THOMAS JEFFERSON MYERS

Thomas J. Myers

Thomas Jefferson Myers was first married to Mary Ann Turpin.  They had three children: John, Elijah and Elizabeth; John and Elijah died young.  Following the death of his first wife, he then married Susanna W. Caton, and they had the following children:

1.   Melvina Myers

2.   Thomas Jefferson Myers

3.   William C. Myers

4.   Arthema/Arthusa F. Myers

5.   Noah A. Myers

6.   Hannah Myers

7.   Ann Myers

8.   Barnett Myers

9.   George W. Myers

10. Fred O. Myers

11. Mary Myers

12. Robert E. Lee Myers

MRS. S. W. MEYERS DIED LAST NIGHT

     Mrs. S. W. Meyers died last night at 6 o'clock at the home of her son, Judge T. J. Myers, just south of town.  The deceased was in her 86th year and had been in fairly good health, considering her age until very recently.  Her daughter, Mrs. Anna Proctor, who died October 2, at Joplin, was buried here the third, and Mrs. Meyers insisted upon going to the funeral of her daughter although hardly able to stand the extra exertion required to make the trip.  Her vitality was at such low ebb that she gradually grew weaker and death resulted late yesterday afternoon.

     Mrs. Meyers was formerly Miss Susanna Caton, and settled in this county in 1840.  She was married soon after to Thomas Meyers, a pioneer resident of Missouri, who located in this county in 1840.  He engaged in farming but was identified with the official affairs of the community as county Judge while this territory was still a part of Bates.

     The deceased was a noble woman, and had fulfilled the duties of her long life well.  She was a member of the Adventist Church.  Seven children of Mrs. Myers are still living.  Funeral services were held this afternoon at the home of Judge Meyers and burial had in the Ellis grave yard.  Rev. H. H. Koontz conducted the services.

The Nevada Daily Mail, Nevada, Vernon County, Missouri. October 11, 1912.

February 2008 note:  Gravestones for Susanna and Thomas Myers have not yet been located.

Melvina Ellen (Myers) Hufft was born about 1844. 

1887 History of Vernon County, Missouri, p. 675-676:

HON. T. J. MYERS

(Ex-Presiding Judge of the County Court, Nevada).

     A good name is the result of a lifetime of upright and useful citizenship, and when it is said that one has a name without reproach among those with whom he has nearly always lived, and who know him well, no ordinary compliment is paid.  In sketching the life of Judge Myers, this statement is made without the tinge of flattery.  It is true he is still a comparatively young man, but his career is none the less creditable.  The Myers family are numbered among Vernon county's pioneers.  Thomas Myers, who birth occurred in Kentucky in April, 1808, left there after reaching manhood and became settled in Lincoln county, Mo., from whence he moved to Gasconade county.  While living there he served as sheriff of the county for a number of years.  In 1840 he located in this county and subsequently engaged in farming, also being identified with the official affairs of the community as county judge while this territory was still a part of Bates.  He died in 1880.  His wife, before her marriage Miss Susanna Caton, of Warren county, Mo., also became settled here at an early day, her parents having settled the old Caton farm, north of Nevada, about 1840.  Mrs. Myers is still living.  While a small girl she planted in her father's yard a little walnut tree which has now grown to be a large, attractive, and in a commercial sense, valuable tree.  The subject of this sketch was the second of his parents' family of children, nine of whom are now living.  In 1852 he went to California and Oregon and lived there until 1869 when he returned to this county and devoted himself to farming up to 1876, when he commenced his legal studies with Hon. C. G. Burton.  For a time he was also engaged in teaching and in 1878 he was admitted to the bar, after which he entered his professional practice.  He served one term as justice of the peace, and in 1884 he was elected presiding judge of the county court.  Previous to this he had discharged the duties of deputy county clerk, from 1879 to 1882.  Judge Myers' public record and private life are alike untarnished.  April 10, 1878, Miss Mary Badger, became his wife, and they have three children: Thomas A., Halley S. and Joseph Roy.  Mrs. Myers was born and reared in Vernon county and is a daughter of Dr. A. Badger, an old and honored settler of the county.  The Judge is a member and secretary of Argyle Lodge No. 451, A. F. and A. M. of Nevada.

Thomas and Susanna Myers

and their two youngest children,

Mary and Robert Edward Lee Myers,

who were born in Oregon.

D.J. Miles provides the following from Fred Myers' son, Walter Myers (a minister who kept family information). This is published in the book "The Myers Clan" 1981, written by Fran Walthall.

   "Lee was only 2 years old when his parents gave up and went back to Missouri. According to Walter, it was on that return trip in 1869 that Thomas and Susannah came across his brother, John Jacob Myers, the cattleman. This was somewhere out on the plains while J.J. was headed for Montana with his herd (or coming back). J.J.'s story is given in books by McCoy and Saunders.  J.J. was robbed on one of his trips and died of chloroform poisoning that was used in the robbery.

   Thomas died 7 yrs after bringing his family back home, which meant Susanna was a widow at 51 with 10 children to raise, ages 9 thru 21. Lee was the 9 yr old. He remembered being raised by his older brother Tom and didn't really remember his father that much and Oregon even less."

Rev. Walter Myers

1889-1983

(Grandson of The Honorable Thomas Jefferson Myers through his son, Fred Orin Myers)

D.J. Miles provides the following information from Audrey Prindel-Broadley, a researcher of the Tripp family, dated 1982:

     "Thomas was the third son of Elijah Myers and Hannah Barnett. Thomas settled in Nevada, Vernon County, MO.  He married Mary Turpin and had 3 children. Mary and two boys died, leaving him with a young daughter, Elizabeth.  He was 38 when he married Susanna Wright Caton. She was 18 yrs., 20 yrs. his junior.  Thomas and Susanna had 12 children. The gold rush took Thomas to California, by way of Panama. He returned to Missouri and brought his family by the Oregon Trail and landed in the Willamette Valley in 1852. He worked in Oregon and California for 17 yrs.  Thomas and the younger part of his family moved back to Vernon County, Missouri.  He died in 1876 at the age of 71 and is buried in the Ellis Graveyard."

Five-generation Myers Photograph

Left to right: Susanna Caton-Myers, Georgia Ann Hufft-Troxel, Louis Henry Broadley (b. 1906), Elsie Josephine Troxel-Broadley, and Melvina Ellen Myers-Hufft.

 Pictures and details provided by D. J. Miles.

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