Sophia Means
1878 - 1941 (62 years)
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Name Sophia Means [1, 2, 3, 4] Birth Sep 1878 Clarksdale, DeKalb County, Missouri 
[1, 2, 4, 5, 6] Gender Female 
1900 U.S. Census -- Household1 Jun 1900 Washington Twp., DeKalb County, Missouri [5] 1910 U.S. Census -- Household15 Apr 1910 Washington Twp., Buchanan County, Missouri [7] 1920 U.S. Census -- Household1 Jan 1920 Clarksdale, DeKalb County, Missouri [8] 1930 U.S. Census -- Household1 Apr 1930 Washington Twp., DeKalb County, Missouri [9] 1940 U.S. Census -- Household1 Apr 1940 Washington Twp., DeKalb County, Missouri [10] Death 15 Jul 1941 Chillicothe, Livingston County, Missouri [1, 2, 4, 6] Cause: coronary/diabetes Obituary 16 Jul 1941 Saint Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri [2] News-Press
RITES AT CLARKSDALE
Mrs. Sophia Means Pulley Died at Chillicothe Hospital
CLARKSDALE, Mo., July 16.- (Special) - Services for Mrs. Sophia Means Pulley, sixty-two years old, wife of Carlos D. Pulley, who died in hospital at Chillicothe, Mo., yesterday, will be at the Christian Church here, tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock. The Rev. Floyd B. Taylor of St. Joseph will officiate. She is survived by her and a brother, Rodney Means of Clarksdale.
She was a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Means, pioneers in this community, The history of the Clarksdale Christian Church has been largely in the hands of this family, Her father founded the church in 1888 and Mrs. Pulley has been a Sunday school teacher there for thirty-five years. She attended schools at Valparaiso, Ind.: Lake Geneva, Wis, and at Kirksville, Mo., for special training in Christian Endeavor work, and at one time traveled extensively as specialist in this field.
Obituary 17 Jul 1941 Maysville, DeKalb County, Missouri [4] DeKalb County Record-Herald
Mrs. Carlos D. Pulley Died Early Tuesday
Services for Well- Known Clarksdale Woman to be Held There This Afternoon
Maysville friends of Mrs. Carlos D. Pulley, of Clarksdale, were saddened when they learned of her death Tuesday morning in a hospital at Chillicothe, where she had been taken Friday last week.
The Herald has been furnished the following sketch of her life by Mrs. Donald Barrow, our Clarksdale correspondent:
Mrs. Sophia Means Pulley, 62 years old, wife of Carlos D. Pulley, Clarksdale, Mo., died at the hospital at Chillicothe, Mo., Tuesday morning at 7 o'clock, and so ends the career of one of the most zealous workers for Christian faith in this county. She had been suffering with diabetes for seven years, yet, up until the last few weeks, had taught her Sunday School class. She became bedfast about five weeks ago and her suffering was intense. Two weeks ago an infected toe was removed with the hopes that this would check the disease. Her her Chillicothe Dr. to perform Carpenter, came from Chillicothe to perform the operation and gave her medical care, and last Friday she was taken to [the] hospital in Chillicothe, but to no avail. to She did not rouse from the coma and never knew she had been taken from from the home where she was born and had lived all her life.
Mrs. Pulley was the daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth Means, pioneer residents of DeKalb County. She was married to Carlos D. Pulley, November 11, 1918, in an elaborate wedding service at the Christian Church. According to her last wishes, she was buried in her white lace bridal gown.
She has had the devoted care of her husband, a brother, Rod, for whom she had 'always made a home, and the willing services of many friends. Mrs. Ruth Loe came from Troy the latter part of her illness to stay until it was decided to take her to Chillicothe. During her illness she was visited by many members of her Sunday School Class, the Plus Ultra, which she had taught for more! than thirty years, holding the county record tor length of teaching.
She attended college at Kirksville, Mo., and Valparaiso, Indiana, specializing in religious work. She attended also the Christian Church Conferences at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, several years. She was especially interested in Christian Endeavor work, the Quiet Hour, and other Youth Organizations and traveled as a lecturer for the State Organization of Christian Churches. She was devoted to her home church founded by her father at Clarksdale in 1888. It has often been said that her influence had kept the Clarksdale Christian Church alive through the many vicissitudes which a small church undergoes. For many years her Plus Ultra Class was the leading one of its kind and at the annual luncheon which she held at her hospitable home each summer, all former members made it a point to attend and it was a real homecoming. Most of the teachers of other classes in the Church had at one time been a pupil of Sophia's.
She had a brilliant mind and carried on a large correspondence in connection with her church work. She was a member of the Eastern Star at Clarksdale, the Culture Club, and took part in community life.
Besides her husband and brother, she is survived by a sister, Mrs. F. S. Hunt of Davis, Oklahoma; friends everywhere and a Christian influence which will follow many of her acquaintances all through their lives.
