CHAPTER XXVII (Part 55)
BIOGRAPHICAL
Jonathan Blevins, a progressive farmer and stockman of White Oak township, is a Henry County pioneer. He was born in Honey Creek township, which was then known as Davis township, October 13, 1855, and is a son of Robert P. and Nancy (Crockett) Blevins. R. P. Blevins was born in what is now White Oak township, near the Clary place, December 23, 1833, and was the first white child born in what is now Henry County.
He spent his life in this county and died near Marvin in Honey Creek township, March 6, 1889. He was a son of Ezekiel Blevins, a Kentuckian and one of the first settlers of Henry County. He died in Johnson County during the Civil War, about 1864. Nancy (Crockett) Blevins, mother of Jonathan Blevins, was a native of Indiana and came here with her parents when she was a child in arms. She died March 6, 1898.
To R. P. and Nancy (Crockett) Blevins were born the following children: Jonathan, the subject of this sketch; Mary Theresa, now the wife of Judge W. B. Collins, one of the county judges of Henry County, a sketch of whom appears in this volume; Sarah J. married John B. Cornett, Big Creek township; Nancy Ann, married Robert DeArmond, Southwest City, Missouri; Julia Bell, married C. A. Davis, Independence, Missouri; Nora L. married Richard Hall, Clinton, Missouri; Irene married James T. Collins and is now deceased; Lottie married John Shaver, Sydney, Montana.
Jonathan Blevins was reared and educated in Davis township, and remained at home with his parents until he was about twenty-five years of age. Farming and stock raising has been his chief occupation and he purchased his present place in 1898. He owns one hundred and sixty acres of land and carries on general farming and stock raising, and has met with uniform success in his undertakings.
On January 15, 1880, Mr. Blevins was united in marriage with Miss Clara Belle Toalson, a daughter of George W. and Margaret E. (Cowden) Toalson, both now deceased. They were early settlers in White Oak township, locating there in 1867. Their children were: George, deceased; Clara Belle, wife of Jonathan Blevins, the subject of this sketch; Mattie, married Nichols Long, Hartwell, Missouri; Oscar B., Bartlesville, Oklahoma; and Omar A., Urich, Missouri.
To Mr. and Mrs. Blevins has been born one daughter, Isa Merle. She married Pari Ewing, and is now deceased. She left one son, Fern W. Ewing, who now resides with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Blevins.
The Blevins family experienced the real pioneer life of Henry County.
When R. P. Blevins was a baby his mother left him in the cabin while she was at work in the garden. The cabin was only partially roofed.
As the mother was at work she discovered a panther endeavoring to climb to the roof of the cabin by reaching through between the logs of the cabin, which had not yet been chinked, and reach the baby, who was lying on a pallet on the floor. She hastened to the cabin and as she reached the inside of the cabin the panther was still endeavoring to reach the baby with its claws. The mother struck one of the extending claws of the animal with a hoe that she still held in her hands and with a single blow severed the claws of the panther. Later, the panther was tracked from the house and killed, by Ezekiel Blevins and the neighbors.
Jonathan Blevins is truly a representative of a sturdy pioneer family of Henry County and is typical of that class of men who have made Henry County what is is today.
Alfred G. Dillon, farmer and stockman, proprietor of a splendid farm of 280 acres in Windsor township, Henry County, is a member of one of the old pioneer families of this county. He was born November 12, 1856, on a farm in Tebo township and is the son of Thomas A. and Mildred A. (Askins) Dillon, who were parents of two children: Alfred G., subject of this sketch; and Lucinda M., deceased, wife of W. F. Burchman.
Thomas A. Dillon was born in Ireland in 1824 and died in 1901. He was the son of Edward and Margaret (Hardy) Dillon, natives of Dublin, Ireland, who emigrated to America in 1831, and first settled in Cooper County, Missouri. By means of incredible labor, Edward Dillon cleared a farm from the timber of Cooper County and was one of the earliest pioneer settlers in that county. He died at Sarcoxie, Missouri. His wife died in Cedar County, Missouri, at the age of eighty-seven years. Thomas A. Dillon came to Henry County in 1853 and established a grocery and general store at Calhoun, which he conducted for a while, sold out and operated a store in Clinton until some time in 1854, when he engaged permanently in farming and stock raising in Tebo township. Mr. Dillon became owner of 600 acres of good land in Tebo township, all of which he accumulated solely by his own efforts, beginning his active career without a dollar of his own. He was married in 1854 to Mildred A. Askins, who was born in Rappahannock County, Virginia, in 1831 and departed this life in 1898. She was the daughter of Rev. Alfred and Lucinda (Jones) Askins, both of whom were natives of Virginia. Alfred Askins was a minister of the Primitive Baptist Church.
