Biographical Sketch of W. A. Garrett, Johnson County, Missouri, Jefferson Township >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** W. A. Garrett, a well known and esteemed stockman of Jefferson township, is the son of an honored and respected pioneer of Johnson county, Mo. He was born in 1848 in Johnson county, son of J. W. and Ann T. Garrett. J. W. Garrett was the son of James Garrett, who came to Missouri in 1843 from Maryland, where he was born on the plantation owned by his father. James Garrett purchased 320 acres of land in Johnson county and engaged in farming and stock raising, becoming one of the most prosperous and influential citizens of his day in the county. His mother, Amy (Sims) Garrett, and his father, who was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, lived and died in Maryland. J. W. Garrett, the son of James Garrett, was engaged in the manufacture of tobacco prior to the Civil War. After the war, he became interested in farming and stock raising and devoted his entire attention to the pursuits of agriculture. He enlisted in the Civil War, serving with the Confeder- ates under Major Cockrell. He participated in the battle of Lonejack, where his brother, Robert, was killed. Several years prior to the war, he was united in marriage with Ann T. Perry, the daughter of William T. Perry, who came to Missouri in 1837 and was one of the first settlers in Johnson county. The death of J. W. Garrett occurred in 1882. In 1871, W. A. Garrett was united in marriage with Alice D. Walker, the daughter of Wyatt Walker, a Virginian, who came to Missouri in 1869. To W. A. and Alice (Walker) Garrett were born the following children: Mrs. Ivy Munday, Windsor, Mo.; Mrs. Edna Powell, Leeton, Mo.; Daisy C., Windsor, Mo.; Mrs. Lennie Kavanaugh, Kansas City, Mo.; Robert L, Wind- sor, Mo.; and Mrs. Nellie Reynolds, Leeton, Missouri. In 1888, Mr. Garrett built the handsome residence, which is their present home. Mrs. Garrett died in January, 1913. In 1875, Mr. Garrett purchased his grandmother's farm, consisting of 260 acres of land in Johnson county. He has since increased his holdings and is now the owner of 320 acres of fine farm land, most of which is in grass. Mr. Garrett devotes almost his entire attention to stock raising, dealing largely in Red Polled cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs. The Garrett stock farm is espec- ially valuable, due to a deposit of coal underlying the place at a depth of sixty feet, a vein of perhaps more than five feet and of a splendid grade. The farm is well watered, having an overflowing natural spring. The spring furnished water for many of the early pioneers in the days gone by. Almost seventy years ago, W. A. Garrett was born in the cabin home of his father on Johnson county. He has witnessed many changes in this country since the days of his boyhood. When he was a lad, there were no roads and very few fences, practically all the country being wide, open prairie. The settlers traveled by direction and they obtained their supplies at Boonville and Lexington. Mr. Garrett hauled the lumber, with which to build their home, from Lexington, when the family first came to Johnson county. An old log cabin, the oldest house in Missouri, perhaps, is still standing on the farm now owned by W. A. Garrett. He recalls with much pleasure the days of his youth, the "good, old days" of the long ago. Mr. Garrett states that the young people were not shy of simple pleasures and amusements and enjoyed themselves immensely at house-raisings, corn husking parties, spinning, quilting, apple paring "bees" and country dances. The social conditions were the very best and there was not to be found an inhospitable family in all the country. To travel on horseback was the invariable rule and everyone, who could possibly go, attended church, many men and women coming on horseback from long distances. Mr. Garrett remembers a pioneer preacher, having the same name as his own, who preached the doctrines of Christianity in the good old fashioned way at Old Sardis. Among some very valuable relics of the olden times, which W. A. Garrett has in his possession, are a skillet, a crane, and parts of a very primitive loom, the last mention- ed having been brought to Missouri in the earliest days from North Carolina. ==================================================================== 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. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: <> Penny Harrell ====================================================================