We, of the 20th century, have become geared to a fast track. Our young men and women pursue careers that our forefathers would never have imagined. All generations have "reached for the stars," but now we cruise among them in vehicles of such complexity that the majority of us do not understand them at all. Our heroes are the men aboard who look for new frontiers to conquer in space.
But, lest we forget, there was a time when the "new frontiers" cropped up at ground level, all across this country of ours; and for a brief time in our nation's history, that frontier was right here in Cooper County, Missouri. One of the earliest pioneers of this exciting and dangerous new frontier was our ancestor, David Jones. This manuscript will attempt to introduce David Jones, his family, and his frontier to his 20th century descendants who have gathered together near the site of his original land holdings in Cooper County, Missouri.
This part of the country had, at various times, been owned by the governments of both France and Spain. Then, on April 30, 1803, the territory became a part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase. The District of Louisiana was established on October 6, 1804 with Cooper County as part of it. June 4, 1812, it became part of the Territory of Missouri; and on August 10, 1821, it became a part of the state of Missouri.
The area was first inhabited by members of the Sauk and Fox Indian tribes. The Sauks, under Quashgami, their chief, lived on the Moniteau Creek in south Cooper County (just 2 miles south of Pisgah). During the War of 1812, they were allies of the British.
The first white settlers in Cooper County were the families of Stephen Cole and the widow Hannah Cole, seventeen persons in all. They came in 1810 and for several years had no white neighbors except those north of the Missouri River (in present Howard County), who lived near the several forts there.
After the War of 1812, more settlers came. Among them were David and Tabitha Jones from Kentucky, who settled in what became North Moniteau township. Family tradition makes the year 1815. One source says they came in a two-wheeled ox cart; another claims a covered wagon Take your pick! In either case, it can only have been a hazardous and difficult journey.
There can be little doubt that Missouri of that era was Sparsely populated. The St. Louis of 1815 must have had a population in between the 2,600 of 1812 and the 5,600 of 1821. Old Franklin, across the Missouri River in present Howard County, was, in 1817, a settlement of 120 log houses and 27 businesses; it was the most prosperous town west of St. Charles. Where Boonville now stands there were only eight cabins.
This, then, was the frontier, and rugged it was! At that, it seemed to have been too congested for our David who settled about 16 miles south and east of everybody.
We wonder why this looked good to him?
Looking through the eyes of 1815, we are assured that the place he chose had everything: timber for building and heat; wild game in abundance, and fish in the Moniteau Creek for food. The older folks used to say that there were several big springs in the area; these alone would have sold real estate. On the other hand, Tabitha may have refused to go another step; one could hardly blame her. The marriage of David and Tabitha (nee Nanna) had occurred in Warren County, Kentucky on March 5, 1813, and no doubt they had at least one small child when they moved west. They were to have six children in all and to live here for 47 years.
David is said to have been the first settler in the area. He descended from several generations of pioneers, and he seems to have had some education. He was, therefore, as well-qualified as anybody of that time and place for the task ahead, and he went right to work on it'
He is thought to have farmed. Court records as early as 1819 show that he was a member of several juries and grand juries. He served his community as justice of the peace. Deed books of 1831 and later show that he performed marriages for many in the community and that he witnessed many land transactions. He had a mercantile business which he operated on his farm; he later stocked a store in California, Mo., at the request of customers from that area. He is said, also, to have acted as postmaster. A life-long Democrat, he was elected a Missouri state representative in 1828, 1832, and 1 834, and a state senator in 1836 and 1848.
Unfortunately, we have no descriptions of Jefferson City, the state capital, in 1828 when David first arrived there to serve; however, the following excerpt from a letter written by a Dr. Lane of St. Louis gives an idea of the new capital city in 1826 during the first session of the Missouri legislature to be held there. He noted that Jefferson City was "...a place singularly compounded of town, hamlet, camp and wild woods...a cluster of short steep hills on the Missouri River, with deep ravines ...over a wide extent of which are scattered three brick buildings (one is the Governor's house and contains both Governor and Legislature and the other two are half-finished taverns), two small stone buildings and some 12 or 18 other buildings of one kind or another... I took boarding at Major Ramsey's (no Kentuckian will be willingly less than a Major!) ...His wife, a pretty woman... I believe I pay $4.50 per week besides something for washing... My pay (for the Legislature) being $2.25 per day... We lodge in a cabin containing three beds such as there are, some split bottom chairs... The table is well supplied... the boarders, some 40 or 50 in number are civil, and I have no fault with my room mates." Jefferson City may have improved some by 1828, but probably not a great deal. Trouble with land speculators caused the first lots offered for sale to go at very low prices and mostly on credit, thus the legislators were slow in appropriating funds to make improvements on the state building. By 1829, they had, however, added lead to the roof and put a fence of cedar posts around the grounds. They also constructed a new brick privy for $150.00!
