(1) LORETTA ELIZABETH BALLENGEE
The first child of Evi and Elizabeth Rollyson Ballengee was born in 1827 in
Michigan and was brought to Missouri as a little girl. She was of marriageable age when her
father left for the gold rush. Her marriage is not recorded in Miller County records.
The second child of Evi and Elizabeth Rollyson Ballengee was born in 1829 in
Wayne County, Indiana. He was only 21 when he died in Miller County, Missouri in May of
1850. (1)
The third child of Evi and Elizabeth Rollyson Ballengee was born in 1831 in
Wayne County, Indiana. A member of the family recalled that one of the daughters had moved
to Kansas and died from swallowing a pin. This was probably Hester. Hester married between
1850 and 1860. She is shown in some records as Ester.
The fourth child of Evi and Elizabeth Rollyson Ballengee was born in 1833 in
Wayne Co., Indiana. She was brought to Missouri in 1835 and reared there. About 1858 she
married William Pendleton. William was born in 1826 in Virginia. Martha and William appear
to have had ten children (according to the censuses). They are: Charles Wesley, Joseph M.,
John E., William S., George Ulysses, Thomas E., Emily, Lisa, Hester, and another daughter.
Martha Pendleton died about 1900.
The eldest son, Charles Wesley, was born 8 Fab 1859 at Teal, Cole Co., M0. His
granddaughter, Pauline Wall, sends us this biographical sketch:
"My grandfather, Charles Wesley Pendleton, comes from an old and distinguished family
who lived in Manchester, England in the early 1500s. He is the fourth son of William
Pendleton, but first son of William and Martha Ann Ballenger. William's first wife, Mary
Lurton died soon after the birth of her third son. Martha was the daughter of Evi
Ballenger and his wife, Elizabeth Rollyson. The Ballengers hove been recorded as being in
this county very early, and in the general area of the Pendletons.
Martha first married Benjamin Carroll in Nov. 1851 in Miller Co., Mb. He was killed
before 1856. By this time William's first wife, Mary Lurton, had died. On Sept 11, 1856,
William and Martha were married in Miller Co., MO. They had a good size farm in the area
called "Teal Bottom" by the banks of the Osage River, near Castle Rock. The old two-story
house in which they lived is still standing. It has been moved a short distance from the
original spot and nearer to the new dwelling house of the present owner. Here Charles was
born Feb.8, 1859. His three older half-brothers were Andrew, Owen, and George Henry. His
six younger brothers were Joseph, John, G. Wilson, William, Thomas, and Ulysses.
Charles married Sarah Emaline Stratton Sept 1, 1880 at the home of his parents. He was
21 years old and she was six weeks shy •of eighteen.
In 1889 he bought a farm from Davis Woody, near the present day site of St. Anthony, MO.
Five children had been born by this time but two had died. Those remaining were Stella,
Minnie, and Harvey. Nine more children were born to this family. Charles was quite
prosperous here and they had an unusually healthy family until about 1919 when the
small-pox epidemic struck. Several members of the family were stricken with it, followed
by the flu and typhoid fever. Minnie and Johnnie died. Minnie was married and had two
little daughters. This caused a financial blow as well as emotional to the family. There
were no crops raised that year and much of the livestock had to be sold to cover medical
bills.
After the last child was born, they purchased a near-by farm where Charles and Sarah
spent the rest of their lives. In their younger years they attended the Baptist Church
but later changed to the Church of Christ. He died March 16, 1935 at Jefferson City, MO
and Sarah died at home Aug. 15, 1939. Both were buried at the Union Cemetery near Brays,
MO. Charles was known by his family and neighbors as a diligent worker and upright man. He
taught his sons to be the same.
Emily Ballenger, maiden aunt of Charles, made her home with them the last few years of
her life. My father, Luther Pendleton, said 'Aunt Em' took over as nanny to him since
there was always a baby younger than he and he needed attention too. This couple also
served as foster parents for two Pendleton nephews and home for Sarah's Aunt Ann LaRue
during her last years.
The fifth child of Evi and Elizabeth Rollyson Ballengee was born in 1836 in
Michigan. He was probably one of the Sons who went to the Civil War and did not return.
The sixth child of Evi and Elizabeth Rollyson Ballengee was born in 1839 in
Missouri, probably in Miller County. (The 1860 Miller Co. Census gives age of John H. as 21)
He was named after his grandfather, John H. Rollyson.
On the 9th day of April 1856, John married Mary C. Curry in Marrion, Mo. in Cole County.
(2) (There is no proof that this record is one of a son of Evi but it would fit into the
family. We need proof). In 1860 John is shown living with his mother in Miller Co., MO.
There is no John Ballengee or Ballenger in the 1860 Cole County census. If this marriage
was between our John H. and Mary Curry, something must have happened to terminate the
marriage during those four years.
