THE DESCENDANTS of Reuben W. and Solomon P. Hornback, who married the Freeman sisters, Elizabeth and Nancy, trace
back to Revolutionary ancestry, their mothers, daughters of Jordan L. Freeman and Sarah Shipman, being granddaughters
of William R. Freeman and Mary Massie, she a daughter of a Revolutionary soldier.
The Freemans were early settlers in Derry township.
Jordan L. Freeman and his wife, Sarah Shipman, are both buried in the Taylor-Martin cemetery in Section 27, Derry
township, three miles southeast of El Dara. He was born October 1, 1808; she December 3, 1810. His father, William
R. Freeman, was born March 25, 1786; his mother, Mary Massie, June 14, 1789. Jordan Freeman's paternal grandfather,
Howell Freeman, was born in 1760; his maternal grandfather, Thomas Massie of Virginia, soldier of the Revolution,
was born December 26, 1759.
The children of Jordan L. Freeman and Sarah Shipman were William C., who married Sarah Wilson; Nancy, who married
Solomon P. Hornback; Mary Jane, who married John W. Thomas; John R., who married Sophia L. Davis; Isaac S., who
married Mary A. Husband; Elizabeth, who married Reuben W. Hornback; Sarah, who married Robert N. Wright; Martha
E., who married George W. Shields; and Eliza E., who married Francis Marion Reeve.
Solomon Pitner Hornback (in some records the middle name is "Philips"), older brother of Ruben W., was
long a prominent citizen of Derry township. Engaged in business in El Dara, he also served as tax collector for
Derry township. Later he removed to Missouri, then back to El Dara, and then to Barry, where he spent his remaining
years. In Barry he served for many years as police magistrate and justice of the peace, in which capacities he
married many Pike county couples, a record of which is still preserved by his son, Clarence Hornback.
Solomon P. Hornback was twice married. His first wife was Nancy Freeman, a sister of Elizabeth, who married his
brother Reuben. Nancy died August 25, 1860, and on November 28, 1861. Solomon P. married Martha A. McCartney of
Barry, a daughter of Francis McCartney.
Solomon P. Hornback, and Nancy Freeman had one child, Millie Hornback, who married Columbus Wolfskill of Linn county,
Missouri, and they had two children, Florence and Carrie Wolfskill. Florence married a Mr. Mendenhall of Mendon,
Missouri, and Carrie, unmarried, is a seamstress in Bucklin (Linn county), Missouri. Mrs. Wolfskill died at Bucklin
nearly a half century ago, and is buried there.
Solomon P. Hornback by his marriage with Martha A. McCartney had five children, namely, Charles E., Albert, Leonard,
Clarence R. and Otis E. Hornback.
Charles E. Hornback married Clara Phebus of El Dara on May 1, 1898, she a daughter of Robert Phebus and Eva Bunger.
The groom was then a resident of Colorado. They were married at El Dara by the Reverend J. D. Dabney, with Charles
Phebus and Henry Bunger witnessing. Mr. Hornback died in Denver, Colorado, April 29, 1913. His body was brought
back to Pike county and buried in Taylor-Martin cemetery. He left one son, Verne Eugene Hornback, now a resident
of El Dora, Colorado. Shortly after his death, twin posthumous daughters, Charlene and Clarine Hornback, were born.
Mrs. Hornback and her daughters, now 24 years of age, reside in El Dara. Verne Eugene Hornback married Elsa Axelson
of Wiggins, Colorado, and they have three children, Charles Eugene, Verne Quentin and Elsa Lurana, all at the home
in El Dora, Colorado.
Albert Hornback married and resided in Quincy, where he engaged in the meat industry. He died there about 1904,
and his infant daughter was christened over his coffin. He is buried in Quincy.
Leonard Hornback, a bachelor, resides with his brother Clarence in Barry.
Clarence R. Hornback married as his first wife Agnes B. Hardbarger, daughter of James L. Hardbarger and Margaret
Cochran. They were married at Barry October 10, 1897, with his father, Justice Solomon P. Hornback, officiating.
Mr. Hornback was again married on December 7, 1902, his second wife being Lucy Leona Askew of Barry, a daughter
of Isaac Askew and Alice Allen, she a daughter of Bryan Allen. They were married at Barry by Justice Solomon P.
Hornback with Maude and Willie Hankins witnessing. They have no children. They reside in Barry.
Otis E. Hornback married Maud M. Badgley, daughter of Abraham Badgley and Ella Barnes. They were married at Barry
October 16, 1897, with Justice Solomon Hornback performing the ceremony. They had one daughter, Gladys Hornback,
who married Donald Cothern of Hannibal, and they have two children, a son Dono, and one daughter. The family resides
in Hannibal.
Otis Hornback married as his second wife, Ora Hayden. They had no children. He and his third wife, Mabel Hornback,
moved from Hannibal to California about 1933 and the family now resides at Salinas. Mr. Hornback has one son by
his third wife, Marion Otis Hornback. A tinner by trade, Mr. Hornback is now in the employ of a sugar refinery
at Salinas.
Solomon P. Hornback, born at El Dara July 5, 1834, died at Barry March 23, 1923, aged 88 years, seven months and
18 days. He and his second wife, Martha A. McCartney, are buried at Barry. His first wife, Nancy Freeman, whom
he married November 1, 1858, and who died at the age of 28, is buried in Hornback cemetery.
The Pike county Hornbacks were related by marriage to the Arnolds of Virginia and Kentucky. Pioneer William Hornback's
third wife was Mary Ann Arnold, whose first husband was the early western doctor, Frank A. Landrum.