David's years in political office covered an interesting time in Missouri's history. New counties were formed; a system of common schools was established; turnpike road systems were chartered; and a deaf and dumb asylum was proposed. There were three cholera epidemics, and the Jefferson City area was especially hard hit.
The 1832 legislature proposed new amendments to the State Constitution which were ratified in 1834. Among them was one setting the northern boundary line of the state. It seems that there were no less than four possible choices for the line between the state of Missouri and the territory of Iowa. Missouri, naturally, claimed the most northerly line. Iowa territory took a dim view of this and promptly claimed the most southerly choice. This left a veritable "no-man's-land" in between. Missouri officials, acting in the line of duty, were forever being jailed for trespass by zealous Iowa "patriots." In 1839, a Missouri farmer cut three bee trees in the disputed area, and this triggered a "little war with Iowa," sometimes called the Honey War. Both governors called out their state militia. By some miracle, bloodshed was averted, and the problem was finally settled by the U. S. Supreme Court in 1851. The contested area was divided about evenly, but not before there were hard feelings on both sides.
National events also were reflected in the actions of the -Missouri legislature. A fugitive slave law passed the Missouri house and senate, but it was vetoed by the Governor. The Seminole (Indian) War occurred in 1837. In 1848, talk of a railroad to the Pacific caused great speculation... in fact our own David was heard to speculate that such an undertaking would never be possible and that he doubted the sanity of anyone who proposed such an ideal With typical legislative inconsistency, acts were passed chartering religious bodies, and two temperance societies were organized; at the same time, another act was passed "to promote the growing of wine in Gasconade County."
The women of the frontier were not ignored by the state's officials: under-estimated, perhaps, but not ignored! In 1848, Governor Edwards, in an address to the joint houses of the Missouri legislature, recommended that women continue to turn their estates over to their husbands... "A separate property would (he stated) change the character of the wife. In the managing of her estate, she would lose the woman, and become in character a man. All that was soft, and tender and endearing would vanish, and she would grow sturdy, obstinate, and masculine, as in the case where' effeminate husbands surrendered the reins of government to their wives."
Regrettably, we know nothing of Tabitha. She must have been very special; she, and other "little ladies" of the frontier had to be and they deserved much more credit than they ever received. It is doubtful if Tabitha ever went to Jefferson City. There were no inaugural balls or social events to speak of in the 14 years that David served on the political scene, and travel was difficult in those early years. Legislators went to the capital by horseback or on the river. We expect that Tabitha remained at home... "soft, tender and endearing..." as she was superintending the farm, the house, the store, the post office, the children, and the slaves!
Meanwhile, a settlement was growing up adjoining David's farm. A blacksmith settled there. Enough Baptists appeared on the scene to organize a church in June of 1819, and a log meeting house was erected fin 1820. These formed the nucleus for the community called "Pisgah." While we cannot say it grew by leaps and bounds, when you consider that for several years no other towns existed in Cooper County outside of Boonville, it has to have been something of a mini-metropolis.
We take pride in the fact that David and Tabitha Jones were charter members of this Baptist Church and that David was appointed its first clerk and a deacon. This church is considered to be the second oldest Baptist church west of the Mississippi River, and it is one of the oldest still-active churches.
The first church building was of log (chinked with strong lime mortar), 26 x 36 feet, with three doors and two windows; it is said to have been about a half mile east of the present church site. The first congregation included Negroes who were the property of slave owners. Discipline was strict. Church trials were held for such offenses as horse-racing, playing the fiddle on Sunday, drinking, profane language and gossiping. One of the first ministers and an organizer of the congregation was Rev. John B. Longdon who served off and on for 27 years. He is said to have been, in early life. a very wicked man who had extraordinary physical power and when excited, he created terror in the breasts of all. After attending church a few times, he realized the error of his ways; he joined the Baptist church and seems to have devoted the rest of his life to the ministry. It is reported that the only material compensation that he received was on one occasion when his horse died, the members of his scattered congregation bought him another one. He helped organize many early churches in Cooper County and surrounding counties.
