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JOHN T. GREENWADE. The social, political and business history of this section is filled with the deeds and the doings of self-made men, and no man in Greene county, Missouri, was more deserving the appellation than the late John T. Greenwade, for he marked out his own career at an early day and steadily followed it up to the end of his career, his prosperity being attributable to his earnest and persistent endeavor as well as to the fact that he always consistently tried to do as he would be done by.
He was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, October 14, 1839, and was a son of Moses T. and Mary Ann (Long) Greenwade, natives of Allegany county, Maryland, and there they were reared, educated and married, residing for a few years thereafter in Virginia, where Mr. Greenwade owned some land. They later returned to Maryland and there the mother died when John T. was about fourteen years of age, after which his father was married to Rhoda Allen, who survived him. Moses T. Greenwade was a very successful farmer and stock raiser, was industrious and enterprising and was a public-spirited man and an active politician but by no means an office seeker. He was independent in his religious views, but the soul of honesty and morality. His death occurred in 1858.
The paternal grandfather of John T. Greenwade emigrated to America from England with his parents when he was about six years of age, the family settling in Maryland, about ten miles cast of old Fort Cumberland. It is supposed that he spent his life in that state, where his death occurred in 1852. His wife, Rachel, was of Pennsylvania Dutch stock. Their children were, John, who died in Maryland about 1890, leaving a family well provided for; Mrs. Nancy Cheney, who resided in Scotland county, Missouri, for over a half century; Mrs. Mary Parker, who died in 1893, in Hampshire county, Maryland; Mrs. Sallie Miller, who died while visiting in Indiana in 1883; Mrs. Rebecca Welch, who died in Maryland, in 1892; Daniel has long been deceased; and Moses T., father of the subject of this sketch.
Mary Ann Long, the mother of our subject, was a daughter of Adam Long, who was a German by descent, but was probably born in Allegany county, Maryland, and died in Harrison county, West Virginia, to which place he removed about the middle of the last century. He was a farmer and left a fair property to be divided among his sons and daughters, who were named as follows : George, who died in Harrison county, West Virginia, in 1891, was a farmer; Jacob, who also died there; John, who died in the same county, in 1892; William was a soldier in the Civil war, and he died in the above named county also; Jesse died there in 1892; Mary Ann, who became the wife of Moses T. Greenwade., Mrs. Sallie MeCray, who died before the Civil war and soon after her marriage.
To Moses T. Greenwade and wife five children were born, namely: John T., of this review; Sarah C. married A. P. Race and they settled in Greene county, Missouri; Mary Ellen married John F. Dayton, and they established their home in Mineral county, West Virginia; William became a farmer in Allegany county, Maryland; and Nancy, who was a twin, to William, died young.
John T. Greenwade spent his youthful days on a farm, received a common school education, and after the death of his father he began life for himself, and when only nineteen years of age rented a piece of land and began farming. In January, 1860, he was married to Ruhamah, daughter of Nimrod and Elizabeth Pugh, natives of Virginia, where they spent all their lives, Mrs. Pugh surviving her husband many years. She was of Irish, and Mr. Pugh was of Welsh descent, and they reared a large family. Mrs. Greenwade was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, and died, after becoming the mother of seven children, namely: Edward Everett; Josephine, who married John Brady; Jennie, who married Dewitt Murray; Sallie, who married Dr. J. I. Grieves; Robert, Claude and Porter. In 1879, Mr. Greenwade was married to his second wife, Maggie Johnson, a native Kentuckian and a daughter of Samuel and Lucy Johnson, who came from the Blue Grass state to Greene county, Missouri, about 1870, and located their future home on a farm near Springfield. This wife died after having borne her husband three children: Mollie, Weldon and Ralph. On June 26, 1892, Mr. Greenwade's third marriage was consummated, Nellie, daughter of Robert and Lizzie Shepherd, becoming his wife. Her parents came from England about twenty-five years ago and began farming in Greene county.
John T. Greenwade lived in Maryland during the Civil war and was not subject to military duty, owing to ill health. He was in sympathy with the South, but all the rest of his people were stanch Unionists. In the fall of 1886 he came to Greene county, Missouri, and in 1867 located on a farm of one hundred and sixty-two acres, one mile east of Willard, where he continued to labor during his active life, all the improvements of the place being made by himself, and he was known as one of the leading farmers of that part of the county for many decades. Politically, Mr. Greenwade was a Democrat until 1867, when he joined the Greenback party, and back in the seventies became a Populist. He was frequently on the Populist ticket for office, and in 1878 came near being elected treasurer of the county. He has been a justice of the peace, was a candidate for county judge and also for representative. He was a prominent Alliance man, having held nearly all the offices in that order. He was of a decidedly public spirit, and being a successful organizer was an active worker for public good in every way.
Mr. Greenwade's death occurred in February, 1914.
Weldon Greenwade, son of our subject, was born September 22, 1882, in Willard, Greene county. He received his education in this county. He remained on the farm until he was twenty-two years old and then moved to Springfield and went to work as conductor for the Springfield Traction Company, which position he held until 1914. He was then appointed deputy city collector, which position he still holds.
Weldon Greenwade was married in Springfield, February 4, 1906, to Olive Carr, a daughter of Henry and Cynthia H. (Stubblefield) Carr. They were from Crawford county, Missouri. Mr. Carr has been a farmer in this county since the Civil war. Weldon Greenwade and wife have one child, Hazel, who was born April 13, 1909. Mr. Greenwade has always been a Democrat. He made the race in 1914 for county collector, but was defeated. He is a member of the Masonic Blue Lodge, and the Knights of Pythias, in which he has been keeper of records and seal for a number of years. He is also a member of the Uniform Rank of Knights, of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World, the Anti-Horse Thief Association, and the Ozark Game and Fish Protective Association. His family are members of the Christian church.
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