A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography, Part 32

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 32
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 32

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Mr. Willcox was reared on his father's farm, where he was taught all the different branches of farming, and received a good common-school education in the village school. In 1865 he went to Fulton county. bit in 1877 located in Nodaway county. Missouri, Where he has lived ever since. He is living on a farm of forty acres, well-im- proved by good buildings and trees, making Him a very pleasant home. He has been a very successful farmer and is highly es- tesmed in his neighborhood.

Mr. Willcox was united in marriage, in 1807, to Mary Jane Kreider, of Fulton county, Illinois, She was born in Guern- "y county, Ohio, a daughter of John :1dl Rebecca ( Walg; mott ) Kreider. Mrs. Kreider died in Nodaway county June 5. 1865, and her hu band, who was a native of lemelania, reside in Tarkin, Missouri. "They were the parents of nine children, who No: Mary Jane, the wife of our subject ; Orge V., Ves. IPen. Joseph. John, Will- 1. 00. Tiram and Anna. Politically the father A Democrat. The family have been D' wers of the Methodist church for many Mr and Mrs. Willens have had

twelve children, nine of whom are living. namely: John Elmer: Ida May, the wife of .A. D. George, of North Dakota: Ada Belle. deceased : Joseph Budd : Iona Della, who died at the age of fourteen years: Effie Jane : Iva Rebecca, the wife of Tom Turnbull. of this county : Jessie Selton, William Arthur. Elgie Victor. Calvin Leslie and one child who died at birth. Mr. Willcox is a member of the Republican party and a member of Post No. 260. G. A. R., at Blanchard, Iowa. The family are members of the Methodist church.

COLONEL JOHN G. GREMS.

In the perusal of the biographical notice which follows the reader is assured of some- thing more than the facts and dates common to ordinary lives. Mr. Grems's military record is an enviable one, and his experience in war on the plains and on the battle-fields of the south was an interesting one. and its recital recalls many events important in our history, his recollections of which have given vivid color to this all too brief personal sketch.

John G. Grems, the postmaster of Mary- ville, Missouri, has been for more than a third of a century identified with Maryville and Nodaway county. He is a son of Dan- iel Grems, a farmer, and was born in Jeffer- son county, New York, February 25. 1843. Ilis father was born in Herkimer county. New York, in 181 ;. He spent the years of 184, 4% in Wisconsin and the following three years in Lewis county. New York. In 1852 he took his family into Lafayette county, Wisconsin, and four years later re- moved to Dodge county, Minnesota, where he has since lived. He married Rachel Pool. a daughter of John Pool, of Jefferson coun- IV. New York. She died in Minnesota in

COL. JOHN G. GREMS

NFA YL 4 - IBL LIBRARY

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1857. The children of Daniel and Rachel (Pool) Grems were: Milton, of Dodge county, Minnesota : Esther, the wife of An- drew Curtis, of the same county: John G. ; Theodore, of Arapahoe county. Colorado: Ella, who married John Snyder and lives in New Mexico.

John G. Grems was educated in the com- mon schools of his day and locality, and when just entering his 'teens went into the then new state of Minnesota. He was only eighteen when the Civil war began, and only nineteen when, in 1862, he enlisted and was made sergeant in Company B. Tenth Regi- ment, Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. He served under General H. H. Sibley through the campaign of 1862-3 against the Sioux Indians, was in the battles at Woodlake and New Ulm in 1862, and was stationed at the 1862-3. He was with his company, which formed a part of the guard at the execution of the thirty-eight Sioux Indians at Man- kato, Minnesota, December 25, 1862, and was with the force under General Sibley that drove the Indians out of Minnesota and 1

! Grems secured a position as clerk in a hotel Winnebago agency during the winter of , at Owatonna, Minnesota, and, in 1867, re- moved from there to Maryville. Nodaway county, Missouri. Not long after his arri- val he engaged in the hotel business, in which he continued two years. In 1872 he was ap- pointed local agent for the United States Express Company, a position which he held until. in 1897. he was appointed postmaster at Maryville by President Mckinley. Dur- ing these twenty-five years he was at times identified with merchandising ventures in Maryville, and he was one of the organizers and is the president of the Maryville Home- stead & Loan Association.

