Clay County MO Archives News.....The Old Men of Clay County September 2, 1870 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mo/mofiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ronald J. Reid rreid21@cox.net July 26, 2007, 6:46 pm Liberty Weekly Tribune September 2, 1870 THE OLD MEN OF CLAY COUNTY Liberty Weekly Tribune; Date: 1870 Sep 02 We request every citizen in Clay county, over sixty years of age, to send us his name, age, place and date of birth, disfranchised or not, and any prominent circumstances connected with his life. JOHN BAXTER. I was born in Hawkins county, East Tennessee, on the 26th day of November, 1802. My father, Stephen Baxter, was a native of Culpeper county, Virginia. My father was born in 1777. I have no traditions connected with the Revolutionary War. My father served against the Creek Indians under Gen. Jno. Cocke and was at the battle of Hillabee Town. I came to Howard co., Mo., in October, 1817. I came to Clay Co., to live, finally, in 1825 – though I had been here several years before – and have lived her ever since. I have been elected Sheriff of Clay county four times. I have always been a Whig in politics. I was opposed to secession and the disintegration of the government. I am a registered voter and no one questions my right to be so. I have been connected with the commission business on the Missouri River for 19 years past. I can remember distinctly seeing the first steam boat that ascended the Missouri River. It was in 1819, and I think it was named the Enterprise. The peculiarity of it was that the escape-pipe was in the form of an immense snake that projected over the bow of the boat. JOHN BAXTER LITTLEBERRY ESTES. I was born in Cabell county, Virginia, on the 17th day of June 1803. I am of pure, old Virginia stock, - a fact of which I am exceedingly proud. My ancestors emigrated from England to Virginia more than 120 years before my birth. My grandfather Joel Estes, was a Revolutionary soldier and served in the Continental army. My people live to be very old. My maternal grandfather, Jeremiah Ward, died about the year 1812, in Cabell co., Va., at the age of 114 years. I came to Clay county, Missouri, in the year 1823, and have lived here ever since. I have always been a Democrat. I am disfranchised. I have been a member of the old Baptist Church about twenty-five years. LITTLEBERRY ESTES. JAMES R. JOHNSON. I was born in the State of Georgia in -------- county on the 4th day of April, 1796. I was in the war of 1812 and served under Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe. I came to Clay county, Mo., in the year 1840, and have lived here ever since. I never belonged to any particular political party and always voted for those whom I thought to be the best me. I am not now a member of any political party. I am not disfranchised. My father was a soldier in the Continental army during the Revolution. JAMES R. JOHNSON. ALFRED M. RILEY, Was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, in 1806. He and his whole family came to Clay county, Mo., in 1827. His grand-parents moved from Maryland to Kentucky in 1792. Has been a member of the church 40 years – of the Baptist church, the first ten years of that time, and of the Christian church the remainder. Has lived at the place he now resides on ever since he came to the county. Has always been a farmer and trader. Has always made every thing secondary to Christianity. Has been a Whig all his life, and accepts Democracy as a dernier resort. Has nine children now living and has raised eleven to be grown. Lives near Mt. Gilead church: has been an elder of it twenty-eight years. The church edifice (Mt. Gilead) was built twenty years ago and more, and he assisted in the erection of it. ALFRED M. RILEY JAMES C. HOLLAND. I was born in Cocke county, Tennessee, on the 20th day of May, 1794. My father was from Wythe county, Virginia. My maternal grand-father was killed by the Indians, at his house in Virginia. My ancestors were among the first settlers in Tennessee and had a great deal of trouble with the Indians. My uncle, Thomas Holland, was a soldier in the Continental army. I was in the war of 1812 in Gen. Cocke’s command and served against the Creek Indians. I came to Platte county, Mo., in 1854, and lived there three years. I moved to Clay county, Mo., in 1858, and have lived here ever since. I have always been a Democrat. The registrars disfranchised me. I think I am fairly entitled to be registered as a voter. JAMES C. HOLLAND CASTILIAN C. TRABUE. I was born in Powhatan county, Virginia, on the 27th day of March, 1805. My paternal ancestors were Huguenots, and emigrated from France at the time of the revocation of the edict of Nantes. I have no traditions of the Revolution. I emigrated with my father to Kentucky in 1806. I came to Clay county, Mo., in 1858, and have lived here ever since. I have always been a Whig in politics. The registrars disfranchised me, though I am under the law entitled to registration. CASTILIAN C. TRABUE. REV. JESSE BIRD. I was born in Pendleton county, Virginia, on the 24the day of May, 1809. My paternal ancestors were from Holland; my maternal ancestors from England. I have no family traditions connected