Mary Ann Arnold was born at Culpeper Courthouse, Virginia, in 1808, and at the age of 14 moved with her people
to Clark county, Kentucky, where the Hornbacks and Landrums had adjoining plantations. She married Dr. Frank A.
Landrum and the couple pioneered on the site of present Winchester in 1830, and when the Scott county town was
founded in 1831, Dr. Landrum was its first physician.
In 1833, the year that Pittsfield was founded, the Landrums left pioneer Winchester and moved over into Pike county,
settling in what is now Derry township. Here Dr. Landrum experienced many thrilling adventures along the perilous
trails in the dark wilderness nights, as he threaded his way to some remote cabin to bring relief to some sufferer.
Among the children of Dr. Frank A. Landrum and Mary Ann Arnold was James Bibb Landrum, who became sheriff of Pike
county from 1864 to 1866 and who was a deputy sheriff under Joseph A. McFarland, and was present at the only execution
in Pike county history, that of Bartholomew Barnes in the Pike county jail on December 29, 1871.
James B. Landrum, on December 22, 1859, married Eliza H. Clark of Pike county with the Reverend William M. Reed
officiating. James B. later emigrated to the far Northwest and there married a second time. He died at Centralia,
Washington, and is buried there.
William Reuben Landrum, another son of Dr. Frank A., married Ella Anna Beard of Pittsfield August 22, 1883, she
a direct lineal descendant of the early Adamses. The Reverend W. W. Rose of the Pittsfield Congregational church
officiated. They became the parents of Harold Landrum, now a resident of Barry, and of Inez Vivian Landrum.
Inez Vivian Landrum, on September 4, 1902, married William Samuel Carr, a son of James Conway Carr and Mary Elizabeth
Collins. They were married in Pittsfield by the Reverend J. M. Young with Colonel A. C. and Anna E. Matthews witnessing.
They have four sons, Earl, Glenn, Walter Lee and Harold Wayne, Mr. and Mrs. Carr reside at Maysville.
Lyda Landrum, a daughter of Dr. Frank A. and Mary Ann (Arnold) Landrum, married J. H. Wilkerson at the Landrum
home in Derry township, February 14, 1866, thereby consummating a thrilling romance of the Civil War. Squire Samuel
Lippincott officiated at the wedding. The groom was a Confederate soldier who had received shelter and protection
in Dr. Landrum's home in Derry during the war, at which time developed the romance between the Southern soldier
and the daughter of the house of Landrum. They moved to Kentucky and settled in the Pee Wee Valley near Louisville.
There Lyda Landrum Wilkerson died and is buried. Among her children were Maria Wells, Julia, Clara, Margaret and
Frank Wilkerson.
Nancy Landrum, another daughter of Dr. Frank, married William Ware and they, too, settled in the Pee Wee Valley
in Kentucky. They had two children, Essie and Clabe Ware. Nancy also died in Kentucky and is buried near Louisville.
Juliet D. Landrum, daughter of Dr. Frank and Mary Ann, married Maberry Evans of Derry township July 12, 1849, with
James Ward, then probate justice of the peace, performing the ceremony. She was born August 18, 1830 and died in
Derry township November 19, 1891. He was born January 14, 1829 and died August 6, 1905, Maberry Evans in his will
left bequests to his son, Richard Francis Evans; his daughter, Mary Eliza Evey; his son, Richard Evans of New Orleans,
Louisiana; and Gilbert, John and Clarence Evans of Kansas City, Missouri, sons of his deceased son, Theodore Alverado
Evans.
Maberry Evans was born near Winchester in Scott county, Illinois, a son of Richard and Annie Evans, natives of
Kentucky. He came to Pike county in 1847 and that winter lived with Elisha Hurt. He acquired 200 acres in Derry
and 120 acres in Pleasant Vale. He was a justice of the peace and a supervisor from Derry township. His brother,
William Evans, married Mary A. Strubinger, daughter of Joseph Strubinger of the early settlement. William Evans
was once offered the exclusive use of a large tract of land where Jacksonville now stands, in exchange for a horse.
Maberry Evans and Juliet Landrum are both buried in Hornback cemetery, southwest of El Dara.
Another daughter of Dr. Frank Landrum and Mary Ann Arnold was Louisa Landrum, who on July 6, 1856 in Derry township
married John Lippincott. The Reverend James P. Dimmitt officiated at this wedding.
Two sons of Dr. Francis A. Landrum, William (first of the name) and Francis A., Jr., both died young and are buried
in Hornback cemetery.
Associated also with the Hornbacks are the descendants of Armstead Blackwell, whose daughter, Emily Elizabeth Blackwell,
married Solomon Hornback, Jr., son of Solomon, Sr. and Sally Philips.
Other children of Armstead Blackwell were Rachel, who married Edward S. Lippincott, May 20, 1841, with Justice
F. A. Landrum officiating; Samuel, who married in Missouri; Ben, who never married; and Julia Ann, who married
Alexander Baker of New Hartford.
Julia Ann and Alexander Baker were married December 28, 1842, with David Roberts, a minister of the Christian church,
officiating. They had a daughter, Emily Elizabeth, who married a Lawrence, and they had two sons, now located at
Fort Scott, Kansas, and a daughter, Annie, who married a Roddy and had one son and one daughter. Mr. Roddy died
in southern California. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence were the first couple married in the first Episcopal church started
in St. Louis.
Mrs. Scott Taylor of El Dara is a descendant of Edward S. Lippincott and Rachel Blackwell. They had a daughter,
Emily Elizabeth Lippincott, who married William Newnham, and their only child was Cora Newnham, now Mrs. Taylor.
Armstead Blackwell, a native of Virginia, is buried at El Dara, in the north part of the village, as is his wife,
their graves being in a family burial plot.