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CHAPTER NINETEEN

 

BERRY   CARNES

 

FAMILIES

 

Jehu Carnes, one of the first is not the very first, of the early day Methodist ministers in this county, came here in the middle thirties from McMinn County, Ten­nessee. The date and place of his birth are not known, but his father, Josiah Carnes, was born in Virginia. His wife was Nancy Burton, and they were married and all their children were born before coming here. Jehu Car­nes was active in the affairs of the Methodist Church, mostly in the west end of the county, from the time he came here until his death in 1860, his activities having also extended to Osage County, where the family seems to have lived for a time. He died on the Little Tavern in this county, his wife surviving until 1876. Jehu and Nancy were the parents of ten children living to maturity: Ma­tilda, Mary, Nancy, Edith, Ann, Thomas, William, Levi,

 

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John, and Josiah. Their age-order is not known and very few dates have been preserved.

 

Matilda Carnes, daughter of Jehu, was the second wife of John Berry, whose first wife was Martha, daughter of Reverend John Copeland, as prominent in early day Methodism in the eastern part of the county as Jehu was in the west part. Their marriage occurred in 1849, their first child, John Jehu Berry, being born September 14, 1850. John Berry joined the gold rush to California the next year and spent something like a year in the West, during which time his letters to his wife throw much light on conditions in the mining camps. In a letter writ­ten to her from El Dorado County, California, July 20, 1851, a copy of which is now in the possession of his granddaughter, Mrs. Emma Davis of Vienna, he says: 'the health of the people is jinerally tolerable and good hear, considering the way they live; they giste bunch about on the ground in piles, like hogs do in the states x x x but the ground during the dry season appears to have no dampness in it on any concequinces'. Again: 'it is a toler­able good country, but it don't suit me very well.' He does say that if he had his family with him he would be better contented and would go down in the valley and raise stock. He then warns his wife she will have no time to reply be­cause he will start home by the middle of October.

 

John Jehu Berry, oldest son of Matilda Carnes and John Berry, married Sarah Frances Boyce and spent his entire life in this and Osage counties. He died here Jan­uary 2, 1918, having survived his wife some years. The five children of this marriage, all living, were: Emma, wife of C. A. Gray, and later widow of J. T. Davis of Vi­enna; Robert, in Osage County; Willard of near Belle; Lloyd and Dorsey, wife of Eli Finn of Rolla.

 

Seven children were born to John and Matilda Berry after his return from California, of whom the oldest,

 

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Margaret, born August 9, 1852, married John J. Williams (which see). George W., born November 9, 1853; Mary, September 28, 1856; Nancy, September 1, 1858; Sarah Ann, January 3, 1860; and Elizabeth Jane, April 12, 1861, all died single. The remaining child, Thomas Berry, born January 9, 1855, first married Polly Ann, daughter of George Wilson, who died childless; his second wife was Martha, daughter of Thomas Barnhart. The four children of the last marriage were Florence, Ethel, Dena, and Vernie, the last of whom was killed in an automobile wreck a number of years ago in Osage County. His widow later the wife of Isaac Robertson now lives in St. Louis, as do the three children, all of whom are married.

 

Mary Carnes, daughter of Jehu, married Isaac N. Rowden, and her descendants will be found under that name.

 

Nancy J. Carnes, daughter of Jehu, married John Brumble, who was born and raised in Osage County, where she and her husband spent a part of their married life. Both died in this county many years ago. Of the thirteen chil­dren born of this marriage, Belle and Laura died in early womanhood, single, and Charles, James, and Lloyd died in infancy; Lumina, wife of William Blankenship, Ray, and McClellan live in this county; Thomas, whose wife was Laura Barr, lives in Tulsa; Georgia, wife of Henry Morton, near Linn; and John F. Brumble, who married a Rhodes, at last account lived near Marshall, Saline County; Bettie and Mollie are dead. Bettie married twice, first to Raphael Matthews and then to Riley White. Her children, all by her first marriage, include Willard, Floyd, Herbert, Myrtle, Cora, and Florence, in Los An­geles, and Pierce and Lawson Matthews in St. Louis. Mollie Brumble married George Matthews in Osage County, and one daughter is now the wife of John Schwartze of near Belle. If there were other children their names are not not now recalled by relatives here.

 

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Edith E., fourth daughter of J. Carnes, married Thom­as M. Laughlin in Osage County, where they lived a few years, later moving to the Little Tavern in this county and then to southern Pulaski County, where both died. Their four children were: Addie, second wife, and Alice, third wife, of George Clayton of Jasper County; John of Cookville, Missouri; and Jehu of Seattle, Washington.

Ann, the remaining daughter of Jehu Carnes, married Joseph, son of William Copeland, both of whom died in the western part of this county a great many years ago. The number and present addresses of their children are not certainly known, but there were at least seven, of whom one, Henry, never married; Margaret married William Lawson; Alice married Peter White; and Jane married Len Newkirk. John, if living, is in Arkansas; William Jehu, deceased, married a Parks and was the father of three children, Lawrence, William, and Frances, wife of Paris Young; their present addresses are not known; Levi Copeland married Sarah Parks and is also dead; his family included at least one son, Joseph, and one daugh­ter, perhaps more.

