Married Dr. William J. Armstrong on 14 Sep 1854 in Lafayette Co., MS; widowed in 1860; married Abraham Milton Thomas on 19 July 1863 in Lincoln Co., MO; widowed in 1883; married Benjamin Blanton Shipp, Sr., on 6 Aug 1891 in Pike Co., MO.

∼GREENWOOD REMEMBERS
A WOMAN'S JOURNEY WITH BLENDED FAMILIES
Missouri Texana Howard, Armstrong, Thomas, Shipp
8/1839-12/13/1905

Missouri was born in TN and moved to MS where she met and married physician Dr. Joseph William Armstrong in 1854 when she was just a young girl of fifteen and her husband was 29 ( there is an age pattern, pay attention). They moved to Lincoln MO and had two boys. After six short years of marriage, Joe died when he was 35 and was buried in Lincoln County MO.

Her second husband, Abraham Milton Thomas, a widower, was 56 and Missouri was 24 years old when they married in Lincoln MO. This became a" yours, mine and ours" family – Milton and his first wife, Lucinda Mundy, had three children, James, George and Douglas Thomas – Missouri had two boys, William Joseph and Robert J. Armstrong. Together they added to the clan; Mary, Sallie, Elizabeth, Melinda and Elizabeth (not a typo, 2 Elizabeths are recorded). Milton died in 1883 after twenty years of marriage at the age of 76.

After eight years of being single, husband number three, Benjamin Blanton Shipp, came along who was 74 years of age and Missouri was 52 years old when they each tied the knot for the third time in 1891. Of course there were the children and step children from Missouri's previous marriages and Ben fit right in – he had four children with his first wife Sarah Fisher Shipp, three step children came with his second wife, Louisa Wells Shipp as well as three children Ben & Louisa had together.

There were wide age gaps between Missouri and her three husbands, and 22 year difference with her third husband, yet she beat him to the grave when she was 66 years old. Ben died six years later at the age of 93.

Three husbands, 40 years of combined marriages, and 20 assorted children and step children – from Tennessee & Mississippi, to Lincoln to Paynesville and many gathered together at Greenwood when it was all said and done.
Husbands of Missouri Howard
1. Dr. Joseph Wm. Armstrong – 1825-1860 Lincoln MO
2. Abraham Milton Thomas 1807-1883 Greenwood
3. Benjamin Blanton Shipp – 1818-1911 Punkin Center area
Children of Missouri Howard Armstrong Thomas
William Joe Armstrong 1858-1876 Lincoln MO
Robert J. Armstrong 1859-1931 Greenwood
Mary Jackson Thomas Dawson 1865-1954 Lincoln MO
**Melinda Thomas Duvall 1867-1946 Greenwood
Elizabeth M. Thomas Vaughan 1871-1945 Greenwood
Elizabeth Thomas Pitcher 1872-1936, Texas
Sallie Thomas Hill 1874-1962, Oklahoma
Children of Abraham and Lucinda Mundy Thomas
Douglas Thomas 1845-1859, Lincoln MO
George Thomas and James Thomas, unknown
Children of Ben & Sarah Fisher Shipp
*John R. Shipp 1843-1901, Greenwood
Andrew Donophan Shipp 1845-1917, Brookfield MO
***Martha Emma Shipp Goldman 1849-1934, KC MO
Sara Taylor Shipp Smither 1854-1926, Brookfield MO
Ben's stepchildren from Louisa Wells Shipp & Henry Wells
John Curt Wells 1853-1929, Greenwood
*Molly Wells Shipp (also known as Mary F. Wells) 1855-1898 Greenwood
James Wells- 1861-? unknown
Children of Ben and Louisa Wells Shipp
Benjamin B. Shipp 1868-1953, St. Louis
Wm Tecumseh Shipp 1871-1956 Greenwood
Ellen Shipp Patton 1876-1962 (also known as Dorothy E.) Greenwood
*Not that you the reader can keep this all straight ( I barely can) but the story took a detour when there was a wedding in 1890, John R. Shipp, son of Ben & Sarah married his stepsister, Mary F. Wells, daughter of Louisa and Henry Wells and technically became a "Stepfamily". They were married eight years when Mary died and John followed her a few years later.
** Melinda was the great grandmother of the Duvall kids,
Donna, Debbie & Duke - former Clarksville residents of the purple house landmark.
*** At age 18, Mary Emma Shipp taught at the Pardee Collegiate Institute in Louisiana MO during the 1867-68 school year.

