SIMEON P. MAPLES. In no part of Missouri is agriculture in a more flourishing condition than in Christian County, and here Mr. Maples is considered one of the leading tillers of the soil. Like two-thirds of the representative citizens of the county he is a native of Tennessee, his birth occurring in Bradley County October 2, 1842, but he is now a law-abiding and public-spirited man of his adopted county.
He is a son of Simeon P. and Elizabeth (Webb) Maples, the grandson of Josiah Maples and the great-grandson of Josiah Maples, Sr., who was born in France. At an early date the latter crossed the strait to England with two brothers, and subsequently came to the United States. This was prior to the Revolution, and he served under Gen. Washington during that war. He married and reared a family in Virginia, but later removed to Tennessee, where he tilled the soil in McMinn County until his death. Josiah Maples, Jr., was born in the Old Dominion, and when but a boy he moved with his parents to McMinn County, Tennessee, where he married. In 1854 he came to Christian County, Missouri, and followed farming until his death the following year. He was the father of nine children. Our subject’s maternal grandfather, Thomas Webb, was a blacksmith by trade, but in connection also carried on farming. He married Miss Susan Shull, and both died in Tennessee. The parents of our subject were born in Sevier County, Tennessee, the father June 21, 1817, and the mother in 1820. They were married in McMinn County, later removed to Bradley County, and then returned to McMinn County where they remained until 1855, when they came by wagon to Christian County, Missouri, being seven weeks on the road. They located in what is now Lincoln Township and began immediately to improve and make a home. There they reside at the present time. Mr. Maples has been a life-long farmer, following in the footsteps of his ancestors, and is a substantial and worthy citizen. He and wife have been members of the Missionary Baptist Church for many years.
They became the parents of thirteen children, as follows: Pleasant, of Stone County, was in the Eighth Missouri Cavalry, Missouri State Militia, and was all through the war (he was captured at Ozark and paroled two days later); Ephraim was a soldier in the Eighty-first Illinois Infantry, and died at Memphis in 1863; Simeon P., subject; Timothy, of this county, was in the Eighth Missouri State Militia from 1863 to close of the war; Mary, deceased, was the wife of Noah Maples; Martha, wife of William Maples, of this county; Arnold died in this county during the war; Susannah died during the war; Marissa died in this county; Rebecca is the wife of Bird Thomas, of this county; Lucinda, wife of William Henry, of this county; and Joseph, of Stone County.
As our subject grew to mature years he became familiar with farming in all its details, but unfortunately obtained but limited schooling. In June, 1861, he joined the Home Guards for three months, and on the 17th of August of the same year he enlisted in Company D, Twenty-fourth Missouri Infantry, for three years. He operated principally in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. He was in a number of prominent engagements and numerous skirmishes, but was never captured nor wounded. On the 14th of October, 1864, he was discharged and then went to Union County, Illinois, where he resided six years.
In December, 1864, he married Miss Mary, daughter of Noah and Sarah (Greenway) Maples, and a native of McMinn County Tennessee Her parents were natives of Sevier and Bradley Counties, Tennessee, and her father was a brother of her husband’s father. The father died in Union County, Illinois, in June, 1867, and his widow died in this county in November, 1883. Both were members of the Christian Church. Mr. Maples was a corporal in the Eighty-first Illinois Infantry for about eighteen months and left a hand at Vicksburg. Six living children have been born to our subject and wife: Simeon David, Eve Harriet, William Houston, Charles Campbell, Robert Hershal and Lloyd Harmon.
In 1870 Mr. Maples located in Stone County and five years later came to his present farm near Boaz Post office, twelve miles west of Ozark. There he has 120 acres with about seventy acres under cultivation. He and wife have been members of the Missionary Baptist Church for fifteen years, and in his political views Mr. Maples is a Republican, as are all his people.