Josephus Whittle

By Kelly Warman-Stallings

(Published to" Window To The Past" website on 12 January 2021)

Josephus Whittle was born on 8 September 1856 near Iberia in the Pleasant Hill community. He was the only son of John Levi Whittle (1825-1862) and Nancy Jane (Keeth) Whittle Workman (1832-1925). The Whittle and Keeth families came to Miller County from Edmonson County, Kentucky in the early 1840s. These pioneer ancestors mainly homesteaded land in Richwoods Township in the Pleasant Hill and Curry communities.

Josephus was raised in the Bear Creek area of Glaize Township and later moved onto the land he had inherited from his father, living the majority of his life on his large acreage. His father (John Levi Whittle) acquired most of the land during the 1850s and Josephus added to it, buying more land throughout the late 1800s. Levi, as Josephus' father was known, died during the Civil War when his son was a young lad.

"William Rankin Wright was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. Some of his neighbors were northern sympathizers, so it was only a matter of time until hatreds flared up and spread out over the countryside. Family legend of the Whittle clan has been handed down through the generations... John Levi Whittle, born 1825 in Edmonson County, Kentucky, was a neighbor to the Wrights for several years prior to the war. When the fighting reached Missouri, John Levi joined the Union forces while Rankin Wright joined the South. Remember the motto... "neighbor fought neighbor"? Evidently that is what happened between the Whittle and Wright soldiers. I do not know the real truth of my great-great-grandfather's death (Levi Whittle) during the Civil War. The legend has been told to the newer generations that he died because of his betrayal by Rankin Wright, the Southern soldier. They said he was beaten by a group of Rebels (led by Wright), while his Civil War records say he was killed in battle on 29 August 1862 in Miller Co. at the 'Elsey farm fight'. That skirmish occurred about 3 miles east of Iberia on land owned today by Robert Perkins. Perhaps we will never know the true account of his death. During the war, the old cemetery was called 'Rankin Wright cemetery' because when the Rebel soldiers captured Levi Whittle, his young wife (Nancy Jane Keath Whittle) and their three children fled from their home in fear and hid out in the cemetery, about a mile north of their homestead on Whittle Creek. This story was told by Levi's son, Josephus Whittle, a young child of 7 years when his mother took refuge in the cemetery. He repeated the story to his children and the story continued onward to my generation. I have heard the story told several times by the grandson of Levi Whittle and he always said that his grandmother, Nancy Whittle, ran to the "old Rankin Wright cemetery for protection from the soldiers when they took her husband away."

Note: Levi and Nancy's children included: 1) Josephus b. 1856; 2) Analiza Whittle b. 1858 (died young); 3) Elizabeth Whittle 1860-1902 m. Seth Robinson. Nancy (Keeth) Whittle was pregnant with her 4th child on this fateful day: 4) Delilah Whittle b. 1863 (never married).

Nancy (Keeth) Whittle Workman

When Josephus was eight years old his mother (Nancy Keeth Whittle) married Rev. Thomas Owen Workman on 2 April 1865. It is unknown if Nancy and Thomas lived on the Whittle homestead after their marriage, but it's highly unlikely. It is recorded that they lived in Glaize Township, not far from the Osage River, in the late 1870s. Thomas Workman was a circuit-traveling preacher of Miller County, as well as neighboring counties. The children of Nancy and Rev. Thomas Workman, and half-siblings to Josephus, included: 1) Paradine Workman-b. 1867 m: ____ Stout; 2) Richard E. Workman-b. 1869; 3) James Melvin Workman-1871-1911; 4) Theodore Benton Workman-b. 1876.

On 29 August 1878, Josephus Whittle married *Leatha Jane Loveall (b. 10 April 1864 - Miller County). She was the daughter of Silas Loveall (1842-1923) and Amanda Colvin (1848-1892). The Loveall family migrated to Miller County in the 1830s from Kentucky and settled in the Jim Henry and Saline Townships.

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Later, a branch of the Loveall family moved to Glaize Township near the Colvin family. In the late 1800s, this branch of the Loveall family moved to Oklahoma. Leatha Jane (Loveall) Whittle was the only one of her Loveall family to remain in Miller County.

The Colvin family arrived in the 1850s from Grainger County, Tennessee and settled in Glaize Township near Bear Creek. The Colvin family can still be found in Miller County today.

*Leatha Jane Loveall was named for all her paternal and maternal aunts. She had nine names! - Mary Martha Vina Temperance Roseanne Elizabeth Lorene Leatha Jane!

Josephus and Leatha had eleven children:

1) James A. Whittle (1879-1879)

2) Silas Levi Whittle (1880-1881)

3) Lallah Brooks Whittle (1883-1976)

married Frank V. Andrews

4) Carrie Gertrude Whittle (1886-1959)

married Perry T. Wyrick

5) Olia Rayford Whittle (1888-1957)

married Fannie J. Luttrell

6) Arlen Everett Whittle (1891-1959)

married Ida M. Johnston

7) Bertha Irene Whittle (1894-1946)

married Nicholas Shelton

8) Amanda Elizabeth Whittle (1896-1964)

married Chesley S. Wyrick

9) Otto Edward Whittle (1899-1987)

married Sarah A. Stone

10) Sylvia Alice Whittle (1904-1981)

married Ransom A. Alexander

11) John Wilburn Whittle (1907-1981)

married Lois Stites

Leatha (Loveall) Whittle c/1944

with her granddaughter,

Patsy (Alexander) Luttrell.

