Page 30 - MFM Aug Sept 2019

made ready of occupancy in the summer of 1838. My brother cattle. He also practiced his profession in a small way before
William George was born on this farm on December 8, 1838. the minor courts, but did not solicit clients, and after Mr.
I worked with my father during the winter following. I think Craig came to Missouri , refused his legal services to anyone.
4a
it was the spring of 1839 that he once more went the City of During the spring and summer of this year he built a residence
New York and purchased a stock of goods, which he opened in the town of Oregon and removed his family into it in the
for sale int Mt. Eaton. autumn. In contemplation of again engaging in the business of
merchandising, he erected a suitable building for the purpose,
4
My uncle, Bezelleel Wells Clark , had ventured upon the but fi nding his means nearly all consumed in the purchase of
erection of a large house in the village, and failing to complete cattle, he concluded to turn his whole attention for the present
it for want of money, my father purchased and his family to stock growing.
into it sometime during the summer. He rented his farm to
two tenants on shares - he received one-half of all the crops For many years my father had been subject to attacks of the
harvested - which yielded him an income commensurate with bilious colic, and those who are familiar with the nature of the
the wants of the family. disease know that each succeeding attack is more violent than
the former and with violent symptoms of the disease, and, to
My sister Harriet was born in Mt. Eaton on September 7, relieve his suff erings, very powerful opiates were administered
1841. My father continued merchandising for about eighteen to him. This gave him temporary relief but constipated his
months, and after settling up his aff airs, commenced the study bowels and several days passed before any purgative became
of the law, and admitted to practice in the courts of Ohio early operative upon him.
in the year of 1842. He was commissioned a Notary Public in
1842. During the administration of John Tyler, President of The powerful medicines administered to him during the
the United States, he was appointed Postmaster in Mt. Eaton, emergency were greater than his system would bear, and he
which offi ce he held until he resigned in the spring 1843. It was gradually sank under them until he departed this life on June
in this year that he disposed all of his property in and around 24, 1845, in the fi fty-fi rst year of his age.
Mt. Eaton, settled up all his business aff airs, and move with
his family to the town of Oregon, in Holt County, Missouri. I stood by his bedside a few hours before he died and
received his blessing. He died calmly, without any fears of the
My father always retained his love for fi eld sports, and I future, bearing malice toward no one, with peace and good
remember he was still the owner of several hounds when he will toward all mankind. On his deathbed, when conscious
lived at the tannery near Mt. Eaton. I recollect distinctly of the that his sands of life were will-nigh run out, he proclaimed
dogs, after a night’s chase by themselves in the woods, coming that he had never intentionally injured a fellow-being, and
home in the morning with their mouths fi lled with porcupine that his constant endeavor in live had been to act honestly and
quills, and that he labored several hours in extracting the uprightly will all mankind.
tortuous prickles.
His death was calm and tranquil as his life had been honorable
He always kept his gun, and after he went to Missouri, and useful. He passed away from earth, but his memory is still
became particularly fond of netting quails. Fishing was one revered as an aff ectionate son, a devoted husband, and a kind
of his favorite amusements and during the last years we and indulgent father, a generous neighbor, and a good and
lived in Ohio he was the owner of a seine, and also had a fl at useful member of society. He sleeps alone from all his kindred
-bottom boat constructed - make to fi t between the standards in the quiet little graveyard near the town of Oregon, in Holt
of a wagon instead of a wagon bed - to be use used on fi shing County, Missouri, and a plain marble slab indicates his last
excursions. He would invite a few of his friends to accompany resting place.
him, once or twice a year, when they would pass several days
in the enjoyment of aquatic sports. On two or three occasions After the death of my father, my mother continued to reside
I was permitted to make one of the party in these piscatorial in Oregon, Missouri. My father’s estate was left entirely to
excursions, riding with my father in his buggy, while the her management and having no business experience and but
fl at-bottom boat was used as a receptacle for all the fi shing little knowledge of the condition of my father’s aff airs, she
apparatus, blankets and provisions, until we arrived at a experienced great diffi culty in getting all the accounts properly
suitable camping ground, when it was taken from the wagon adjusted. I have no doubt she was wronged out of considerable
and launched in the river, to be used as occasion might require. ---
4.a There are frequent references to Mr. Craig. . Helen Moots Pfouts the older
We lived in the town of Oregon for a few months, when sister of Paris Pfouts, was the wife of James Craig. James Craig (February 28, 1818
my father bought a farm and occupied it with his family. In – October 22, 1888) was an American lawyer and politician from Saint Joseph,
the spring of 1844 he, for the fi rst time engaged in mercantile Missouri. In August, 1843, he was married in Wayne County, Ohio, to Miss M.
Pfouts. In the spring of 1849, Captain Craig crossed the plains to California, and
pursuits, in company with Mr. William Zook, but the after being successful in the rich gold mines of that state, he returned to St. Joseph
partnership only lasted a few months - my father retiring from in the summer of 1850 He represented Missouri in the U.S. House from 1857 until
the business. 1861. He also served as an army Captain in the Mexican–American War. During
the American Civil War, Craig served as a brigadier general of U.S. volunteers.
He next engaged, in company with my Uncle Bezelleel, From April to November 1862, Craig was the military commander in charge of the
in stock raising, and bought several hundred head of young overland mail routes in Kansas and Nebraska. On November 2, 1862 he assumed
command of the District of Nebraska Territory and commanded until May 5,
___ 1863 when he resigned. Craig again served as a Brigadier General, this time in
4. Apparently a variant or misspelling of Bezelleel Wells Clark (Exodus 35.30.) the Missouri State Militia, in 1864 and 1865.
Montana Freemason Page 30 Aug/Sept 2019 Volume 95 No .6