The body was brought back from Chillicothe Tuesday morning and was at the John Bram Funeral Home at Clarksdale that day and taken to her home that evening. Services will be held at the Christian Church at 2 o'clock this afternoon with Rev. Floyd B. Taylor in charge and burial will be at the Clarksdale cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Thornton, Garald Clark, Elza Thornton, Arthur D. White, Bert Totten and Clifford Whitsell.
Burial 17 Jul 1941 Clarksdale Cemetery, DeKalb County, Missouri [1, 2, 4, 6] Person ID I3670 CCBasic Last Modified 25 Jul 2025
Father Andrew L. Means, b. 15 Nov 1833, Clay County, Missouri d. 5 Oct 1895 (Age 61 years) Mother Elizabeth A. Majors, b. 5 Apr 1839 d. 8 Jan 1917 (Age 77 years) Family ID F1259 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family Carlos D. Pulley, b. 12 Dec 1869, Missouri d. 6 Jul 1963, Maysville, DeKalb County, Missouri (Age 93 years) Marriage 10 Nov 1918 Clarksdale, DeKalb County, Missouri [4] Family ID F371 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 17 Jun 2025
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Photos Carlos and Sophia Means Pulley -- Grave Marker
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Sources - [S494] Clarksdale Cemetery (DeKalb County, Missouri; 2011), Missouri, DeKalb County -- Clarksdale Cemetery, Carlos and Sophia Pulley marker, photographed by NWMGS, 2009.
- [S269] Missouri., Missouri, Buchanan County -- The St. Joseph News-Press Newspaper (Newspapers.com), 17 Jun 2025, "Rites at Clarksdale," 16 July 1941, p. 13, col. 1; digital images(https://www.newspapers.com/image/558924791/ : accessed 17 Jun 2025).
- [S64] Missouri Bureau of Vital Records, Missouri Secretary of State, Missouri -- Death Certificates 1910-1974, (https://s1.sos.mo.gov/Records/Archives/ArchivesMvc/ :n.d.), 17 Jun 2025, death certificate 25521 (1941), Sophia Pulley, accessed 17 Jun 2025.
- [S496] Missouri. Maysville., Missouri, DeKalb County -- The Dekalb County Record-Herald Newspaper (Newspapers.com), 17 Jun 2025, "Mrs. Carlos D. Pulley Died Early Tuesday," 17 July 1951, p. 1, col. 1.
- [S492] Missouri, DeKalb County, 1900 U.S. Census Population Schedule, Missouri, DeKalb County, (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1325221: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), 15 Jun 2025, T623, Washington Twp., enumeration district (ED) 75, sheet 6A, p. 89 (penned) 281 (stamped), dwelling 108, family 109, Elizabeth A. Means, accessed 15 Jun 2025.
- [S64] Missouri Bureau of Vital Records, Missouri Secretary of State, Missouri -- Death Certificates 1910-1974, (https://s1.sos.mo.gov/Records/Archives/ArchivesMvc/ :n.d.), 17 Jun 2025, death certificate 25521 (1941), Sophia pulley, accessed 17 Jun 2025.
- [S493] Missouri, DeKalb County, 1910 U.S. Census Population Schedule, Missouri, DeKalb County, (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1727033: National Archives and Records Administration, 2016), 15 Jun 2025, T624, Washington Twp., enumeration district (ED) 76, sheet 5B, p. 119, dwelling 116, family 118, Elizabeth A. Means, accessed 15 Jun 2025.
- [S491] Missouri, DeKalb County, 1920 U.S. Census Population Schedule, Missouri, DeKalb County, (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1488411: National Archives and Records Administration, 2016), 15 Jun 2025, T625, Washington Clarksdale Precinct, enumeration district (ED) 79, sheet 7A, p. 267 (stamped), dwelling 159, family 158, Roderick O. Means, accessed 15 Jun 2025.
- [S214] Missouri, DeKalb County, 1930 U.S. Census Population Schedule, Missouri, DeKalb County, (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1810731: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), 15 Jun 2025, T626, Washington Twp., enumeration district (ED) 32-18, sheet 1A, p. 104 (stamped), dwelling 3, family 3, Carlos Pulley, accessed 15 Jun 2025.
- [S234] Missouri, DeKalb County, 1940 U.S. Census Population Schedule, Missouri, DeKalb County, (https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2000219: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012), 15 Jun 2025, T627, Washington Twp., enumeration district (ED) 32-6, sheet 3A, p. 119 (stamped), household 43, Carlos D. Pulley, accessed 15 Jun 2025.
- [S494] Clarksdale Cemetery (DeKalb County, Missouri; 2011), Missouri, DeKalb County -- Clarksdale Cemetery, Carlos and Sophia Pulley marker, photographed by NWMGS, 2009.