A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography, Part 27

Author:
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 726

USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 27
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 27

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G EORGE FREDERICK ROOT, a noted music publisher and composer, was born in Sheffield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, on August 30, 1820. While working on his father's farm he found time to learn, unaided, several musical instru- ments, and in his eighteenth year he went to Bo ton, where he soon found employ- ment as a teacher of music. From 1839

until 1844 he gave instructions in music in the public schools of that city, and was also director of music in two churches. Mr. Root then went to New York and taught music in the various educational institutions of the city. He went to Paris in 1850 and spent one year there in study, and on his re- turn he published his first song, "Ilazel Dell." It appeared as the work of " Wur- zel," which was the German equivalent of his name. He was the originator of the normal musical institutions, and when the first one was started in New York he was one of the faculty. He removed to Chicago, Illinois, in 1860, and established the firm of Root & Cady, and engaged in the publication of music. He received, in 1872, the degree of "Doctor of Music" from the University of Chicago. After the war the firm became George F. Root & Co., of Cincinnati and Chicago. Mr. Root did much to elevate the standard of music in this country by his compositions and work as a teacher. Besides his numerous songs he wrote a great deal of sacred music and pub- lished many collections of vocal and instru- mental music. For many years he was the most popular song writer in America, and was one of the greatest song writers of the war. He is also well-known as an author, and his work in that line comprises: " Meth- ods for the Piano and Organ," " Hand- book on Harmony Teaching, " and innumer- able articles for the musical press. Among his many and most popular songs of the war time are: " Rosalie, the Prairie-flower." " Battle Cry of Freedom," " Just Before the Battle," "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching," " The Old Folks are Gone," "A Hundred Years Ago," "Old Potomac Shore, " and " There's Music in the Air." Mr. Root's cantatas include " The Flower Queen" and "The Haymakers." He died in 1896.

PART II.

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

NODAWAY AND ATCHISON COUNTIES,

MISSOURI.

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NODAWAY AND ATCHISON COUNTIES,

MISSOURI.

EDWIN V. MOREHOUSE.

ORTUNATE is he who has back of him an ancestry honorable and dis- tinguished, and happy is he if his lines of life are cast in harmony therewith. Our subject is blessed in this respect, for he springs from one of the most prominent families of the state. He was born in Maryville, April 18. 1877, and is a son of Hon. Albert P. and Martha ( Me- I'adden) Morehouse, natives of Ohio and Missouri, respectively. They were married

in Lexington, this state, in 1865, and were | citizens. After farming for many years he the parents of three children, namely : Nan- nie M., now the wife of .A. D. Neal, a promi- nent attorney of Chetopa, Kansas: Anna, | held many positions of honor and trust, and who married W. W. Giddings, a druggist of Maryville, and died in 1897; and Edwin V., our subject.

Stephen Morehouse, Jr., the grandfather of our subject, was born in New Jersey. February 11, 1813, and was a son of Stephen Morehouse, Sr., also a native of that state. In 1821 the family moved to Delaware coun- ty. Ohio, where Stephen, Jr., grew to man- hood upon his father's farm and attended school. In 1834 he married Miss Har- riet Wood, a daughter of Roswell Wood. a native of of New York, and an early

settler of Delaware county, and they continued their residence in the Buckeye state until coming to Nodaway county, Mis- souri, in 1856, when they located twelve miles north of Maryville, being among the pioneers of that locality, as there were only two houses between their home and the city at that time. Maryville then was a diminu- tive cross-roads town containing only a few cabins. Mr. Morehouse entered a half-sec- tion of land and became one of the most sub- stantial farmers of his community, as well as one of its most progressive and influential moved to Maryville, where he died at a ripe old age. During his long residence here he was found equal to any emergency, discharg- ing all his obligations with the utmost fidel- ity. Ile was a man of sterling qualities, and it is safe to say that no one in the county had more friends. He was one of the early county judges, being first elected in 1858, and he also served as probate judge one term, being elected to that office in 1874; and was justice of the peace a number of years. His children were Albert P., Fran- cis, Wellington, Stephen, Alvina, Ann, Pol- ly and Rose Belle.

