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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

 

BROWN FERRELL WALKER

 

FAMILIES

No member of the Brown, Ferrell, and Walker fami­lies have lived in the county a hundred years, but so many of their descendants married into families who have lived here that long that this work would be incomplete with­out at least a sketch of them. Robert Brown was the fath­er of ten children, Enoch Ferrell of twelve, and Moses Walker of thirteen, all of whom married in this county, and their blood strain is represented in nearly every family east of the river.

 

Robert Brown, the ancestor of that family here, was born December 30, 1772; his birthplace is not known. He came to this county about 1847 from near Paris, Illinois, with his wife Jemima, and seven of their family of ten children. Mrs. Brown was a sister of Moses Walker, and was born June 29, 1771. They settled first just each of Bloomington (The Hill) on Lanes Prairie, east of the Dry Fork Creek and immediately north of and down the creek from the former Negele place. The land had been entered by their son, Solomon W. Brown, a short time before up­on his return from the Mexican War.

Robert Brown was the father of ten children, almost all

 

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of whom married into families mentioned elsewhere in this book. They were: Rebecca who married James Deatherage, a brother of the mother of Marcus John; they moved to Arkansas in an early day. Betsey married Skelton Bradshaw, and Nancy married Skelton's son, James Bradshaw; Carolina was the second wife of Thomas Parker; Rhoda married Thomas Knight; Ann married John P. Moreland; Solomon W. married Hannah, daughter of John James; her mother was a Moreland; Robert married a Smith; Tandy was killed in the Mexican War, single; and David disappeared about that time and is thought to have been killed in the war or died of disease.

 

Solomon W. Brown, son of Robert, was the father of six children living to maturity, of whom one, Tandy, still lives at St. James. The others were: Sarah who married George Chambers and moved to Kansas; Ellen, wife of Robert Love of Phelps County; John who married Setta, daughter of A. Mc.Tipton, and died in Texas leaving one daughter who is married and lived in Kansas city; Emma who married George Coppedge of Phelps County; and Theodore who died in Texas.

 

Family tradition is that Moses Walker came to Mis­souri in 1844. His grandfather came to this country from England in an early day and settled in South Carolina, from which point the family scattered, one son going to Virginia and one to Kentucky. Moses Walker is a de­scendant of the Kentucky branch. He later went to Illinois and settled near Danville, where he accumulated consid­erable land and where he met his future wife, Belinda Meade, cousin of the Civil War general of that name. They were married and lived a considerable time in that state before coming to Missouri, where Mr. Walker died about 1855. His widow later married Seth M. Howell.

 

Mrs. Walker has the distinction of having operated the first hotel in the present limits of this county, part of the building now standing on the land adjoining the Walker

 

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schoolhouse now owned by Dr. Jones. At that time it was on the old Springfield Road, and was a stopping point for most travelers on the way east or west, as well as cattle drovers. The creek running past the place was the first water on the road after crossing the Gasconade, and was just a fair days's drive from it. The thirteen chil­dren born to the Moses Walkers were: Moses, Caroline, William R., Milton, Robert J., Helen, Elizabeth, Arletha, Emilda, Pembrook, Samuel, and Alice. We have detailed information about only a few of them.

 

Moses Walker, son of Moses, was killed by a tree, sin­gle; Caroline married a Hart and any of her known de­scendants will be found under that name; Emilda married William W. Marony and Elizabeth married Silas Daggett; no trace of their descendants have been found and it is believed they moved west in an early day; Alice went to California and her offspring have not been traced; George moved to Texas. (All the adult Walkers in this state were in the Union Army except George who served four years in the Confederate Army and remained 'un-reconstructed' to the day of his death).

 

William R, Walker, probably the oldest son of Moses, was born in Illinois March 22, 1835. After coming here he was married to Emily J. Hoss and both are long since dead. Their three children are: Alonzo still living on the home place not far from Belle (his wife was a Coppedge and their children are listed under that name); Ellis an attorney of Rolla; and Mrs. John L. Lovelace of New Mexico, under which name her children are recorded.

 

Robert J. Walker, son of Moses, was born in Vermillion County, Illinois, September 11, 1836, and died at Vichy March 16, 1897. He was married about 1856 to Laodicea N., daughter of Lewis Harrison, who was born March 18, 1839, and died December 19, 1926. One son, William J., was born to them January 23, 1857; the latter married a daughter of Judge George Shinkle and died childless

 

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September 19, 1926, his wife having died several years before. Mr. Walker enlisted in the Union Army in 1861, and served two years. He returned to the farm after his discharge and later moved to Vichy where he and his wife both died. James L. Walker, their second son, born Feb­ruary 23, 1864, died single December 16, 1884; the third and only living son, John E., lives at Sullivan.

