1860 on his father's plantation twenty-seven miles north of Lexington, son of Andrew and Mary (Hughes) Beard, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. The Beard and Hughes families were originally from Virginia and of English and German descent. Andrew Beard, father of Noah, is still living and is now in his eighty-fifth year.
In 1892, Noah Beard left Kentucky and came to Missouri, locat- ing at Warsaw in Benton county, whence he moved to his present country home in Simpson township two years later, in the spring of 1894. At that time, he purchased seventy acres of land for about twenty-five dollars an acre and since then he has increased his hold- ings by purchasing one hundred sixty acres of land adjoining his origi- nal purchase and for this tract paid fifty-three hundred dollars. He has disposed of a part of his farm and now owns one hundred fifty acres of choice land, well located and improved, where he is engaged in gen- eral farming and stock raising. In connection with his farm duties and in addition to his work in stock raising. Mr. Beard finds time to conduct a general mercantile establishment in Simpson township.
September 23, 1883. Noah Beard and Sarah F. Hale, a native of Kentucky, were united in marriage and to this union have been born ten children: Ira, who died July 31. 1915; Alonzo, who is now married and resides in the northern part of Johnson county, Missouri; Fred. who is now married, and resides on a farm in Simpson township: Ethel, who was accidentally killed in childhood when she was six years of age: Virgie, who is married and now resides at Denver, Colorado: Ezra, who is married and resides in the northern part of Johnson
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county, Missouri; Hallie, George, John, and Emerson, all at home with their parents.
Mr. Beard has always taken a commendable interest in all worthy enterprises and in the upbuilding and improvement of the community. He is a firm supporter of the principles upheld by the Democratic party and a "booster" for good roads. In business, Mr. Beard is careful and methodical, a man of discriminating judgment, and all his dealings are characterized by his own high sense of honesty and justice. He and Mrs. Beard are among the best and most favorably known citizens of Johnson county.
J. T. Hume, a prosperous and influential farmer and stockman of Jefferson township, is a native of Virginia. He was born in 1850, son of John W. and Margaret (Fisher ) Hume. The father of John W. Hume was a native of Scotland.
In 1877, J. T. Hume moved from Virginia, where he was reared and educated, to Shelbina, Missouri. After remaining there several years, he returned to his old home in Virginia, where he resided nearly three years, when he moved to Kansas in 1885. For four years, he lived in that state and then moved to Logan county, Oklahoma, where he home- steaded one hundred sixty acres of land. Mr. Hume later traded this farm in Oklahoma for one hundred twenty acres of land in Johnson county, Missouri, to which place he moved in 1897. Since that time he has remained in this county and constantly increased his holdings until he is now the owner of three hundred forty acres of land, located in the best farming district of the state. Two hundred acres of the Hume place are in grass land and pasture. Mr. Hume is of the belief, held by the best informed agriculturists, that to turn the land back to grazing land and by the rotation of crops the soil will be restored to its original fertility and thus be conserved.
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