Hon. Albert P. Morehouse, our subject's

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

father, was born in Delaware county, Ohio, July 11, 1835, and was reared as a farmer boy, though his educational advantages were better than the average. At the age of eight- een years he began teaching school in his Mitive county, and after coming to this state with his parents, m 1856, continued to fol- low that profession for a time. During his leisure hours he studied law and in 1860 was admitted to the bar, after which he was ugaged in the practice of his profession in Montgomery county, Iowa, for some years. In INT he was commissioned first heutemint in Colonel Kimball's regiment of et rolled militia, and held that office six month . He commenced the practice of law at Maryville, in 1862, and was in practice with Colonel Amos Graham until the latter's ticath, in 1805. In 1871 Mr. Morehouse re- Inquished active practice and turned his at tention to the real estate business, Ile was a recognized leader in the ranks of the Demo- cratic party, and was a delegate to the na- tonal convention at Baltimore, in 1872, and at St. Louis, in 1870. As one of the most prominent and influential men of his com- minuty he was called upon to represent his county m the state legislature in 1877 and 1878, a dagar m 1883 and 183]. In the Etter se les detal lieutenant governor on the ticket with John S. Marmaduke, and thu became the pre iding officer of the state apod o Jamquy, 1885. In that position he ingen thương and decisions. In for good appen til ts of committees he to, nadtapur. b ginp, thies were al-

- Intwo se ju tt All. On the death .1 Girerror Mumunke in December. 188- lis su ceeded him in the highest office

of the state, and proved himself so wise and excellent a chief executive that upon his re- linquishment of the office to Governor Fran- cis in January, 1889, his administration was praised by both political parties. The Globe- Democrat. the leading Republican paper of the state, paid him a high tribute.

Governor Morehouse was a public-spirit- ed citizen and most generous in his support of all enterprises for the welfare of his town and county. His ear was ever open to the appeals of charity, and he gave liberally of his means. If he erred it was always on the side of mercy. He served as worship- inl master of Maryville Lodge, No. 165. F. d .A. M., and was also a member of the chapter and commandery. He filled many public offices in his county and state and al- ways acquitted himself in a most creditable and satisfactory manner. In 18gt he was strongly solicited by his friends throughout the state to become a candidate for governor. but had made up his mind to retire from politics and so refused. In his speculation- he had become the owner of two large stock farms, to the care of which he deve ted the remainder of his life. While on one of his farms he received a slight sunstroke, which was followed by an illness from which he never recovered, but died September 23. IN01. At that time his wife and one en !! were visiting relatives in Lexington, Mi- somri. Mrs. Morehouse has since died, de- parting this life Jomary 10, 1900.

Edwin V. Morehouse, familiarly known as Ned, was reared in Maryville, where le attended school, and later was a student at the Military Academy in Mexico, Missouri, and St. James Academy at Macon City. Hle is now carrying forward the work inaugurat ed by his father, being successfully engage l in farming and stock raising. Although

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

young in years he has already displayed ex- cellent business and executive ability, and is doing credit to his illustrious ancestors. So- cially he is a member of the Masonic frater- nity.

WARREN L. JOHNSON.

This prominent attorney and justice of the peace of Maryville, Missouri, is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war whose devotion to his country was tested not only by service on the field of battle but in the still more deadly dangers of southern pris- ons. This gallant soldier was born in Ross county, Ohio, March 6, 1844, and is the only child of Franklin and Mary A. ( Huddle) Johnson, also natives of Ohio. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin Johnson, was born in New England, of English ancestry, and was a shoemaker by trade. In his family were nine children, namely . Truman, de- ceased : Silas, a resident of Illinois; Frank- lin, the father of our subject; Louisa, the wife of J. Day; Mary, the wife of B. Day; David, a resident of Colorado; Harvey and Hiram, both of Illinois; and Harriette, who died unmarried. Our subject's maternal grandfather, Christian Huddle, was a Ger- man by birth and a cabinetmaker by trade. In 1871 he came to Nodaway county, Mis- souri, and spent his last days here with a daughter. His children were Eliza, tlie wife of J. HI. Walker; Martha, the wife of S. S. Walker; Mary A., the mother of our subject ; Quincy, who died in St. Louis; and Socrates, a resident of Kansas. Tlie father of our subject spent the greater part of his life in Ross county, Ohio, but in 1857 moved to Illinois, locating on a farm in Piatt county, where he died May 23. 1861. The mother had died February 26, 1846, and

he again married. By the second union there were three children: Rosaltha, the wife of J. Duvall; Edgar, who died young; and Georgia A., the wife of A. Pursell.