Alfred G. Dillon attended the district schools and also the Calhoun schools for two terms. He began his active career as farmer and stockan in 1878, when he purchased 240 acres of land three miles west of Windsor. He traded this tract for Windsor property in 1880 and then traded the Windsor property for his present farm in Windsor township.
Mr. Dillon has improved his land to a considerable extent and raises red polled cattle for the market. In addition to his farming interests he is a stockholder in both banks at Calhoun, Missouri.
On November 14, 1882, Alfred G. Dillon and Miss Mollie F. Sappington were united in marriage. Mrs. Mollie F. Dillon was born July 13, 1861, in Windsor township, the daughter of Squire Boone and Jemima (Jermison) Sappington, well-known residents of Windsor township, a sketch of whom appears in this volume. One child has been born to Alfred G. and Mollie F. Dillon, namely: Mildred J., wife of C. W. Lambeth, a sketch of whom also appears in this volume.
The Democratic party has always had the support of Mr. Dillon. He and Mrs. Dillon are members of the Calhoun Baptist Church, and he is a member of the Mystic Workers.
Edmond B. Grinstead, an enterprising and progressive farmer and horse breeder of Windsor township, and proprietor of 250 acres of well improved farm lands, was born in Pettis County, Missouri, August 14, 1856. He is the son of George W. and Susan V. (Sacra) Grinstead, who were parents of nine sons and a daughter, all of whom were reared to maturity.
George W. Grinstead was born in Kentucky in 1832 and was the son of pioneers and tillers of the soil for generations past. He crossed the plains in 1849 and spent several months in the gold fields of California.
Upon his return he began farming near Georgetown, Pettis County, Missouri, and later purchased a farm in Johnson County. He ceased active farming operations in 1890 and removed to Windsor, where his death occurred in 1911. Mrs. Susan V. (Sacra) Grinstead was born in Kentucky and attended school with the late Senator George Vest, of Missouri, who will always be remembered for his classical address at the trial of the famous dog case in Warrensburg. Mrs. Grinstead died in 1915. To George W. and Susan V. Grinstead were born children as follow: Mollie, deceased wife of Joseph M. Jones; Edmond B., subject of this sketch; Samuel, Sedalia, Missouri; William, a farmer of Pettis County, Missouri; Charles, a resident of Muskogee, Oklahoma; Hallie, deceased; Robert, Government income tax collector, Kansas City, Missouri; Ernest, in the employ of the Woodard Clothing Company, Windsor, Missouri; Thomas, Denver, Colorado; Sacra L., county clerk of Henry County, Clinton, Missouri; William, Pettis County, Missouri.
Edmond B. Grinstead was reared to the life of a tiller of the soil, and he began his independent career upon attaining his majority. Early in life, he became interested in live stock and became an expert in this branch of animal husbandry, specializing in mules and has dealt in mules for many years. For a period of ten years, he made a business of buying rnd shipping live stock, while carrying on his farming operations. He purchased his present home farm of 250 acres in 1901 and settled there in 1903. The Grinstead home place is nicely improved and is noted for the fine saddle horses bred by the owner. "Pearl Wilson," a splendid five year old saddle mare owned by Mr. Grinstead, won first prize at the Missouri State Fair for two successive seasons.
Mr. Grinstead was married in February, 1901, to Miss Leona Cooper, who was born in Johnson County, Missouri, near the Henry-Johnson County line. She is the daughter of Henry and Nancy (Stiles) Cooper, the former of whom is deceased. Two children have been born to this union: Genevieve and Gayle.
Henry Cooper was born in Trigg County, Kentucky, in 1818, a son of David Cooper, a native of Kentucky, who immigrated to Johnson County in 1832 and settled on the Cooper home place. He was father of seventeen children. David Cooper lived to the great age of eighty years. Henry Cooper died in 1910 at the age of ninety-two years. Nancy (Stiles) Cooper was born in Kentucky in 1834 and accompanied her father, David Stiles, to Missouri in 1840. To Henry and Nancy Cooper were born ten children: Elizabeth, deceased; David, on a farm in Johnson County; George, Warrensburg, Missouri; Jefferson D., Johnson County; Mrs. Margaret Muir, Windsor, Missouri; Lucy (Wilcox), Windsor; William, Windsor; John, on the Cooper home place, Johnson County; Frank, died in infancy. The Cooper place is widely known as the "Windsor Springs," noted for its fine water and was a picnic resort.
Mr. Grinstead is a Democrat but has devoted very little time to political matters during his busy life. He is a member of the Anti-Horse Thief Association, and has been active in other matters of a civic nature, aside from his farming. He assisted in the organization of the Windsor Telephone Company and it was through his influence that the line was extended through to Leesville. Few people were sanguine of his enterprise, most folks prophesying that the venture would result in a financial failure. Mr. Grinstead persisted, however, and his energy and optimism regarding the project eventually won out, and the Windsor Telephone Company is now an excellent paying institution which gives good service to hundreds of patrons.