On May 31, 1845, the trustees (among them, William Hunt) for the "Baptist Church called Pisgah" purchased for $50.00, Lots 15,16,17, and 18 (the village was plated June 30, 1836) and work was shortly begun on a new church building at about the present location. It was to be of brick and sized 40 feet by 60 feet. David Jones was authorized to furnish the nails for the construction.
In 1870, the church members voted to erect the third church building (see sketch #1). This lovely church was built by a local contractor, Clay Simms. It was in this building that a Rev. Tipton stopped in the middle of a sermon to spank his son who was misbehaving.... Church discipline was still strict. Prior to and during this time, baptisms were held at the Moniteau Creek. In 1871, the church granted a request of the blacks to organize a separate church known as the First Colored Church at Pisgah; and, thereafter, they had their own meeting house and worshipped to themselves.
Work on the present church building was begun August 1, 1926; and in May of the following year, it was dedicated. For 163 years, in good times and bad, there has been a Baptist Church at Pisgah. Descendants of Nancy Jones and William B. Hunt are still active members of this congregation today.
A Christian Church of Pisagh (see sketch #2) stood north and across the road from hte Baptist Church. Materials for this church were furnished by Lewis D. Reavis, who with voluntary help built it. He also endowed the organization. By trade, Reavis was a cabinet maker; there are still a few examples of his workmanship in the community today. Services were discontinued at this church during the early 1920's, and it burned in a grass fire in Marchc 1957. This church and cemetary had, at one time, a hedge around it and nice old trees in the yard. Lewis D.'s wife, whom he married June 23, 1836, was Mary Hunt, a daughter of William and Nancy Jones Hunt. "Aunt Polly" (as she was called) left us the records upon which most Jones-Hunt research is based. We owe her a debt of gratitude.
Traveling east on the "main" road through Pisgah community, we can only imagine how it must have appeared. The early-day grist mill, carding machine and tan-yardd would have drawn customers into hte settlement from a wide area. Some vats from the old tannery were plowed up in the late 1920's. Lula Hunt remembered as a small child going to church with her parents and having to pass the tannery. She remarked on the ghastly smell which rose at times from the heated vats. In checking, we find that the tanning industry was one which needed plenty of icy, running spring water, a fact which supports the theory that there were "several big springs in the area". Though very necessary at the time, the tanning of animal hides seems to have been an exceptionally disagreeable business, and we expect that more than one proprietormight have been asked by the citizenry to "clean up his act".
There were other evidences of Pisgah's prosperity and importance in early Cooper County. At one period, there were three stores, a grog shop or two, and a shop where Mr. St. John manufactured chairs. Saddles were made at Pisgah, as well as ploughs and croquet sets. In 1876, Pisgah's population included to physicians and one lawyer.
Pisgah was formerly a part of the Greenwood school district and the chilren attended a subscription school about a mile and a half south of town. About 1887, Pisgah residents became "right uppity" and were desirous of forming their own district. They maintained that the Greenwood children carried ticks. You might presume that this could cause trouble. It did: Greenwood parents countered by arguing that the Pisgah children had fleas. The situation became so heated that the district was divided, and thereafter a school house stood in the village. No information is available about the hard feelings resulting from these infested accusations; however, as far as is known, all children concerned grew up tickless and flealess and became reasonable solid citizens!
The building (see sketch #3) is the last store in Pisgah. We do not know when it was built, but the generation (born ca. 1849) remembered it as always being there. An English gentleman named Richard Bonsfield (early storekeeper in Old Franklin and Boonville) seems to have been the first proprietor. He is said to have retired both wealthy and respected. In the 1920's, here were ten or so mailboxes across the road from the store, so it became the most satisfactory "loafing" place in the community. No blue laws then! The storekeeper's houe was in the yard, just west of the store, so most anytime a customer arrived, business would begin. Those of us who were small children then, remember peppermit sticks and chocolate drops in small brown papersacks dispensed by Mr. John Smith. And could we ever forget the brown leather, everyday sandal shoes that came into the store each spring and were so heavenly after the heavy oxfords of winter. Since they were all alike, fathers could pick them up as casually as choosing a spool of thread. Shopping was not so casual during the great depression of the 1930's when Warren Morris was the storekeeper. It was during this time that some absolute genius initiated the practice of putting chicken feed in printed sacks, and three of these sacks would make a dress. (The trick was to get three sacks alike) The ladies agonized over and discussed the printed sacks for hours, and it must have been a trying time for a storekeeper. That this Pisgah store was always a fashion center cannot be doubted. This store went out of business in the mid-1940's, and a dispersal sale was held. The back room yielded up high-top, button shoes for men and women; celluloid collars; odd hats, still in boxes; long underwear, which would have been a real item among today's energy-conscious population or the fashionable ski crowd. There were bolts of truly lovely four and five inch eyelet edgings from the era when ladies' lingerie needed just such a touch. We expect much was hauled away and burned. No one had time for nostalgia; we were in the midst of World War II.