Tradition has it that John H. and his two brothers joined the confederate army and were
not heard from again. A check of the confederate roster from Missouri turns up these reports:
All the county records spell the name with the -er ending making it very difficult
to distinguish records of our family from the Ballingers also living in Missouri at that
time.
The seventh child of Evi and Elizabeth Rollyson Ballengee was born in 1844 in
Missouri. She stayed with her mother until at least 1860. These brothers and sisters were
all built very large but Emily at one time weighed about 300 pounds. She made many trips
on flatboat on the Osage River from her farm near Hoskins Shoals to sell produce in Osage
City on the Missouri River. Vivian Caidwell reports that she was so large she couldn't get
through the narrow cabin door on the boat so she always sat in a chair outside.
(See appendix for letter exerpts)
She stayed with her sister, Virginia Samuel, one year and helped them pick cotton on
their place in Grayson Co., Texas. She also lived for a time with her sister, Martha
Pendleton. William Pendleton can recall sitting in Emily's lap and watching her smoke her
clay pipe.
Emily owned a 40 acre farm in Cole County and must have lived there for many years.
Her farm sold for $55. Beside her farming, she did house-keeping in the area.
She was known as a jovial person who liked to play tricks. She is buried in Bray's
Cemetery just east of Iberia, in Miller County, Missouri. Mr. William Pendleton tended her
grave many years.
The eighth and youngest child of Evi and Elizabeth Rollyson Ballengee was born
in 1848 in Miller County, Missouri. Virginia was just a baby when her father left them to
join the gold rush. She was in her early teen years when her two older brothers joined the
Confederate Army. They never returned.
When she was eighteen, she married Thomas Samuel. The marriage took place in Miller
County, MO on the sixth day of Jan. 1867 and was performed by Rev. Jacob Capps.
Thomas Samuel was born in Illinois. His parents died during a plague epidemic leaving
nine children orphaned. Thomas received a good education by his foster parents. Upon
graduation, he received a fine horse and saddle and one dollar. He came to Missouri to
teach school and met Virginia Ballengee.
Thomas and Virginia had eight children: Eugene, Evi Ballengee, Charles, Magnolia May,
Rose, Cora, William and Anna. All the children were born in Missouri except Charles who was
born in Grayson Co., Texas in the early 1870s. They engaged in farming and established a
furniture factory. The factory was powered by a tread wheel. The winter of 1872-3, Virginia's
father stayed with them after his return from California. He died while there and Thomas
made Evi Ballengee's coffin in his furniture factory.
Soon they moved back to Calloway County, Missouri where Thomas was a horse and mule
buyer for the army.
About 1886 they moved to Aurora in Lawrence Co., MO. They bought 160 acres of good farm
land at $5 per acre. Not long thereafter a very disastrous fire struck their barn and
stacked grain area. They managed to save the custom grain thresher. They had no doubt moved
to Aurora to be near the Samuel family. A Thomas H. Samuel was very prominent in the
community and may have been our Thomas's grandfather.
On the Aurora farm, Thomas built a large residence of logs. Nearby on a rise, rests the
tireless Thomas Samuel and his wife, Virginia Ballengee Samuel. Thomas died in 1888 of
consumption at the age of 44.
SAMUEL, Evi Ballengee b. 12 June 1869 in Miller Co., MO. He md Fannie Lemaster in 1892
(dau of William and Nancy Jane (Guinn) Lemaster, b. in Barry Co., MO. Superintendent In
mining and Iron foundary. Active In Aurora community in city council, school board, Police
Judge, Masons, Congregational Church. He died 1958 at age 89. Fannie died in 1958. Three
children.
SAMUEL, Charles H. b. 28 Au9 1872 in Grayson Co., TX. He died in Mexico in 1892 in a cave-in
while working on a railroad. He was unmd.
SAMUEL, Magnolia May - b. 22 Dec 1874 in MO. Md Jake LeMaster and they made their home in
Cob. Three daughters. After Jake died in 1924, she married C. A. Fowler, a farmer.
SAMUEL, Rose Alice b. 6 March 1877 (twin). She md Alfred O'Bannion. She died 1942. No
children.
SAMUEL, Cora Ada--b. 6 March 1877 in Miller County, MO. Postmistress of Cory, CO. Md
William John Brower. He died 18 July 1908. She later md Mark S.Phoenix 12 Dec 1912.
Three children.
SAMUEL, William A.- b. 24 Oct 1881 in Miller Co., MO. He md Kathryn Bradley 17 Oct 1906.
They farmed the old Samuel place. He died 1965. Three children
SAMUEL, Anna M. - b. 22 Oct 1883 in Miller Co., MO. She moved to CA and md Mr. DeCaprio.
He had studied music in Rome and was brought to the U.S. under contract with the
Metropolitan Opera Co. where he worked many years organizing and directing many large bands
and symphony orchestras in the U.S. Anna was living in 1965 and contributed when the author
contacted this family.