Springfield-Greene
County LibraryEarly and Recent History and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Representative Citizens
SAMUEL S. GRIER. In farming communities it is the rule and not the exception to find ordinary educations, but occasionally you meet a family who takes more interest in the development of the mind, not necessarily attending school longer or going away to college, but who lose no opportunity to keep up with advancing civilization, who remain home students and close observers, and as a result they in time rise above some of their countrymen in the scale of mentality and the capacity to grasp the larger questions of mental improvement. Such families are numerous in Greene county, and it is a sign that this locality is equal to any in the state in point of citizenship. One of these is the Grier family, of which Samuel S. Grier, a well-known businessman of Strafford is a creditable representative.
Mr. Grier was born just across the line in Webster county, Missouri, on December 16, 1870. He is a son of N. F. and Sarah (Smith) Grier. The father was born in North Carolina in 1845, and he was brought to Missouri by his parents when a small boy, and was reared on a farm. He received a limited education in the common schools, and when eighteen years old he joined the Union army in 1861, and fought in one of the Greene county volunteer regiments at Wilson's Creek on August 10th of that year, and was wounded in that sanguinary engagement, which wound disabled him to such an extent that he was later discharged from the service. Returning home, he followed farming for some time. Prospering, he became owner of a two hundred and four-acre farm. He is now making his home in Springfield. He is a member of the Baptist church. His wife was born in Tennessee, and when a young girl she was brought to Greene county, this state, by her parents and here grew up on a farm and attended school. Her death occurred in Webster county on the old Grier homestead. She was a member of the Baptist church.
Four children were born to N. F. Grier and wife, namely: Tasso L., Samuel S., of this sketch, Dorsie and Mrs. Ollie Wammack.
Samuel S. Grier was reared on the home farm, where he worked when a boy and he received his education in the local schools. He remained on the farm until he was seventeen years of age, then carried the mail for three years, after which he went to work as clerk in Strafford in the store of Hanson & Thorson. Later he began in the livery business, and built the first livery barn in Strafford, remaining in the business for five years, then engaged in the milling business, and was president and secretary of the local mill for two years, after which he launched out in the real estate business, in which he has since been engaged and in which he has built up a large and satisfactory business. He is one of the best informed men on the values of real estate in the eastern part of the county, and he has the confidence of those with whom he has had dealings. In 1912 his total business amounted to a profit of nearly two thousand dollars.
Mr. Grier was married on October 11, 1897, to Louie Jane Bryant, who was born in Kansas on August 26, 1881, but she was an infant when her parents brought her to Greene county, where she was reared on a farm and was educated. She is a daughter of J. C. and Sarah (Urby) Bryant; the former is engaged in the grocery business in Strafford, but the mother is deceased. Mrs. Grier is a member of the Baptist church.
Three children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Harry U., born on August 30, 1897; Hazel W., born on July 26, 1899, and Arnold S., born on March 30, 1904.
Politically, Mr. Grier is a Democrat. He is now justice of the peace at Strafford, being elected in November, 1914. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he belongs to the Baptist church.
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