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Biographies |
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MOGenWeb Site, Johnna Quick -- Coordinator |
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Biographies taken from A Reminiscent History of the Ozark Region, from Goodspeed Publishers. JUDGE MATTHEW K. ARNYX (AMYX) This gentleman is descended from good old Irish stock, for on the green Isle of Erin his paternal great-grandparents were born, but they afterward became residents of this country prior to the Revolutionary War, in which struggle the great-grandfather participated as a member of the Colonial Army. For many generations back the family have devoted their attention to tilling the soil, and this occupation was successfully carried on by Matthew Arnyx, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, who was a Virginian by birth. Preston Arnyx, father of Judge Matthew K. Arnyx, was born in the Old Dominion, and when a lad was taken by his father to Kentucky, of which region they were among the pioneers, and there he grew to manhood, married, and made his home until 1870, when he came with his son, Matthew K., to Ozark County, Mo., and here he breathed his last two years later. His widow, who was born in the Blue Grass region of Kentucky, is still living, and makes her home with the subject of this sketch. Her maiden name was Eliza B. Harvey, and she is a daughter of James Harvey, who was a North Carolinian by birth, but one of the early settlers of the State which Daniel Boone made famous. His people were of English extraction and settled on American soil before the War of Independence, in which struggle the maternal grandfather took an active part. The Harvey family eventually became residents of Moniteau County, Mo., and there James Harvey was called from life. Mrs. Arnyx is now seventy-four years old, but her general health is good and her mind is clear and active. She became the mother of nine children, six of whom are living, as follows: Matthew K.; Olive J., wife of W. C. Morrison, collector of Ozark County; Oletha, who is the wife of J. S. Bushong; Clarissa V., wife of D. M. Bushong; and Mittie G., wife of J. F. Owen. Thursey did young; Marion J. died in 1862, at the age of twenty-one, and another child died in infancy unnamed. Judge Arnyx passed the early part of his life in the county of his birth, obtained a thorough and practical education in the common schools, and about the time that he started out to make his own way in the world the war came up and he cast aside personal considerations to enlist in Company A, Twenty-seventh Kentucky Mounted Infantry, under C. S. Henson, and took part in numerous engagements and skirmishes. While participating in a skirmish in Virginia his horse fell upon him and injured him quite seriously. In all he served about eighteen months, at the end of which time he held the rank of sergeant. A short time after the war he was married to Miss Martha P. Davis, a daughter of J. H. Davis and Betsey (Harvey) Davis, who were among the early families of Kentucky in Warren County, of which State the father still lives, although his wife died many years ago. Mrs. Arnyx was born and reared in Kentucky, and she and her husband made their home there until 1870, when they came to Ozark County, Mo., and bought the farm where they now live, eight miles from Gainesville, on Pine Creek, comprising 320 acres of fine land, a large part of which is under cultivation. He has been a successful farmer, gives considerable attention to the raising of stock, and has at all times shown himself to be wide-awake and enterprising. He was elected by the Republican party, of which he is a strong member, to the office of associate county judge in 1882; held the office of presiding judge four years, and also that of probate judge the same length of time, and discharged the responsible duties of these positions in a manner to win him the highest respect and esteem of his fellows. He has been a delegate to different conventions, is a member of the G.A.R. Post at Gainesville, and he and his family are attendants of the Christian Church, in which he is a deacon. To himself and first wife a family of seven children were given: Lovina H., wife of L. C. Capus; Sidney F., Luther H., Lockie L., Alonzo G., Lucretia M. and Maria S. The mother of these children died in 1887, and for his second wife Mr. Arnyx took Miss C. M. Mayberry, daughter of George Mayberry, who was killed during the war. His present wife has borne him two children: Partha A. and Curtis S. |
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