Levi B. James Bollinger Co
Mo Biography
- Levi B. James was born on January 12,
1850, and is the son of William
and Cassie (Lawson) James.
William James was of English
lineage, and
was a farmer by occupation.
In 1859 he removed with
this family from
Tennessee to Missouri.
He was one of those patriotic
Union men whose
devotion and bravery preserved the Nation against
dismemberment.
He was
a volunteer in the Third Missouri Cavalry, and was wounded at
Jackson,
Mo., soon after which he died.
His first wife, the
mother of our
subject, was a native of Tennessee, and was the mother of five
children,
four of whom are living.
After her death, Mr. James
married Elizabeth
Feasel, also a native of Tennessee.
Levi B. James was
born in
Tennessee, and came to Missouri with his father.
He
received his
education in the common schools and in St. Louis.
At
the extremely
young age of twelve years he volunteered in Company I, Fourteenth
Missouri Infantry, with which he remained two months, when he
joined
Capt. John R. Cochran's Raiders.
In this service, the
beardless boy
remained through all its trials for two years, when he was
mustered out
at Perryville, Mo.
Recently the G.A.R. made an
investigation to
ascertain who was the youngest member of the Union army.
There were
several claims asserted and only two found that were younger
than Mr.
James; but the reason he is not recognized as the youngest in
the whole
army is, the colonel was killed and he did not receive his
discharge
from the Missouri Infantry.
Soon after returning home
from the war he
served as deputy sheriff under Erich Pape, after which he filled
the
position of deputy United States marshal for several
years.
During this
time he was also proprietor of a general merchandise store in
Marble
Hill, and was one of the principal stock dealers and shippers in
this
section of Southeast Missouri.
Selling his store at
Marble Hill, in
1881, he followed agricultural pursuits exclusively for two
years, when
he became a partner in James & Slagel's general merchandise
store at
Bollinger Mills, which interest he still owns.
Besides
his merchandise
business, he owns considerable property in Marble Hill, and
1,200 acres
of land in Bollinger County.
After the battle of Pilot
Knob Mr. James
carried the flag of truce under which the dead were buried and
the
wounded cared for.
During the siege the women and
children had fled to
the hills for refuge, and at the cessation of hostilities
between the
forces, had come to administer to the dying and wounded.
Thus on
similar missions, Mr. James met, for the first time, Mina Pape,
who
afterward became his wife.
Their marriage was
celebrated in May, 1875.
She is a native of Southeast Missouri, born in 1854.
This union has
been blessed by the birth of four children, viz.: Erich, August,
Garfield and Otto. [p. 833]
Goodspeed's History of
Southeast Missouri, [p. 833]
Contributed by
Joe Crim
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