USA > Missouri > Pettis County > History of Pettis County, Missouri > Part 52
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William H. Purchase was reared and educated in his native land and in 1880 came to America. He first settled in Sedalia, Missouri, where he was employed for a time by the Missouri Pacific Railroad Company. In 1881, he went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he was engaged in the transfer business. About 1890, he returned to Pettis County and en- gaged in farming. He bought his first land in Elk Fork township which consisted of eighty acres. Here he made improvements and was suc- cessful in farming and stock raising, from the start. Later he added to his original purchase, and is now the owner of 300 acres of well im- proved and valuable Pettis County land, every foot of which he owns is the result of honest effort and patient toil. Mr. Purchase has worked hard and made good.
On March 10, 1882, William H. Purchase and Susan Lewis were united in marriage in England. Mrs. Purchase is also a native of England and was born June 9, 1860. To Mr. and Mrs. Purchase have been born seven children, as follow: George H., resides in Elk Fork township; Nellie, mar- ried E. B. Helman; William, Pendleton, Oregon; Ethel, married C. E. Mentzer, Cambridge, Idaho; John L., Elk Fork township, Pettis County; Myrtle, at home, and Clarence, resides at home with his parents.
Mr. Purchase is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the family belong to the Methodist Church, South.
James Wesley Rice, a Pettis County pioneer, who has seen much of the development of this section of the State, is a prominent farmer and stockman, and a well known breeder in Elk Fork township. The cele- brated horses, "Idler" and "Highland Chief," now owned by William T. S. Hall, were bred by Mr. Rice. He also breeds Poland China hogs and Shropshire sheep.
Mr. Rice is a native of Indiana, born in Montgomery County, near
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Crawfordsville, November 22, 1856, a son of Warder and Elizabeth J. (Galey) Rice. They were the parents of ten children, five of whom are now living. James Wesley Rice, of this review, is the fourth in order of birth. Warder Rice was born and reared in Kentucky and in early life went from his native State to Indiana, where he was employed in a sawmill, following that line of work for a number of years. About 1859, he came to Missouri with his family and settled in Pettis County, on what was known as the Judge Perdue farm. After remaining there for a year, he moved to the Rayburn farm. In October, 1861, he removed to Elk Fork township, where he met with a tragic death in October, 1872. He was shot and killed by George Murcer, a man who lived on an adjoining place owned by W. D. Wade. It appears that the shooting was entirely unjustifiable. Mr. Rice owned a well improved forty acre farm, and Murcer owned forty acres adjoining it on the south. Mr. Murcer insisted that Mr. Rice either sell his forty acres to Murcer, or buy Mur- cer's forty acres. Mr. Rice made no proposition to do either. Later on, Murcer tore down Rice's fence and turned his cattle into Rice's field ; Rice protested against such actions and a quarrel followed. Nothing was said after that for several weeks, when Murcer shot Rice, killing him instantly.
Elizabeth J. (Galey) Rice, mother of James Wesley Rice, was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, in October, 1832, and died in 1904.
James Wesley Rice was about three years of age when he was brought to Missouri by his parents, who settled here in 1859, and while Mr. Rice is comparatively a young man, he is one of the pioneer settlers of Pettis County, owing to the fact that he started out pioneering at an early age. He has seen many changes in Pettis County since his boyhood days. He has made farming and stock raising his life's occupation, and has met with a well merited degree of success. He bought his first land in the fall of 1897, which consisted of only twenty acres; he had no capital with which to begin, and his start was naturally and necessarily handicapped. In 1905, he bought sixty acres more. He has subsequently added to his acreage, and now owns a well improved farm of eighty acres. Much of his land was heavily timbered which required hard and constant work to convert it into its present broad, fertile, tillable acres.
Mr. Rice was married September 25, 1895, to Miss Anna Miller, of Pettis County, who was born here July 26, 1877. She was a daughter of G. B. and Nellie (Jones) Miller, the former a native of Missouri and
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the latter of Ohio, and early settlers in Pettis County. Mrs. Rice died September 23, 1898, leaving one child, Ila, who is now her father's housekeeper.