with the Revolution. My ancestors, then in Virginia, were frontier-men, and in close proximity to the Indians, and I suppose they were not in the Revolutionary struggle. The death of my maternal grand-father was tragical. He was at the time of his death living at Ft. Redstone, Fayette county, Penn. In the summer of 1775, he and some ten or twelve companions were at work in a field near the fort. They were suddenly attacked by the Indians, and all killed except Jno. Hardin and one other, who escaped. Hardin saw an Indian kill my grand-father, cut out his heart, and, sticking it on the point of a knife, flourish it mockingly above his head. In the very act of doing this Hardin shot the Indian dead. I emigrated to Hardin county, Ky., in 1819. I became a member of the Methodist church in 1822; and was licensed to preach in 1829. I have baptized and received into the church as many as three thousand persons. I suppose I have united in marriage as many as two hundred couples. I emigrated to Missouri in 1857 and have lived since in N.W. Missouri, and now reside in Clay county. I am a member of the Missouri conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. I was never in any war. Several of my older brothers were in the war of 1812. I never meddled in politics, but was in opinion always a Whig. I am disfranchised. No consideration could induce me to swear that I did not sympathise with my friends in the South during the Civil War. I was arrested and committed to the jail of Buchanan county, Mo., in 1866, for a brief time, because I preached the Gospel without taking the “oath of loyalty.” JESSE BIRD JOSEPH GIROS. I was born in Alsace in France on the 11th day of November, 1802. My father was a soldier in the French army under Napoleon I, and served in the Peninsular War. I came to America in 1852, and settled that year in Clay county, Mo., and have lived here since. I am not yet naturalized. I have had nothing to do with politics in this county. JOSEPH GIROS. GEORGE M. PRYOR. I was born in Henry county, Kentucky, on the 20th day of February, 1804. My father was a native of Goochland county, Va., and emigrated to Kentucky in 1790. My maternal uncle – John Curd, now, if living, in Logan county, KY., - was a soldier in the Continental army and was wounded. My father died when I was so young that I was unable to retain in memory any facts connected with the Revolution. I came to Clay county, Mo., in 1835, and have lived here ever since. I have always been a Democrat. I am a voter. GEORGE M. PRYOR. WILLIAM V. HODGES. I was born in Orange county, Virginia, on the 18th day of January, 1805. My grand-father, Francis Hodges, was a soldier in the Continental army under Washington and was at Brandywine and Yorktown. I emigrated with my mother to Fayette county KY., in 1805. I came to Clay county, MO., in 1826, and have lived here ever since. I served in the Heatherly, blackhawk and Mormon wars. I served 12 months in the militia in Clay county in the late civil war. I have raised twelve children. I have been a member of the old Baptist church 34 years. I have always been a Whig. In my old age my Negroes that I bought with my own money have been taken from me. I raised my children so that they did not do any stealing during the civil war. WILLIAM V. HODGES JAMES CARSON. I was born on the 29th day of November 1795, in Jessamine county, Ky. I have no memories connected with the Revolution. I came to Clay county, Mo., in 1839, and have lived here ever since. I have been always a Democrat. Am disfranchised by the registrars, but not by law, JAMES CARSON JAMES M. KELLER. I was born in Jessamine county, Ky., on the 12th day of October, 1808. My father was from the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. My grand father John Keller, was also a Virginian, and was a soldier four years of the Revolutionary war under Washington. My father served in the war of 1812, and was at the battle of the River Raisin. I came to Clay county, Mo., in 1841, and have lived here ever since. I have always been a Democrat, and am disfranchised. JAMES M. KELLER EDWARD C. TILLMAN. I was born in Chatham county, North Carolina, on the 18th day of July, 1807. My grand-father, Joshua Tillman, served as a soldier in the Continental army. I am of English extraction. I have resided in Clay county, Mo., since 1842. I have always been a Whig. Am disfranchised. EDWARD C. TILLMAN JAMES CHANSLOR. I was born in Mason county, Ky., on the 13th day of November, 1800. My father was a native of Pennsylvania and my mother of Maryland. My grand father Philip Chanslor, was a private in the Continental army during the entire Revolutionary war. I came to Clay county, Mo., in 1835, and have resided here ever since. I have always been a whig. The Registrars disfranchised me. JAMES CHANSLOR. JOHN H. PRICE. I was born in Fayette county, Ky., on the 13th day of September, 1809. My father was a native of Virginia, and emigrated to Kentucky in 1781. My father was under Wayne in his campaign against the Indians after St. Clair’s defeat. He was also under St. Clair when he was defeated. I do not know whether my grand-fathers were in the Revolutionary war or not, - my father was too young. I have