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Reuben Flowers (1827-1891) was the son of Arter and Polly Kyte Flowers.
From a previous marrige, Reuben had two sons, Abraham (no information on) and James Washington, who came to Missouri with his father.
Reuben homesteaded land in Texas Co. MO. receiving the land title in 1857. He also served some time in the Civil War.
Reuben married Mary R. Morris in 1861. She was the daughter of Elder William Jasper and Agnes Hart Morris. Mary was born in Kentucky, on the banks of the Mississippi River, Sept 15, 1846. Enroute to Missouri from Tennessee by wagon train, her mother, Agnes Hart Morris, died and was buried in a cemetery on Pigeon Creek near Licking, MO. Mary was cared for by her aunt, Elizabeth Coats, until her father remarried.
Soon after Reuben and Mary Flowers were married. soldiers burned their house. The soldiers let them remove their household furnishings and provisions and did not harm them in any way. It was said that Reuben Flowers was a most gentle man. He was praised by his family for his good nature.
His father-in-law, William Jasper Morris, requested that his wife, Mary, be buried on one side of him and Reuben be buried on the other side in the Union Cemetery.
Children of Reuben and Mary were: Jasper married Nancy Evans; William Arter married Hattie Geaheardt; Samuel married Ellen Stevens; Martha married Harrison Edwards; Margaret married Benjamine Edwards; Polly Kyte married William Larry Ward; Nancy Jane married James Roberson; Milow married Fern Good; Henry married Cynthia Wood; Perry married Allie Marrow; and James Washington married Nannie Kinman.
Submitted by Nancy Ward Coats.
A Chance Meeting"
From the Houston (Texas Co, MO) Herald circa 1975. Copy courtesy of the "Ozark Happenings Newsletter" of the Texas Co. Genealogical & Historical Society.)
A most unusual incident transpired near Houston a few years before the Civil War. Members of the Reuben Flowers family left Nashville, Tenn. in covered wagons pulled by two teams of oxen, bound for the "West". When they reached the Hamilton Creek neighborhood, a few miles southwest of Houston on what was then known as the "ridge" road, a large spring was spotted and the family decided to camp at the site.
Reuben needed feed for the animals and found hay at the Shilling farm nearby. He also required some corn but Mr. Shilling had none. "But you can buy corn from a neighbor", Shilling said and directed him.
The Tennessee traveler made his way to the man who had corn for sale. It proved to be his brother, Billy Flowers, who had homesteaded in the vicinity in 1856, two years previously. Reuben knew his brother had gone "West", of course, but had no idea where Billy had settled down.
What do you suppose Reuben said to Billy after they had this unexpected reunion in Texas County?
"Mr. Flowers, I presume?"
Clark Flowers, a great-grandson of Billy Flowers, related this unusual event.
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