James E. Vandiveer was early proprietor of the Moundville Hotel that was sometimes referred to as the Hotel deVandiveer:
This family was in Moundville very early and were featured in the 1887 History of Vernon County. Note: I have gone with the spelling Vandiveer throughout this web page. However, researchers may find the name spelled a variety of ways including Vandiver or Vandweer.
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From History of Vernon County, Missouri. 1887, p. 806. (Proprietor of Hotel Vandiveer, Moundville). Not every person could be a landlord or run a hotel successfully. So much is expected, so many requirements are necessary and such order is looked for that the patience of an ordinary being is often seriously tried. And yet a landlord is supposed to be always genial. In the present instance, however, appears the case of one well adapted to his calling. Mr. Vandiveer is a success as a hotel proprietor, and as landlord is the right man in the right place. In 1886 he erected his present building, a commodious, neat and well arranged house, which was given the name of Hotel Vandiveer, and over this he now presides, conducting a hostelry that has already an excellent reputation. Mr. V. was born in Hickory county, Mo., May 13, 1850, and is the son of Pollard W. and Eliza (Cummins) Vandiveer, the former of Tennessee and the latter of Virginia nativity. James, the eldest of eight children, accompanied the family to Texas in 1853, but two years later returned to Missouri and settled in Dallas county, where he became familiar with farming in all its details. In 1867 he settled in Walker township, this county, where Walker is now located, and until about 1872 was engaged in agricultural pursuits, but afterwards devoted considerable of his time to school teaching, merchandising and stock and grain shipping, mostly at Ellis. During the terms of W. H. Taylor as sheriff of the county, and Mr. A. Cutninins as collector, Mr. Vandiveer served as deputy, under both, in an acceptable manner. January 3, 1877, he was married to Miss Pernie Still, of Johnson County, Mo. They have two children: Lola M. and Earl W. Mr. V. is a member of the I. 0. 0. F. His father is now a respected resident of Ellis, Deerfield Township, this county. |
Pollard Wisdom Vandiveer first appears in Vernon County records in the 1870 census. In 1850, he had been 23 years old and living with his wife Eliza and their four month old son, James E. Vandiveer in Hickory County, MO. By the 1860 census, they had moved a couple counties east. Pollard and Eliza lived in Dallas County, MO and had six children. In 1870, they lived in Center Township, Vernon County, MO, near Nevada. By 1880, Pollard and Eliza were in Deerfield Township and were listed as hotel keepers. Living with them was their daughter, Julia, who was age 26. She was listed as Julia Bowman and she was shown as a widow with a four year old daughter, Rutha Bowman. By 1900, Pollard was listed as a widower still living alone in Deerfield Township. His wife Julia had died in 1894 and was buried in Welborn Cemetery. Living next door to him in 1900 was his daughter Julia, who by that time had re-married and was again listed as widowed. Julia had married James Spendiff. Their grave marker in Welborn Cemetery, lists a death date for James Spendiff as 1890. The 1910 census shows that Pollard Vandiveer had moved to Nevada and lived with his daughter Julia Spendiff. Pollard W. Vandiveer died July 20, 1912, and was buried beside Eliza in Welborn Cemetery. Julia Vandiveer Spendiff died March 10, 1915 and was buried beside her second husband, James Spendiff. John Voss tells that Pollard Vandiveer had another daughter named Nancy who married John Spendiff in 1870. So it appears that Nancy and Julia married brothers.
James E. Vandiveer lived with his parents through the 1870 census. The 1880 census shows him living near Ellis, Vernon County, with his wife Pernia and their eight month old daughter, Lola. James E. is mentioned in Moundville records as early as 1884. By 1886, he was building the hotel picture above. He was the hotel proprietor for several years after that, but by 1900, he had left Moundville and the census for that year shows him living in Cedar county with his wife and three children, Lola, Earl and Oza. One confusing factor is that the census lists his wife as Lizzie C. while in earlier records, she had been called Pernie or Pernia. However, the 1900 census said that James E. and Pernia had been married 22 years and had three children, so Pernia and Lizzie must be the same person. By the 1910 census, James E., his wife "Liza" daughter, Oza, had a general merchandise store in Milford, Barton County, MO. The census also mentions that only two of James and Liza's children were still living. There is a burial for E. Winston Vandiver, who died March 29, 1903, in Howell Cemetery, near Milford that probably refers to Earl that was listed in the 1900 census.
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