 

Arletha, daughter of Moses Walker, married Peter, son of Phillip Fritts. They made their home on the prairie until some time after the Civil War, when they moved to the state of Washington. Since that time their connection with relatives here has only been occasional. They are thought to have been the parents of ten children, their names being given as: Elmer, Milton, Thomas, Boyd, Clara, Bessie, Rosa, Velda, Etta, and Lawrence Fritts. Both parents are long since dead, and nothing is known of the marital status or present addresses of their descend­ants.

 

Helen Walker, daughter of Moses, married George W. Terry, a man with a classical education and a taste for classical names. Their six children were: Plutarch Ar­istotle, Equilla Rachel, Lucretia Basheba, Walker Edem, Scatterbird Poland, and Glaneropolenus Terry. The fam­ily moved to Greene County many years ago and their further line is not known. Senator Peter S. Terry who died at Festus June 11, 1936, was adescendant of George W. Terry but the exact degree is not known.

 

J. M. (Milton) Walker was born August 11, 1839, and died March 18, 1907. His wife's maiden name is not known. He served at least part of the Civil War in the Union Ar­my. His first wife was born August 31, 1849 and died June 16, 1894. She was the mother of three sons; Cort now is California, and Thomas, a Christian minister now or late­ly living at Houston, Texas County. Robert W. Walker died single December 11, 1888. There were also two daughters, Mary Elizabeth, wife of Samuel F. Shinkle, and Julia E.,

 

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wife of Walter T. Ricks, all of the west coast. J. M. Walk­er was also the father of two daughters by his second marriage: Elere, wife of Enoch Burleson, and Mildred, wife of Harry Leitner.

 

Samuel Walker, son of Moses, married Eliza, daughter of Stephen Kinsey. The family moved to Zincite near Joplin sixty or more years ago where both parents died. So far as is known, they only had one daughter, Zoe, and her present address is unknown.

 

Pembrook Walker, son of Moses, was twice married. His first wife was a Waldron, and his second a widow Miles, nee Bailey; his descendants have not been re­ceived.

 

As in the case of other families in the county, the Walk­er family has a tradition that a considerable estate exists in England descending from one of their ancestors, but they have never made any effort to look into the matter.

 

Enoch Ferrell was born in Virginia, but came west as a young man and lived awhile in Indiana, likely in the western part of the state, for he met and married Katherine Meade, sister of Moses Walker's wife, while in that state. The Meade girls had been born and raised in Floyd County, Kentucky, but the family had moved to eastern Illinois or western Indiana in an early day. Walk­er left that section first and came to Missouri, and in the course of a few years Ferrell also sold out with the in­tention of moving to Texas. They started on the trip, com­ing here for a visit with Mrs. Walker's sister, and decid­ed to stay. So far as known, Enoch Ferrell Senior was the only one of the family to come to this state, or at least to this part of it. They are of Irish descent.

 

The family settled on the west side of Lanes Prairie, north of and near to the Walker family, and lived there the remainder of their lives. Their twelve children, all

 

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born before they came here, were: William Rowan, Cath­erine, Lucinda, Polly Harriet, Robert, Thomas Jefferson, John Meade, Enoch Parker, Rhodes, Angirona, Nancy Caroline, and Huston Lafayette Ferrell. Of these Robert and Rhodes died single; Lucinda married Jasper Cope­land and her descendants will be found under that name; Polly Harriet married Dr. William Appley and died about 1864, childless; Catherine, born September 24, 1837, mar­ried James Davis after coming here, she died June 27, and he on November 30, 1858. They were the parents of one child, P. F. Davis, who later went to southwest Mis­souri and it is thought died without issue.

 

William Rowan Ferrell married Mary Forester. He died about 1911 and was survived by his widow until about 1914. They were the parents of five children, all living: William Rowan Ferrell Junior, and Buenavista, wife of Can Camp­bell of this county; Alex and Joseph Ferrell of Osage County; and another daughter who married a Schlesinger and lives in Miller County.