across the Dakota plains, in 1863, and took part in the engagements at Big Mound. July 24. 1863: Buffalo Lake, July 26, 1863 ; and Stone Lake, July 28, 1863. On the date last mentioned the Tenth Minnesota, which was to have the advance, moved out of camp at three o'clock in the morning and was hardly formed and in the position it was to occupy in the march before about two thousand mounted Indians made their appearance in front with the evident intention of surpris- ing and capturing the supply train, and, ut- tering hideous yells, made desperate charges against the line. During the day there were four to five thousand savages engaged, but

in a running fight, which lasted all day, they were repulsed and driven back across the Missouri river, near the present site of Bismarck, North Dakota. After returning from this expedition the regiment was sent south and was attached to the First Brigade, First Division. Sixteenth Army Corps, un- dler General A. J. Smith, and served in Tennessee. Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri, and participated in the battles at Nashville and Tupelo (two days in each), and in the engagements at Fort Blakely. Fort Fisher and Mobile. Mr. Grems was mustered ont of the service in August, 1865. at St. Paul, Minnesota.

His army service having materially im- paired his health and unfitted him for farm labor, to which he had been reared. Mr.

Republican politics of Nodaway county, Missouri, has for many years claimed Mr. Grems's attenion. He has frequently been elected to important offices in Maryville. having been for thirteen years a member of the board of aldermen of the city, for eight years a member of the board of education, and for two ,terms filled the mayor's chair.

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While at the head of the city government he aided materially in the establishment of the light, water and sewage systems. Mr. Grem- has been a faithful and valuable aid io Republican success in the county and state. Hle served six years on the Republican state central committee, and was the chairman of the Republican central committee of Nod- away county twelve years, chairman of the judicial district committee six years, and chairman of the first senatorial district com- mittee four years. lle was an original Mc- Kinley man, and was a delegate to the na- Conal Republican convention at St. Louis in , ISgo, and at the inaugural ceremonies of President McKinley he was attached to the staff of Chief Marshal General Porter, as aid-de-camp, with the rank of colonel.

Mr. Grems has been an Odd Fellow since 1868, and a Mason since 1872. To secure the benefits of the insurance features of those orders, he has a membership in the Wood- men of the World, the National Union and the Home Forum. He has served as the commander of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic three terms, and has attended several of its national encampments as well as several grand lodge meetings of the Masons of the state. He was married in July. 18, to Miss Emma Sanborn, of Owatonna. Minnesota, and they have four children. named Della, Louis M., Charles C. and Luella.

As jestmaster Mr. Grems has been enter- prising and progresive, and has performed the duties of the office conscientiously and n't due regard to making the service effi- cent an leonprebens ve. Under his admin- 1 11. i'm free delivery has been established 1 Marvale and rural delivery over four rute melting from the town. The que- cesof the moment ci the service is the first battle of the war, that of Bull

acknowledged by all classes of citizens, who recognize the public spirit which led Mr. Grems to advocate and hasten it as well as the ability with which he administers his office.

JOHN W. RAINES.

John W. Raines, ex-treasurer of Atchi- son county, and abstracter of titles, was born at Lancaster, Wisconsin, January 3. 1.840. His father, who died in 1840, was reared and educated in the vicinity of New bern. Pulaski county, Virginia, and was there married to Miss Mary Miller, by whom he had the following children: William, of Lancaster, Wisconsin : Mary E., the wife of Edward Pollock, the editor of the Lancaster Teller : and John W., the subject of this sketch. After the death of her husband Mrs. Raines married Mbert Burks, by whom she had two children, viz. : Samuel Burks. of Leadville, Colorado: and Laura M., who married William M. Iless and with her hus- band resides in Chicago. Mrs. Burks died at about seventy years of age.

