History of Johnson County, Missouri, Part 78

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

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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY

lion. Evidently, Mrs. Peak was not more frightened than was the beast, for it bounded away into the darkness as she returned in great haste to the wagons. One evening, Kit Carson shared with them their even- ing meal, and they met General Fremont several times on their trip in California. After four years, Mr. and Mrs. Peak returned to Johnson county where they settled on the farm previously mentioned. To G. W. and Eliza (Draper) Peak were born the following children: Mrs. Carrie McDonald, the subject of this review; Mrs. J. J. Phillips, Windsor, Mis- souri; Mrs. James Lampkin, Warrensburg, Missouri; Mrs. George Cooper, Warrensburg, Missouri; Mrs. W. W. Wheeler, the twin of Mrs. George Cooper, who resides in Clinton, Missouri; R. A., of Min- eralsprings, Palo Pinto county, Texas; and C. F., of Houston, Missouri, all of whom are now living: and Mary Frances, who was the wife of . A. D. Cooper, and she died in 1876; John Will, who died at the age of two years; Katherine, who died in childhood in 1879 at the age of six years; and Benjamin, who died in infancy.

In 1878, J. Q. McDonald and Carrie Peak were married at the Peak home place in Jefferson township. J. Q. McDonald was born on the McDonald homestead in Jefferson township, son of Isaac and Phoebe (Means) McDonald, the former, a native of Virginia and the latter, of Kentucky. Isaac McDonald was a wealthy slave owner in Virginia. He came to Missouri in a very early day and located for a time in Fayette county, whence he came to Johnson county and entered a tract of land. At the time of his death, he was owner of two thousand acres of land in this section of Missouri. His death occurred when his son, J. Q., was a child four years of age. Interment was made in the ceme- tery known as the Cooper cemetery in Johnson county. A copy of the patent given to Isaac McDonald can be seen today in the county recorder's office in Volume V, page 117, of the records. This old land patent is dated April 1, 1825, and is signed by President James Mon- roe and John Quincy Adams, of the Land Office. Though the paper is soiled somewhat, it is still in very good condition. the paper having been of excellent, firm texture. To Isaac and Phoebe ( Means) McDon- ald were born eight children: Clay, who was killed while serving in the Confederate army in active service in Arkansas; W. D., who was a veteran of the Confederacy, whose death occurred in 1917: Newton. who is deceased; Robert, who was in the Confederate service, serving under General Price. and now resides in Montserrat township, Johnson

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county ; Richard, who is deceased ; John Q., the deceased husband of the subject of this review: George, a merchant and ranchman and one of the wealthiest men of Palo Pinto county. Texas; Mary, who was the wife of Robert Casey, a brother of George Casey. of Henry county, Mis- souri, and she is now deceased.

John Q. McDonald was educated in the schools of Jefferson town- ship. He was reared on the farm and all his life was interested in the pursuits of agriculture. In 1898, he and his wife moved to Warrensburg, where they purchased the Professor Dodd property, which was later sold to George Cooper and Mr. and Mrs. McDonald purchased prop- erty on Ming street and there built the splendid, comfortable residence. in which Mrs. McDonald now resides. Mr. McDonald died December 20, 1915. Burial was made in the cemetery at Warrensburg. John Q. McDon- ald was an honorable, upright, respected citizen of Johnson county. a man of quiet, unobtrusive ways and kindly manners, whose worth was widely recognized and the loss to the citizenship of Warrensburg has been deeply lamented. No children were born to Mr. and Mrs. McDonald, but Mrs. McDonald has taken three little ones into her home and upon them is lavishing all the loving and thoughtful care of a mother. Henry McDonald, a nephew; Catherine Ethel Peak, a niece ; and Donald Calvin Peak. a nephew, are sharing with their aunt her beautiful home in Warrensburg.

