Biographical Sketch of Kim Piper, Holden, Johnson County, Missouri

>From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell,
Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918.
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Kim Piper, a well remembered and beloved pioneer of Johnson county, was
a native of Kentucky.  He came to Missouri from his native state in the
early fifties and located first in Pettis county, coming thence to 
Johnson county in 1859.  Mr. Piper brought his wife and two children
with him from the South to establish the new home in what was at that
time the "western wilderness."  His friends had said that it was a rash
thing to do and prophesied that the family would be killed by the red
men of the forest.  All the household goods they could possibly do 
without were sold and the rest, with provisions, were put into the 
large emigrant wagon.  Beds and bedding, with their scant clothing, 
were placed on the backs of the horses.  The feather beds were so carr-
ied on the horses as to make a good platform, upon which the children
sometimes rode.  They found this great sport until going downhill or
over a rocky road, at which time they were glad to climb back into the
wagon beside the patient, unchiding mother.  The family were ferried
over the rivers, the horses swam across, and the wagon would be taken
to pieces and carried across in a skiff, one part at a time.  As they
proceeded on their journey the men of the emigrant train, for there 
were several members of the party westward bound, would be obliged to
cut away the trees so that the wagon could get through.  Two brothers
of Kim Piper were with the train:  John and Mason.  Mason Piper return-
ed to Kentucky during the Civil War and never came West again.  The 
Piper family located on a tract of land in Johnson county, after a 
brief sojourn in Pettis county, a farm located about five miles south
of Holden, Missouri.  On this place, the father engaged in farming and
stock raising and in the course of time became very well to do and 
influential.  Several years later, Kim Piper sold this farm and went
to Texas, where he remained for a few years and then returned to John-
son county, Missouri to spend the remainder of his life contentedly 
engaged in the pursuits of agriculture.  When the Civil War broke out,
Kim Piper was one of the first to enlist to fight for the Southern
cause.  He served under General Sterling Price and saw active service
in the Southern and Gulf states.  When the war had ended he came back
to his home in Johnson county, again to pursue the peaceful vocation of
farming and to do his part in restoring and rebuilding that which had
been destroyed by the havoc of war.  Kim Piper was the father of the
following children: Nancy, deceased; S. P., the review of which is 
located elsewhere in this volume; William, of Cooke county, Texas; and
two other children now deceased.  The mother died many years ago and 
the father's death occurred in 1883.  Mr. and Mrs. Piper were noble
types of the brave, true, hardy pioneer.  They cheerfully and uncom-
plainingly endured the hardships, privations, sacrifices and tirelessly
toiled and hoped for better, happier days.  Such lives as these were
not lived in vain and what they did for the succeeding generations can
never be forgotten.  A new sense of appreciation should be awakened in
the hearts of the young people of today and upon them impressed by 
such a life history the fact that the choicest blessings we now have
could not exist were it not for the constancy and labor of men and
women like Mr. and Mrs. Kim Piper.

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