Mr. Rice has many interesting incidents which he relates concern- ing the pioneer life of early days. He remembers having seen deer, wild turkey, prairie chickens and wild hogs in Pettis County, on occasions too numerous to relate. He says that wild hogs were the only species of wild animals with which he had any trouble, when he was a boy. The wild hogs were savage fighters and Mr. Rice says, that in skirmishes with them that he frequently retreated by the nearest tree, and that he was very thankful on these occasions that nature had so constructed wild hogs that they could not climb trees. His father was an excellent rifle shot, and hunted considerable in the early days, even before coming to Missouri, while living in Kentucky, he shot a panther that measured nine feet from tip to tip. After coming to this county, the father fre- quently killed wild game and whenever the family wanted wild turkey he took his rifle and went to the timber, and invariably returned in a few minutes with the turkey.
Mr. Rice is a Republican and a member of the Baptist Church, and is now treasurer of the Bethel Church. During the activity of the Good Templer Lodge, a number of years ago, Mr. Rice was active in the work of this organization, and served as Worthy Chief of the local lodge for twelve years. He has held the office of constable of Elk Fork township.
Thomas H. Hurt, veteran plainsman, and substantial land owner of Houstonia township, now living retired in his comfortable home near Houstonia, is one of Pettis County's pioneers, whose early life story reads like a page from western fiction. Mr. Hurt was born December 25, 1840, in Madison County, just east of the Blue Ridge mountains of old Virginia. He is a son of Joel and Nancy (Smith) Hurt, and is the youngest child of sixteen children. Joel and Nancy Hurt reared a family of eight sons and eight daughters, all of whom lived to be grown. The first of this great family to die was Moses Hurt, who was killed in the Mexican War. While on a foraging expedition for his troop, he happened to get across the Mexican lines and was killed by Mexican soldiers. Joel and Nancy Hurt lived all of their lives in Virginia.
Thomas H. Hurt remained at home until he had attained the age of fifteen years, and even at that age the spirit of adventure was burning in his blood. He desired to get away from his early environments and
T. H. HURT AND FAMILY.
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try to find his fortune in a newer country to the westward. Tales came to him of the new country of Missouri, where there was plenty of room for an energetic and strong young man, and land was rich and cheap and easy to get. Accordingly, he migrated to Missouri and located in Saline County, working by the month on a farm near Slater. His next position was as overseer of the Thompson farm, and he then took charge of the J. W. Craig place of 1,000 acres, and at the outbreak of the Civil War he was farming on shares and in a fair way to soon become a land owner. He enlisted near Cambridge, Missouri, in 1861, as a private in Captain Brown's company and served with the Confederate Army for one year. When his time expired his adventures began. He went to St. Louis, and . from there set out for the Rocky Mountain country. He managed to secure a berth on a river steamer between the two wheel houses, and paid $10.00 passage money to Sioux City. This boat was twice fired upon from the shore, and at a point above Lexington two men boarded the vessel and undertook to arrest him, although he had done nothing to arouse suspicion that he was a fugitive from justice. In fact, Mr. Hurt had done nothing other than serve in the Confederate army to warrant arrest, but this was a time when the Federal officers were ready to arrest on the least provocation, and it seems that the officers had been instructed to look for some fugitives. A German who was on the boat had given information at Lexington to the officers, who later boarded the boat. Mr. Hurt objected to the arrest and asked the reason for the detention. The men kept insisting that he had left the boat at Lexington and then boarded it at Blue Mills. This he denied, and the captain of the steamer admitted that he himself had no knowledge of Mr. Hurt's leaving the boat at Lexington. Matters having thus been cleared up and all parties reaching an amicable understanding, the officers then abused and roundly cursed the Dutchman for giving them wrong information.