lived in Clay county, Mo., since 1844. I have always been a Whig. I am a voter. JOHN H. PRICE THOMAS HARRINGTON. I was born in Bedford county, North Carolina, in the year 1790. I moved with my family to Kentucky in 1795, and to Tennessee in 1810. Returned to Kentucky in 1815. I moved to Howard county, Mo., in 1817. I came to Clay county, Mo., in 1820 – settled on the farm I now live on – and have resided here ever since. I belong to no religious society and have been in no wars. I have not voted since 1864. I cast my vote for McLellan for President. THOMAS HARRINGTON JOHN McCORKLE. I was born in Augusta County, Virginai, six miles from Staunton, on the 2d day of March, 1798. My father was a Virginian and served through the entire Revolutionary War in the American Army. He was at Yorktown, and saw Cornwallis’ sword handed to Gen. Lincoln. I emigrated to Kentucky in 1800. I came to Missouri in 1816, and settled on the Cuivre in what is now Lincoln county. I came to Clay county in 1824 and have lived here ever since. I have always been a Democrat. I am disfranchised. JOHN McCORKLE. ROBERT WALKER. I was born in Estill county, Kentucky, on the 3d day of January 1802. My father was a native of Virginai, and emigrated to Kentucky many years before I was born. I came to Clay county, Mo., 1829, and have lived here ever since. I was in the Heatherly and Mormon wars. I have always been a Democrat. I am giving this narration August 1st, 1870, and it reminds me of old times when our elections were held on the 1st Monday and Tuesday in August, and every white man was free – told to the world who voted for, without hiding it in a ballot – and the Negroes sold water-melons and ginger-cakes. I am disfranchised, but don’t know what for. ROBERT WALKER. JAMES WALKER. I was born in Fauquier county, Virginia on the 1st day of March 1797. My father, Solomon Walker, entered the Continental army at the beginning of the Revolutionary war, and served three years. He then re-enlisted and served out the residue of the war. I have heard him say that he was in the battles of Bunker’s Hill, Brandywine, Trenton, and at the siege of Yorktown. I can not now name all the battles and skirmishes he was in. He saw the surrender at Yorktown, and was detailed to guard the prisoners taken there. I had two maternal uncles who also served during the Revolutionary war – one in the army and one in the navy. I was out a short time in the war of 1812, in the Virginia militia, to resist the British when they threatened to land at the Belle Plains on the Northern Neck bellow Fredericksburg. I removed from Virginia and settled in Clay county, Mo., in 1848, and have resided here ever since. I have always been a Democrat. I have served my county seventy and three years and am now esteemed unworthy of saying at the polls who ought to rule it. JAMES WALKER. AMOS GROOM. I was born in Bourbon county,KY., on the 5th day of February, 1803. I moved to Clay county, Missouri in 1827. Born a Democrat. Have not voted for 20 years. Josiah Vaughan killed a deer on the public square since I moved to Clay county. AMOS GROOM. WILLIAM JEFFRIES. I was born Fauquier county, Va., on the 14th day of September, 1809, and moved to Clay county, Mo., in 1850. My father served in the Revolutionary war and the war of 1812. I am a Democrat “dyed in the wool.” Disfranchised. WM JEFFRIES. JAMES H. BENSON. I was born in Sussex county, Delaware, February 8th, 1803; removed to Maryland, and from there to Ohio in 1835, and to Indiana in 1853, thence to Clay county, MO., in 1868. Not disfranchised. JAMES H. BENSON FOUNTAIN WALLER. I was born in 1798, in Fauquier county, Virginia; emigrated to Kentucky in 1831, and thence to Missouri in 1834; settled in Clay county, and been a farmer all my life. I have never taken any part in any war, and have always voted Democratic. Disfranchised. FOUNTAIN WALLER. JOS. GROOM. I was born in Clark county, KY., July 22, 1787, and moved to Clay county, about 45 years ago. I was in the Black Hawk war, and been always a Democrat. I have never made an effort to vote since the war. JOS. GROOM ADAM PENCE. I was born in Scott county, Kentucky, in the year 1803. My father was one of the first settlers of Kentucky, and came out to that State from Virginia about the year 1775. I removed from Kentucky, to Clay county, Missouri, in the fall of 1825. I have always been a Democrat. Am disfranchised, I suppose on suspicion of Democracy; and that is sufficient to disfranchise a man in Clay county, but at the same time I know no reason why I should be. ADAM PENCE. CHARLES WARREN. I was born July 31, 1793, in Bourbon county, KY., served in the war of 1812, under Captain Davis, guarding the prisoners at Newport, Ky. Emigrated to Clay county, Mo., in 1827, lived here ever since, and been a member of the Regular Baptist church over 40 years. Been registered twice as a qualified voter – first time I voted first when the poles were opened – second time my name was erased from the voters list. I know not for what. I am a “Democrat all over.” CHARLES WARREN File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mo/clay/newspapers/theoldme55gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mofiles/ File size: 17.0 Kb