Joseph Reece Scholl

Joseph Reece Scholl was born February 7, 1850¹, the 9th child of Joseph II and Eliza Broughton Scholl.  He was born on the family farm approximately 3 miles north of Readsville, Missouri.  The farm was part of a tract of nearly 500 acres entered by Joseph Scholl (Joseph Reece Scholl's father) in the early days of Callaway County in what was known as Upper Louisiana.  The house on this farm was a one-and-a-half story log house of six rooms built between 1820 and 1825 of native walnut logs and weather boarded with the same with a clapboard roof [see photo in the Joseph Scholl II section]. 

A family cemetery was there in which many of the Scholl relatives were buried - William, son of JR and Belle Scholl; Joseph and Eliza Scholl II; and Job and Elizabeth Curtright Broughton to name a few.

Joseph Reece Scholl and Arabella Tharp [more on Arabella Tharp below] were married on September 26, 1872, the first couple married in the Bethel (Methodist) Church near Readsville, MO, even before the church was completed². They lived on a portion of the family farm north of Readsville and all of their children were born there. 

Their children were:

• Reverta Belle, born December 22, 1873, who married Charles E.   Squires
• William Reece, born November 29, 1877, who died on January 3, 1879
• Mary Elizabeth, born November 29, 1879, who married Paulide Crisswell
• Kittie McMurtry, born March 26, 1883, who married Edward Bowman, Oscar Nichols
• Ethie Lora, born May 18, 1885, who married Walter P. Holt
• John Boone, born September 20, 1888, who married Lottie Mae Baker
• Olba Reece, born November 13, 1890, who married Sexton Sanders
• Gracie Lee, born January 21, 1893, who married Elmer N. Wren
• James Howard, born August 7, 1895, who died on December 27, 1896

By 1880, Joseph Reece and his young family were living with  his aging parents (or the parents were living with them).  Their first son, William Reece, passed away in 1879 at the age of just over one year.  The 1880 US census for Nine Mile Prairie Township, Williamsburg Post Office, Callaway County, MO shows:

            Joseph R., 30, farmer, born KY, father born KY, mother born KY

            Anabella [Arabella], 24, born KY, father born KY, mother MO

            Roberta B [Reverta], 6, born MO

            Mary E., under 1, born MO

            Joseph, 80, born KY, grandfather [actually Joseph R.'s father]

            Eliza A, 68, born KY, grandmother [actually Joseph R.'s mother]

            Jennie McMurtry, 18, cousin

            Thomas Kemp, 15, farm worker

Both of Joseph Reece's parents died in the 1880s - Joseph in 1884 and Eliza in 1887.  On February 27, 1896, the Scholls moved to a farm 1.5 miles north of New Bloomfield.  Later that year they were to lose another infant son, James Howard.  They attended church at the New Bloomfield Methodist Church where their children, John Boone and Olba Scholl joined in 1903 and were baptized.

The 1900 US Census for Guthrie Township, Callaway County, Missouri lists:

            Joseph R., 50, b April 1850 in MO, father b KY, mother b KY

            Arabella, 44, b November 1855 in MO, father b VA, mother KY

[this is backwards]

Reverta, 26, b December 1870 in MO, father b MO, mother MO

Mary E., 20, born November 1879 in MO

Kitty, 17, born Mar 1883 in MO

Ethie, 15, born May 1885 in MO

John B., 11, born September 1888 in MO

Olba, 9, born November 1890 I MO

Gracie, 7, born January 1893 in MO

In April 1906, Reverta Scholl Squire passed away in Mound Valley, Kansas.  Little Fern Marguerite Bowman, child of Kittie and Edward Bowman, passed away in September of 1906.  In the same year, Joseph Reece Scholl took his wife, Belle, to Eagle Lake, Texas, for some months because of her poor health.  They returned in April 1907 but Belle grew worse and died on June 21, 1907.  She is buried in the New Bloomfield cemetery.

