CHAPTER XXVII (Part 20)
BIOGRAPHICAL
James E. Teays - The Teays family is one of the oldest pioneer families of Henry County and western Missouri. Since 1840, when the elder Teays, father of James E. and Edward Teays, of whom this sketch is written, first entered a large tract of land in the southeast corner of Bear Creek township, this land has remained in possession of the family.
James T. Teays, the elder, in his dying words to his sons, said: "Take care of the place." Ever since that time the sons have been improving this splendid tract of seven hundred seventy acres, one of the largest individual farms in Henry County. There are two sets of splendid improvements on this farm. The homestead is one of the largest and best built structures in the county.
James E. Teays was born March 20, 1844, in a log cabin which was the first structure erected by his father upon his land in 1841. He is the son of James T. Teays (born 1807, died April 1, 1875). James T. Teays was a native of Kanawha County, West Virginia, and he migrated to Missouri in 1840. The following year, he brought his family to the new home in Henry County and resided here until his death. He was accompanied by his father-in-law, John Everett. Until the log cabin could be erected in 1841, the family lived under a large tree which stood upon a high point of the Teays land. Mr. Teays entered Government land and also purchased land at $1.25 an acre until he accumulated a large tract of nearly 800 acres. In West Virginia, James T. Teays married Eliza Ann Everett, born in Cabell County, Virginia, in 1810 and departed this life in 1880. The children born to James T. and Eliza Ann Teays were: Stephen, Francis Asbury, William Carroll, and Mary Elizabeth, deceased; James E., of this review; Edward, also of this review; Virginia and Henry deceased.
Mr. Teays was a Democrat and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The brothers, James E. and Edward Teays, erected the Teays Chapel on a beautifully wooded and grassy plot of ground between the two residences on the place, because of the expressed wish of their parents. James T. Teays and his wife had planned, eventually, to build the church and had selected the place for its erection. Not long before her death the mother accompanied her son, James E., to the site she preferred and said to him: "Father and I often talked of building a church on this spot, and if you build it, build it right here." He did so and the church is a handsome, substantially built structure, situated on a grassy sward shaded by giant forest trees, making it one of the most beautiful country churches in this section of Missouri. The Teays brothers built this chapel in 1881, and consecrated the edifice to the memory of their parents. What better memorial could devoted children erect than a religious edifice? The deed showed nobility of character and a reverence for the memory of godly parents seldom surpassed or equaled.
The mother of Joseph H. Wilson, the sage of Deepwater township, and James T. Teays' mother were sisters, of Revolutionary ancestry, the particulars of which can be found in the biography of Mr. Wilson, else where in this volume. The great-grandfather of James T. Teays was once captured by savage Indians and kept captive for seven years in Virginia. James T. Teays was the son of Stephen Teays, who married a Miss Carroll of the Carrolls of Carrollton, Virginia, and of Carrollton, Ohio.
Thomas Teays, father of Stephen Teays, married Catherine Lee and was an officer in the Colonial Army which served in the French and Indian Wars. He was captured by the Indians and condemned to death at the stake, but his life was saved by the intercession of a squaw. He was held a prisoner for seven years. The family is of French Huguenot origin and the direct ancestors in France, fled to Germany to escape religious persecution.
James E. Teays has lived all of his life upon the land where his birth occurred. He has never married, but has devoted his life to the care of his brother's family. He is one of the best citizens of Henry County, who is universally respected and stands among the leaders of his county.
Edward Teays was born on the Teays homestead June 5, 1850, and was married April 15, 1875, to Miss Elizabeth Dickison, who has borne him seven children, six of whom are living: Rev. William Combes Teays, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at Papinville, Missouri; Mary Everett, wife of F. W. Drake, Glenwood Springs, Colorado; James Dickison, residing on the old home place; Sarah Virginia, wife of F. L. House, Appleton City, Missouri; Edna Eliza, wife of W. B. Wooldridge, Trinidad, Colorado; Betsy Eleanor, wife of W. F. Henry, Walsenburg, Colorado.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Dickison) Teays was born in Bear Creek township, Henry County, January 23, 1854, and is the daughter of Samuel (born May 25, 1807, died 1862) and Mrs. Sarah Ann (Combes) Dickison (born July 23, 1816, died March 5, 1876), natives of Virginia. Samuel Dickison moved to Ohio from his native State with his parents in 1819 and was there reared to young manhood. He came to Henry County and entered a tract of Government land in Bear Creek township in 1836.
