NOTES: He is living with Samuel COX in the 1850 census. It's note clear if he and his brothers and sisters are adopted or just living with the family.
NOTES: There is a William COPES who married Elizabeth REES, in Harrison Co, Kentucky, on 24 Jan 1864. See journal notes on film 0216877.
BIOGRAPHY: 4. JOHN CRAWFORD4 MINTER (WILLIAM3, VALENTINE2, JOHN1)6,7,8,9,10,11 was born 2 Feb 1842 in London, Madison Co., Ohio, and died 21 Aug 1921 in Upton, Weston Co., Wyoming. He married EMILY STANLEY 1865 in Unknown, daughter of JOHN STANLEY and MARY EVANS/ERBING.
Notes for JOHN CRAWFORD MINTER: John Crawford Minter was known as Croff when he lived in Missouri and in Wyoming he was called Croft Minter.
THE TIPTON PAPERS, by Annabel Minter Tipton (unpublished manuscript of the Minter Family, 1956).
CHARLES EWING MINTER CHAPTER - (Written by Phillip E. Owen, grandson of Charles Ewing Minter).
In 1861, grandpa, his older brother "Croft", Enoch Dean of Spickard, Missouri and a Mr. Alley from Mercer County, Missouri and two or three others from the Mercer County vicinity road horse back to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas and enlisted in Company B. 5th Kansas Calvary, on the 12th of August 1861. They swam their horses across the Missouri River and sold them to the Union Government.
Minter, John C.(rawford); Kansas Company B. 5th Cav. Reg. Private Union Army
Enlisted 12 Aug. 1861; Mustered out 3 Sept 1864 Leavenworth, Kansas
Source: REPORT OF ADJUTANT GENERAL OF THE STATE OF KANSAS, Pub. 1896, Hudson
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Weston County Gazette, Diamond Jubilee Edition, July 20-21-22, 1984, Upton Wyoming 82730
Compiled by, Ivan Theodore Minter before 1981
THE MINTER FAMILY
John "Croft" Minter who was born in Missouri* in 1842, and his wife, Emma Stanley Minter, had two sons, William Hiram and Charlie D., and two daughters, Maybelle and Mary Jane before coming to Wyoming. Maybelle married Turner McKenzie and Mary Jane married a man named Wooley. All were residents of Missouri.
In 1893, John's sons, William Hiram and Charlie road their bicycles from Mercer County, Missouri to Hot Springs, South Dakota. The bicycles had a large front wheel with a smaller wheel in the rear in those days. William had decided to come west for his health as he suffered from tuberculosis.** After the young men arrived in Hot Springs, they sold their bicycles and bought horses for the ride to Wyoming. They filed on homestead claims south of Upton and then returned to Missouri.
In 1894, the men came back to Wyoming and brought William's wife and children as well as William's parents, John and Emma Minter, to make their home. They loaded their possessions in an immigrant car and came to Hot Springs on the train. There they transferred their belongings to wagons for the trip to Upton, Wyoming.
After they arrived in Upton, John and Emma homesteaded on some land southwest of Upton. Their homestead was located about nine miles northwest of William Hiram's homestead. John also filed on a desert claim that laid about half-way between his place and William's place. It was on this place that he worked for about three years building a dam to meet government specifications for desert claims. He used horses and a fresno to do the necessary dirt work. (In 1948, it took a bulldozer three days to replace the original dam).
John also filed on a rock claim, this land was located near William Hiram's homestead. The rock claim was later owned by John's daughter Mary Wooley, and is now owned by Marian Gilmer. The original homestead went to the other daughter and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Turner McKenzie, and is now owned by Jim Materi. Chub Minter, a grandson, owns the desert claim at the present time.
On September 30, 1905, John's son Charlie, waited near the Upton depot and shot at George Brock as Brock road into town. In the fracas that followed, Brock returned Charlie's fire and Charlie fell wounded in the street. He died later in the day of his wounds. The jury at the coroner's inquest ruled Brock had fired in self defense and did not hold him responsible for Minter's death.
*John Crawford Minter was born in Madison Co., Ohio, not Missouri. ---Cassandra Minter Williams
**According to my father Richard Minter, his grandfather never suffered from tuberculosis.--- Cassandra Minter Williams, 1984.
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Annabel Minter Tipton's unpublished manuscript, 1956
The Croff Minter homestead in Missouri, which adjoined the parental acreage to the southeast, was located on top of a very steep hill and could be seen for miles. The house is still standing, but has been remodeled. The old barn was completely blown away during the tornado of September, 1920, but a duplicate was built by the Shockey family who owned the farm at that time. Most of that farm was in virgin timber, with some Muddy Creek bottom land which used to flood every year until the drainage ditch was put through in 1926.
I was in the house several times when Glen Shrefflers lived there, it consisted of a big parlor, parlor bedroom, sitting room and a kitchen in the back with three or four bedrooms upstairs. It faced the north and the road. The house had the original solid doors, hand hewn woodwork, lots of gingerbread and porches around the house with a balcony. The barn, which was east of the house, was built south of the road that went straight down toward Muddy Creek. There were many shade trees around the house and the barn.
This house is no longer standing, only the barn. --- Cassandra Minter Williams, 1984.
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EXCERPTS FROM NEWS JOURNAL NEWCASTLE, WYOMING
Tuesday, August 4, 1921
John Crawford Minter, one of the old settlers in Weston County, was fatally injured in the woods near Upton, Sunday, August 2, when the team he was driving, ran away. He died late in the evening of the same day. Mr. Minter was 78 years of age and had made his home near Upton for several years.
More About JOHN CRAWFORD MINTER: Cause of Death: Internal bleeding due to wagon accident.
Medical Information: Chronic dysentery conntracted at Pea Ridge, Arkansas during his service. Mustered out of the service due to illness.
Occupation: cattle and sheep rancher