LAYMAN BIOGRAPHIES, Henry County, Missouri ==================================================================== LAYMAN, John - b: 1860 Clark Co, MO source: 1919 History of Henry Co MO, Uel W. Lamkin, Historical Publishing Co - page: 397 residence: Bear Creek Twp John Layman. After a number of years spent as a successful contractor and builder in Kansas City, John Layman listened to the call of his country and the land and returned to the farm in Bear Creek township in order to do his part in swelling the vast amount of food stuffs needed to feed the people and armies of America's allies in the Old World who are battling for the rights and freedom of mankind. John Layman and Georgiana Layman are owners of 320 acres of farm land in Bear Creek township which they are improving and fixing up so as to make a good country home in time to come. Mr. Layman was born in Clark County, Missouri, in 1860 and is the son of George and Eliza (Combs) Layman, natives of West Virginia and Missouri, respectively. Mrs. Eliza Layman was a daughter of Kentucky parents who were Missouri pioneers. George Layman came to Missouri with his parents when but a boy. He was born in 1817 and died in 1901. In 1865, he moved to Henry County from Clark County and lived for three years upon a farm east of Clinton, and in 1868 he located near Montrose. There are ten children of the Layman family: Mrs. Renie Skelton, Topeka, Kansas; Mrs. Emma Fair, deceased; Mrs. Belle Triplett, Topeka, Kansas; William; Henry, Kansas City; Mrs. Florence Durnell, Joplin, Missouri; Mrs. Florida Burks, Joplin, Missouri; Mrs. Maude Davis, Chicago, Illinois; Mrs. Bab Trott, Joplin, Missouri. In early manhood, Mr. Layman learned the trade of bricklayer and builder and many of the brick houses in his section of Henry county were built by him, among them being the old Nick Erhart mansion which in days gone by was one of the show places of the county. He and Mrs. Layman and the family spent eight years in Kansas City where Mr. Layman was employed as foreman of brick construction on many of the largest public buildings of the city. On account of his health and the fact that the farm needed their personal attention they returned to Bear Creek township and resumed cultivation of their large acreage in 1914. John Layman and Georgiana Erhart were united in marriage in 1886 and to them have been born five children: Iva, wife of Fred Roberst, Muscogee, Oklahoma; Joseph, living on the home place, married Nannie Lober and has two children, Aubertine and Burnell; J. Nick, resides in Bear Creek township, married Pearl Minnich, and has one child, Margaret; Ida, at home with her parents; Frankie, the youngest of the family. Mrs. Georgian Layman was born in Bear Creek town-ship, in 1868 and is the daughter of the late Nicholas Erhart. Nicholas Erhart was born on July 19, 1831 in Bavaria, Germany, and died at his home in Bear Creek township, July 18, 1915. In 1844, he emigrated with his parents, George and Susannah (Schrepfer) Erhart who settled in Cole County, Missouri, near Jefferson City. On the way to the West, his mother died at Johnstown, Pennsylvania. George Erhart made a home near Jefferson City and died there. Nick Erhart was there reared to young manhood and enlisted and served as a soldier in the Mexican War, receiving for his services a Mexican Land Grant in Henry County to which he came soon after the war ended. Not content with having served his country in Old Mexico, he enlisted with the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil War and was badly wounded at the Battle of Lone Jack. He was hit in the shoulder and was honorably discharged, but after his wound had healed he returned again to the Union service. Mr. Erhart was very successful as a farmer and stockman and accumulated a total of 1,280 acres of land, much of which he gave to his children, owning at the time of his death 320 acres. Mr. Erhart was married to Malvina Coffelt (born 1832; died 1910), a native of Knox County, Kentucky, and daughter of Philip Coffelt, a pioneer of Moniteau County, Missouri, who also made an early settlement in Henry County. Four children born to Nick and Malvin Erhart are living: Mrs. Viola Dutro, Brownsville, Texas; Mrs. Georgian Layman; Mrs. Ida Adkins, Bear Creek township; Mrs. Nellie Harness, Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Erhart was a Republican and a member of the Lutheran Church. He was a charter member of the Montrose Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. John Layman is a supporter of Republican political principles. He is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Montrose. He and Mrs. Layman are popular, well liked, industrious and enterprising people, who are hospitable to the core and have many warm friends among the people of Henry County. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. 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