George Cooper, a prominent and prosperous farmer and stock- man of Jefferson and Warrensburg townships, who is now residing in Warrensburg, Missouri, is a member of one of the leading pioneer fami- lies of Jefferson township. Mr. Cooper was born April 19, 1859, a son of Henry and Nancy (Stiles) Cooper. Henry Cooper was born June 25. 1818, in Trigg county, Kentucky, a son of David Cooper, a native of North Carolina, one of the first settlers in Jefferson township. Johnson county, where he died at the age of eighty years. Henry Cooper came to Johnson county, Missouri from Kentucky, with his parents, in 1832. a lad of fourteen years riding bareback all the way on a two-year-old colt. In early manhood, Henry Cooper "bached" with "Uncle Dick" Pettis in Bates county and entered land from the government in that section of the state. In 1848, he returned to Johnson county and im- proved the old homestead, erecting a residence at a cost of two thousand dollars, and engaged in stock raising extensively and also feeding many cattle. The residence, which Henry Cooper built nearly seventy years

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ago, was considered one of the most elegant homes in the county in those early days. It was located on the southern slope of Highpoint, overlooking the Tebo, the headwaters of which it was near. In Sep- tember, 1850 Henry Cooper and Nancy Stiles were married. Nancy (Stiles) Cooper was born in Johnson county and she is now living, at the age of eighty-three years, in Windsor, Missouri. To Henry and Nancy (Stiles) Cooper were born the following children: Elizabeth, who was the wife of Lee Jackson and is now deceased; David, who is now engaged in farming on the home place in Jefferson township; Mar- garet, who is the wife of Robert Muir, of Windsor, Missouri; George, the subject of this review; J. D., who is the owner of a valuable farm in Jefferson township, where he is engaged in farming and stock rais- ing; Lucy, who is the widow of the late Eugene Wilcox, of Windsor, Missouri; Leona, who is the wife of E. B. Grinstead, residing in Henry county near Windsor; William, of Windsor, Missouri; and John L., who is engaged in farming in Jefferson township. At one time, Henry Cooper was the owner of eleven or twelve hundred acres of land in Johnson county and adjoining counties. His death occurred in 1910 and interment was made in the cemetery at Windsor, Missouri.

The boyhood days of George Cooper were spent on the farm in Jefferson township. He received his education in the public schools of Jefferson township and in that part of Johnson county was reared to maturity. Until he was thirty-one years of age, he remained at home with his parents, engaged in general farming and stock raising. At the present time, in 1917, George Cooper is owner of three hundred twenty acres of land in Jefferson township, which were a part of the home- stead, and one hundred eighty acres of land in Warrensburg township.

In 1890, George Cooper was united in marriage with Jessie May Peak, of Jefferson township. Jessie May (Peak) Cooper was born March 18, 1870, in Jefferson township, a daughter of J. W. and Eliza (Draper) Peak, the former, born near Georgetown, Kentucky, on July 14, 1825, and when a lad fourteen years of age came with his parents to Missouri, where they settled in Benton county. April 22, 1853, Mr. and Mrs. Peak were married and they made a bridal tour across the plains, taking six months for the journey. They were the parents of the following children: Fannie, who was the wife of Albert Cooper and is now deceased; Carrie, who is the widow of the late J. Q. McDon- ald and resides in Warrensburg, Missouri; Louisa, the wife of John

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Phillips, of Windsor, Missouri; Betsy, the wife of James Lampkin, of Warrensburg, Missouri, and Jessie May, the wife of George Cooper, the subject of this review, who are twins; Georgia, the wife of Waldo Wheeler, of Clinton, Missouri; Robert, Mineralsprings, Texas; and C. F., Houston, Missouri ; and three children, who died in infancy. Mrs. J. W. Peak was the youngest child born to John Draper, one of the first settlers of Missouri. Both parents of Mrs. Cooper are now deceased. To George and Jessie May (Peak) Cooper have been born two children : Virgil, who is now engaged in farming on the home farm in Jefferson township; and Wallace, who is at home with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper reside at 323 South street in Warrensburg, where they are numbered among the most estimable and highly valued families.