A considerable portion of the youth .. John W. Raines was passed on a farm near Lancaster, already mentioned. During the winter season he attended the district school, and by the time the war of the Re- bellion broke out he had acquired a good common school education. On June 11. 1801, he enlisted in Company C. Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, the first company raised at Lancaster, and on the same day was mustered into service at the capital of the state. From Camp Randall. at Madison, the regiment was ordered to Washington, D. C., and there became a part of MeClellan's "great plan." participating

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Run, or, as it is otherwise known, the battle of Manassas. The following winter was passed at Arlington, Virginia, and the next spring, when the army was again put in operation, the regiment to which Mr. Raines belonged went with General Pope into Vir- ginia. In the retreat of this general the battle of Gainesville was fought and in this battle Mr. Raines was struck in the left hip by a musket ball and was thereby rendered unfit for further service at the front. The bullet with which he was wounded was not removed until it worked itself to the surface and became visible. Mr. Raines remained in the hospital until December 31, 1862, and was sent home discharged. On June 19. 1863. he entered the provost marshal's office at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, as a clerk, retaining this position until the spring of 1865, when he was appointed first lieutenant by Colonel John C. Clark; but on account of the condition of his wound the govern- ment refused to muster him into the service. On July 16, 1866, Mr. Raines became con- nected with the Freedmen's bureau as a clerk, remaining in this service two years and be- ing located at Huntsville, Alabama. Then he entered the internal-revenue service at the same city, as the chief clerk of the office. Later on he was made a deputy in the United States marshal's office, and was still in this position when Grover Cleveland was first elected president of the United States, and Mr. Raines. being of course an "offen- sive partisan," was removed and his position given to a Democrat.

Upon thus retiring from the service of the government in 1885, Mr. Raines' ac- quaintance with John D. Dopf led him tu visit Rockport, January 16, 1886, where he purchased an interest in the business of ab- stracting with Mr. Dopf, and since that time

he has been exclusively connected with Atchison county. So great had become his popularity that in 1894 he was nominated by the Republicans of the county for treas- urer and was triumphantly elected, and was again nominated in 1896, but this year he was defeated by the fusion of the opposing elements. In 1898 he was nominated for the office of county recorder, but again the fu- sion elements in the county were too strong for him and he was defeated. But to his credit it should be stated that each nomina- tion he received was given him by his party entirely without solicitation on his part. and his defeat reflected no discredit upon him.

On January 16, 1870, Mr. Raines was married, in Huntsville, Alabama, to Miss Mary M. Lakin, a daughter of Rev. Arad S. Lakin, one of the most intelligent men of the country, who was especially well known for his strength of character and .e- ligious zeal. in the southern states after the war. Rev. Mr. Lakin having once beci a resident of Atchison county, it would appear particularly appropriate in this connection to present a brief biographical sketch of this remarkable man.

Arad S. Lakin was born in Delaware county, New York, in the year 1810. His father, Jonas Lakin, removed from Mary- land to the Empire state in early pioneer days. He was born in 1760 and died in 1846. He was one of those prominent figures in the community in which he lived that are occasionally found .- being an ex- tensive farmer, the merchant of his com- munity, officiated as magistrate, and in other public capacities. One of his peculiarly strik- ing characteristics was his opposition to or- thodoxy, and when his son, Arad S. Lakin, permitted himself to be converted at a Meth- odist revival, he disinherited him. He mar-

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ried Prudence Parks, a daughter of that Mr. Parks that carried the news of the ap- proach of the Indians when they were plan- ning the massacre of the Wyoming settlers, and who made the journey, forty miles, through an unbroken wilderness.

Arad S. Lakin was one of seven children that grew to mature years and by his own efforts acquired the rudiments of an educa- tion. lle never attended a college. While he remained at home he aided his father in the work of the farm. He was intellectual. determined in his purpose and was a natural kader of men, thus partaking in a most strik- ing manner of the leading characteristics of his father. When converted to Chris tanity, as mentioned above, he was eight- een years of age, and he was immediately sought out by the leading members of the church to take an active part in the work of the same. With the assistance of local teachers he prepared himself for the work he felt himself called upon to do, and was soon a pronounced success in this, to him new field. So remarkable were his gifts that he was styled by his admirers the "Del- aware prodigy." llis mental strength, his comprehensive grasp of great religious and moral questions, and his courage to dare and to do what seemed to him right, were his most remarkable characteristics. The work he performed was that of an organizer in the pastorate, and his fame soon spread far and wide. The third call he received. to become a pastor in New York city, was accepted by lum; but in 185. he left the cast, taking up his residence in Indianapolis. In this far western state he soon became omally promment in church work as he had b.o m the east, and he was acquainted, in both the east and west, with many of the Mr. Lakin was discharged from the service; ablest divies and public men of his time. but at his request to be permitted to accom-

