Tool, James A. – d. 1910

TOOL

Posted By: JCGS Volunteer
Date: 6/29/2017 at 08:19:09

Last Pioneer of 1843 Dies Saturday
With Death of James A. Tool at His Home Near Monroe Saturday, Last of County Pioneers is Gone – Settled Here in Spring Of 1843
With the death of James A. Tool, which occurred at his home in Tool’s Chapel neighborhood near Monroe, last Saturday evening, there passes the last of the old pioneers who ventured first into these regions in 1843.
The late deceased has long outlived the other members of the pioneer party and had reached the venerable age of 86 years.
On the 23d day of April, 1843, seven days before white men were allowed to mark out or drive stakes for claims in the “New Purchase,” Adam M. Tool, William Highland, John Frost and John Vance left their families in Jefferson county, this state, and traveled to this locality in search of lands for future homes. They traveled on foot and proceeded up the south side of the Skunk river for a distance of 80 miles, finally arriving in the Monroe neighborhood, where the family and its descendants have always lived.
James A. Tool, lately deceased, was the son of Adam Tool of that party, and in his death Saturday evening there passes the last of the Jasper county pioneers.
Source: Newton Daily News; Thursday, October 20, 1910