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Joseph Thomas Prier, April 22, 1871 - July 23, 1952 & Mary Melvina (Shull) Prier, Nov 23, 1869 - Nov 7, 1960 
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| Family Notes | Joseph Thomas Prier was born April 22, 1871 in Butterfield, Barry Co., MO the son of George Washington Prier who was born April 1817 in Kanawha Co., VA and Mary Freese born in Pratt Co., Ohio on Feb 11, 1842. They had seven children. The Priers first settled in the Gunter Community near Butterfield, Barry Co., MO.
Joseph Thomas Prier married Mary Melvina Shull May 19, 1895. She was born Nov 23, 1869 the daughter of John and Pheobe Brooks Shull. Joseph and Mary lived for a time in the Gunter Community near Butterfield, Barry Co., MO. until they traded their property to Mary's brother, Tison Shull for a farm on the Roaring River near Eagle Rock, Mo. Joseph and Mary moved there about 1907 or 1908. They brought a wagonload of their belongings to the two-storied white clapboard house and Joseph returned to Gunter to get another load. Mary stayed with the children in their new home. She had little light and as it became night, she and the children was just a little frightened in the strange new home. |
| Note | Joseph Thomas and Mary Melvina (Shull) Prier of Eagle Rock, Barry County, MO
The Munsey Family had built the white house. A nearby cemetery had been named for them as they had given the land for it, when several of their children died. The house was two storied with 3 large high ceiling rooms downstairs, a large screened in porch beside the kitchen, and two large bedrooms upstairs. There was a front porch with the front door having small vertical panes of glass on each side. There was a large limestone chimney to heat the home. There were several out buildings including a unique storage and well house made of limestone back of the house. Today the home is gone but the well house still stands. Joseph did his own blacksmith jobs. He, his sons and sometimes his grandsons would walk along the train tracks in Butler Hollow picking up pieces of coal that had fallen from the train. Joseph would use them for his forge. Mary raised a huge garden beside their home. She canned the food. Before the times of freezers she preserved the meat by smoking, salting it down, frying the sausage and packing it in lard in large stone jars. They had milk cows, chickens, hogs and beef cattle. There was a large hay field in the river bottoms behind the house. They put their hay in the loft of the large barn to feed cattle in the winter. Mary would call the family to their meals by ringing a large dinner bell that was on top of a poll. The girls as well as the boys would work in the fields. They raised a lot of corn and the girls would help hoe it. As they lived on the banks of Roaring River, fish was also added to their diet. Joseph and Mary took their children to church every Sunday. The Roaring River Baptist Church was a few miles down the river from their home. They would drive a wagon to church for many years. It must have been cold during the winter. There are still Priers who are members of the Roaring River Baptist Church. As many women did during those times, Mary used every scrape of cloth she had to makes quilts for family use. She was very talented in her designs and her quilts were favorites among her children. She used feed sacks for making dresses, shirts, dish towels, wash clothes, underclothing, curtains, etc. For a time, feed sacks that had prints on them of flowers, etc were used for the dresses, while the plain white ones were used for the dish towels, sheets, wash clothes, etc. Many of the scrapes from the feed sacks and also when the items made of feed sacks wore out were used in the quilts. Joseph had a stroke and for a long time would sit quietly in a chair mostly by the fireplace. Mary managed to look after him at home until his death July 23, 1952. He is buried in the Munsey Cemetery a short distance from were he spent most of his life. After Joseph's death, Mary stayed in her home and her daughter Eva and her husband, Eldon lived with her during the summer. During the winter Mary would go to Eva's house. Mary also stayed for periods of time with her other children until her death Nov 7, 1960. She is also buried in the Munsey Cemetery beside her husband of 57 years. Their children: 1. Ora May Prier, born April 4, 1896 married to Charles Elmon Ball Jan 14, 1915 2. Eva Jane Prier, born Oct 28, 1897 married to Eldon Truman Ball Jan 14, 1917 3. Leonard Joseph Prier, born February 12, 1899 married to Virgie Easley August 29, 1926. 4. John Washington Prier, born August 14, 1900 married to Zona Marie Skelton February 15, 1924 and after to her death to Louise Lowery. 5. Tina Opal Prier, born April 18, 1903 married Loren Everett Easley November 23, 1923 6. Warner Prier, born June 24, 1906 married Mary Celeste Easley December 5, 1928 7. Tison "Tice" Truman Prier, born Oct 19, 1908 married Allie Maude Easley May 3, 1935 8. Marion Francis Prier, born June 27, 1911 married Edith Stever June 27, 1938 9. Naomi Prier, born February 12 , 1913 married Gerald Thompson Jan 1, 1938 Please do not publish this writing without the consent of the writer: Darla Ball Marbut HC 81 Box 8356 Cassville, MO 65625 [email protected] |
| Resource | Family Photos and Papers |
| Submitted by | Submitted in 2001 by: Darla Ball Marbut |
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