Married Dr. William J. Armstrong on 14 Sep 1854 in Lafayette Co., MS; widowed in 1860; married Abraham Milton Thomas on 19 July 1863 in Lincoln Co., MO; widowed in 1883; married Benjamin Blanton Shipp, Sr., on 6 Aug 1891 in Pike Co., MO.

∼GREENWOOD REMEMBERS
A WOMAN'S JOURNEY WITH BLENDED FAMILIES
Missouri Texana Howard, Armstrong, Thomas, Shipp
8/1839-12/13/1905

Missouri was born in TN and moved to MS where she met and married physician Dr. Joseph William Armstrong in 1854 when she was just a young girl of fifteen and her husband was 29 ( there is an age pattern, pay attention). They moved to Lincoln MO and had two boys. After six short years of marriage, Joe died when he was 35 and was buried in Lincoln County MO.

Her second husband, Abraham Milton Thomas, a widower, was 56 and Missouri was 24 years old when they married in Lincoln MO. This became a" yours, mine and ours" family – Milton and his first wife, Lucinda Mundy, had three children, James, George and Douglas Thomas – Missouri had two boys, William Joseph and Robert J. Armstrong. Together they added to the clan; Mary, Sallie, Elizabeth, Melinda and Elizabeth (not a typo, 2 Elizabeths are recorded). Milton died in 1883 after twenty years of marriage at the age of 76.

After eight years of being single, husband number three, Benjamin Blanton Shipp, came along who was 74 years of age and Missouri was 52 years old when they each tied the knot for the third time in 1891. Of course there were the children and step children from Missouri's previous marriages and Ben fit right in – he had four children with his first wife Sarah Fisher Shipp, three step children came with his second wife, Louisa Wells Shipp as well as three children Ben & Louisa had together.

There were wide age gaps between Missouri and her three husbands, and 22 year difference with her third husband, yet she beat him to the grave when she was 66 years old. Ben died six years later at the age of 93.

Three husbands, 40 years of combined marriages, and 20 assorted children and step children – from Tennessee & Mississippi, to Lincoln to Paynesville and many gathered together at Greenwood when it was all said and done.
Husbands of Missouri Howard
1. Dr. Joseph Wm. Armstrong – 1825-1860 Lincoln MO
2. Abraham Milton Thomas 1807-1883 Greenwood
3. Benjamin Blanton Shipp – 1818-1911 Punkin Center area
Children of Missouri Howard Armstrong Thomas
William Joe Armstrong 1858-1876 Lincoln MO
Robert J. Armstrong 1859-1931 Greenwood
Mary Jackson Thomas Dawson 1865-1954 Lincoln MO
**Melinda Thomas Duvall 1867-1946 Greenwood
Elizabeth M. Thomas Vaughan 1871-1945 Greenwood
Elizabeth Thomas Pitcher 1872-1936, Texas
Sallie Thomas Hill 1874-1962, Oklahoma
Children of Abraham and Lucinda Mundy Thomas
Douglas Thomas 1845-1859, Lincoln MO
George Thomas and James Thomas, unknown
Children of Ben & Sarah Fisher Shipp
*John R. Shipp 1843-1901, Greenwood
Andrew Donophan Shipp 1845-1917, Brookfield MO
***Martha Emma Shipp Goldman 1849-1934, KC MO
Sara Taylor Shipp Smither 1854-1926, Brookfield MO
Ben's stepchildren from Louisa Wells Shipp & Henry Wells
John Curt Wells 1853-1929, Greenwood
*Molly Wells Shipp (also known as Mary F. Wells) 1855-1898 Greenwood
James Wells- 1861-? unknown
Children of Ben and Louisa Wells Shipp
Benjamin B. Shipp 1868-1953, St. Louis
Wm Tecumseh Shipp 1871-1956 Greenwood
Ellen Shipp Patton 1876-1962 (also known as Dorothy E.) Greenwood
*Not that you the reader can keep this all straight ( I barely can) but the story took a detour when there was a wedding in 1890, John R. Shipp, son of Ben & Sarah married his stepsister, Mary F. Wells, daughter of Louisa and Henry Wells and technically became a "Stepfamily". They were married eight years when Mary died and John followed her a few years later.
** Melinda was the great grandmother of the Duvall kids,
Donna, Debbie & Duke - former Clarksville residents of the purple house landmark.
*** At age 18, Mary Emma Shipp taught at the Pardee Collegiate Institute in Louisiana MO during the 1867-68 school year.