Back again to that earlier era when transportation, agriculture, construction and industry depended on the skills of a blacksmith. The blacksmith shop in Pisgah (see sketch #4) was originally a two-storied building which housed six forges on the ground level and a wagon-building business and walnut coffin shop on the second floor. The wagon shop may have been run by John L. Jones who is known to have made wagons and ploughs at Pisgah. Thomas Gay was probably the coffin maker; in 1853 he was getting $15.00 for each handmade walnut coffin. He also had a sizable nursery in the area. we do not know who first ran this blacksmith shop, but he would have been one of the most important men in the community. The smithy literally kept things from falling apart; and in many cases, he possessed a fine sense of the artistic. Many links of historical interest connect with this "factory," the old store, and the Jones-Hunt house across the street. Unfortunately the ensuing years have made it all but impossible to separate "fact from fiction."
This difficulty is no more evident than in discerning the history of the Jones-Hunt house (see sketch #5) This impressive house was built in 1847 by John L. Jones of bricks made on the premises. He was the son of David and Tabitha Jones and is said to have been just 16 years old when he began it. Originally, the brick part was a full three stories tall.
Chances are that when parents or grandparents spoke of Pisgah with nostalgia, they were remembering people or events in this house. The family of Gilbert and Melcina Apperson Jones were especially drawn to it; Melcina was a granddaughter of Nancy Jones and William B. Hunt, Sr., and Gilbert was a grandson of David and Tabitha Jones.
The Jones-Hunt house was the scene of numerous unique events. During the Civil War, education was a problem, and so a small school was held in the house. We do not know who taught, but Melcina Apperson was a student. Probably a group of parents who felt the need for continuing their children's education helped to pay the teacher's salary.
A wedding of some social significance in Cooper County was held in this house on New Year's eve of 1868. A local girl with the romantic name of Adelia Delora French, a daughter of J. R. French married Wyan Nelson, son of Thomas Withers Nelson of Boonville. It was a wild and stormy night and few guests from Boonville braved the icy, rutted roads. Nevertheless, the bride wore white satin and a veil; the ceremony, read by a Rev. Davis, was imbued with all the dignity and graciousness of the times. They later moved to Kansas City where Mr. Nelson established and headed the Nelson Grain Company. They celebrated a 60th anniversary in 1928. John L. and Polly George Jones' daughter, Sallie, had married Gilbert French, who was a brother of Adelia Delora. The Gilbert Frenches are known to have lived in Kingsville, Mo. for a time, and that is where John L. Jones is said to have gone when he left Pisgah. Cliff Hunt, the last of the Hunt line to live in the house, stated that he was told that the Hunts bought this house in the late 1860's. At any rate, the house is remembered as a place of laughter and good conversation. It was in the Hunt family for over a hundred years, and in 1976, it was certified as a centennial farm. The house stood until this decade when a combination of wind storm and a sonic boom finally caused a cave-in. The damage was irreparable, and it was bulldozed down.
When pioneers arrived at their new-chosen "frontier," they always seem to have "hit the ground running." They raced to get a crop planted and to build shelter from the elements. Nothing was easy! Most settlers built their first homes of logs, with puncheon floors, clapboard shutters, and stick and clay chimneys. Fireplaces were large enough to cook in, and there was usually a root cellar under the floor. David and Tabitha probably built their first home something like this; even well-to-do people with slaves did so, at least temporarily. We do not know if David brought any slaves out of Kentucky when he came to Missouri. However, when he died in 1862, he is known to have had 12 slaves, appraised at $3600.00.
The frontier of then is, now, only a memory; and present conditions of travel and communications almost prevent us from having a clear idea of the uncertainties that were faced. Records of a family who settled in this area in 1819 state that "the Indians frequently roamed around. Buffalo, elk, bear and panthers were to be seen thereabouts... no roads or bridges."
We suppose that time sped by rapidly in these early days, perhaps even pleasantly by the standards of the early 1800's. Yet, the frontier conditions of hardship and difficult traveling affected the families' lives, either holding them together in a closely-knit group or separating them for long periods of time. David appears to have been fortunate in that many of his brothers and sisters lived nearby or visited in the area during these early years.
