Pettis Township
Benjamin F Bragg
Feb 1854 –
Ben Bragg, 6th child of George and Nancy Bragg, was born and raised in southern Adair County. He and Portia F Dowdy married Feb 13, 1879 in La Plata, MO, and had one son, George, before her early death. In 1900 Ben, by then a widower, was running a retail hardware store in Waukomis, Oklahoma Territory. [1870, 1900 Census; Macon Co Marriages]
Joesph Elijah Clem
12 July 1864 – 28 July 1932
Mary Frances (Mikel) Clem
26 Mar 1869 – 25 July 1958
“Lige” and Frances Clem were both born and raised in the southern part of Adair County. They married in 1884 and raised their six children, three sons and three daughters, on the family farm in the Illinois Bend community. Frances, who survived her husband by 26 years (almost to the day), left the farm and moved to La Plata in Macon County a couple of years after his death. [KDE obits]
James T Mikel
13 Sept 1850 – 31 Mar 1899
James Mikel was born on a farm just northwest of La Plata in southern Adair County. Although he continued to live on the farm as an adult, he made his living as a partner in the Mikel & Shaffer Insurance Agency of La Plata. James was married twice; his first wife, Amy Hood, died in 1896. He died late one evening while walking home from town after a late winter snow storm. His body was found in a snow drift the next morning. [Democrat obit; Adair Co Cemeteries]
George Nicholas
17 July 1842 – 5 Nov 1921
Frances L (Willard) Nicolas
20 Oct 1866 – 19 Aug 1947
George Nicholas was born and raised just west of Millard on one of the largest farms in Adair County. He inherited the property at the death of his father and continued farming there the rest of his life. In 1886, he married Frances Willard who was born in Adams County, IL but had lived near Millard since early childhood. Their only child, James (1874-1939), is pictured with them here. [KDE obits; Adair Co Cemeteries]
John Henry Osborn
29 Apr 1866 – 13 Oct 1942
Henry Osborn, the son of John & Elizabeth (Bell) Osborn, was born and raised just east of the Chariton River in the Yarrow community of southwestern Adair County. He farmed in the same vicinity his entire life and died just a quarter mile from the place of his birth. [KDE obit]
Rufus J Richey
6 May 1835 – 9 Dec 1911
Squire RJ Richey of Millard was born in Ohio and came to Missouri as a teenager. He worked for many years as a clerk in a general store and in later life was Justice of the Peace for Pettis Township. He and Nancy Williams married in 1869 and had at least one child, Carrie. The couple are buried at Stuckey Cemetery. [1860 & 1870 Census; Graphic obit; Adair Co Cemeteries; MO Death Certf]
Joseph Noah Stuckey
18 Aug 1857 – 28 Oct 1945
Minta Ethel (Sewell) Stuckey
10 Dec 1863 – 29 July 1942
Adair County native Joseph Stuckey was born on a farm just southwest of Millard. “Mintie” Sewell was born just over the line in Macon County line but was raised in Adair County. The couple made the Stuckey family farm their permanent home after their 1882 marriage. Grover Cleveland (1886-1980), their older son, became Professor of Anatomy at Kirksville College of Osteopathy and Surgery. The younger son Henry, born after this picture was taken, practiced osteopathy in Texas. [Violette; KDE obits]