CHAPTER XXVII (Part 17)
BIOGRAPHICAL
Judge James M. Harrison, of Davis township, has resided in Henry County for over sixty-two years and is probably the oldest pioneer in the western part of the county, not only in age, but in years of residence in the county. Few people who settled in his vicinity sixty years ago are now living, and practically, none of the old pioneers are now living in this neighborhood. Judge Harrison has outlived them all and has resided on his farm since he first entered the land from the Government in 1857.
Times have changed greatly in that long period and Judge Harrison has lived to see the vast unbroken prairies thickly populated with a thriving population. His first home on the prairie was a pole cabin roofed with boards, the spaces between the poles being filled with mud. A stick and clay chimney, leading upward from an old fashioned fireplace, sufficed for heat and cooking purposes. The cooking and baking for the family were all done over the open fire. Judge Harrison recalls that he had a very happy time in the old days and there was always plenty to eat.
Game was easily killed and he shot many wild turkeys and prairie chickens for the table. Local hunters made a business of killing deer for the settlers and the larder was always supplied with wild deer meat. Fishing was excellent and altogether everybody enjoyed life. This primitive and carefree condition of living was common among the pioneers until the border troubles and the ensuing Civil War engulfed the neighborhood. Mr. Harrison enlisted in the Confederate forces under General Price in 1861 and served for about eight months, taking part in the battles of Drywood and Lexington and was at Sedalia when the city was invested by the Federal forces. Sickness incapacitated him for continued duty and he was discharged from the service. During the course of years spent in farming activities and stock raising. Judge Harrison became prosperous and accumulated several hundred acres of land, all of which he has given outright to his children excepting 160 acres. Judge Harrison now makes his home, in his old age, with his son, Mordecai A. Harrison.
James M. Harrison was born in Mason County, West Virginia, May 24, 1832, and is the son of William Henry Harrison, a native of Rockingham County, Virginia (born August 22, 1809, died March, 1897). His mother was Esther Allen, a native of Mason County, West Virginia (born December, 1809, died 1862).
William H. Harrison stayed all of his days in Mason County, West Virginia, although he made trips to visit his children in Missouri, but the climate not being agreeable to him, he did not remain for long at a time. He was father of eleven children, only two of whom are living: Josiah, a resident of Jackson County, West Virginia; and James M., subject of this review. Another son, Jeremiah, fought as a Union soldier during the Civil War and died at Salt Lake City in 1915. William H. Harrison, the youngest son, died in September, 1917. He served in the Confederate army.
Judge Harrison came to Missouri in 1856 and during the first year lived at the home of his brother-in-law, Leonard Fisher, who had located in Henry County in 1855. He entered his home place of 160 acres in 1857 and made his home thereon as herein stated. On January 10, 1851, the marriage of James M. Harrison and Esther Fisher was consummated in Jackson County, West Virginia. This marriage was blessed with the following children: The first child born died in infancy; Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Wagner, deceased, left one child, May Wagner; John W., deceased, married Anna Rutledge and left three children, James G., Mrs. R. B. Gates and Ray H., now serving in National Army in France, Company B, 18th Regiment Railway Engineers; James Henry, living in Oklahoma, married Mattie Birge and has two children, Mrs. Odessa Harris and Charles Wesley, and Mordecai M.
Mordecai M. Harrison was born in 1865 and is the owner of a fine farm of 160 acres. He married Linnie Suttles and had five children, two of whom are living, Esther and Mamie. Mrs. Esther Harrison died December 5, 1877, aged fifty-two years. On January 2, 1881, Judge Harrison was married to Margaret P. Greer, who bore him one child, Clement J., now deceased.
During his entire life, since attaining his majority. Judge Harrison has been a staunch Democrat and has been one of the leaders of his party in Henry County. He served eight years as a judge of the County Court, his first term having been in the early eighties and his second term from 1894 to 1898, during which time the present court house at Clinton was erected. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
William Lincoln Gilkeson - The late William L. Gilkeson, whose widow and family are now residing in Davis township, Henry County, was born on August 6, 1864, and departed this life April 7, 1895. He was born in Indiana, and was a son of George Nelson Gilkeson, who settled in Cass County, Missouri, in 1868. William L. Gilkeson was reared to young manhood in Cass County and was there married and engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death. After his death, Mrs. Gilkeson removed to Garden City, Missouri, where she resided until 1915, and then came to her native county of Henry and purchased a farm of eighty two acres in Davis township.
Mr. Gilkeson was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was an excellent citizen, industrious, energetic, and stood high in the community in which he resided. He was fraternally affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. William Lincoln Gilkeson and Miss Mary J. Rogers of Henry County were married in 1887. Mrs. Mary J. Gilkeson was born on the Rogers home place in Henry County July 22, 1866, and is the daughter of Thomas Sidney and Lucinda (Fletcher) Rogers, who were among the earliest pioneer settlers of Henry County and were prominent in the affairs of this county during the early days.
The children born to William and Mary Gilkeson are as follows: Mary Louise, wife of Martin E. Dunham, Sweet Springs, Missouri, mother of one child, Eugene Milton; Ella Florence, at home with her mother; William Lawrence, operating the home farm. All of the children were educated in the Garden City public and high school. Ella Florence attended the Howard Payne College for Girls at Forsythe, Missouri, and Louise taught school for two years prior to her marriage. Mrs. Gilkeson still owns her former home at Garden City in addition to her fine farm, which she is constantly improving. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
William Rusk - The oldest settler in the southwestern part of Fairview township is William Rusk, who for over fifty years has resided upon his quarter section farm. He was the first settler in his neighborhood who located upon the prairie. William Rusk was born at McConnellsville, Ohio, January 10, 1834, on the Muskingum River. He is the son of Humphrey and Margaret (McDonald) Rusk, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. Until he was twenty-two years of age, William Rusk resided in his native county. In the fall of 1855, he went to Illinois, and after a residence of ten years in De Witt County, that State, he went to Iowa. Two years later, in November of 1868, he located on a tract of prairie land in Fairview township. He improved this farm and has mined coal on the place since 1884. The entire tract is underlaid with coal. Mr. Rusk sold eighty acres of the farm to his son, who has erected improvements thereon, and is farming the entire tract.
April 13, 1878, William Rusk and Mrs. Mary S. Sweazy were united in marriage. Mrs. Rusk was the widow of James Sweazy. Two sons were born of this marriage: Ira T., living in Kansas City, Missouri; James M., Harris, Kansas. Mrs. Mary S. (Harnett) Rusk was born in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, on September 9, 1846, and is the daughter of Samuel and Sarah Walker (Corey) Harnett, natives of Pennsylvania.