Thomas Carnes, son of Jehu, never lived in this county; his wife was a McKnight; they spent their entire married life and both died in Osage County north of Linn. Of the eighteen children born of this marriage only two survive, George near Chamois and Rosa, married name unknown, in California. Theron Carnes, formerly of Linn and the best-known one of the family in this county, was the son of Thomas Carnes.

 

William P. Carnes, son of Jehu, has the best preserved record of the family. He was born in McMinn County, Tennessee, December 11, 1830. He came to this county with his parents. He was married in 1855 to Ruth Ann, daughter of David Branson, who was born in Osage County January 5, 1834. They lived in Osage County a few years,

 

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afterwards moving to a large farm on the east side of the Gasconade River extending from Indian to Lanes Ford now owned by Tony Buschmann and William Wansing. Here they spent the remainder of their lives and died, he on March 2, 1896, and she on December 7, 1917. The three children born to them were: Elizabeth who was born January 31, 1856, and died January 1, 1896. She first mar­ried William Thomas Bowman and was the mother of one child, Della, wife of Jack Krone, who lives in this county on the William P. Carnes home place. She later married John R. Kinnaird, and was the mother of three children, all living: Verdie, wife of W. H. Krone of this county; Orilla, wife of Oliver Copeland of Springfield; and Mary, wife of J. L. Ray of Kansas City.

 

Mary, the second daughter, was born July 28, 1858, and died January 15, 1932. She married W. D. Adkins, also deceased, and spent most of her married life in Laclede and Greene counties. One son, Guy, lives at Springfield, as does a daughter, now Mrs. Mabel Cowan. The remaining son, Lloyd, is at Orosi, California. Another son, Walter, was killed on the Frisco near Crocker in 1932, leaving a son, Walter Junior, who probably lives in Springfield.

 

The third daughter, Nancy, was born March 6, 1861, and died January 1, 1887. She married W. T. Agee of Osage County; no record remains of any children born of this marriage.

We do not know the age of Levi Carnes, third son of Jehu. He married Margaret, daughter of James Rowden, and he and his only child were killed May 18, 1865, hav­ing been poisoned by persons who thought he knew too much about crimes committed by them during the Civil War, then just ended, and feared his evidence would bring them to justice. He owned and lived on the land on Carnes Creek for many years owned by John Riley Pendleton, and known as the Carnes Campground from the camp meetings

 

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held there annually. His widow later married James Donahue.

 

John F. Carnes, son of Jehu, died about 1871, age thir­ty-six years. His wife was Mary Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Copeland Senior, who survived her husband many years. They owned and spent their married lives on a farm on the Big Maries below the old Jim Crismon place, now divided among several owners, and were the parents of five daughters: Lydia A., Louisa E., Mary R., Jennie L., and Ida M. Carnes, of whom Louisa E., widow of M. W. Eads, still lives near Vienna. Lydia A. married William Martin, and her descendants will be found under that name.

 

Mary P. Carnes married James R. Breeden. She died in Union a number of years ago, survived by her husband and thirteen of the sixteen children born of their marriage. The three who have passed away are: Elmer who married Edith Burns, both of whom are dead; their descendants are listed in the Burns chapter. John married Emma daughter of Martin Copeland who has remarried and lives in Eldon, as do their three children. Everett Breeden left three children, but their names and present addresses are not known. The thirteen living children are: Eunice, whose present name is not known; Lamon who married Burl Duncan's daughter, Elizabeth, now Mrs. Slats, and Willard of Union; Charles, Jacob, Levi, Jesse, Oille (mar­ried name unknown), and Melvia, now Mrs. White, of St. Louis; Hester, wife of Frank McDaniel of Eldon; Ella, wife of Joe Grant near Kansas City; and Emma near Jef­ferson City.

 

Jennie L. Carnes married Lewis Jefferson Eads and both have passed away in the last few years after spend­ing their entire lives in this county. Eight children born of their marriage, all yet living, are: Alice, widow of John Stites near Iberia; Milford and Catherine, now Mrs.

 

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Sollenberger, in St. Louis; Lydia, wife of Joseph Beasman in Colorado; Cora Mae, wife of Frank M. Duffin, mer­chant in Vienna; Amanda, wife of Hugh Duffin, near the home place; and Eugene and Gertrude, now Mrs. Kellis, a widow, on the home place.

 

Ida M. Carnes, the remaining daughter, married Wil­liam Breeden. She died in Washington, Missouri, August 22, 1938, aged sixty-seven years, the mother of eight children living to maturity: Stephen, Thomas, Marshall, Leslie, Nettie, wife of Jack Lock, and Alice, now Mrs. Swafford, live in Washington; Anna, wife of James Connor; and Dora, whose married name is unknown, lived in St. Louis; her widower survives and lives in Washington.

 

We know next to nothing about Josiah M. D. Carnes. He lived on what is now the James Healey place, and died there as early as the Civil War. His wife survived him some years, but also died comparatively young. They were the parents of three children, Nancy Jane, Vienna, and Sarah E. Carnes, but nothing is known of their later history.

 

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