Green Ridge, Missouri

The subject of this sketch, Mr. Bell, was born in Paris, Edj^ar County, Ills., Sept. 4. 1835, where, until twenty years of age, he resided upon a farm. At that age, in 1855, he came to Green Ridge Township, Pettis County, Mo., and entered 320 acres of government land at $1.25 per acre. He was married in Johnson County, Mo., in 1857, to Miss Nanc3^ J. Coats, a native of Fulton, in this State. The result of this marriage is five children, viz: James O., John, Lillie, Robt. B. and Benjamin F. Mr. Bell died Sept. 20, 1873, in the faith of the gospel, having been a member of the O. S. Presbyterian church since his seventeenth year. John Coats, the father of Mrs. Bell, was the first sheriff of Callaway County, upon whom the duty of hanging a criminal devolved, and her mother, now living in Johnson County in her seventy-eighth year, rode on the first boat that came up the Missouri River. Mrs. Bell and her children have charge of a large and well improved farm.

Passage source: The History of Pettis County, Missouri, Including an Authentic History of Sedalia, Other Towns and Townships, Together with ... Biographical Sketches .., published 1882.

The subject of this sketch, Mr. Christian, was born near Lexington, Fayette County, Ky., in 1831. His father brought him, when but nine years old, to Boone County, Mo., and settled on a farm near Ashland, and the subject of our sketch became inured there to farm life and obtained an excellent education at the neighborhood schools. In 1852 he was married in that county to Miss Mary Black, and in 1854, with his small family, he came to Green Ridge Township, Pettis County, where he bought and improved his farm. But in 1861 his wife returned to Boone County, Mo., with her children, and died near Ashland in 1863, leaving four children, viz: David M., Louamma A., Katie and William S. At the beginning of the hostilities in 1861, Mr. Christian espoused the Confederate cause, and joined Col. B. F. Gordon's regiment, in the brigade of Gen. J. O. Shelby, so distinguished for raids and desperate fighting in concert with and independent of Gen. Sterling Price. But Mr. Christian obtained a transfer to Price's escort in the fall of 1863, with which he remained until the war closed. He participated in all the principal battles fought by Gen. Price, and surrendered with his comrades at Shreveport, La. He then returned to Boone County, Mo., gathered up the surviving members of his family, and in the fall of 1865 was again industriously laboring to repair his broken fortunes upon his farm in Pettis County, Mo. He was married the second time Dec. 24, 1865, in Callaway County, this State, to Miss JuHa A. Blythe, a native resident of said county. Through this union they have eight children, viz: Churchill, Sallie, Samuel M., Thomas, John, Charles R., Frank H. and Edmund F. Another child, Lee, died in November, 1871. Mr. Christian still suffers from a fever contracted while following the hard life of a soldier in 1862. He was taken prisoner once during the war, near Huntsville, on the War Eagle River, in Arkansas, but was released immediately afterwards and returned to his regiment. He has been a member of the Baptist Church for thirty-one years; his wife also has been a member for twenty odd years. He is an industrious farmer and very popular in his neighborhood.

Passage source: The History of Pettis County, Missouri, Including an Authentic History of Sedalia, Other Towns and Townships, Together with ... Biographical Sketches .., published 1882.

Mr. Doherty was born May 22, 1841, in Kilkenny County, Ireland, where he lived until he was ten years old, attending the private schools. May 4, 1854, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean, he located at Peoria, 111., and during the seven years of his residence there he attended school. He then went to Livingston County, 111., where he rented a farm and followed that vocation for seven years. During part of this time he was constable of Pike Township, Livingston County. Mr. D. was married Oct. 1.5, 1865, to Miss Elizabeth Murphy, a native of Columbus, O. They have five children living, Edward W., Katie, Jno. T., Mar}- E. and Clarence J., and one dead, Nellie, who departed from this life in 1877. In November, 1868, he removed to Green Ridge Township, Pettis County, Mo., where he purchased a farm of 160 acres of land. He now has 480. He also has 100 head of steers, six cows, ten head of horses and a house whose elegance is in keeping with the surroundings, proving that all who come across the waters to America do not come here in vain.

Passage source: The History of Pettis County, Missouri, Including an Authentic History of Sedalia, Other Towns and Townships, Together with ... Biographical Sketches .., published 1882.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Green Ridge Township - it names this place 22 more 22 times.