My Genealogy Hound

JULIA ANN VIVION. Julia Ann Vivion, wife of John Vivion, one of the earliest settlers, was born in Sept. 1822, in Nashville, Tenn. Her father removed to Kentucky when she was very young, and at the age of fourteen, in 1837, came to her present home in Twin Grove township, Jasper county. She was married Feb. 11, 1841, to John Vivion in Jasper county. The names of her five children, only two of whom are living, are Marion, Newton, Calvin, Mary S., Eliza A., and Sarah Elizabeth. Mrs. Vivion is an exemplary member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and now lives upon the old homestead with her married daughter, Mrs. Eliza Jemeson. Mrs. Vivion’s husband, John Vivion, was killed Jan. 22, 1856, in the timber, while hauling timbers for a new church, in this wise: He was driving a span of twin mules and the king-bolt of the bolster breaking let the reach down, hurling him forward between the mules, which, becoming unmanageable, probably trampled him to death. Mr. John Vivion was widely and favorably known in this early day for his public spirit and many deeds of philanthropy in the commonwealth and among his fellow-farmers, Mrs. Vivion is living in the first brick-house built in Jasper county in 1842. The writer of this sketch sat by the hospitable flame of the primitive fireplace, which has, for many a long year, comforted and cheered the home. A pleasant hour was passed with the good lady of the “Old Home,” Mrs. Vivion, as she recalled the early scenes of the county; how she had gone on horseback to the old trading point of Sarcoxie, a distance of thirty-five miles, and paid fifty cents a yard for domestic and calico; and to Cane Hill, Ark., for flour, meat, and provisions. The first school-house and church, were built in 1843 in the conventional style peculiar to these times, with hewed logs for sheeting, siding, and roof, and seats with pins for legs. One of the finest mining prospects is being rapidly developed on and near Mrs. Vivion’s farm. Mrs. Vivion is hale and hearty and bids fair to see four score of years pass over her head and trade at the thriving town of Vivion.