Gone, but not forgotten: Low Gap was first recorded township

Low Gap was first recorded as a township in the 1900 census for Newton County. That year 342 people were living in the township. Most people were farmers, but there were a few interesting exceptions.
Sarah J Roseberry, wife of Elsy Roseberry, was listed as being a midwife.
Sintha Wishon, wife of Isaac, was also a midwife.
John W Smith was a teamster.
Archibald Meek, a single man boarding with the Rheas Taylor family, was a coal miner.
Genetta Anderson, wife of farmer William Anderson, was a picture frame maker.
Sarah Jane Roseberry was born Sarah Jane Hoodenpyle in 1849 in Missouri, daughter of James and Sarah Hoodenpyle. She married Elsy D Rosenberry in 1869, and had five children with him. She was last seen in the 1910 census for Low Gap.
Sintha Wishon was born Sintha A Kilgore, born 31 May 1842 in Kentucky to Jonathan Kilgore and a Cherokee woman. She married Isaac Conrod Wishon in 1864, and the couple made their home in Low Gap. They had ten children in all. Sintha died in 1912 and was buried in Low Gap Cemetery.

Archibald Meek soon took his mining skills to the Southwest, where he worked in copper mines. He retired to Tennessee, where he died in 1950.
Genetta Anderson was born Genetta Cartrer in 1871 in Missouri, daughter of Joseph and Sallie Carter. She married William Anderson in 1889, and the couple sojourned in Newton County for a few years before moving to Oregon, where Genetta died in 1948.
The 1910 census saw only 78 people living in Low Gap Township. This included several farm families, as well as Elmer Bradley, an engineer; Daisy S. Bunn, a widow working as a saleslady in a department store and Jesse Thompson, a timber buyer. Elmer and Daisy were siblings, and soon moved back to Michigan.
Low Gap was not found in the 1920 census, but in 1930 it was back. Now 269 people lived in the township. Two were merchants — John H. Kilgore and S. Jackson Eoff. Dewey Villines was manufacturing lumber.
John H. Kilgore was born in Newton County in 1874, son of Ruben and Nancy (Roseberry) Kilgore. He farmed at Low Gap most of his life, taking up the dry goods business in his older years. He died in 1937 and was laid to rest in Low Gap Cemetery.
Jackson Eoff was also born in Newton County. He was born in 1892 to Samuel and Merry Curnett Eoff. He moved his store to Jasper by 1940, and then retired in Michigan, where he died in 1978.
Dewey Villines was born Admiral Dewey Villines in Low Gap in 1898, son of Franklin Villines. He worked in the lumber industry and later as a surveyor. He died in Kansas City Missouri in 1984.

Barbara LeRoy is the author of “Which Side Were They On?,” a 302 page book listing biographical sketches of the Newton Countians who were involved in the Civil War, available for sale either in the Bradley House Museum or by purchasing online at www.newtoncountyar.com. The book sells for $33.