Vickie Layton Cobb - Ozark Pioneers

As Fallen Leaves, Volume I ends, the continuation of its legacy will be in Volume II which will be available to the public in the future, Lord willin. There is overwhelming amount of history to be revealed which deals with many members of long time Taney County residents. Such old family names as Haworth, Cobb, Breedon, Bedford, Pruitt, Pickett, McClary, Edwards, and more history of the Laytons, Whortons, Rittenhouses, and Brittains.

It would be difficult to list individually the names of those people from which information and photographs for this book were obtained. But I wish to thank the many relatives and friends who so graciously took the time to share their stories with me so they could be recorded and preserved for generations to come. Especially my grandparents Randa and Ethel Layton, who are no longer here, but who are the two people who encouraged me to be a writer

Vickie Layton Cobb

The small hill above the barbed wire fence and beyond the field is the Bald Knob were the Bald Knobbers held their first secret meeting.

Fallen leaves gently fall
from all of Gods trees.
Their beauty and splendor disappear
but not even death can claim their memory.

Their lives resemble the passing of a quiet,
peaceful, flowing country stream
Their spirits vanish into a hidden realm
the living know only in their dreams.

Although their earthly life has ended
another is born to take its place.
And that new life too, has its own
tears to cry and trials to face.

The ever changing cycle of life
is a deep spiritual mystery.
Every leaf that falleth from the tree of life
falls into the unknown hand of eternity

Vickie Layton Cobb

Vickie Layton Cobb .

The American Heritage Picture History Of The Civil War . The American Heritage Publishing Company, Inc., 1960. pg. 532.

Castleman, Harvey N., The Bald Knobbers . Haldeman-Julius Publications: Girard, Kansas, 1944.

Chance, Emerald. Last Of The Bald Knobbers, Ozark Guide Yearbook , 1966. Editor Publisher: Gerald H. Pipes, Reeds Spring, Mo., page 7881.

., New York Sun Tells Story Of Bald Knobbers, page 81.

The Civil War Almanac . Bison Books Corp., 1982. pg 57, 58, 88, 120, 357, 359360, 395.

Edom, Cliff and Vi. Brittains, Early Settlers In Kirbyville, Twice Told Tales And An Ozark Photo Album , Kelly Press Inc.: Columbia, MO, 1983. pg. 165.

Freeland, W. E. Home Paper Means, Taney County Republican , Thursday, April 30, 1981, Section A, page 3.

Hartman, Viola. The Laytons, (three segments), Published in Branson Beacon And Leader , October 1976.

Mahnkey, Douglas. Death of Nat Kinney, Taney County Republican , November 10, 1977.

Old Time Songs and Poems , Lay Flowers Lovingly, Tower Press Inc., Spring 1974, 1971. pg. 18.

, Welcome Brave Soldiers, Welcome. pg. 18.

Pipes, Gerald H. Alf Bolen, The Meanest Ozarker Of Em All, Reprinted in Ozarks Guide Yearbook , 1966.

Ozark Bald Knobbers, from Fabulous Barefoot Horizons, Ozark Guide Yearbook , 1966. Reeds Spring, Mo., page 13, 76-77.

Upton, Lucille Morris. The Bald Knobbers, Vows That Were Secret , Chapter 4, pgs. 50-51, Original @ Caxton Printers LTD 1939, Assignment Upton 1950.

Wills, Lena. Published in The Springfield Sunday News And Leader , Your Family Tree, Ozark Genealogy , April 1971.

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Hazel Layton Cobbs great-grandparents homestead just east of Branson, Missouri, on Highway 76.

PART ONE

THE ALLEN AND COGGBURN FAMILY

Psalms 78:39 For He remembereth that they
were but flesh; a wind that passeth away and
cometh not again.

Psalms 89:48 What man is he that liveth, and
shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul
from the hand of the grave?

SAMUAL AND REBECCA ALLEN

In 1842, Samual and Rebecca sold their farm in Monroe County, Kentucky, keeping only a young team of mules, two cows, two mule colts, and various farm implements. Their covered wagon was practically new and Samual had made a new set of harnesses for his team of mules.

He built a 4-foot overjet for the top of the wagon box. Slats were put across this for the bed tick and quilts that Rebecca had made. This made a good comfortable place for their 11-year-old daughter Elizabeth Ann to ride, while Samual and Rebecca rode on the spring seat.

It was February 9 when Samual and Rebecca tied the two cows to the back of the wagon after loading the last of their possessions into place for the long journey to Missouri. Rebeccas wood cookstove was securely packed away within the wagon with the other essential items: food, clothing, tools, cooking utensils, and the old family trunk. Tucked away inside the trunk were items handed down to Rebecca from her parents and grandparents, along with a few yards of calico material, and the family Bible. Sugar was a delicacy for those who lived during their time. It was so precious that she kept it hidden in the trunk to be used only on special occasions.

The authors maternal great-great-grandfather Samual Allen, 18021867.

There were three other families in covered wagons who were also leaving Monroe County to move to Missouri. So bidding farewell to life as they knew it, the band of wagons set forth on a journey to a new home west of the Mississippi.

The first few weeks of the journey went well with only a few minor problems to slow them down such as one broken wagon wheel and the loss of a horse when he stumbled into a ground hog hole and broke his leg. Thus, the horse had to be shot.

One of the families had with them an older woman, who was the grandmother of the man. One night on the trail as they were camped beneath the stars in the chilly night air, the older woman took ill and passed away before daylight.

That morning the men carefully cut down a large tree nearby. They cut a slab off one side and hollowed the trunk as if it were to be a dugout canoe. They placed the elderly womans body within it, covered her with one of her own quilts, and then carefully laid the slab back and nailed it down. They dug a grave, placed the makeshift casket within, read a few scriptures from the Bible, said a few words of farewell, and prayed. They flattened the grave after they had filled it with dirt and drove back and forth over it with the wagons, so that the Indians wandering in the area wouldnt be able to tell someone was buried there.