At Fort Leavenworth Mr. Hurt hurriedly boarded a packet, crossed the river and then took train for Atchison, the train backing into what is now East Atchison. He applied to the provost marshal for a permit to cross the river and go West. The marshal gave him a pass which read "Pass Thomas H. Hurt and company." He then crossed the river on the ferry and stopped at the Union Hotel in Atchison that night. While there he learned that the fare across the plains to Denver was $75.00. At the hotel he overheard some men talking about the difficul- ties of transportation and impulsively proposed that he would take five
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of them to Denver for $40.00 apiece and furnish them each two pairs of blankets and board. He purchased a three-seated wagon and team and loaded his wagon with provisions, at considerable expense. Mr. Hurt fancied that he would make money from the undertaking, but so prodi- gious were the appetites of his passengers that he lost money on the trip. He remained in the Rocky Mountains until Christmas of 1862. He then set out to cross the plains again, to reach civilization, during the worst winter which had ever been known in the western country. The temperature was below zero and the ground was covered with snow many feet in depth. Steers and mules were frozen in their tracks during that terrible winter, and many travelers perished on the way home. His party reached the region of the Little Blue River, in Nebraska, and put up at the cabin of a settler, who agreed to feed them as long as he was able. The men stabled their horses in sod huts under the snow, and remained with the settler until it became apparent that they would soon use up his store of provender to such an extent that his family would likely starve, during the rest of the winter. Mr. Hurt and his party again set out, and after numerous mishaps and struggling through intermin- able drifts, they managed to reach the settlement at Marysville, Kansas. At this place they hired a man to drive them through to Atchison. On the way, and near the town of Seneca, they saw two riderless mules frozen stiff in the snow. Thinking that their owners were buried in the snow, they searched until they found two men, cowering under such cover as they could find. One of the travelers resisted any attention, but Mr. Hurt's party insisted on taking the sufferers on to Atchison. The poor fellows never recovered from the exposure, as they were too badly frozen, and both died soon after their arrival at Atchison. A humorous incident of the trip is recalled by the two comical personalities who were members of Mr. Hurt's party-"Old Man Funk and Captain Trim- ble." These two characters were seasoned plainsmen and traders. Cap- tain Trimble was thin and had but one eye. Funk was very fleshy, but would get sleepy and drowsy and want to give up, lie down in the snow and perish. Captain Trimble would not permit Funk to flunk, and at the first sign of the old fellow's going into a doze the doughty captain would unmercifully thrash his friend Funk, and get him thoroughly mad and wakened up for another try at it. At Seneca, Kansas, they ran across a widow who wished to sell her place, near the frontier town, and go back to her homefolks in Ohio. None of the party cared to buy, in
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spite of the fact that Trimble urged members of the party to buy, saying, "Here lies land and an offer is wanted; some one should buy it." In a little over fifty years this very land, which could have been bought for a song, has risen in value to over $150 an acre.
Mr. Hurt had the misfortune of losing a good part of his gold which he obtained in the mountains. In Denver, Cass Eaton, the banker, pro- posed to him that if he did not need his gold he had better let him have it and he would give him a banker's draft for it. Mr. Hurt thought this a good plan, but when attempting to cash the draft in Atchison, he found to his everlasting sorrow that he had suffered a severe loss. The Atchi- son banker started to pay him in paper money. This Mr. Hurt refused, and called the banker's attention to the fact that the draft should call for gold payment. The banker told him that it merely said "money," and he was compelled to take the government paper, which had so depre- ciated in value that he lost over $3,600 through the exchange. Cass Eaton later arrived at Atchison, but he refused to change the draft.
Mr. Hurt then made his way to Illinois, and farmed in that State until after the close of the war. He then returned to Missouri and rented land from his brother, O. Hurt, on the edge of Saline County, seven miles east of his present home place. Four years later he purchased a tract of practically unimproved prairie and brush land in Houstonia township, and began the task of making a fine farm out of 280 acres of land. In the course of years he has produced a splendid farm. As old age came upon him he relinquished the cultivation of his acreage to younger men and is now enjoying his well-earned retirement.
Mr. Hurt was married in Lexington, Illinois, in 1865, to Miss Vir- ginia Pryor, a daughter of Slias H. Pryor. Mrs. Virginia (Pryor) Hurt was born October 15, 1847, and died in 1886. Five children were born of this union: Shelby, Monnie, Alice, and Odie and Ocie, twins. Shelby Hurt resides on a farm near Syracuse, Missouri. He has a son, Solon Hurt, a soldier in the National Army, now in active service on the Italian front in Europe. Mrs. Monnie Strole lives on a farm two and a half miles east of LaMonte, and has two sons and a daughter-Henry, Bessie and Perry. Bessie married Walter Winters, and is the telephone operator at Hughesville. She has a daughter, Ruby, great grandchild of Thomas H. Hurt. Alice resides on the home place with her father, and is the wife of Thomas Ramey, and married in May, 1900. Mr. Ramey operates the home farm. Odie is the wife of Dr. L. H. Goodrich, Norman, Okla-
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homa, and has three children-Carlyle, Helen and Joy Goodrick. Ocie is the wife of Con C. Benton, a contractor and builder of Buffalo, Oklahoma.