When nearly two years old W. L. John- son lost his mother, and he then went to live with his maternal grandparents, Christian and Nancy Huddle, in Londonderry, Ohio. The greater part of his education was ob- tained in the common schools, and when the Civil war broke out he was attending Mount Pleasant Academy, at Kingston, Ross count- ty, Ohio. On the Iothi of August, 1861, lie enlisted in Company C, Thirty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private, but on the 4th of September he was promoted the rank of corporal, on the 25th of the same month to that of sergeant, and com- missioned second lieutenant September 1, 1863, and first lieutenant January 1, 1864. .At the battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863, lie was captured by the rebels and first sent to Belle Isle. Later he was in- carcerated in the Smith building at Rich- mond, just across the street from Libby prison, and later at Danville, Virginia; AAndersonville, Georgia ; and Charleston and Florence, South Carolina, where he ex- perienced all the horrors and tortures of prison life. He was finally paroled at Wilmington, North Carolina, February 26, 1865, and returned to Columbus, Ohio, where he was honorably discharged on the 22d day of March. During his imprison- ment lie contracted scurvy, which settled in his left leg and from the effects of which lie . has never recovered.

After being discharged Mr. Johnson visited his old home in Ross county, Ohio, and then came west to grow up with the country. In April, 1865, we find him en- ployed on a farm in Nodaway county, Mis-

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

souri, and the following August he com- menced work in the circuit clerk's and coun- ty recorder's office, where he remained un til November, 1866, when he was elected county treasurer. In the meantime he com- meneed the study of law with J. P. Coover a- his preceptor, and at the close of his term was admitted to the bar. The following three years were spent upon a farm, but the work proving too arduous he then returned to Maryville and entered upon the practice of law, having been admitted to the bar of Nodaway county, in the fall of 1867. As one of the leading Democrats of the county, he has taken a very active and prominent part in public affairs, and has served as coun- ty attorney, deputy circuit clerk, deputy county clerk, justice of the peace eight years, notary public, and pension attorney for some time. His official duties have al- ways been capably and satisfactorily per- formed, and his career has ever been such as to win for him the commendable and high regard of those with whom he has come in contact. Religiously both he and his wife are members of the Christian church.

On the 15th of April. 1860, in Mary- ville, Mr. Johnson married Miss Martha E. Terhune, who was born and reared in that city, and they have become the parents of five children, namely : Edgar C., a mechanic of Burlington Junction, Missouri: James F., a resident of Portland, Oregon; Ger- trude, the wife of C. M. Hurst : Verna and John (, both at home. Mrs. Johnson's parents were Adam and Betsey Terhune, 1211 « of liliana, who came to Missouri 111 1644, 201 1 first settled in Andrew county, but shety afterward come to Nodaway county, leitnig in Maryville, where the fa- ther engaged in merchandising, farming, brickmaking and the sawmill business, and

also served two terms as the presiding judge of the county court. Politically he was first a Whig and later a Republican, and re- ligiously is a member of the Baptist church. llis wife, who was a member of the same church, died January 10, 1890, and he now makes his home with a daughter. Mrs. Lamar, in this county. Ilis children were Louisa, the wife of T. Wadley: Elizabeth. the wife of J. W. Lamar: John C., a banker of South Evanston, Illinois; Mrs. Amanda (). Case, deceased : Martha E., the wife of our subject : Cornelius, deceased: Cyrus, a traveling salesman : and Sophrona, deceased wife of D. Ramsey.

J. VALLANCE BROWN.

The subject of this sketch is of Scotch- Irish descent. Covenanter ancestors on the father's side were driven from Scotland to the north of Ireland by religious persecu- tions.

From the latter home the paternal great- grandfather, James Brown, came, with a little colony of relatives, to Charleston, South Carolina. Ilis wife, Elizabeth Beggs, was born in 1772, in Antrim county, Ire- land, emigrated 10 America in 1785, was married January 1, 1,91, and died in 1808. Of these parents nine children were born.

The grandfather. John Brown, was the second child of James and Elizabeth Brown and was born January 5, 1704. He was twice married,-first on December 31. 1817, to Elizabeth Porter, and on January 8. 1835, to Eliza Andrews. By the former he had eight children, by the latter six.

