Ninevah Township
August Culler
3 Mar 1853 – 29 June 1935
Carrie Bell (Clark) Culler
15 Jan 1870 – 31 Dec 1951
August, son of Jacob and Mary Culler, was born near old Ninevah (Connelsville), in Adair County and spent most of his adult life farming in the Mulberry Community near his birthplace. Carrie Clark was a native of Clark County, MO but moved to near Connelsville as a child. The couple raised three daughters, Sadie, Mary & Elizabeth, before retiring in 1920 and moving to Kirksville. Carrie’s death, nearly 17 years after August’s, was the result of burns received when she accidentally caught her clothing on fire while striking a match. [KDE obits]
William Culler
19 Mar 1847 – 16 Mar 1930
Emaline (Fegley) Culler
Dec 1857 – 24 Nov 1907
William Culler was born at Bethel, Shelby County, MO and came to Adair County at age 3 with his parents, Jacob and Mary, one of the founding couples of the Ninevah Colony. He married Emaline Fegley (daughter of David Fegley, for whom Fegley Community was named) in 1887 and the couple established a home in the Mulberry Community. They raised their four daughters, Alta, Ida, Minnie & Kathryn, there and farmed in that neighborhood the rest of their lives. [KDE Obit; First 100 Years]
William McPhetridge
30 Mar 1849 – 1911
Sarah Elizabeth (Bozarth) McPhetridge
27 Oct 1848 – 14 Nov 1921
William McPhetridge was born on a farm just west of Novinger and when grown purchased 240 aces of the family homestead from his father. He and Sarah Bozarth, another Adair County native, married 21 Nov 1869 and had five children, two of whom died in early childhood. One of the three remaining daughters is pictured with them here; Eva S (1872), Celia R (1874) and Sarah J (1878). [Violette; KDE obit]
Joseph Motter
7 Dec 1851 – 10 July 1936
Carrie E (Shoop) Motter
3 May 1859 – 22 Oct 1928
Joseph and Carrie Motter were both born and raised in the Novinger-Connelsville area of western Adair County. They married in 1879 and purchased land near Connelsville which they farmed until 1906 when they retired and moved to Kirksville. Their sons Clyde C (1880-1910) and Noah P (1882-1959) then took over management of the family farm. [Violette; KDE obits]
George Washington Novinger
18 Jan 1847 – 17 Nov 1901
Mary Jane (Motter) Novinger
6 Apr 1844 – 21 Jan 1936
George, a native of Dauphine Co, PA, became a resident of Adair County, MO before he was a year old. A farmer-stockman, he held the offices of assessor & Justice of the Peace for Ninevah Township as well as County Judge for one term, 1882-84. He was killed in a wagon accident caused by a runaway horse. Mary was born and raised in Dauphine Co. She met George when she came west to visit relatives and they married in 1867. They are pictured here with sons George B & J Tilden (standing); also son Isaac A & his wife Mary (Miley). [Goodspeed; Violette; KDE obits]
Hiram Novinger
14 Dec 1849 – 27 July 1909
Sarah (Niece) Novinger
11 Nov 1852 – 24 July 1913
Hiram Novinger was born in Dauphin County, PA and came to Adair County as a young child. His father settled in the western part of the county and laid out the town that would be named for him. Sarah Niece’s parents emigrated from Germany when she was a year old and settled at Pure Air in Adair County a few years later. The young couple married in 1876 and raised their three children, Ira, Maude & Bertha, on a farm near the town of Novinger. Their place was the site of Adair County’s first coal mine. [Violette; Novinger; KDE obits]
John Franklin Novinger
8 Oct 1857 – 22 June 1937
Hester Ann (Snyder) Novinger
21 Nov 1865 – 11 Aug 1960
John & Hettie, the children of John & Sarah Novinger and Hiram & Elizabeth Snyder, were both native Adair countians. They married in 1884 and raised four children, Ollie Jane, John H, Marion & Meade, on their farm just outside Novinger. The family moved to Colorado in the early 1900s but Hettie came back to Kirksville a few years before her death. Her body was returned to Greeley for burial. [Novinger, KDE obit, Shoops]
Samuel A Novinger
15 Oct 1850 – 9 Nov 1933
Samuel Novinger was born and raised near the town of Novinger, Adair County. He was a farmer who, except for one year on a railroad survey crew as a very young man, spent the rest of his life working the land on which he was raised. He also helped found the Novinger Bank and served as its President for about 30 years. He and his wife, Mary Motter, were the parents of six children. [Violette; First 100 Years; KDE obit]
David J Wharton
10 Feb 1847 – 21 Aug 1922
Josephine A (Uber) Wharton
13 Mar 1850 – 27 Feb 1931
David & Josephine Wharton were married in Adair County, MO on Aug 22, 1870, about a year after each had moved here from their native Mercer County, PA. In 1873, they moved back “home”, stopping off for a year in Illinois and another in Indiana on the way. They returned to Adair with their two young sons, Edwin & Bertram, in 1879 and David bred Shorthorn cattle & Percheron horses on their farm near Novinger. They lived with one of the boys in Dade County after retirement. [Violette; 1870 Census; MO Death Certfs]