Springfield-Greene
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of Many of the Representative Citizens
ANDREW JACKSON BODENHAMER. The faculty with which the American soldier laid down the implements of war, at the close of the great conflict between the Northern and Southern states, and adapted himself to the pursuits of civil life, has been the wonder of all nations, and scarcely less surprising than gratifying to the American people themselves. While not a few very profound citizens of the Republic were speculating as to what was to become of the thousands of men mustered out of the armies, the question was solved by the ex-soldiers themselves, who quietly stepped into the ordinary walks of life, bent the force of circumstances to their will, and became the chief promoters of a national progress which is without parallel in history. One of these honored veterans is Andrew Jackson Bodenhamer, a venerable farmer of Campbell township, and one of the oldest native-born citizens of Greene county. He has spent his life, which embraces three-quarters of a century, in this locality and has seen many vast changes in that time. He has lived on the same farm over half a century.
Mr. Bodenhamer was born in Greene county, Missouri, September 13, 1839. He is a son of Jacob and Nettie (Goss) Bodenhamer, one of the pioneer families of this county. The reader will find adequate mention of them in the sketch of Louis F. Bodenhamer on another page of this volume.
Andrew J. Bodenhamer grew to manhood on his father's farm, where he worked hard on the raw land and with the primitive agricultural implements of those frontier days. He received a limited education in the old-time rural schools and when a young man took up farming for himself, which he has made his life work, now owning a good farm of one hundred acres in Campbell township, where he has resided since the war, his wife having purchased the place in 1863. He has paid a great deal of attention to the raising of live stock in connection with general farming.
On July 29, 1862, Mr. Bodenhamer enlisted for service in the Federal army, in Company A, Eighth Missouri Cavalry, and saw much hard service, taking part in many battles and skirmishes, serving until the close of the conflict under General Herron and General Davidson. Much of his time as a soldier was spent in Arkansas and he fought at Fort Smith, Van Buren, Little Rock and Prairie Grove, and was taken prisoner during the last named engagement. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged and returned home, resuming farming in Greene county.
On September 6, 1860, Mr. Bodenhamer was united in marriage with Elizabeth Charlotte Wharton, a daughter of Emsley and Sarah (Crow) Wharton, who were among the old families of this locality. Mr. Wharton served in the Civil war in the same company and regiment in which our subject served, but it became necessary to discharge him before the close of the war owing to disability, sickness having overtaken him while at the front. . He was born in North Carolina, September 22, 1821, and his death occurred on September 28, 1898, in this county. His wife was born in Tennessee, February 2, 1825, and her death occurred in this county, February 8, 1899. They were both buried at Danforth cemetery. They were the parents of eight children, namely: Elizabeth C., wife of our subject, was born February 1,1843; John William, born on October 20, 1844, lives on a farm in Greene county; Martha J., born on January 6, 1849, lives in Tulare, California; Mrs. Eliza Green, born on December 11,1850, also makes her home in Tulare, California; Sarah C., born on December 22, 1852, lives in Portland, Oregon; Emsley Lee, born on January 15, 1855, died when nineteen years of age; Mary Lucinda, born on January 12, 1858, lives in Rogersville, Missouri; Mandy Tissie, born on February 6, 1861, lives in California. The father of these children devoted his life to general farming. Politically he was a Democrat, and he belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church, South.
To Mr. and Mrs. Bodenhamer the following children were born, namely: Sarah Alice, born in 1861, is a graduate of the high school at Henderson, Missouri, she married J. A. M. Lanier, and they live on a farm in Greene county; Martha T., married J. E. Dennis, and they live near Rogersville, this state; Nettie J., who was educated at Mountain Home, Arkansas, is the wife of G. F. Dennis, and they live on a farm near the home of our subject; Emsley Lee, who is emloyed as salesman for the Diffenderffer Implement company, of Springfield, has an individual sketch of himself and family on another page of this work; Ira G. is engaged in farming in California.
Politically Mr. Bodenhamer is a Democrat, but he has never been active in political affairs. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has been an active worker for many years.
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