Hle was held in high regard by Governor Morton, the "war governor" of the state; and when troops were needed to suppress the greatest rebellion of history, his patriotic words induced many young men in Indiana to join the Union army. He himself enlisted as a private soldier in the regiment which he assisted to raise ; but the parents of the boys insisted upon his being made chaplain of the regiment, in order that he might the more readily and easily look after the welfare of their sons. At first this regiment was the Thirty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but later it was changed to the Eighth Cay- alry; and although it was not the province of the chaplain to carry a gun, yet Mr. La- kin carried one, which he carried to the fir- ing line, and thus inspired by his example all the boys to greater efforts and greater deeds of bravery than perhaps they would otherwise have felt called upon to perform. Ile was conspicuously fearless, saying fre- quently that "man is immortal till his work is done." On one occasion General Thomas called for volunteers to carry a dispatch through and between the lines of the enemy amidst a shower of bullets to a federal of- ficer beyond, and as there seemed to be no one willing to take the risk Rev. Mr. Lakin rode up, saluted and said : "General, I'll take it." Being reluctantly permitted to carry the message, he went safely through the enemy's lines and returned from the delivery of the dispatch as safely as he went. At one time he was recalled to Indiana to recruit for the depleted regiments at the front, and his efforts had much to do with saving north Indiana from the grasp of the "Copperhead" Democracy. At Atlanta, just as Sherman was starting on his march to the sea. Rev.

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pany the army at his own expense, in order that he might continue to be of service to the men of the regiment, he was permitted to go. From Savannah he made his way to New York and thence to Indianapolis.

After the close of the war, when affairs in the southern states were settling down to something like their normal condition, the Methodist church needed a man to take charge of its work in those states. As no man that could be found seemed so well equipped for this work as Rev. Mr. Lakin, he was chosen by the Cincinnati conference to enter upon this labor. His especial mission into the southern states was to re-organize the Methodist Episcopal church, which had not seceded or favored secession; and lie found at Huntsville, Alabama, the former church practically without members. After being in the south twenty years, so effective had been his work that there were then two large conferences, white and black, with: thousands of members, and the Methodist Episcopal church is still in a flourishing condition in those states.

At the request of his daughter, Rev. La- kin returned to the north in 1885. to pass the remaining years of his life with her. At that time he was seventy-five years of age, and had the health to warrant his friends' belief that he would reach his one hundredth year. When his mother died she was past one hundred and seven, and his father died at the age of eighty-six. And these friends still believe that had some duty called into daily activity his powers of mind his life would certainly have been prolonged beyond the year 1890, when he died, at the age of eighty years. His wife died in Huntsville, and the two lie side by side in the cemetery near that place.

Mrs. Raines is the only child of Rev. and

Mrs. Achsah La Bar (Newton ) Lakin. She was born in Delaware county, New York, June 21, 1839. She and her husband, the subject of this sketch, are the parents of the following children : Mary Edith, a teacher in the high school of St. Joseph, Missouri. having graduated at the high school at Rockport, then the Tarkio College and finally Wellesley College, taking honors in all three institutions: Herbert L .. a jeweler of Tar . kio; Earle M. with the First National Bank of Tarkio, and Laura T., a graduate of Tarkio College and now a teacher in the Rockport schools.

Men, like children, are to a greater or loss extent. imitative in their lives. They are in numerous cases led to accomplish re- sults by the reflections that those gone be- fore have done good and worthy deeds ; and it is this reason, in part, that makes bio- graphical sketches, like the one now drawing to a close, of such value to young readers, awakening in them, as they do, the ambition to "go and do likewise." the result being more herioc lives than otherwise would be led. It is a great pleasure to the publishers to be permitted to place in enduring form the record of the deeds of such men as Mr. Raines and his father-in-law. Rev. Mr. La- kin, the latter of whom was certainly one of the most patriotic and brave of men. Mr. Raines is still living : still greater praise for him will be appropriate after he shall have been "gathered to his fathers."

JOHN L. CHRISTIAN.