 

Thomas Jefferson Ferrell married Louemma Baker. They were parents of four children, all living: John J. Ferrell, a physician who married Stella Brittain, lives at Owensville; Catherine, wife of George Sughrue, lives at Chicago; Thomas Enoch Ferrell, also a physician, lives at Mountain View, he was twice married and is now a widower. His first wife was Della May, daughter of W. J. and Elizabeth Travis, who was born April 22, 1877, and died May 9, 1908. They were married in 1899, and she was the mother of two children, Dr. Enoch at Springfield, and a daughter, Mrs. Goes, a widow, at Mountain View. Dr. T. E. Ferrell's second marriage, to Gertrude, daughter of John Coates, of Vienna, was childless. Huston E. Fer­rell, the fourth child, also lives at Mountain View, where he practices dentistry and is also active in the ministry of the Christian Church. His wife is Mary, daughter of Judge G. W. Cordsmeyer of this county, to whom he was married July 4, 1903.

 

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John Meade Ferrell died in 1911; his wife, the former Elvira Fitzgerald, died in 1901. Five children were born of the marriage, of whom Thomas, Ophelia, and Warren died single, probably in infancy. Olivia, born June 17, 1855, married J. D. Snodgrass and died November 4, 1876, childless. John Appley Ferrell, the only child born of this union to live to middle age, lived most recently at Sedan, Kansas. He was born September 23, 1865. He married Emma Lugabill of Bluffton, Ohio, in Valparaiso, Indiana, June 8, 1887, and came to Missouri and taught in the Vichy Normal, and other schools, later removing to Kansas near Fort Scott. He was admitted to the bar in Sedan, Kansas, in 1896, was Representative of the County 1915-16, State Senator 1917-19, and was District Deputy Grand Master of the Masons in Kansas and Past Patron of the Eastern Star at the time of his death June 21, 1922. He was the father of three children, one dying in infancy. The others were Ray who is the wife of Dr. Meacham of Oklahoma University, and Enoch B. on the staff of the Bell Tele­phone Company in the east. So far as is now known Mrs. Ferrell survives.

 

Enoch Parker Ferrell was born in 1837; he seems to have located in Phelps County in an early day, and was at one time postmaster at Rolla. In addition he was Coun­ty Surveyor and a member of the state legislature, in which capacity he was instrumental in locating the School of Mines at Rolla. He was a Captain in the Union Army and was wounded at the Battle of Wilsons Creek. He died about or prior to 1887. His wife was Emma, wife of John Miller mentioned in the chapter on the Love and Miller families.

 

His children now or lately living are: Lyda, whose first husband was William Elliott and who is now the wife of Ellis Walker of Rolla; and Lou, wife of Lee Wynn of Phelps County. Those who are dead are: William, who was born in 1866, married Rose Evans, and died in Phelps

 

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County; Carrie, wife of C. A. Hell; Amanda, wife of Bert Shinneman; and Thomas J. Ferrell. The last, who died February 6, 1937, was City Supervisor of Landers, Wy­oming, after serving eight years as Deputy United States Marshal. His wife was Emma Wagner, a teacher of Den­ver, Colorado. They were the parents of six children: Enoch, Jean, Lucille, Eloise, Warren, and Ruth, all liv­ing except Ruth, who was drowned.

 

Angirona Ferrell was twice married; first to John Hogue by whom she was the mother of five children, of whom William died single; the others were Robert, Thom­as, and John Hogue, and Buenavista, whose first husband was Basil Crider, and who later married Carl Cragle. Angirona Hogue's second husband was Martin Schneider, by whom she was the mother of one child, Martin Huston Schneider, who died single.

 

Nancy Caroline Ferrell married Silas Slater. Her oldest child, Charles Slater, died single. The others were: Wil­liam Patience, Mamie, Edward, and Nancy Slater.

 

Huston Lafayette Ferrell, thought to be the youngest child of Enoch and Katherine Ferrell, was born January 11, 1845, and died April 19, 1891. His wife was Martha F. Jarvis. They lived his entire life on the Ferrell place on Lanes Prairie, where both are buried. He was active in the ministry of the Christian Church during most of his adult life. His widow, who was born May 20, 1851, mar­ried Joseph Strickland after Reverend Ferrell's death, and died April 1, 1901. Three of the four children born to them are yet living. Dr. William Rhodes Ferrell lives at Belle; Ollie at Bland; and Emma, wife of Edwin Peters, musical instructor at Drury College in Springfield; Eun­ice, the youngest child, married Charles Aufder Heide of Bland and is dead leaving three children, Maurice, Charles, and Rhodes; their present addresses are not known. He also had a son, Eddie, living at Springfield, Missouri.

 

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