Polk County, Missouri Biographies - Gideon H. HIGGINBOTHAM, Rev.
History Of Hickory, Polk, Cedar, Dade And Barton Counties,
Missouri  1889, Published By Goodspeed, Pgs. 652, 653
Polk County Biographies Section

   Rev. Gideon H. Higginbotham, a successful agriculturist and
stock-raiser of Polk County, Mo., who has made most of his 
property by his own individual labor, is the son of Capt. 
Thomas and Rachel W. (McKinney) Higginbotham.  The grandparents
were both natives of Kentucky, where they were married.  About 
1830 they moved to Illinois, Sangamon County, and there the 
grandfather died some two years later.  The family then returned
to Kentucky, and in 1845 came to Polk County, Mo., where the 
grandmother died.  John Higginbotham was a soldier in the 
War of 1812, fought at New Orleans, and both he and wife were 
members of the Missionary Baptist Church.  In their family were
six children, three sons and three daughters, of whom only two
are now living.  One of the sons died in the Mexican War, and
another was killed in the late war.  Capt. Thomas Higginbotham 
is the only son now living.  He was born Mary 14, 1822, in Wayne
County, Ky., grew to manhood on the farm, and never attended 
school more than six months altogether.  At the age of fourteen
years he was bound out by his mother until twenty-one, and during
that time he leaned the shoemaker's trade, at which he worked for
about seventeen years, along with farming.  When he first came to
Polk County, Mo., he made boots and shoes for every merchant in 
Bolivar, but, after abandoning the bench, he turned his attention
to farming and stock raising.  In 1841 he married Miss Rachel W. 
McKinney, a native of Kentucky, and by her became the father of 
eleven children, eight now living, six sons and two daughters.  
Mrs. Higginbotham died in 1885, at the age of sixty-two years.  
In July, 1862, he joined Company F, Seventh Provisional Cavalry, 
and later the Fifteenth U. S. A.  On the organization he was 
elected captain, and served until 1864, when, on account of 
rheumatism, he resigned.  He held the position of presiding 
judge of county court and ex-officio probate judge.  Both he 
and present wife are members of the Baptist Church.  He is a 
Democrat in politics.  June 6, 1887, he married Mrs. Ada Wiggs,
a native of Illinois.  He is the owner of 525 acres of land, 
and besides this he has assisted his children considerably.  
He was a great lover of the chase in his early days, and spent
much of his time in hunting.  His son, Gideon H. Higginbotham,
was born in Wayne County, Ky., June 1, 1843, and when about two
years of age his parents moved to this county, and resided in
the neighborhood of where he now lived.  Gideon assisted his
father in tilling the soil, and attended the old subscription
schools of that day.  In June, 1861, he enlisted in the Home
Guards, serving about three months, and in January, 1862, he 
joined Company A, Eight Missouri State Militia Cavalry, and 
served until November, 1863.  He was in the battle of Humansville
and numerous skirmishes.  In October, 1862, he was taken with
typhoid pneumonia, from which he has never fully recovered.  
He receives a pension of twelve dollars per month.  March 1, 1863,
he married Miss Mary A. McKinney, a native of Wayne County, Ky., 
born October 19, 1842, who, when a small girl, was brought to 
this county.  To Mr. and Mrs. Higginbotham were born nine children,
of whom seven are now living: John T., Elizabeth R., Mary C., 
Lucy A., Gideon F., James W. and Mattie S.  Those deceased are: 
Ella M. and Charley W.  After the war Mr. Higginbotham located 
on the farm where he now lives, and where he has continued to 
live ever since.  Having prepared himself, by private study, for
the ministry in the Baptist Church, he was licensed to preach 
in May, 1883, by Pleasant Hill Church, and in May, 1888, he was 
ordained by Elder G. M. Botts and W. W. Palmer.  He has been
actively engaged in the ministerial work since 1883.  He is the
owner of 166 acres of land, about seventy acres under cultivation. 
He is a member of the Wheel, and in Politics is a Democrat.
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