The father, John Hervey Brown, was the youngest chill of John and Elizabeth Brown and was born February 20, 1834. With the third generation noted came ex-

927

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

change of the farm for a profession and at the age of twenty-one John Hervey Brown entered Monmouth (Illinois) College, re- ceived his A. B. degree in 1862 and two years later graduated at the United Presby- terian Theological Seminary, also located in Monmouth at that time. March 1, 1864, dated his marriage to Catherine McClana- han. Ilis first pastoral charge was Clayton. Illinois, 1864-1869. Here, December 29, 1864, was born a daughter, Nancy Elizabeth, now the wife of John Frazier, a retail dealer in general merchandise at Viola, Illinois. Three and a half years later the subject of this sketch was born, and May 29, 1868, some six weeks after his birth, the mother died. The father's second pastorate was Piqua, Ohio, 1869-1884. August 31, 1870, dated his marriage to Rachel Emma Gibson. A daughter, Katherine Geno, was born Sep- tember 8, 1873. Her husband, Robert Frank Wilkin, is the cashier of a private bank in Lenox, Iowa. The youngest child of Rev. John H. Brown is Arthur Gibson, born March 7, 1880. and at present ( 1900) a junior in Monmouth College. From the same institution, in 1882, the father re- ceived the degree of Doctor of Divinity. His later pastoral settlements were: Rock Island, Illinois, 1885-1888; and Lenox, Iowa, 1889-1895. In 1895 he retired from the active ministry and removed to Mon- mouth, since that time his home. Of this period the years 1895-1897 were spent as financial agent of Tarkio, Missouri, College.

The maternal ancestry was also Scotch- Irish, as the McClanahan name sufficiently testifies.

The great-grandfather. Robert McClan- ahan, was born in the year 1771 and died July 17, 1832. His first wife, Isabel, was born in 1766 and died July 21, 1828. At

the birth of their first child we find them located in Rockbridge county, Virginia. The second wife, Margaret, was born in 1782 and died January 24, 1832. In all there were born of these parents two sons and six daughters.

The grandfather of our subject, John McClanahan, was the oldest child of Robert and Isabel McClanahan and was born Sep- tember 15, 1794. He served his country as a private in the war of 1812. January 29, 1818, dated his marriage to Margaret Black Wright. The latter was born in Paris, Bourbon county, Kentucky, July 19. 1800, and died in 1873. The married life of John and Margaret McClanahan was successive- ly spent at West Union, Adams county, Ohio; Ripley, Ohio; Cedar Creek, Warren county, Illinois; and Monmouth, Illinois. The husband was now surveyor, now miller, now farmer. In the Ohio state militia he was a general. At the age of sixty-eight he enlisted in the Union army for service in the war of the Rebellion and organized. at Monmouth, Company B. Eighty-third Regiment, Infantry, Illinois Volunteers, of which he was elected the captain. At the battle of Fort Donelson, February 3, 1863, while gallantly leading a charge, he was struck by a minie ball and died from the wound February 23. In his memory the Monmouth branch of the Grand Army of the Republic is named McClanahan Post. To John and Margaret McClanahan were born seventeen children. Nine of these were sons. With the exception of one daughter, Sarah, who died at the age of eighteen, all reached years of maturity, were married, and, with one other exception, left families. Four of the sons also served the Union in the Civil war. John Porter was assistant surgeon to the Eighty-third Regi-

BIOGRAPHICAL IHISTORY.

ment. Infantry, Hhnois Volunteers, Will- im Steel was the second lieutenant of Com- many F. Seventeenth Regiment. Infantry, Illinois Volunteers, and on a re-enlistment was the captain of Company .A. One Hun- dred and Thirty-eighth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers. Francis Marion and Monroe Roubantre were privates, respectively, in the Thirty sixth and in the One Hundred and Thirty eighth Regiments, Infantry, Illinois Volunteers. Catherine McClanahan, later the wife of John Hervey Brown and the mother of John Vallance Brown, was the youngest daughter and the next youngest child of General MeClanahan.

The subject of this sketch. John Vallance Brown, the youngest son of John Hervey and Catherine ( McClanahan ) Brown, was born, as stated above, at Clayton, Illinois, April 13, 1868. From his mother's death, six weeks later, until his own graduation at college, he made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wickens, the latter of whom was his mother's sister. With the exception of three years passed in Kirkwood, Illi- nois, this period was spent at Monmouth. From Monmouth College, June 12, 1890, he received his A. B. and three years later his A. M. degree. Since graduation he has held the chair of Greek language and literature in Farkin College. One year of this period, the school year of 1893-01, was spent in absence for study at Johns Hopkins Uni- Versity. In 180;, as a correspondence student of the University of Chicago, he re- celve I first rank and a certificate of work 1. bareed New Testament Greck. In Sim he was elected the vice-president of Thankio College, and in 1900, during Presi- dent Thompson' four months' absence in Inr pe, was acting president.