Mr. Hurt has been a lifelong Democrat. He is a believer in Chris- tianity but not in creeds, and throughout his long life he has endeavored to follow the precepts of the Greatest of all Teachers.
William T. Sherman Hall, a well known farmer and stockman of Elk Fork township, is a native of Indiana. He was born in Green County July 6, 1865, and is a son of William Hall, and his mother bore the maiden name of Price. They were both natives of Indiana. William Hall, the father, was a farmer practically all his life. In 1892 he came to Missouri from Indiana, and after remaining about a year here he returned to Indiana, where he spent the reminder of his life. He died in 1898, aged sixty-nine years. The mother died in Pettis County in 1903, aged seventy- five years.
Mr. Hall, the subject of this sketch, is the seventh in order of birth of a family of nine children born to his parents. He was reared on a farm in Indiana and obtained his education in the district school and began life for himself as a farmer on rented land when he was nineteen years of age. In 1890 Mr. Hall came to Missouri and settled on the W. D. Wade farm in LaMonte township, which he operated two years and later moved to present farm in Elk Fork township. This farm consists of 300 acres. In 1918 Mr. Hall purchased eighty acres of land in section 2, Elk Fork township. This land was formerly owned by Scott Mahan and is a valu- able piece of property. Mr. Hall carries on general farming and stock raising and has been very successful as a breeder. He raises the Idler stock of horses and Mammoth jacks.
Mr. Hall was married in Dubois County, Indiana, November 20, 1884, to Miss Winnie Chastine, a native of Morton County, Indiana. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall have been born four children, as follow: John N., manager of a creamery at Lexington, Mississippi; Leman, resides near LaMonte, Missouri; Norman, enlisted in the United States Army as gun and am- munition inspector, and is now serving as lieutenant of a company in the Government inspection fields at Sandy Hook Camp, New Jersey ; and Velma, married Elton Rice, Elk Fork township.
Mr. Hall is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and po- litically he is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party. He is an in- dustrious man and a good citizen and neighbor and has a wide acquaint- ance and many friends in Pettis County.
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Robert R. Cooper, a successful farmer and stockman of Pettis County, is a descendant of Missouri pioneer ancestry. Mr. Cooper was born in Morgan County, Missouri, October 23, 1870, a son of Arthur Y. and Sarah (Cannon) Cooper. To Arthur Y. and Sarah (Cannon) Cooper were born ten children, of whom Robert R., the subject of this sketch, was the third in order of birth. Arthur Y. Cooper was twice married, his second wife being Miss Mary Kindrick, and five children were born to this union.
Arthur Y. Cooper was a native of Tennessee, born in 1821. He was a son of James Wiley Cooper, a Tennesseean who came to Morgan County, Missouri, about 1833, when Arthur Y. was twelve years old. James Wiley Cooper followed farming the remainder of his life, after coming to Mor- gan County, Missouri, and he and his wife both died there. Arthur Y. Cooper spent his entire life in Morgan County also where he was en- gaged in farming and stock raising.
Robert R. Cooper was reared and educated in Morgan County and from early life has been engaged in farming. He was thus engaged in Morgan County until 1902, when he sold his place in that county and came to Pettis County, and purchased his present place in Elk Fork township. His place contains 160 acres and was formerly known as the old Preacher McCarey place. Since purchasing the place, Mr. Cooper has made many substantial improvements, among which is a fine modern residence which was built in 1916. This is an eight room structure and is a modern house in every particular.
On April 8, 1902, Robert R. Cooper was united in marriage. with Miss Jennie McIntosh, a native of Howard County, Missouri, born Febru- ary 2, 1880. She is a daughter of George and Sarah (Gerhart) McIntosh, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Missouri. George Mc- Intosh was engaged in farming and stock raising all his life in Morgan County, Missouri, and he and his wife are now deceased. To Robert R. Cooper and wife have been born the following children: Albert R., Sarah E., Thomas L., and Ada M.
Mr. Cooper is a Democrat and is one of the public spirited and pros- perous farmers and stockmen of Pettis County.
Herman A. Yost, a descendant of an early Pettis County pioneer family, is a prosperous farmer and stockman in Elk Fork township. Mr. Yost is a native son of Pettis County, born in Lake Creek township, No- vember 27, 1867. He is the son of John Antone and Mary (Gerlt) Yost, A sketch of John Antone Yost appears elsewhere in this volume.