On the original patented land of Levi Whittle, Josephus built a two-story house in the late 1800s for his family. During this same time period Josephus owned a general store, with private living quarters, in neighboring Pulaski County in the small hamlet of Hawkeye. Not a lot of information is found on the general store owned by the Whittle family, other than it was bequeathed to Josephus' daughter, Carrie (Whittle) Wyrick, in 1928. But, Peggy Smith Hake believes it's possible that he was dealing in business as early as 1882. She writes,

"...the book of accounts from the Hausenstein Store in Tuscumbia dating back to May thru November of 1882. Evidently two men, identified only as "Whittle & Henderson", had a business somewhere upriver from Tuscumbia and purchased many items from Hauenstein Store. Another clue I found concerned their selling railroad ties to Hauensteins... I believe that is the reason Whittle & Henderson began their business somewhere along the Osage River. I suspect the men may have been Joseph[us] Whittle and Allen Henderson although I can not prove it. Joseph[us] Whittle had married Leatha Jane Loveall in 1878 and her family lived in northern Glaize Township in the "Bear creek country" not far from the Osage river. Joseph's mother, Nancy Keeth Whittle, married Rev. Thomas Owen Workman after the death of Joseph's father and they moved to Glaize Township. That may be one reason why Joseph[us] was in that area of northern Glaize when he married Leatha Jane Loveall. Allen Henderson lived nearby. Both were young men---Whittle about 26 years old and Henderson about 32 years of age. They may have seen the possibility of making some money from the "tie business" and decided to go into partnership. In one transaction in the Hauenstein Day Book of Accounts, I found where Whittle & Henderson rafted ties down the Osage and places mentioned along the way were: "Blunts Banks", "Pogue Hollow", "Harbison Banks", "Atkinson Bluff", "Brockman Slough", "Jeffries", and "Caliman". I think the 'Jeffries' referred to Sanford and Hansford Jeffries and the 'Caliman' referred to Nelson Caliman. The families lived near one another in Glaize Township. I suspect the business of Whittle & Hendeson did not last long.....Allen Henderson and his family continued to live in Glaize Township while Joseph[us] Whittle moved his family back to southwest Richwoods Township in the Pleasant Hill community."

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During the 1920s, or perhaps even earlier, Josephus and his son-in-law, Ransom Alexander (son of Warren A. and Louisa (Johnson) Alexander), removed the second story from the house and remodeled it into a one story home. According to family sources, it was said that is was hard to heat such a big house; with the children all grown and having moved away from home, a second story was no longer needed.

Note: Whittle home is pictured on the left after remodeling.

In August of 1928 Josephus and Leatha Whittle observed their 50th wedding anniversary with family and friends. It was said a large crowd gathered at their home and enjoyed the outdoor celebration. Peggy Smith Hake wrote, "I was not born yet but I have pictures of their 50th wedding anniversary with the crowd on hand and the abundance of good country food set up on the tables."

Unfortunately, Josephus would die just a couple of months later. According to family legend, Josephus took his family to Jefferson City to visit with an old friend. Those present for the excursion to the Capital City was Josephus, his son (possibly Arlen Whittle and his wife, Ida (Johnston) Whittle, as well as his daughter (Carrie Whittle Wyrick) and her husband (Perry Wyrick). While visiting the home of his old friend, the gentleman's daughter-in-law served up coffee with arsenic. The story was told that she was mentally unstable and wanting to kill her father-in-law, when Josephus instead got the cup of coffee with the poison! According to the rumors of the day, the woman had lost her husband (the old friend's son) and she wanted to make sure she had a security "nest egg" so she would be taken care of. According to the *Capital Daily News, she got her wish - the daughter-in-law spent the remainder of her life at the Fulton State Hospital for the criminally insane. Josephus Whittle would die later that day at St. Mary's Hospital in Jefferson City.

*Capital Daily News was the newspaper in circulation in Jefferson City in 1928.

Upon his death, each of Josephus' children received 80 acres of land, with the exception of Carrie and Sylvia. Carrie was bequeathed the store in Hawkeye and Sylvia was awarded 40 acres and the house.

Leatha Jane lived the remainder of her life on the farm where she and her husband had reared their children. Her youngest daughter, Sylvia (Whittle) Alexander, and her family resided on the farm with Leatha, caring for her during her elderly years. Her funeral services were held at Pleasant Hill Christian Church where she had been an active member for many years. Her services were conducted by Rev. Otto Shearrer, pastor of the Iberia Nazarene Church. She was survived by eight children, 39 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. Also surviving were some of her brothers and sisters in Oklahoma -- Stacey (Loveall) Gaches, Frances (Loveall) Gaches, Barbara (Loveall) Brown, James J. Loveall and Jasper Loveall.

Josephus Whittle died on 4 Oct 1928 in Cole County, Missouri. Leatha (Loveall) Whittle died 20 March 1946 in Miller County, Missouri. They are both buried at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, not far from where they homesteaded so long ago. The old home, built by Josephus Whittle, was destroyed in a fire sometime during the 1990s. The current owner of the land, which was originally homesteaded by John Levi Whittle in the 1850s, is Mike Whittle (great-grandson of Josephus Whittle and great-great-grandson of John Levi Whittle) and his sons, Joseph and Craig. For over 170 years this land has remained in the Whittle family and has been classified as a "Century Old Farm" in Miller County.