. "Willis Luper was the s on of Allen Luper and Mary Ann Cox Luper. He was the seventh son of a family of 10 children, eight boys and two girls. He was born Jan. 10, 1 842, in Logan County, Illinois, near Atlanta, and moved with his parent s to Arkansas in 1858. He was married in Washington County to Margaret E llen Ennis. He enlisted for service in the Civil War in 1861, served t hree years in the sixth cavalry, and was transferred to the 17th Kansas i nfantry under General Blunt and served in that command 4 months and 20 d ays and was honorably discharged in 1864 at Fort Leavenworth. He moved t o Missouri in 1866, then to Harrison County and bought a farm three mil es northeast of Eagleville. Ten children were born to this union, six b oys and four girls, namely: James Edward, William Henry, Albert Clinton , Clarence Elmer, Mary, Sarah, Eva, Hattie, Harvey and John Arthur, all l iving except Edward, who died in 1914.
"The mother died April 8, 1891, at their home near Blythedale. He pass ed away at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Hattie Goucher, on March 15, 1 922, at the age of 82 years, two months and five days.
"He united with the Christian Church at Newtown, Missouri, in Sullivan C ounty in the year of 1894 and remained a member until death.
"He had been a great sufferer and although unable to attend church serv ices regularly, he had always been a firm believer and trusted in the L ord. There are 28 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
"Funeral services were held at the Harvey Luper home on Friday afternoo n and by Rev. C. V. Pearce. Mr. Haas, Mrs. Swartz and Mr. and Mrs. Pea rce sang."
