WILLIAM W. PREWITT

From the 1887 History of Vernon County, Missouri, p. 683-684:

William W. Prewitt

(Real Estate Agent and Abstracter of Titles, Nevada).

   To fail to include within the biographical department of the present volume a sketch of the life of this representative citizen of Nevada would be to omit a history of one of the most worthy men who ever made his home within the limits of Vernon county—a man whose every effort has been of material benefit to the county, and whose energies have been directed towards here improvement and development from the time of his settlement in the community. William W. Prewitt was born in Bourbon county, Ky., May 16, 1822. His father was Joel Prewitt, a Kentuckian by birth, who in 1823 located in Howard county, Mo., where he carried on farming, stock dealing and merchandising. He was among the first to champion the doctrine of that religious body since recognized as the Christian denomination, and subsequently became a minister of that faith, his appointments extending over a wide territory adjacent to Howard county. In that early day he was well known, and on account of his identification with the affairs of Central Missouri was of recognized prominence and true, substantial worth. His wife, formerly Miss Mary Trimble, of Kentucky, died in St. Louis shortly after the war. Fourteen children comprised their family, and of these William W. was the seventh child and fourth son. But a child when brought to Howard county, Mo., he was reared there, enjoying both a farm and mercantile experience, and continued to make it his home until 1844 when he moved to Lafayette county and improved a tract of land. In 1854 he went to Moniteau county and superintended a lead mine for three years, coming thence in 1857 to Vernon county, where he entered land. The following year he brought his family, and from that time up to 1868 was actively engaged in farming, but in the year mentioned he located permanently in Nevada and embarked in the real estate business. His transactions in this line were in excess of those of any other person in the county, the immense land sales which he executed reaching an astonishing figure, and up to the present he has continued the real estate business with uniform success. His long residence here and the established reputation of his dealings with all with whom he has had to do have contrived to secure for Mr. Prewitt the confidence and unbounded esteem of a wide circle of acquaintances; while his public spirit and warm interest manifested in the welfare of the county have gained for him many friends. His set of abstracts are complete in every detail and thoroughly reliable, and besides the branches of business already referred to he does considerable in the way of loaning money. He has been twice married. First, June 3, 1845, to Miss Mary J. Sample, a native of Steubenville, O., though reared in Indiana. She died in 1879 leaving five children: Smiley S., Charles H., Ella, wife of Walter C. Galbraith; William W. and Anna Lee, now Mrs. Sam. Atkinson. Mr. Prewitt in 1880 was married to Miss Hattie Torrey, a native of Boston, Mass., a most estimable lady, and of such attractive graces of mind and heart as have endeared her to all. Mr. P. is a member of the A. F. and A. M. Personally he is held in high esteem, and though quiet and unostentatious in demeanor, his kind and obliging manner proves a fruitful sourch [source] of the popularity which he enjoys.

[Transcribed by Becky Siple]

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