Pittsville, Missouri

Mr. Hopper is one of the oldest settlers; is a native of Hamilton county East Tennessee; was born October 27, 1820. He lived in his place of nativity until, twenty years of age, then moved with his father, John Hop¬ per, to Missouri, in the spring of 1840; stopped a short time in Lafayette county, then moved, and settled in Johnson county, about midway between Chapel Hill, in Lafayette county, and Pittsville, in Johnson county, then known as Brushy Knob district. Here his father died, January 18, 1842. Excepting four years during the war, Wm. has always lived on the farm his father settled here. He was married to Miss Lettie M. Cobb, Janu¬ ary 4, 1844, and six children have been born to them, as follows: Eliza¬ beth J., Martha S., Meredeth W., Mandaville L., Sarah A. M. and Mary Rebecca, four of whom are living, the other two are dead. The son and two eldest daughters are married. His early education was not neglected, receiving for the most part his early training in the schools of Tennessee! His occupation has always been that of farmer and stock raiser. Prior to the war he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South; since the war he has held no membership with any denomination. During the war he belonged to the M. S. M., and was under Colonel Nuget's command. He was in the noted battle of Lone Jack, August 16, 1862. At this battle, Mr. Hopper was strack by three bullets; one seered the back part of his hand, the second struck him squarely on the' knuckles, but being a spent ball, it did him little injury. The third played a freak - hy stnkin£ and glancing from the side of a building, near to which he was, in the act of loading his gun, and struck him on the back part of his head, knocking him sprawling on the face to the ground. However, he had nothing to do but get up again, though he was considerably shook up. He had a large cord tie round his hat, and singular as it may seem, this cord in this last shot, undoubtedly saved his life. It was tied in a knot behind, and the ball struck squarely upon the large knot; thus he received its force more as a blow, with the result already related. He was mustered out of the service in 1863. Staid in Ray county until the close of the war, then came back to the old homestead in Johnson county, where he has ever since resided. John Hopper, his father, was a native of North Carolina; was born 1789; was married to Miss Mary Davenport, a native of the same state, who was born 1793. They had nine children: Jane, Sarah, Elizabeth, James, William, John, David, and Robert; the last died in infancy, John Hopper died January 1842, and his wife March 3, 1876, at the extremely old age of eighty-three. She died in Johnson county, and at the time was one of the oldest

Passage source: The History of Johnson County, Missouri : Including a Reliable History of the Townships, Cities, and Towns, Together with a Map of the County; a Condensed History of Missouri; the State Constitution; an Abstract of the Most Important Laws; the Physical Features of the County; the Early Settlers and Pioneers; the Political and War History; the Religious and Educational History...statistics and Miscellaneous Matters, Etc., Etc, published 1881.

P. O. Pittsville, Jackson township; an enterprising farmer of this town¬ ship, was born in Rockingham county, North Carolina, February 27, 1824. Samuel Maxwell, his father, was a native of the same county and state. In 1844 he emigrated to Missouri, and settled in Lafayette county, and died the same year. A. G.'s mother was a native of North Carolina, and died in the same state, 1843. His grandfather, on his mother's side, was from Ireland. His grandfather on his father's side, was born in Pennsylvania, and was one of the pioneers of North Carolina. A. G., who is our subject, after the death of his father, set out in life for himself, engaging in farming, and was married to Miss Duley Harmon, daughter of Lewis Harmon, in 1857, in Lafayette county, where he remained until 1868, when he moved to Johnson county, and settled on his present farm of 200 acres of well improved land, with substantial buildings. Mrs. M. died in 1868, leaving four children: Cora A., Samuel L., Albert P. and Robert E. In 1878 Mr. M. again married Mrs. Susan F. Merrill, daughter of Joseph Smith. By this union were born two daughters: Minnie S; and Ethlene P. Mrs. M. had three children by her former husband: Joseph A., Flora A. and W. H. Merrill. Mr. Maxwell is a successful wheat grower, and among one of the best stock raisers in his township; is a man who has set a good example, and is much respected.

Passage source: The History of Johnson County, Missouri : Including a Reliable History of the Townships, Cities, and Towns, Together with a Map of the County; a Condensed History of Missouri; the State Constitution; an Abstract of the Most Important Laws; the Physical Features of the County; the Early Settlers and Pioneers; the Political and War History; the Religious and Educational History...statistics and Miscellaneous Matters, Etc., Etc, published 1881.

P. O. Pittsville. Among the enterprising citizens of Jackson township, may be mentioned Merideth Rice, who was boin in Madison county, Ky., April 11, 1825. His parents were both natives of Virginia. His father died in 1863. His mother died in 1862. Merideth, the subject of this sketch, came from Kentucky to Missouri in 1869, and settled in Johnson county, near where he lives at the present time. He was manied Aug. 25, 1868, to Miss Catherine A. Nelson, daughter of Archibald Nelson, of Green county, East Tennessee. Mr. Rice has a family of six children, viz: Minnie B., Charles L., Beauregard, Joseph, Laura S. and Merideth. Mr. R. has 120 acres of good land. He is a successful stock raiser and dealer, and while in Kentucky he drove horses, cattle and mules from Kentucky into Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Ala¬ bama and Florida. He was elected assessor of Jackson township, and served one term, giving general satisfaction. He was appointed consta¬ ble for the same township in the spring of 1877, and was elected to the same office in 1878, and re-elected in 1880. Mr. R. commenced his edu¬ cation at the subscription schools, and finished with a two years couise at the Richmond Seminary, Ky. He commenced his career with small cap¬ ital. Mrs. R. is a member of the M. E. church, south.

Passage source: The History of Johnson County, Missouri : Including a Reliable History of the Townships, Cities, and Towns, Together with a Map of the County; a Condensed History of Missouri; the State Constitution; an Abstract of the Most Important Laws; the Physical Features of the County; the Early Settlers and Pioneers; the Political and War History; the Religious and Educational History...statistics and Miscellaneous Matters, Etc., Etc, published 1881.

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 Jackson Township - it names this place 6 more 6 times.