The 1910 US census for Cedar Township, Callaway County, Missouri lists:

            Joseph R. Scholl, 60, general farmer

John B., 21, farm laborer

Olba R., 19, clerk at the Post Office

Grace L., 11

On January 16, 1912, Joseph married Mildred McIntyre in Mexico, Missouri, at the bride's sister's house³.

The 1920 census shows Joseph and Mildred, both 69, still living in Cedar Township, Callaway County.  He was a truck farmer.  On September 9, 1923, Mildred, age 73 exactly, passed away in New Bloomfield and was buried at Harts Hill Cemetery⁴.

In the 1920s, Joseph alternated staying with his children for a period of time.  By the 1930 census, Joseph ("Daddy Joe" to family) was living with his son, John B., and his family in Linnaeus, Missouri.  He spent several years with them and was a favorite of his grandchildren.

Joseph Reece Scholl was a member of the Masonic Hall of Portland Lodge, No. 242 A.F. & A.M. for over 50 years. 

Joseph R. Scholl died July 10, 1931, of general arteriosclerosis in Caldwell Township, New Bloomfield, and is buried alongside his wife in the cemetery there⁵.

Obituary⁶ -

"J. R. Scholl, Dead

J. R. Scholl, 82 years old, well-known resident of the New Bloomfield community, died at 9:30 o'clock Friday morning after a lingering illness, at the home of his daughter, Mrs. T. H. Criswell (sic), of New Bloomfield.

A funeral service was conducted at 2:30 o'clock Saturday afternoon at the Methodist church in New Bloomfield, and burial was in the cemetery of that church with final rites by the Masons.

Mr. Scholl lived practically all of his life at New Bloomfield.  He had been a member of the Masonic lodge there for fifty-one years.

Besides the daughter with whom he lived, Mr. Scholl is survived by the following children: Mrs. W. P. Holt, Jefferson City; Mrs. Elmer Wren, Stephens; the Rev. J. B. Scholl, Linneaus; Mrs. S. Sanders, Boonville; and Mrs. E. L. Bowman, of Wyoming -- Sun Gazette.

Mr. Scholl was well known to New Florence people, having lived with his son, Rev. John Scholl while he was pastor at this place."

Arabella Tharp Scholl

Arabella Tharp, most often called Belle, was born November 27, 1855, near Readsville, Missouri, to Elias J. and Elizabeth Ann Darne Tharp.  Her mother died when she was 2 months old and she was raised by her aunt, Orintha Jackson, and her two step-mothers.

She was nearly 17 when she married Joseph Reece Scholl, a neighbor, who was 22 years old.  They remained in Callaway County their entire lives where she was highly regarded.  Her son, John Boone Scholl, commented that she was the best woman he knew.

Obituary⁷  Mrs Joseph R. Scholl

"Mrs. Arabella Scholl, nee Tharp, was born November 27, 1855, and died at her home 1 1/2 miles north of New Bloomfield on June 21, 1907.  She was married to Joseph R. Scholl September 26, 1872, and by this union was the mother of nine children: Verta, Willie, Lizzie, Kittie, John, Olba, Grace, and Howard.  Six of these children are now living.  Besides her husband, she also leaves one sister, Mrs. Pearl Lynes of Fulton, and one brother, William T. Tharp of St. Louis.

Mrs. Scholl united with the M. E. church in early life, and lived a consistent Christian until her death.  Her neighbors and acquaintances bear unanimous testimony to her being a good woman in every sense of that comprehensive term.  Her funeral was preached at the Methodist church Saturday, June 14, by Rev. Llewellyn, in the presence of a multitude of sorrowing friends."

Source Notes

1.      Family notes.

2.      Marriage

3.      Fulton [?] News, Scholl-McIntyre, January 1912.

4.      Missouri Certificate of Death #26580, Mildred Virginia Scholl.

5.      Missouri Certificate of Death #24402, Joseph Reese Scholl.

6.      Montgomery newspaper, J. R. Scholl, Dead, July, 1931.

7.      Newspaper, Mrs. Joseph R. Scholl, June 1907.