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Past and Present of Saline County, Missouri
by Hon. William Barclay Napton (1910)
B. F. Bowen & Co, Indianapolis, Ind. & Chicago, Ill.

Pages 642-644
JUDGE MILES F. PRIGMORE

   Miles F. Prigmore, who is rendering efficient service of the court for
   the second district of Saline county, is a native son of the state of
   Missouri, having been born, in Pettis county, about eight miles
   southwest of Sweet Springs, on February 7, 1850, and is the son of
   Benjamin and Jane (Taylor) Prigmore.  The subject’s mother was born and
   reared in Pettis county, being the daughter of Elijah Taylor.  The
   latter, who was one of the pioneer settlers in Pettis county, was one of
   the first justices of the peace in that county and held the first county
   court at Pinhook Mills.  He was a farmer and miller and operated one of
   the earliest of the old horse-power mills in the county.  His death
   occurred in 1856.  His wife was a member of the Christian church, and
   they were the parents of three children, namely:  Jane, mother of the
   subject of this sketch; Mary, the wife of T. W. Dickinson, of Pettis
   county; William Y., of Kansas City, Kansas.  Benjamin Prigmore was born
   in Kentucky in 1811 and his death occurred in 1900.  He was son of
   Benjamin Prigmore, who came from Kentucky to Pettis county, Missouri in
   1818, but, owing to Indian troubles, he moved to Lexington, this state,
   where there was a small settlement.  In 1820 he located at what is now
   known as the Tom Berry farm, in Pettis county, where he bought one
   hundred an twenty-five acres of land and also took up four hundred and
   forty acres of government land.  He lived there during the remainder of
   his life, and is now buried there on a farm.  He and his wife were
   members of the Christian church.  They were the parents of ten children,
   namely:  Sarah, William, Joseph, Isaiah, Benjamin (father of the
   subject), Polly, Elizabeth, Nancy, Sophia and Duke Y.  Benjamin
   Prigmore, the subject’s father, was a lad of eight years when the family
   came to this state.  The trip was made by ox teams and the Mississippi
   river was crossed at St. Louis in 1818, the trip being characterized by
   many exciting and dangerous experiences.  Benjamin was reared on the
   home farm and received a meager education, owing to the primitive
   educational facilities of the new country.  He served as a teamster
   during the Mexican war, serving faithfully throughout that struggle.  On
   his return he took up the occupation of farming in Pettis county.  He
   was also engaged in peddling “Sappington’s Anti-Fever Pills” all through
   the South, in which he was very successful.  He later engaged in driving
   a “freighter” across the plains, his western terminal point being Santa
   Fe, New Mexico.  He and his wife were members of the Christian church.
   They were parents of six children.  He had been twice married, the first
   time to Mary Wingfield, a native of Johnson county, Missouri, by whom he
   became the father of two children:  Benjamin, of Pueblo, Colorado, and
   Charlie W., who died in 1864.  Benjamin Prigmore enjoys the unbounded
   confidence of all who know him and was the first postmaster at Bee
   Branch, Missouri, the mail at that time being carried by state.
   Miles F. Prigmore was reared on the home farm in Pettis county and
   received his education in the district schools, which in that early day
   lacked many of the educational facilities and aids which characterize
   the modern schools.  The school houses were rudely built, the floor and
   seats being made of puncheons, and the school literature being scant and
   comparatively crude in selection.  However, despite these drawbacks,
   some of the brightest minds of this country received their first mental
   discipline amid such conditions, and the subject of this sketch left
   school fairly well equipped to take up the battle of life.  At the age
   of nineteen years, he commenced agricultural operations on forty acres
   of land which his father had given him and so successfully did he carry
   on his operations that he was able to add to the original tract from
   time to time until he became the owner of one hundred and forty-six
   acres, comprising the old homestead.  In October, 1893, he left the farm
   and came to Sweet Springs, Saline county, and entered into a partnership
   with H. H. Reavis in the real estate and insurance business, in which he
   is still engaged.

   While residing in Pettis county, the subject served ten years as justice
   of the peace, acquiring a splendid reputation for his evident fairness
   and his ability in handling cases that came before him.  In 1896 he was
   elected mayor of Sweet Springs, and gave so able an administration of
   the affairs of the office that he was re-elected in 1898 and again in
   1900.  He is also a notary public.  In 1908 he was elected to the office
   of county judge from the second district of Saline county and is now
   discharging the duties of this responsible position with marked ability
   and to the entire satisfaction of the people of the county.

    In March, 1869, Judge Prigmore married Henrietta Smiley, a native of
    Pettis county, Missouri, who died on November 19, 1906.  To them were
    born two children, namely:  Charles S., a farmer in Johnson county,
    this state, married Lou Welch and they have one child, Henrietta;
    Benjamin T., who is unmarried, is connected with the Coulter Hardware
    Company at Sweet Springs.  The subject and his wife also reared an
    orphan girl named Rosa Folkerth, who is now a resident of Lexington,
    Missouri.  Politically, Judge Prigmore has ever given staunch support
    to the Democratic party and has been active in advancing its interests.
    His fraternal relations are with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons,
    of which he is an appreciative member.  At the age of sixteen years, he
    became a member of the Christian church, but does not now take an
    active part in church work.  The Judge is a man of splendid personal
    qualities and is popular in the circles in which he moves, being
    numbered among the representative men of the county.

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