Mrs. Elizabeth Teays was the only child of this second marriage of her father. There were three children born of a former marriage, one of whom is living: Artemus Jefferson Dickison, Sumpter, Oregon. Sarah Ann (Combes) Dickison was the daughter of Col. John Combes, who was born September 11, 1777, and was a pioneer in Johnson County, Missouri. He served as commissioned officer in the War of 1812 and received a tract of land in Kentucky for his services.
Wiley H. Alexander - The Alexander farm in Davis township is one of the finest tracts of productive land in this section of Missouri. The tract, which consists of 180 acres, is one mile and one-eighth in length and one-fourth of a mile wide and has been the home of the Alexanders since 1896. All of the improvements were placed on the land by the present owner. The residence, a pretty white cottage, is located on one of the highest spots in Henry County and from this place one can see in every direction for many miles. Five towns can be seen from the Alexander residence, Clinton, eight miles away; Montrose and Deepwater, twelve miles distant; Urich, twelve miles to the northwest, and Hartwell, while La Due, four miles to the southeast, can be plainly seen. This farm is well improved and Mr. and Mrs. Alexander are continuously adding to the attractiveness of the place. Mr. Alexander is engaged in general farming and stock raising and has fifteen horses and mules on the place, including seven brood mares.
Wiley H. Alexander was born December 19, 1859, in Kentucky, the son of John B. (born 1819, died 1887) and Julia (Rowland) Alexander (born 1826, died 1871), to whom were born children as follows: R. C, living in California; L. G., deceased; John F., California; Mrs. Nannie S. McMurdray, Kentucky; and Wiley H., subject of this review. John B. Alexander was the son of Philip Alexander, who left Kentucky en route to Missouri in 1831 and was killed by Indians while crossing southern Illinois. His widow later made her home in Illinois, but the parents of Wiley Alexander lived all of their lives in Cumberland County, Kentucky.
Wiley H. Alexander resided in his native State until 1882, when he came to Missouri, and after a residence of six months in Sedalia he located in Henry County on a farm situated about four miles from his present home place. He rented land for a time and then bought his farm which he improved and sold when he purchased his present place in 1896.
On May 12, 1892, there occurred the marriage of Wiley H. Alexander and Miss Lillie Gragg and to this union were born children as follows: Naomi Elizabeth, a graduate of the Warrensburg Normal School and who is now teaching the Carterville High School; Mary May, who studied at the Warrensburg Normal and Oklahoma City High School and is a teacher in the Deepwater schools; Herbert Henry, who spent two years in the Clinton High School and became a student in the Quincy, Illinois, Business College, where he contracted a fatal sickness, dying on February 28, 1917, at the age of twenty years; Nina, graduated from Clinton High School, class of 1918; Ralph Lee, a student in the Clinton High School; Margaret Maurine, attending the district school. By a former marriage in 1884 with Jennie Gilmer, Mr. Alexander has two children: Mrs. Julia Gates, a former teacher of Henry County, and Georgia, principal of one of the ward schools at Carthage, Missouri, and a graduate of the Warrensburg Normal School. Mrs. Jennie (Gilmer) Alexander died in 1889.
Mrs. Lillie Alexander taught school for nine years, beginning at the age of eighteen years. She studied for one year in the Pilot Grove Collegiate Institute and graduated from this institute in 1889.
Mrs. Lillie (Gragg) Alexander was born in Henry County, January 27, 1865, and is the daughter of Henry H. (born 1820, died 1893) and Elizabeth (Sevier) Gragg (born 1835, died 1912), natives of Missouri and Tennessee, respectively.
Elizabeth (Sevier) Gragg was a daughter of Abraham Sevier, a descendant of the famous Sevier family of Tennessee, who were of French descent and included Governor Sevier. Abraham Sevier came to Henry County and settled on Camp Branch as early as 1851. Henry H. Gragg was a son of Malcolm Gragg, a pioneer settler of Howard County, Missouri, who entered Government land in that county nearly a century ago.
During the early forties, three sons of Malcolm Gragg came to Henry County and entered land in this county. Their parents also located in this county. Henry H. Gragg was twice married, being the father of seven children by his first marriage. He was married to Elizabeth Sevier in 1864 and this marriage was blessed with four children: Mrs. Lillie Alexander; George W., Rockville, Missouri; Mrs. C. O. Swift, Springfield, Illinois; Amos E., Hutchinson, Kansas. Prior to coming to Missouri, the Graggs resided in Illinois.
The Democratic party has always had the allegiance of Mr. Alexander. Both he and Mrs. Alexander are members of the Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church. He is fraternally affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America Lodges at Clinton, Missouri.