David's brothers, Abraham and James, are known to have lived in the neighborhood. Abraham's name is found as witness to several wills, and James was a minister who performed a number of marriages. The sister Sallie and her husband, George Chapman, probably came occasionally; they settled in Cooper County (Blackwater Township) in 1818. He had signed David and Tabitha's marriage bond as a security before they left Kentucky. George is described as "a Kentucky frontiersman and a pioneer in Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. He was a noted border character who spent his life in advancing the outposts of civilization in remote and unsettled regions."
We think that David's brother, Lewis, lived close by after his marriage to Elizabeth McKenney in Howard County, Jan. 16, 1820. One source credits them with a daughter, Mary Jane, b.. Dec. 2, 1822 at Pisgah, Mo. (The same source says he came from Knoxville, Tenn. to Missouri in 1825. So much for reliable sources!) Lewis must have been a "mover and a shaker." By 1827, he seems to have found his frontier in early-day Independence, Missouri where he opened a first blacksmith shop. He was an owner in the Traders Company (a group of 33 Santa Fe freighters). Among others, he signed a letter from Chouteau Island, July 11, 1829, from the Company to one Major Bennett Riley asking for military escort to Santa Fe. (The Major regretted! We can assume that Lewis "regretted" also, because on a subsequent trip to trade in Santa Fe, Lewis and his partners were attacked by Indians and, at one point, forced to chew on their moccasin leather for sustenance as they hid from their enemy!) Lewis served as commissioner of the Jackson County Court and as justice of the peace. In the 1830's, he built a luxurious hotel in Independence, said to be the finest west of St. Louis. He got "steamed up" enough about the Seminole War in 1837, to serve in Company H of Col. Richard Gentry's regiment of volunteers. Lewis was all for railroads" Think of the stir that Lewis aroused when he came for a visit'
Another of David's sisters, Nancy Jones Hunt and her husband, William Berry Hunt, Sr., moved to the neighborhood in 1825, from Howard County (north of the Missouri River) with at least part of their family. They were to have ten children who reached adulthood.
A second generation of Joneses and Hunts were growing Up at Pisgah, and everyone seemed to be prospering. This is the brick home (see sketch #6) that David built in 1834 on land purchased from the Bowles estate, April 9, 1829. We think his original land holding was just in back, and when he bought this small plot (30 acres) he was gaining access. His store is said to have been in the yard and was supposedly the first in the area. A young immigrant boy named Viet Eppstine, who left his home in Germany at age 14, somehow managed to land here and clerked in the "store of Davy Jones at Pisgah." This would have been about 1842, though we think it was a business that was well established before then. (Viet was later a merchant in Boonville.)
This place is of special interest to descendants of David and Tabitha Jones. They lived here, and close by, for almost half a century, and their graves are in the cemetery across the road. Their deaths occurred in the early years of the Civil War (1862), and the son, David Alley Jones, and his wife, Melvina Lee, were living in the Jones house on the hill. During this time, an alarm was spread that the slaves were planning an uprising. Because they were built of brick, this house and the Jones-Hunt house were thought to be the best places to defend. The citizenry was to bring guns, munitions, and food, and gather at these houses for mutual protection. No attack occurred; nerves were frayed during the Civil War period so probably a rumor got out of hand.
This house is the setting for another Civil War story which concerned Melvina Lee Jones. It seems the men were all away, and she was in bed recuperating from childbirth. Soldiers came to rob and pillage. They took everything they could find, then they demanded money. There was money, hidden in the paneling behind her bed, but, despite threats, she denied having it; finally the soldiers left. Said to have been of small stature (barely five feet tall), this "little lady" emerges as being ten feet tall to her descendants. The Pisgah area probably saw fewer real soldiers than it did the criminal element. They wore both the Blue and the Gray and committed their crimes boldly in the shadows of the real conflict. This house went out of the family sometime after 1865 when David Alley and Melvina and several of their children (a sizable party) moved to Gainsville, Texas.
Some of David Alley and Melvina's children chose to remain in Missouri. Their son, Gilbert Jones married Melcina Apperson; they lived in the old Apperson house (see sketch #7) which was located on what is now the Prairie Home Game Refuge. They moved to Bunceton in the 1890's where Gilbert ran a general store. They later followed their children to Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Their descendants are scattered to the winds; yet when many of these descendants gathered in Roswell, New Mexico for a reunion in August, 1980, we discovered a great kinship in learning about our common heritage. A third David (Lewis) Jones, son and David Alley and Melvina, was to remain in the Pisgah area until his death in 1942. He served as deacon of the Pisgah Baptist Church for 53 years. His home, built in 1893 (Highway J-north), is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Tuttle. (Mrs. Tuttle is a descendant of Nancy Jones and William Berry Hunt, Sr.) Descendants of David Lewis Jones are prominently represented in the county today as are those of Nancy and William B. Hunt.