Herman A. Yost was reared in Elk Fork township, and educated in
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the district schools. In early life he learned the blacksmith trade and worked at it three or four years, and at intervals, worked as farm laborer and also rented land. He has made farming his chief occupation and now has 200 acres of land in Elk Fork township, where he is extensively engaged in farming and stock raising.
Mr. Yost was united in marriage March 5, 1895, with Miss Ida McKinley, who was born in Elk Fork township on the farm where they now reside, November 25, 1867. She is a daughter of George V. S. and Matilda (Stevens) Mckinley. Mrs. Yost was the only child born to her parents.
George V. S. Mckinley was born in Madison County, Indiana, Janu- ary 25, 1834. When sixteen years of age he came to Pettis County, Mis- souri, with his parents, Joseph and Hannah (Wells) Mckinley. Joseph McKinley was a native of Tennessee and settled in Pettis County in 1850. George V. S. Mckinley grew to manhood in Pettis County and spent his life here engaged in farming with the exception of a short time spent in Johnson County. He died January 2, 1899.
Matilda (Stevens) Mckinley was born in Moniteau County, Missouri, April 28, 1836, and now resides with the subject of this sketch on her old homestead. Her parents were Robert and Elizabeth (Moad) Stevens, natives of Tennessee and pioneer settlers of Pettis County, who came here in the fall of 1850 from Moniteau County, Missouri, where they were both reared and married.
To Herman A. Yost and wife have been born the following children: Esther M., married Avery Rice, Elk Fork township, and they have one child, Marjorie Ida, born February 7, 1918; Nellie, residing at home with her parents ; Minnie Augusta, resides at home with her parents.
Mr. Yost is a member of the Masonic Lodge at LaMonte, Missouri, and is one of Pettis County's progressive agriculturists.
Benjamin D. Clark, now deceased, was a prominent figure in the affairs of Pettis County for many years. He was a man who contributed in many ways, not only to the material but the moral development of Pettis County. He was successful in his business undertakings, took a prominent part in the political affairs of his county, and was unceasing and untiring in his work for the spiritual betterment of mankind.
Benjamin D. Clark was a native of Tennessee. He was born in Cocke County, October 8, 1849, and was a son of Benjamin D. and Eliza- beth (Robison) Clark, both also natives of Tennessee. Mrs. Elizabeth
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Clark was married the second time to Russell Kendrick and came from Tennessee to Missouri about 1854 when Benjamin D. was five years of age. They first settled in Johnson County. Two children: Benjamin D., the subject of this sketch, and William R., of Johnson County, Missouri, were born to the first union. Five children were born to Russell Ken- drick and Elizabeth (Robison) Clark Kendrick.
Benjamin D. Clark, whose name introduces this review, bought the place in Elk Fork township where he spent the remainder of his life and where Mrs. Clark now resides. For a few years before his marriage, he and his brother "batched" on the place. He was an extensive cattle man and bought cattle for the market on a large scale and was successful in that field of endeavor. He did a vast amount of business in this county and was known for his keen insight into business affairs and good sound judgment. He acquired considerable property, and at the time of his death owned 630 acres of land, besides other business interests. Mr. Clark possessed educational qualifications much superior to the average man of his time. When a boy he attended the district schools and later went to Tennessee and lived with relatives while attending college.
Benjamin D. Clark was a staunch supporter of the policies and principles of the Democratic party and was active in local politics for a number of years. He was elected county judge of Pettis County for two terms and gave to the people of Pettis County a practical business administration of public affairs. He was a member of the Baptist Church and active in the cause of Christianity as well as a liberal contributor to every field of Christian effort. He was a man who possessed a genial disposition and made many friends. He died September 9, 1909, and in his death, not only his immediate friends and family met with a great bereavement, but the loss was also that of the community and Pettis County, as well.
Benjamin D. Clark was united in marriage February 18, 1880, with Miss Etta Williams, a daughter of William A. and Mary (Glass) Will- iams. Mrs. Clark was born in Johnson County, December 17, 1860. Her father, William A. Williams, was born in Johnson County, Missouri, and was a descendant of one of the pioneer families of that county. In early life, he learned the blacksmith trade and later was engaged in the mer- cantile business. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate army. He died in Clinton, Missouri. To William A. and Mary (Glass) Williams were born the following children: Etta, married Benjamin D.
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