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Nancy Jane Pursley
Barbour
Nancy was the oldest child of Jackie and Polly Pursley.
She raised several children who all turned out to be outstanding members of the Oleoak and Morrison Park communities, under the most difficult circumstances possible. One day though, she decided that her husband Jim Barbour's
"Boots were made for Walkin"
Nancy's husband Jim Barbour had served with some of the family in Company E, 9th Ky. Infantry, Union Army.  He was a Pvt. and was discharged at Louisville on December 15th, 1864, but was described as a "Pensioner from the War of 61" in his obituary.  He was a harsh man who pretty much didn't agree with anybody on anything.  He regularly abused the children and Nancy, talked of killing them to his friends, and repetitively told them what his next family would look like.  Then, in early 1883, just prior to the death of her father Jackie, Nancy filed for divorce, a task unheard of by women in those days.  Not only her family, but the children, some of which were grown, were all deposed by an appointee of the court, and without exception, they all regularly and consistantly described the abuse that had lead to this action.

Lucky for Nancy, Jim had a big mouth.  He had told John Wolford Pursley that he would give up his farm and family, and the wife and children could make it on their own.  He was not going to bother his mind with the things of this world, and he could make a living for himself if they put him on a rock.  I find this particularly humorous, since he later died owning the largest quarry in the county.  He had also written his cousin Ephriam "Dick" Stout when Dick was working in Johnson County Missouri the year before, and wanted to know what chance there was for "a widower and a stone mason" in Missouri. 

It took very little of the many pages of testimony (there were over 130 legal size, depositions written long hand) for the judge to grant Nancy the divorce on the grounds of cruel and inhuman treatment.  Jim Barbour was ordered by the court to pay child support and alimony in the amount of $20 a month.  She was also given the house and 12 acres on which to raise a garden and have livestock.  In 1901, Nancy went back to court to recover 12 years of back alimony and child support and won.  Jim Barbour was ordered to appear in Court with payment on Monday morning, or be sited with contempt and go to jail until the debt was settled.

Jim married 2 more times before his death (the 2nd wife did the same as Nancy) and his obituary appeared only in the Glasgow Repubican as did most former Union Soldiers, but it didn't have much good to say about him.  It did however, state that "Mr. Barbour was married 3 times, and it is a little remarkable that all 3 are still living.  The first 2 from whom he was divorced, never having remarried."

Now let's take a look at a few of Nancy and Jim's children...
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