Giles Wilkerson Joyner 1834-1894

The Joyner Family in Bluff City History

Giles Wilkerson Joyner was one of the early settlers in the Stohrville Township area in 1880. He was born in North Carolina on Feb. 6, 1834 and migrated to Chapel Hill, Mo. where he served in the Missouri Militia under Confederate General Sterling Price. He later migrated with his family and pre-empted a farm three miles north and three and one-half miles east of where Bluff City is now located in 1880, and built a sod house.

He farmed and raised cattle but had a second income from freighting supplies to the Indian Territory to the south of his home. He hauled wood back from the Territory as the prairie in this area was barren of trees.

In these days seedling trees were destroyed by prairie fires which were generally started by lightning. Mr. Joyner made friends with roving bands of Indians by always carrying enough tobacco so he could give them some.

They would take the tobacco and go peacefully on their way.

Giles had three sons and one daughter, with one son being born in Missouri Feb. 4, 1862 and named Sterling Price after Giles Joyner’s Commanding General, Sterling Price. After the family settled in Kansas, two of the sons migrated on west, which left Sterling Price and his sister Lula here with the family. Susan, the wife of Giles, died Jan. 28, 1887 which left her daughter Lula to care for the family. This she did until her death on Dec. 28, 1887. Both are buried in the Singer Cemetery. The men lived here until March 22, 1888 when Sterling Price married Aloisa Singer. As a wedding present, her father Francis Singer provided them with a house which still stands on this farm. Giles Joyner lived with them until his death Jan. 12, 1894.

At this time a survey was made and it was learned that the Joyner farm was the highest point in elevation in that area. A huge heliograph tower was erected to relay messages by sunlight and mirrors. This tower stood until the telegraph system was established. The instruments were removed and the tower was given to the Joyner farm ownership. It was dismantled and the timbers were used in building a large barn. This barn remained until it was struck by lightning in 1933 and burned to the ground. It was replaced with a smaller barn as the days of horse-power were over and gone. The old barn had stalls for about fourteen head of horses. The barn had a mow that held all the hay produced on the farm, and also had several bins for oats used for horse feed.

Sterling Price and Aloisa Joyner had two sons named Sterling Joseph and Tomnie. Tomnie died when he was but fourteen months old on Aug. 8, 1895.

Sterling Price later died in 1908. Following the death of her husband, Aloisa Joyner and son Sterling continued to make their home on the family farm. Sterling was only eighteen years of age at the time of his father’s death and when he took over the farming•

On May 12, 1914 Sterling married Minnie Scheel and they made their home on the family farm. Sterling’s mother made her home with them until 1920 when she moved to Anthony, where she later died on Sept. 9, 1926.

The farm is now owned by Arthur Joyner and this is the fourth generation of Joyner’s who have owned this farm since its beginning. When Stohrville Township was first laid out, the north boundary was one mile north of the present line. The Joyner farm originally was in Stohrville and is now is

Silver Creek Township.

(This article was submitted by Arthur Joyner who is the great-grandson of Giles and Susan Joyner. Arthur is a member of the Bluff City Historical Committee.)