James Walton Higginbotham (08/03/1848 - 04/28/1911)
America Davis Paxton Higginbotham (11/20/1856 - 07/09/1936)
James was the son of Rufus Anderson Higginbotham and Sarah Elizabeth Hargrove and was born in Amherst Co., VA.
America was the daughter of Luke Huff Paxton and Mary Ann Prewitt and was born in Louisville, MO.
James was born at Nilus and completed his education in Amherst County, attending a five corner schoolhouse, the fifth corner being a fireplace. He had to walk four miles across the fields to reach the school. When school was through he worked in his father's mill and assisted in farm work. At the age of 19 he started for Missouri, following his older brother Henry Harrison Higginbotham. During this journey his trunk of worldly possessions was stolen. He arrived in Louisville, MO on April 12, 1868 with the clothes on his back and $8 in his pocket. His first work there was to put in a crop of tobacco on rented land. He paid $4 a week in room and board and after the first year he had accumulated a total of $66. About 1869 he began clerking in a store and by 1882 he had purchased the business, which he ran until 1885 when he sold his stock to two of his brothers. He married America Davis Paxton 10/14/1877. Her father had built the Louisville brick store that James later owned and operated. After selling his stock, he purchased 280 acres in Pike Co., MO and through the years accumulated more than 500 acres, besides the 280 original acres. He and America built a house on this property and moved into it in 1890. James was a staunch Democrat and supported this political party throughout his life. By 1894 he was the President of the Farmer's Bank. They had the following children:
Rufus Lee Higginbotham (07/19/1878 - 03/20/1938)
Mary Elizabeth Higginbotham (12/14/1879 - 12/21/1925)
James Walton Higginbotham Jr. (10/06/1883 - 07/08/1887) He drowned in a well.
Mattie Gentry Higginbotham (08/07/1886 - 08/11/1887)
Henry Harrison Higginbotham (08/03/1888 - 06/16/1955)
Anna Paxton Higginbotham (09/24/1890 - 12/12/1939)
James Walton "Jay" Higginbotham (03/21/1900 - 08/25/1961)