The Atchison County World is the lead- ing organ of the Democratic party of Atchi- son county, Missouri, and is ably managed and edited by John L. Christian, the subject of this sketch. This gentleman was born in

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this county December 28, 1855, a son of I. C. and Sarah E. (Golden ) Christian, the former being one of the oldest and best known of the pioneers of the county, who came here in 1850. At that time this part of the state was yet filled with Indians and wild Leasts. The grandfather of our subject, who had been a soldier in the Mexican war, came to Atchison county with nine sons and two daughters, and his death occurred at this place. L. C. Christian, the father of our subject, has held many of the important lo- cal office-, being elected county clerk in 1868, and is now the president of the asylum board. For thirty years he has been con- nected with the Masonic order.

The family of Mr. and Mrs. L. C. Chris- tian consisted of ten children, of whom, John 1 ... W. B., J. T. C. M. and two sisters, Laura and Aflie, are the survivors.

Our subject was reared and educated in Rockport, Missouri, and at the age of twenty he settled at Last Grove, in this county, and engaged in the stock business, where he re mamed until 1888, when he came to Tar- kio and began to buy and sell cattle for com- naission houses in St. Joseph and Kansas City, in the live stock business. He is consid- ered an expert in judging stock. His em- phvers, the Seigle & Saunders Stock Com- miny, of Kansas City and St. Joseph, con- -ider that he is second to none, in his line. This is a large firm, having a capital of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Mr. Christian was married, in 1876, to Les Muthe Huffrer, a daughter of 1 .. M. Ittner, with county, who resided here on cor uptif the time of his death in 1888. Her cheren lave been born to Mr. and Chriskm, Floyd, Hattie, Eveline, Minnie nel Mary.

held by his party may be indicated by his popularity as a buyer of cattle and success of his paper, and he fully comes up to their expectations. He is a Democrat who takes an active interest in every issue by which his party may benefit, and wields a wide in- fluence. Aside from politics, the Atchison County World is also a bright and accept- able paper, and is one which may be admitted to the family circle with profit to all readers. For the past five years Mr. Christian has been the representative of his section in county and state conventions. Socially he is conected with the K. of P. and Modern Woodmen, and possesses a heart as warm as his physical frame is large, and is one of the popular citizens of this part of .Atchison county. He gives to charity with an unstint- ed hand, and no one ever asked alms of him in vain, for out of his bountiful income he divides with the poor.

ISAAC S. B.ALL.

Isaac S. Ball, the county clerk of Atchi- son county, was born in Clark township, of this county. March 11. 1869. His father. Joseph I .. Ball, settled in that portion of the county in 1852, and died in 186g. Ile was born in what is now West Virginia, emi- grated thence to Kentucky, and was there married to Miss Hannah E. Krusor, who still survives, and resides where she and her husband settled upon coming to Atchison county. They were the parents of the fol- lowing children: James W., of Atchison county ; Lizzie, the wife of D. L. Williams, of Milton, Missouri; John T., of Idaho; Tacy E., now Mrs. W. J. Graves, of Milton, Missouri; Joseph L ... E. P. and Ulysses C., also of Milton ; R. C., assistant cashier of

The e teen in which Mr. Christian is the bank at Craig, this state; Mollie .A., the

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wife of E. E. Taylor, of Fairfax, Missouri, and Isaac S., the subject of this sketch.

Isaac S. Ball passed his early youth upon the farm. In childhood he was permanent- ly crippled, and thus incapacitated for farm labor. Obtaining a good common-school education he completed it in Tarkio College, having in view the life of a merchant as a means of support. For a year prior to enter- ing actively the politics of his county he con- ducted a grocery store at Milton, and in the summer of 1894 was nominated by the Republicans of the county for the position of county clerk, being elected in the following November by a majority of three hundred and nine. After serving most efficiently for four years he was nominated as his own successor, and defeated a strong man on the fusion ticket, thoughi by the narrow margin of only ten votes. Mr. Ball's greatest con- cern for the county is its welfare, as it may be affected through his office, and his re-elec- tion is the strongest endorsement the people could give him of his successful administra -. tion of its affairs, so far as they are under his control.

Mr. Ball was married in Rockport, No- vember 29, 1896, to Mrs. Vena Wannschaff, the widow of Alfred A. J. Wannschaff. Mrs. Ball's two children by her former marriage are Hermie and Bessie, the former of whom is Mr. Ball's deputy clerk. From the above brief recital it is evident to every reader that Mr. Ball stands high in the estimation of his fellow men, and he in fact has the regard and esteem of all that know him.

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A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography, Part 32

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