Early Settlements, Columbus Township, Johnson County, Missouri >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** Pleasant Rice or Nicholas Houx was the first permanent white settler in Johnson county. They both settled in what is now Columbus township in 1827. Pleasant Rice first visited this locality on a hunting expedition in 1818 and in the fall of 1819, returned on a hunting expedition in company with Dangerfield Rice, Capt. Hugh Brown, Hugh Brown, Jr., Cicero Brown and John Wallace. They got on this expedition, besides various game and fur, two hundred and sixty gallons of wild honey. Mr. Rice stated that he found twelve bee trees in one day, from which he took an average of sixteen gallons of honey each. Henceforth the little creek along which he hunted bees on that occasion was given the name of Honey creek. At that time hundreds of Indians had their wigwams along the creeks near suitable hunting grounds. Mr. Rice estimated that he saw as many as two thousand Indians within a radius of four miles of his log cabin. He settled with his family on Honey creek in section 10 township 47 on a place which is now owned by Mrs. Kelly, grandmother of Charles L. Gillilan, ex-county assessor. Part of the old building which he first erected is still standing. It is fourteen feet square and was covered with clapboards and weight poles. The logs were chinked with mud and the door swung on wooden hinges and was fastened by a wood latch, the string of which was always said to hang on the outside. The chimney was built of mud and sticks. This old hut was built by Pleasant Rice with the assistance of a negro, and the logs used in its construc- tion were of white oak. Since then the old clapboards have been dis- pensed with. It has a new roof, and the log walls have been covered by siding, and it is now used as a kitchen. Pleasant Rice was born near Nashville, Tenn., March 7, 1803. He was of Dutch and English descent. His wife, to whom he was married August 26, 1826, bore the maiden name of Virlinda G. Ray. She was a daughter of Senator Ray and came from a prominent Kentucky family. She was born in Warren county, Kentucky, May 13, 1809. Mr. and Mrs. Rice were the parents of thirteen children, ten of whom grew to maturity, four sons and six daughters and many of their descendants are now living in Johnson county. Nicholas Houx was born in Maryland of French and German ancestors. His parents moved from Maryland to Kentucky and he and five other sons moved later to Missouri. He married Miss Rachel Maxwell, just before leaving Kentucky. He and his bride came on horseback to Missouri, bringing all their possessions with them. They lived first at Booneville for a few years, then a few years at Lexington, and then moved to what is now Columbus township, in Johnson county. Pleasant Rice helped him buyild his first house. He was a staunch Cumberland Prebyterian, a noted hunter and a successful farmer. He died about 1834, at the age of thirty-three, and left two sons and three daughters. The following is a list of early settlers in what is now Columbus township: Pleasant Rice, Nicholas Houx, Robert King, Dr. Robert W. Rankin, John Whitsett, Thomas Evans, John Evans, David Norris, Samuel Ramsey, John Kelley, Uriel Jackson (who had the first horse-mill in the county), Moses Pinkston, Jesse Marr, Thomas Windsor, Richard D. Bradley, Sr.; John Ferguson, Elmore Douglas, Morgan Cockrell, Jonathan Fine, B. H. Fine, Prince L. Hudgins, William Logan, Isaac Garrison, James Morrow, Uriel Murray, David Morrow, William Dav- idson, Joseph Cockrell (the father of F. M. Cockrell, U.S. Senator), Josiah Beatty, William Kincaid, J. Washam, James C. Francis, Col. Ambrose, Toombs, Benjamin Runnels (who was a soldier under Gen. W. H. Harrison in his Indian campaign), Benjamin Matthews, C. D. Cobb, Love S. Cornwell, James Perdee, Robert Craig, N. W. Lowrey, James C. Strange a gentleman by the name of Edwards (who was a tailor in the town of Blackwater, and who is the father of Senator Edwards, of Lafayette county), Peter Drace, Levi Simpson, William C. Baker, T. Simmerman, Jesse Kelley, Robert D. Morrow, William Horn, I. Reese (who was sheriff at one time), Thomas Claunch, J. H. Miller, J. W. Henderson, Dr. E. D. Schreiner, R. R. Dalton, Abel Gilliland, Rev. William Horn, Reason Offnit, William E. Cocke, R. Sanders, J. P. Murray, R. Rudolph, P. H. Drace, John Kitchen, J. Kinder, William Ramsey, W. T. Herndon, M. Davis J. Harner, B. W. Boisseau, J. Fickel, C. Gautt, Z. T. Davis and James M. Fulkerson, the first physician in Johnson county. The first child born in what is now Columbus township, which was also the first birth in the county, was Margaret Ann Rice, daughter of Pleasant Rice. She was born April 7, 1829, was reared to maturity, married, and died on October 6, 1870. The first death was Mrs. Chitwood and the location of her lone grave has long since been forgotten. ==================================================================== 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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