Sibert A. Miller, a progressive and highly esteemed farmer and stockman of Warrensburg township, was born in 1873 in Pettis county, Missouri. He is a son of Abraham and Henrietta (Wethers) Miller, the former, born in Ohio in 1842 and the latter, a native of Cooper county, Missouri. Abraham Miller came to Missouri prior to the Civil War. He enlisted in the Federal service during the war. When it had ended, he returned to Missouri and with his wife moved to Pettis county, where his son, Sibert A., was born. In 1885, the Miller family moved to Warrensburg and in this city, Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Miller are now residing. To Abraham and Henrietta Miller have been born the following children: Mrs. Dora Belle Redford, who resides in Warrensburg, Mis- souri; Charles D., of Eutopia, Washington; and Sibert A., the subject of this review.

After completing his school work at the Warrensburg State Normal School, Sibert A. Miller began life for himself at the age of nineteen years. He engaged in farming in Warrensburg township, renting the James Reed place. Until the past ten years, Mr. Miller did general farming. Ten years ago, he commenced to specialize in sheep raising and to give special attention to the production of wool. He started with fifty ewes with the intention of keeping at least one hundred all the time. At the time of this writing in 1917, Sibert A. Miller has on the farm one hundred seventy head of sheep and he has had excellent suc- cess and splendid results in his business venture. The wool this year sold for fifty-two cents a pound. A registered male Shropshire heads the herd. Twelve years ago, Sibert A. Miller leased the Cheatham farm, located three miles east of Warrensburg, where he now resides.

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This place comprises three hundred twenty acres of land, all under culti- vation, one hundred twenty-five acres being in bluegrass, sixty acres in corn, sixty acres in meadow, fifty acres in wheat, and fifteen acres in oats. Every two years, Mr. Miller rotates his crops, having the farm in grass two years, then corn for two years, following with wheat and small grain for two years. His fifty acres of wheat netted him a very neat sum this past year of 1917, selling for two dollars and thirty-five cents a bushel and twenty-five bushels were grown on the acre, thus each acre of wheat land brought sixty dollars. Mr. Miller specializes in sheep raising, but does not confine his attention to them, in addition raising fine cattle and mules. He now has fifty head of cattle, with a pure-bred Polled Angus male at the head of the herd, and usually keeps eighteen head of mules annually on the farm, raising six to sell each year. Sibert A. Miller is an industrious, enterprising, intelligent agri- culturist, one who is not afraid of hard labor and whose efforts are bringing well-earned success. Johnson county is proud of men such as he.

January 29, 1893, Sibert A. Miller was united in marriage with Mary Gertrude Latimer, daughter of Frank A. Latimer, a native of Pennsyl- vania, and Zerelda (McCorkle) Latimer, who was born in Clay county, Missouri. Frank A. Latimer came to Missouri in 1870 and located in Clinton county. Both he and his wife are now deceased, both having died in Kansas City, Kansas. Frank A. and Zerelda ( McCorkle) Latimer were the parents of three children: Mrs. Frankie Bell, of Kansas City, Missouri : William A., of Britton, Texas; and Mrs. Sibert A. Miller, the wife of the subject of this review. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born three children: Lucile, who is a graduate of the Warrensburg State Normal School in the class of 1914 and is now engaged in teaching school at Moberly, Missouri, where she has a position in the grade school: Mark A. and Thomas L., both of whom are students in the Warrensburg State Normal School. All the children of Mr. and Mrs. Sibert A. Miller were born in Johnson county and their home is with their parents in Warrensburg township, where the Miller family is held in the highest respect.