September 7, 1803, dated his marriage

to Ada May Moore, of Hanover, Illinois. The latter is the only surviving child of John and Agnes Moore and was born near Hanover, March 28, 1866. A younger sister died in childhood. Her father, John Moore, the third child of Charles and Hannah Moore, was born near Galena, Illi- nois, May 1, 1836, was a student at West- minster College, New Wilmington, Penn- sylvania, 1856-57; a teacher in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, 1859-60; married June 22, 1865; and died at Hanover March 9, 1868. Her mother, Agnes Moore, was the first child of John and Jane Nesbitt and was born near Ilanover, January 10, 1846. Iler sec- ond marriage was to James Moore Novem- ber 9, 1870. The grandparents of Ada Moore Brown were John Nesbitt and Jane Moffat, Charles Moore and Hannah Rogers, and they, with others, came to Ilanover from county Monaghan, Ireland, the first named in 1841, the second in 1845, the last two June 18, 1834. Of AAda Moore Brown and John Vallance Brown have been born two sons-John Moore Findley, April 3, 1897, and Arthur Thomas, May 6, 1900.

FAYETTE COOK.

Among the representative business men of Nodaway county none are more deserving of representation in this columne than Fayette Cook, deceased, who for many years was connected with the agricultural interests of the community, and finally in the banking business in Skidmore. His keen discrimina- tion, unflagging industry and resolute pur- pose were numbered among his salient char- acteristics, and thus he has won that pros- perity that is the merited reward of honest effort.

Mr. Cook was born in Morrow county,

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.

Ohio, July 20, 1829, a son of John and Abi- gail (Waffort) Cook, who were born, reared and married in Pennsylvania. The former was of English, the latter of Hol- land Dutch extraction. In 1811 the father went on a prospecting tour to Ohio, where he bought land and also entered a tract, and he located thereon the following year. To the improvement and cultivation of his farni he devoted the remainder of his life, dying there in 1844. He was one of the prominent Democrats of his community, and was hon- ored with a number of county and town- : ship offices, including that of justice of the peace, which he held for many years. Both he and his wife were faithful members of the Baptist church, and were highly respected and esteemed by all who knew them. She survived him many years, dying on the old homestead in 1869. To them were born nine children besides our subject, as follows: Joseph, who was accidentally killed at the age of twelve years; Cynthia, the wife of T. Phillips; Rachel, the wife of J. Dakin; Mc- Arthur, who died in Ohio, leaving a good estate to his family; John, a resident of Burlington Junction, Missouri ; Miriam, the wife of J. Walker, of Noble county, Indiana ; Perry, a resident of the state of Washing- ton; Fayette, our subject; Sarah, the wife of M. C. McClucken; and Mary, the wife of G. Corwin. The mother of Mrs. Cook was Keziah Baughart and died in Ohio at about eighty-five years of age.

Our subject received his education in the common schools of his native state, and re- mained with his mother in charge of the home farm until seventeen years of age. In 1852 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Cyphers, who was born in Warren county, New Jersey, October 25, 1832, a daughter of James Cyphers, a native of

New Jersey and a blacksmith by trade, who died in Ohio. She is the second in order of birth in a family of thirteen children, the others being Sarah, Elizabeth. James, Will- iam, Hannah, Melville, Marion, Eugene, Clinton, and three who died in infancy. The parents were both members of the Bap- tist church, to which Mrs. Cook also be- longs, as also did her husband. They had six children, namely: Samantha, the wife of J. Baugher, a farmer ; Miles ; Allen, who was murdered in Oklahoma in 1896; James, who was formerly a farmer but is now a grain and stock dealer of Skidmore: John, a druggist of that place; and May Belle, the wife of John Giles, of Denver, Colorado.

In 1869 Mr. Cook left Ohio and came to Missouri. Long before the land in Noda- way county came into market his father had made a prospecting tour through the west, and was so favorably impressed with this region that in framing his will he enabled the administrator and executor of the same to purchase a sufficient quantity of land to give each of his children one hundred and sixty acres. His wish was carried out and the land entered in this county as soon as it came on the market. On coming to Mis- souri our subject took possession of his tract and added to it until he had four hun- dred and forty acres. He devoted many years to the arduous task of improving and cultivating his land, and made of it a valu- able farm. Ile always gave considerable attention to the raising of cattle and hogs, and fed most of the products of his farm to liis stock. Industrious, energetic and per- severing, his well directed efforts were crowned with success, and he became one of the most prosperous men of his con- munity. He greatly assisted all of his chil- dren financially, while still retaining a hand-

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A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography, Part 27

Author: Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 726

Author:
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 726