Biographical Sketch of William G. Pollock, Johnson County, Missouri, Hazel Hill Township >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** William G. Pollock, a most highly respected and well known citizen of Johnson county, son of a prominent pioneer family of Hazel Hill town- ship, is quietly spending the closing years of his life at his pretty country place twelve miles from Warrensburg. He was born in 1846 in Kentucky, son of W. A. and Margaret (Dawes) Pollock, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. W. A. Pollock was born February 25, 1815, and was reared to maturity in Kentucky and in that state was married to Margaret Dawes, to whom were born twelve children: Mrs. Kate Bridge- water, deceased; Samuel, deceased; W. G., the subject of this review; Mrs. Susie Warren, deceased; George, of New Mexico; Mary Ellen, deceas- ed; Mrs. Maggie Young, deceased; John, Hazel Hill township, Johnson county; James, Hazel Hill township, Johnson county; Mrs. Mattie Moyer, Kansas City, Missouri; Thomas, Kansas City, Missouri; and Jesse, Lafay- ette county, Missouri. All the children were reared to maturity and, with the exception of the youngest, all were born in Kentucky. In 1867, the Pollocks came to Missouri and located in Hazel Hill township, when in the spring of 1868, W. A. Pollock purchased the John Neff place, a farm comprising 200 acres in Simpson township, for which he paid twenty dollars an acre, the land having been entered from the government for one dollar and twenty five cents by Jacob L. Neff, who homesteaded a tract of 400 acres of land in Johnson county. For thirteen years, this place was the Pollock home and then it was sold by Mr. Pollock, who rented a large farm in Post Oak township, where his death occurred, in April, 1891, at the age of sixty-seven years. Interment was made at Oak Grove cemetery. W. G. Pollock obtained his education in the dis- trict schools of Kentucky. Until he was thirty-two years of age, he remained at home with his parents. When Mr. Pollock began life for himself, he rented land for a few years and then purchased a tract in Simpson township, sixty-five acres of which he still owns. In 1896, he purchased his present home farm, 120 acres of land from Jacob L. Neff, who entered it from the government. Mr. Pollock is engaged in general farming and raising high grade Hereford cattle. This place is well adapted for stock raising, being supplied with an abundance of water from a well, 112 feet in depth, soft water coming from sandrock. Mr. Pollock has himself improved this farm. There are two well constructed and roomy barns on the place and the residence is a comfortable house of seven rooms, built in 1882. Sixty acre of the farm are in pasture, 45 in bluegrass, and the remainder in small grain, this season of 1917. Mr. Pollock resides on the farm, but for the past few years has not been employed in the actual work of farming but of supervising, annual- ly leasing the land. On Christmas of the year 1878, William G. Pollock and Elizabeth Neff, daughter of Jacob L. Neff, a native of Frostburg, Maryland, and Catherine (Atherton) Neff, of Perryville, Kentucky, were united in marriage. Jacob L. and Catherine Neff were the parents of the following children: George G. M., Montserrat township; Mrs. Eliza- beth Pollock, wife of William G. Pollock, of this review; Elmore Pitts, deceased; Mrs. Emma McGraw, deceased; and Mrs. Gertie Pogue, Hazel Hill township, Johnson county. By a former marriage, Mr. Neff was the father of two children: John Henry, deceased; and Mrs. Hattie Horn, of Oklahoma. He was married to Catherine Atherton in Johnson county and both he and she are now deceased. The mother died July 2, 1899, and the father ten years later, January 1, 1909. Both parents are interred in Oak Grove cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Pollock are excellent and estima- ble people. Both are members of leading pioneer families and they justly deserve to be classed with those who spent their lives bravely and nobly laboring for the upbuilding of Johnson 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. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: <> Penny Harrell ====================================================================