John K. Greim, one of Johnson county's best agriculturists and most energetic and industrious citizens, was born in Warrensburg town- ship in 1869. He is the fourth son born to his parents, Nicholas and Barbara Greim, a biographical review of whom appears elsewhere in

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this volume. They were the parents of thirteen children: William : James : Henry ; John K., the subject of this review: Christian : George ; Fred: Mrs. Mary Drummond: Mrs. Margaret Priest, who is deceased ; Mrs. Anna Glaspey: Mrs. Clara Fetterling: Amelia, who is deceased; and Sophia, who is at home with her mother. Nicholas Greim came to Johnson county. Missouri prior to the time of the Civil War and for a few years resided on the Clinton J. Rucker place, east of Warrens- burg. Just after the war. Mr. Greim purchased the present home of his widow, which is one of the best farms in the county.

The early education of John K. Greim was obtained in the schools of Warrensburg township. Later, he attended the Warrensburg State Normal School. Until 1912, he remained at home with his parents. Mr. Greim is the owner of one hundred and thirty-seven acres one mile north 'of their home place. Mrs. Greim is the owner of a splendid stock farm of one, hundred thirty acres of land three and a half miles southeast of Warrensburg in Warrensburg township, known as the Nathan Roop farm, where Mr. Greim is engaged in farming and stock raising, gradually developing his place into a dairy farm. He keeps Shorthorn cattle, with a registered male at the head of the herd, and Poland China hogs. Sturdy and thrifty. John K. Greim has made excel- lent progress since coming to this farm and with the assistance of his noble wife, one of the best workers in Johnson county, he has before him a bright and promising career and back of him richly deserved suc- cess.

In 1912. John K. Greim and Mrs. Grace (Scroggs) Roop. of War- rensburg township, were united in marriage. Mrs. Greim is a daughter of Erk Scroggs, who was born in Greenfield. Ohio, in 1849. and with his mother, Lavenia Scroggs, came to Johnson county in 1867 and they settled in Centerview township. Mrs. Lavenia Scroggs died in 1886 and is buried in the cemetery at Warrensburg. Lizzie (Repp) Scroggs, the mother of Mrs. John K. Greim, is a native of Maryland. She is now residing in the property formerly known as the Baile prop- erty in Warrensburg. Erk and Lizzie (Repp) Scroggs are the parents of the following children, who are now living: Charles A., of Parshall, North Dakota: Grace, who is the wife of the subject of this review ; William, of Warrensburg. Missouri: John A., who is a prosperous lum- berman of Kansas City, Missouri: and one daughter who is deceased. Mary Susan, whose death occurred in 1898. To John K. and Grace

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Greim has been born one child, a son, John Nicholas Elbert, a prize- winning little lad, who received first prize at the Johnson County Round-up Agricultural Show, held in Warrensburg, Missouri, in 1913. In the Better Babies' Contest, John Nicholas Elbert was acclaimed win- ner in Class I, Division A, attaining an average of one hundred per cent., being graded on the following: Physical proportion, muscular development, respiration, circulation, digestion, general intelligence, and self control. The little winner came within three points of winning the state contest, also. Mrs. Greim is a woman of exceptional energy, skill, and ability. For the past sixteen years, she has been making butter for the market and she has complete charge of the poultry on their farm. She is raising Barred Plymouth Rock chickens and Mam- moth Bronze turkeys, with which she has achieved a degree of success that is remarkable.

The Greim home is a residence of seven rooms, attractive and mod- ern throughout. The house was originally built before the seventies, probably immediately after the Civil War. It has since been remodeled and additions and porches were built in 1913 and the former appearance of the home has been decidedly changed. One especially conspicuous feature of the Greim residence is a mammoth hedge tree in the yard. This tree is nearly one hundred years old and is perhaps the largest of its species in the county, being two and a half feet in diameter. The Greim farm is named "The Cedar Lawn Farm."