Through the years, Cooper County, Missouri and its people have prospered. We can be proud of the contributions that David and Tabitha Jones, and others of the Jones and Hunt families, and their descendants have made while seeking new frontiers Thus, we see that our ancestors have lived, achieved, and died,
...as their "frontiers" challenged them, changed them, and, then also, passed away....
...and each generation has found a frontier that suited them. This has occurred all across this land ...to our family as it has to others. We may feel ourselves in the uncertain position of having no place to go but up. Some may find this awesome and even frightening; though, our younger generations seem fairly "matter of fact" about it.
...Yet, whatever will be the "new frontiers" for the future descendants of ours, we can expect that they will cope very well. They have, after all, a heritage of the spirit, courage, and enthusiasm needed to be the pioneers of the "frontiers of the future." Parents
Jabez Jones m Nancy Beck (or Bean)
We know he moved from North Carolina or Tennessee to Kentucky. He
was in Barren County, Kentucky on Aug. 30, 1811 when he signed a marriage
bond for his daughter,Nancy, and Wm. Hunt.
Children
1. Abraham m. Mary Ingart 9/8/1800
2. James m. Nancy Vandever
3. Samuel m. (?) Spears Seems to have remained in Kentucky.
4. Jabez Jr. m. Nancy Horton
5. Sallie m. George Chapman
* 6. David m. Tabitha Nanna, 3/5/1811 Warren Co., Ky.
* 7. Nancy m. William B. Hunt, 9/11/1811, Barren Co., Ky.
8. Lewis m. Elizabeth McKenney
9. Hannah m. Charles Vandever
Grandchildren (of Jabez Jones)
Children of (6) David and Tabitha Jones
1. Louisa m. (?) Arbuckle(settled in Arkansas)
2. Emily m. R. A. Boswell
3. Nancy m. James Boswell
4. Sallie m. John Chinn
5. John L. m. Mary (Polly) George
6. David A. m. Melvina Lee (1/31/1846)
Children of (7) Nancy Jones and Wm. Hunt
1. Daniel m. Milly Challis
2. Sally and Nancy (died when infants)
3. Mary m. Lewis Reavis
4. Malinda m. (?) Pinson
5. Louisa (did not marry)
6. Jonathan m.(l) Martha Lee (2) Susan Neely
7. Zilpha m. William Apperson
8. Martha m. Wash Johnson
9. William Jr. m. Sallie Boswell
10. Jane m. James York
11. Elvira m. Joseph Johnston
References Sources
Amick, Gertrude Jones. Melcina Apperson Jones, Early Years. A manuscript. 1936.
Casselberry, Evans. Revised Statutes of Missouri. 1845.
Cole, Mrs. G. T. "White People, Negroes Formerly Worshipped Together at Pisgah." Boonville Advertisers 99th Anniversary Rural Life Edition. 1939.
Giffen, Jerena East. First Ladies of Missouri. 1970.
History of Howard and Cooper Counties. 1883.
Jeremiah Smith: Missouri Pioneer. (Author not known) Boonslick Library.
Johnson. W. F. The History of Cooper County, Missouri. 1919.
Jones, Richard L. Biography of David Jones. A manuscript. 1939.
Leopard, Buel and Shoemaker, Floyd C. Messages and Proclamations: Governors of Missouri, Vol. II. 1922.
Levens, Henry C. and Drake, Nathaniel M. History of Cooper County, Missouri. 1876.
McCandless, Perry. A History of Missouri. Vol. II' 1820-1860. University of Missouri Press. 1972.
McReynolds, Edwin. Missouris History of the Crossroads State. 1962. Smith, Benton C. "Pisgah, Founded in 1815, Rich in Early Day Lore." Boonville Daily News.
Thomas, (_). Warren County, Kentucky Marriages (1797-1851)
Credits
Pen and Ink Sketches, by Jennifer Huecker, from photos by Hunt, Carpenter and Reavis.
Text for this manuscript researched and written by Helen Reavis Shrout
Editing and typing by Sandra Shrout Riggle Prepared for the Jones-Hunt Reunion in Cooper County, MO, August 21-22, 1982
