Springfield-Greene
County LibraryEarly and Recent History and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Representative Citizens
ELWOOD ALAMANDO WILLIAMS. It was Charles Kingsley, the noted English author, who said that every morning we should remember to be thankful that we have something to do during the coming day, whether we like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do our best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues the idle will never know. Elwood Alamando Williams, a farmer near Ash Grove, is one of the citizens of Greene county who takes delight in his work and is therefore happy and prospering.
Mr. Williams was born on a farm in Carroll county, Missouri, September 23, 1860. He is a son of Mortimer H. and Jennie S. (Gale) Williams. The father was born in Monroe county, Ohio, June 20, 1837, and was a son of William and Martha (Hurd) Williams. William Williams was born near Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1809, and followed farming until 1848, when he began running a boat down the Ohio river to the Mississippi, then up that stream and up the Missouri river to Boonville and later to Carroll county, Missouri, carrying freight and passengers, each trip requiring several weeks. He was a cooper and cabinet maker by trade and was also a physician of the old school. After locating in Missouri he made a professional trip to Ohio. He was a learned man and remained a close student all his life, one of his favorite studies being astronomy and he became an amateur astronomer of no mean ability. He entered eighty acres of land in Carroll county, this state on which he spent the rest of his life, dying there in 1887. Politically, he was first a Whit, later a Republican. He was an ardent worker in the cause of education and helped in the matter of establishing schools. Fraternally, he was a member of the Masonic order, and he was a free thinker and broad-minded man. His wife was also born near wheeling, West Virginia, the year of her birth being 1812, and her death occurred in 1859.
Mortimer H. Williams had only such educational advantages as the frontier schools could furnish in his day, but his father taught him much and furnished him many books, so he became a well-informed man, and he taught school in Carroll county, this state, for a number of years, and, moved to Chillicothe, Missouri, where he followed his trade for about ten years, then went to South Dakota, continuing blacksmithing there about six years, then engaged in mining in the Black Hills a few years, after which he made three trips to Alaska, finally locating in Rapid City, South Dakota, where his death occurred in 1909. Politically, he was a Republican; religiously, a Universalist, and fraternally a member of the Independent order of Odd Fellows. His wife, Jennie S. Gale, whom he married in 1859, was born in Chautauqua county, New York, on farm where the first chautauqua in the United States was held. Mrs. Jennie Williams was born January 13, 1840, and her death occurred in 1883. To these parents five children were born.
Elwood A. Williams received a fairly good education up to the tenth grade in the Chillicothe schools. When seventeen years old he went to Deadwood, South Dakota, where he worked as a freight driver, having charge of a nine-yoke team hitched to three wagons, and this work he continued about a year, then went to a lumber camp for a year, then was superintendent and bookkeeper for a lumber camp for several years, after which he came to Rapid City, South Dakota, and was head of the lumber yards there for three years. During this time he filed on one hundred and sixty acres and proved up on the same, sold out and filed on a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, and proved up on it, and lived on the same for seven years or until 1900, when he sold out and came to Greene county, Missouri, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres in Boone township, and has since resided here. He owned over one thousand acres of land in Dakota, which he finally sold. He is making a specialty of live stock, raising a fine grade of mules, horses, sheep, cattle and hogs for the market, and no small portion of his annual income is derived from this source. He is one of the substantial men of Boone township, and has made what he has solely by his own efforts.
Mr. Williams was married on November 29, 1888, to Maggie M. Trimmer, who was born in South Dakota, October 1, 1872. She was born near Chamberlain, that state, and there reared to womanhood and was educated. She is a daughter of George M. and Mary (Boyua) trimmer. Mr. Trimmer was born near Chenoa, Illinois, November 8, 1844, and was a son of Nicholas and Mary Trimmer, who lived and died on a farm in Illinois. George M. Trimmer received a common school education, working on the home farm during the summer months, and when a young man he went to the eastern part of South Dakota and began wood contracting for steamboats on the Missouri river. In 1876 he went to the Black Hills, and there engaged in mining and farming. He was a sterling pioneer, and helped establish trails, towns, did freighting and was incidentally a renowned hunter. He was a stanch friend of the Sioux Indians, who liked him. He was the first settler in Hot Springs, South Dakota, and he did much toward making it one of the best towns in that state, and at this writing he owns a fine orchard of one hundred and sixty acres near there, which was the first orchard set out in that region. He is one of the prominent and influential men of eastern South Dakota and has been offered many political positions of importance in the state, but has refused them all. Politically, he is a Democrat, and fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is an enthusiastic worker in the same. On November 8, 1871, he married Mary Boyua, who was born March 4, 1847. Grandfather Boyua was an early French trader on the Missouri river.
Mrs. Trimmer was the real discoverer of the springs in what is now known as Hot Springs, and cut the first bathing "tub" out of a rock. When a child she was present at the New Ulm massacre in Minnesota, and was taken prisoner by the Sioux Indians and carried to the hear of the Missouri river.
To Mr. and Mrs. Elwood A. Williams three children have been born, namely: Blanche G., born December 20, 1889, was given good educational advantages; Barney B., born April 20, 1892, was also well educated in the schools of Ash Grove, Missouri; M. Cleopatra, born September 26, 1897, graduated from the Ash Grove high school with the class of 1915. These children are all at home with their parents.
Politically, Mr. Williams is a Progressive, and is liberal in his public views. Fraternally, he is one of the leading Masons of this locality, being a member of Ash Grove Lodge No. 100, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Ash Grove Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; and Zabud Council No. 125. Royal and Select Masters; he also belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has for some time been a member of the local school board, and religiously he holds membership in the Presbyterian church. He has had a vast experience in the world's affairs and talks most entertainingly of his life in the picturesque pioneer days of the North, and it is a pleasure to visit him in his near, hospitable home.
[1019-1022]
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y
Table of Contents | Keyword Search | Greene County History Home | Local History Home