Cliff A. Baile, a successful and highly respected farmer and stock- man of Warrensburg township, was born August 19, 1867, in Preble county, Ohio. He is a son of John and Sarah (Eby) Baile, both natives of Maryland. They were the parents of the following children: Mrs. Naumie J. Roop, Warrensburg, Missouri; Emma, who died in girlhood; Mrs. Sallie Mckinstry, deceased; Mrs. Susie E. Reese, Los Angeles, California ; Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas, deceased; J. H., Warrensburg, Mis- souri; Mrs. Minnie C. Christopher, Warrensburg, Missouri; J. C., Miami, Florida; and Mrs. W. L. Drake, Warrensburg, Missouri.

After the father's death, which occurred in Ohio in 1868, Cliff A. Baile, with his mother, came to Johnson county, Missouri. Mrs. Baile died August 11, 1911, and interment was made in the Brethren Church, South cemetery. Cliff A. Baile attended the public schools of Warrens- burg and the Warrensburg State Normal School. At the age of twenty- one years, he began life for himself, engaged in the pursuits of agricul-

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ture. Practically all his life, Mr. Baile has been interested in farming. He first resided at "Hill Crest Farm," where he remained eighteen years improving the place, which now has on it a comfortable and well-built residence and two good barns. In 1912, Mr. Baile went to New York, where he remained two years, returning to Johnson county in 1914 and settling on the farm which he purchased from Mrs. G. K. Christopher.

In 1893, Cliff A Baile and Minnie H. Christopher were married. Mrs. Baile is a daughter of G. K. and Bettie M. (Smith) Christopher, natives of Jackson county. Missouri, the former now deceased. Mrs. Christopher is at present residing in New York. To Cliff A. and Minnie H. Baile have been born ten children: Herbert C. and Arthur II .. of Warrensburg, Missouri : Lawrence J., Clifton A., Jr., John. George Keen, Miriam, Harold, Glenn, and Estelle, at home with their parents.

The Baile farm, which was purchased in 1914. comprises eight hun- dred eight acres of rolling land. through which Bear creek flows. The place is almost entirely in grass and hay and is ideal for stock, being well supplied with water. Mr. Baile has at the time of this writing, in 1917, about one hundred fifty head of cattle and several head of horses and mules. The improvements on the farm are the very finest ir this part of Missouri. One barn, 40 x 80 feet in dimensions with a six-foot over-jut and eighteen feet to square, with an eight-foot con- crete basement below, is considered exceptionally good, the upper por- tion being for hay and implements, the basement for stock, a feeding room for twenty-two horses, besides stanchions for twelve cows, a feed- ing room for forty calves, supplied with cement troughs. A cistern or reservoir, 20 x 8 feet in dimensions and eight feet in depth, furnishes water to the stock tanks by means of gravity pressure. The roof of the barn is of galvanized iron. The home has been made modern throughout since Mr. Baile purchased the farm. It now is a structure of thirteen rooms and supplied with all the latest conveniences.

Mrs. Nancy J. (Baile) Roop, the esteemed and respected widow of the late Ezra Roop, an honored pioneer of Johnson county, is one of Johnson county's noblest women. She came to this county with her husband in 1857 from Preble county, Ohio. They remained nearly two years, when on account of the unhealthful climate here at that time they returned to their old home in Ohio and did not come again to Mis- souri until 1866, when they located three miles south of Warrensburg.

Ezra Roop and Nancy J. Baile were married October 8. 1857, and

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to them were born the following children: Edgar W., Warrensburg township; Alonzo B., Jefferson township; Vernon C., Warrensburg township: John A., Miami, Florida; Mrs. Alice A. Mohler, Warrens- burg, Missouri; Mrs. Ada V. Bozarth, Centerview township; and Nathan, who was born in 1878 and died in 1909. John A. Roop is the owner of a large orange plantation in Florida. The father died July 10, 1910. Both he and his son, Nathan, are buried in the Warrensburg Brethren Church, South, cemetery. Mrs. Roop still owns the old home place of two hundred forty acres of land, located three miles south of Warrens- burg.

