My Genealogy Hound

Hon. John Gregory Hutcheson. Prominent among the old and much respected citizens of Phelps County stands the name of John G. Hutcheson, a retired merchant and business man of Rolla. He was born in Monroe County, Tenn., in 1820, and is the son of James and Mary Hutcheson, the father being a native of Virginia, born in 1781. He was married in his native State, and soon moved to Monroe County, Tenn., but in 1834 immigrated to the State of Missouri, locating in what is now Maries County, where he settled, and where he passed the remainder of his life. He died about 1844. He was one of the first white men to settle in Central Missouri, and came by ox team, making the trip in about six weeks. His wife, Mary (Gregory) Hutcheson, was also a native of the State of Virginia. She died in 1850. She was the mother of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, five of whom are now living: James M. (in Lawrence County, Mo.), William (in Maries County), Martha (widow of Z. Blackwell, in the Indian Nation), Mary E. (wife of P. Johnson) and John G. The last named was fourteen years of age when his parents landed in Missouri. He remained on the farm until about twenty-four years of age, and January 30, 1845, was married to Miss Juliana Avery, a native of Alabama, and the daughter of John and Elizabeth Avery, who were natives of Alabama, and who immigrated to Missouri in 1832, settling in what is now Maries County, they being the first settlers. To Judge and Mrs. Hutcheson were born six children, four of whom lived to be grown: Marion C. (deceased), Mary (deceased, and wife of John Gill), Sarah E. (wife of William Carr, in Leavenworth, Kas.), and Imogene (wife of Paul N. Davey, in Carthage, Mo.). Judge Hutcheson located in Phelps County, Mo., five miles north of the county seat, after marriage, and bought 380 acres of land. He followed farming until the late war, when he rented his farm, and moved to Rolla, where he conducted a livery and feed stable. After the war he and W. Smith sold goods one year. In 1866 he with five men erected the Rolla Mills, and he was a partner two years, meeting with good success. He invested $4,000, and sold out for $8,000. In 1868 he purchased a drug store, and was in that business for four years. For the last fifteen years Judge Hutcheson has been leading a quiet life, donating a portion of his time to looking after the interest of his farm of 200 acres, one mile northeast of Rolla. In politics Mr. Hutcheson is a life-long Democrat, casting his first presidential vote for James K. Polk in 1844. In 1870 he was elected probate judge, served four years, and has also served as county court justice twelve years. The Judge is one of the old residents of Phelps County, and among her most highly esteemed citizens. He is a member of the Masonic order, and his wife is a member of the Missionary Baptist Church.