This ledger was donated by Mike Garrity of Wildwood, Missouri. This treasure dates from 1876 to 1896, and originally belonged to Pleasant Tilman Gentry, a Baptist minister and his wife, Mary (Quisenbury) Gentry from Audrain County, Missouri. It begins by chronicling plantings and livestock information about his farm but also includes a list of over 250 marriages he performed, beginning in 1877. Mr. Garrity located and bought this treasure at an estate sale.

In an email Garrity initially sent to Mary Lusk, one of the Genealogical Society of Boone and Central Missouri volunteers, he gave the following information:

"In a small shoebox, I found a beaten-up 1876 ledger from Boone County (a bit of it is, but not much that was described by P.T. Gentry as "A record of the New Apple Orchard"... In a separate document, this gentleman was described as Brother Elder P.T. Gentry, but I have not determined what church he was with. The pages that follow chronicle plantings, raw materials for a few pages followed by entries of calves, sows and other farm animals, their owners and related costs/values. These entries are penciled about a third of the way through the ledger pages when there are suddenly entries of marriages listed. The first is for that of Mr. William Quisenberry with Miss Mary R. Elizabeth Ess of Audria? on April 5, 1877 (for a fee of $5.00). There are 3 or 4 entries per pages times 70 pages. I realize how old church registers like this one can fill in a void where the records may not exist at the deeds office. In any event, if this is the sort of relic your organization and researchers can benefit from, let me know. I'd be happy to ship it to your library.”

The ledger was mailed out to the GSCM on January 15, 2015.

Biography of Pleasant Tilman Gentry

“Born in Clark Co., Ky., July 21, 1813; he learned the millwright trade under his father and followed it until he was married to Mary Quisenbury, Dec. 25, 1839. He then purchased a saw mill and was in the lumber business for some time. He sold his mill and farmed near Winchester, Ky., for a time. He joined the Baptist Church when about 15 years old and soon after was ordained as a minister of that denomination, and became pastor of the church in which he was ordained, and continued in that relation until 1855, when he emigrated to Missouri. He settled on a farm in Audrain Co., Mo., near Sturgeon, where he died Nov. 21, 1897. He was a man well to do and highly esteemed.”

Pleasant Tilman Gentry was born July 21, 1813 - Clark County, Kentucky. He died November 2, 1897, in Audrain County. He and his wife are both buried in the Mt. Pisgah Cemetery in Sturgeon, Missouri. Pleasant was married to Mary McMurtry Quisenberry on December 14, 1839, in Winchester, Clark County, Kentucky. The parents of Pleasant were: Benajah Gentry, born January 10, 1780, in Albemarle County, Virginia; and mother Pauline Bush, born before 1798.

The children of Pleasant and Mary were: Orma, married Vance; Lucy, married Toalson, lived in Clark Co., Mo.; Andrew F., lived in Sturgeon, Mo; Benajah P., lived in Kirksville, Mo.; Colby C., lived in Saline Co., Mo.; David T., born Nov. 24, 1852; Enoch, lived in Boonville, Mo.; Flavel B., lived in Los Angeles, Cal.; Margaret; Paulina.

“The church (The United Baptist Church of Christ at Providence) having been without a pastor for some time, Elder B. E. Allen again accepted the pastorate, in August, 1851, serving them for one year. In October, 1851, one of her members, Brother P. T. Gentry, was ordained to the preaching of the Gospel, and Jeremiah Bush was ordained as deacon, after a committee had been sent to Sister Bush to ask her co-operation in the ordination of Brother Bush. In June, 1852, Elder P. T. Gentry accepted a call as pastor and labored with them for three years.”

“We are unable to say whether he was pastor of any other church except Friendship (Clark ...... In November, 1836, Pleasant T. Gentry was appointed clerk.”

According to the Switzler book, The History of Boone County, Missouri, Pleasant was one of the ministers at the Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist church. Pleasant appears to have also been involved with the Zion Church according to some of the records in his ledger.

“Pleasant Grove—Missionary Baptist

This church was constituted April 18, 1853, by Elder Wm. Thompson. The first members were Wm. James, Margaret James, Isabella P. James, Wm. K. Sturgeon, Margaret Sturgeon, James M. Wilhite , Sarah W. Wilhite, Pleasant Bush, Edward Silver, George W. Silver, Thos. J. Jennings. The present church building was erected in 1855, and stands on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 3, township 50, range 11. It was dedicated in 1855 by Rev. W. R. Wigginton. The pastors of the church have been Wm. Thompson, W. R. Wigginton, Pleasant Gentry, James Jackson, J. M. McGuire—the latter the present pastor. The clerk is M. A. Silver; deacons, Geo. W. Silver, Shelton Quisenberry and R. P. Waters. Present number of members, about 85.”

A Descendant Found:

After a bit of research, a descendant, Jerry Doyle Gentry, was found and contacted. He is the great grandson of Pleasant Tilman Gentry and the grandson of Enoch Nelson Gentry. In a letter he sent back to Mary Helen Allen, he mentioned that “I still own a chest built by Pleasant T. Gentry back in the 1800s.”

More Information From Mike Garrity

“I carefully reviewed all my farm auction and estate sale notes going back January 2014 to determine when and where the ledger originated. Most item pull tab receipts only have vague descriptions so I was unable to locate with certainty exactly the sale.

The most likely auction would have been one on March 27, 2014 in Florence, Missouri. I stayed with a former college roommate who is a local newspaper writer in the Columbia area and drove over to this sale. I filled my truck with paper items over the course of the 2-day outdoor auction.

The location of the farm was 7284 Hwy. 135, Florence, MO.

It is likely I set the ledger aside to research it while I resold the items with market value. I have a large camel back trunk that historic items find their way into that need further research for donation to more rightful party than to an eBay buyer for $40.”

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Mike Garrity for contacting our Genealogical Society of Central Missouri (GSCM) and making the gift of this treasure trove of information. Mary Lusk, Virginia Winters and Mary Helen Allen deciphered, researched and keyboarded this historic treasure to reproduce it for historic purposes in our GSCM library. It has been donated to the State Historical Society of Missouri for safe keeping and access to the general public.

To download a pdf version of this ledger, click here.