The first three interments made in the cemetery where Ezra Roop and his son were laid to rest were made for Eugene J. Roop, Arthur A. Roop, and Minnie B. Roop. They had died ten years previous to the establishment of this cemetery but were brought to the new burial ground from the family cemetery. Dr. A. W. Reese was the first pastor of the Warrensburg Brethren church, South. Jesse D. Mohler, the present minister, is a graduate of McPherson College, McPherson, Kan- sas. This church was organized August 3, 1880, and the church building erected in 1881. The charter members of the Brethren church, South, of Warrensburg, were N. J. Roop, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Adams, Sarah Adams, Dr. A. W. and Mrs. Susie Reese, J. E. Lightner, William and Lizzie Mohler, Sarah A. Baile, Minnie Christopher, Alice Hall, Marietta Gibson, Ann Ginn, Elizabeth and Anna Bowman. Abram Weaver became a member soon after the organization of the church, his mem- bership in the Mineral Creek Brethren church being transferred to this church. Mrs. Lightner also, soon after the organization, became a member of the church.

J. P. Ozias, ex-mayor and ex-councilman of Warrensburg, Mis- souri, is of French descent. He was born September 6, 1838, in Preble county, Ohio, son of Jacob and Sarah (Potter) Ozias. Jacob Ozias was born in North Carolina. When he was a boy, his parents moved to Ohio in 1803 and in that state he was reared to maturity, educated, and married. He was engaged in farming practically all his life. Sarah (Potter) Ozias was a daughter of Casper Potter, a veteran of the Revo- lutionary War. He was born December 19, 1754, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. In the winter of 1777, he enlisted as a private under Captain John Bannerd, serving three months. In January, 1781, he enlisted for three months under Captain James Buchanan and Colonel

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Boyer, of Virginia. In August. 1781, he enlisted under Captain Charles Campbell and Colonel Lewis, of Virginia. Casper Potter took part in a skirmish near Edmunds Hill, Virginia. The date of his application to the United States Pension Department is March 23, 1833. The pen- sion was granted. His daughter, Sarah, was born in Preble county, Ohio. Jacob and Sarah Ozias were the parents of the following chil- dren: Mrs. Elizabeth Roher, deceased; Mrs. Eliza Ann Moots, born in 1827 and is now living, at the age of ninety years, in Preble county, Ohio; Mrs. Sarah Jane Greer, deceased; Washington, deceased; Jacob Anderson, who came to Johnson county, Missouri, in 1866 and died in 1914 in Centerview township, where he owned six hundred forty acres of land, upon which place his widow now resides; Wesley, a farmer, of Preble county, Ohio ; and J. P., the subject of this review. The father died in Ohio in 1868 and the mother. in 1871. A sister of Sarah ( Pot- ter) Ozias, Mrs. Anna (Potter) Douglass, lived to be one hundred two years of age. She was born in Rockbridge county, Virginia, March 8. 1801, and lived to be the mother of ten children, grandmother of forty-seven children, great-grandmother of one hundred twenty- five children, and great-great-grandmother of thirty children. She retained her physical and mental vigor up to the last. She died March 8, 1903.

In the public schools of Ohio, J. P. Ozias was educated. He was engaged in farming in Ohio prior to coming to Missouri. He located in Centerview township at a time when a postoffice there was unknown. Previous to coming to Johnson county on January 2. 1868, he had pur- chased a farm of one hundred sixty acres in Centerview township and on this place resided many years, engaged in general farming. Mr. Ozias so improved his farm that it is now one of the beautiful country places of Missouri. The place overlooks Warrensburg. It is a well- watered farm, having a never-failing spring, from which water has been piped into the residence. In 1892, J. P. Ozias moved to Warrensburg and in the same year built his present handsome, modern home, a struc- ture of ten rooms and two stories at 120 Tyler avenue. in one of the most attractive and desirable parts of the city .

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History of Johnson County, Missouri, Part 78

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