A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography, Part 42

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 42
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 42

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John Calvin Spence, a highly respected citizen of Nodaway county, and a soldier in the Civil war. is a native of Miami con- cincing the Democratic and Populist ma- , ty, Ohio, born September 3. 1838. Hle is jority from eight hundred to nine votes. In 1898 he was nominated by his party for the ofice of county recorder, but there was a fusion of the Democratic and Populist par- ties and the combined strength was too great for him to overcome. The large vote he has polled indicates his personal popu- larity and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen.

In Masonic circles Mr. Staples is promi- rent, holling membership in the lodge, chap- tur and council of Rockport, Maryville Commandery No. 10. K. T., and Moilah Temple of the Mystic Shrine in St. Jo- seph. His wife and two daughters hold

membership in the order of the Eastern Star. while the daughters are also members of the Order of the Daughters of Isis, which order confers higher degrees in Masonic work. Both Mr. and Mrs. Staples are mem- bers of the United Brethren church. He is a gentleman of fine personal appearance. weighing two hundred and forty pounds, is frank and genial in manner, reliable in busi- ness, faithful in friendship and loyal to every duty of citizenship. These qualities have gained for him the warm regard of all with whom he has come in contact. In his busi- ness he has met with creditable success, which has come to him as a merit of reward of his own labor. He certainly deserves mention among the representative men of Atchison county and it is with pleasure that we present his record to the readers of this volume.

JOHN C. SPENCE.

of Scotch-Irish extraction, and his grand- father, John Spence, was a Revolutionary soldier. James 1. Spence, the father of John C., was a Virginian, born in 1801. In Ohio he became acquainted with and mar- ried Delilah Scott, a native of that state, and both attained an advanced age. Mr. Spence, whose death occurred in Palmyra, lowa, reached the age of eighty-four years. and his wife died in Wayne county, lowa. at the age of eighty-seven years. They were the parents of eight children : Belle : Allen T .: Abram L., a soldier in the Civil war, serving in Company E. Fourth Iowa Infantry, now resides in lowa: Maria J .:

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John C., our subject ; Nancy ; Absalom, de- ceased, who was a member of Company B, Tenth Iowa Infantry; and Robert O.

John C. Spence, the subject of this bi- ography, was reared and educated in Peoria county, Illinois, near Farmington. For a number of years he followed the trade of plastering, but June 2, 1861, he enlisted for service, at the first call from President Lincoln for three hundred thousand men. He was a member of Company G, Eighth Volunteer Infantry of Missouri, under Col- onel Morgan L. Smith and Captain D. A. Grier, of Peoria, Illinois. The Eighth Mis- souri Regiment, or "American Zouaves," were first ordered to St. Louis. The first battle in which Mr. Spence was engaged occurred at Fort Donelson, February 16. 1862. He received a severe wound, being shot in the face, the bullet coming out from behind the ear. The right jaw was broken, and when the wound was dressed thirteen pieces of bone were removed. He was in the hospital at Mound City, Illinois, for one week, when he was given a leave of absence for thirty days, during which time he went to inis home. August 10, 1802, he re-entered the army at Memphis, Tennessee, being un- der General Sherman. The company of which Mr. Spence was a member went to the vicinity of Vicksburg. in the Yazoo swamps, where they helped excavate the canal to surround Vicksburg. Arkansas Post was taken with the assistance of this company, and on July 3d and 4th Vicksburg was surrounded, taken, and the stars and stripes were placed over another city in the south. Engagements which followed were at Champion Hills, Black River, the siege against General Joe Johnston's troops, the company going from Memphis to Chat- tanooga, Tennessee, and crossing the Chat-

tanooga river, where the pickets of General Bragg were captured; Missionary Ridge, Buzzards' Roost, the sieges of Atlanta and Savannah and the battle at Bentonville. While at Goldsboro, South Carolina. Mr. Spence received a veteran's furlough, and on the 25th of August, 1865, received an hon- orable discharge, at Little Rock, Arkansas. His career had been one of great courage and bravery, and his life as a private citizen has been one of honesty and loyalty to his fellow citizens and country.

In 1870 Mr. Spence located in Nodaway county, Missouri, and here he first met and was united in marriage with Mary Rutledge, of Greene county, Indiana, a daughter of Thomas and Julia Ann ( Swalb ) Rutledge. She was one of six children, two brothers having fought in the Civil war. John Rut- ledge, a member of an Indiana regiment. died in the army, being wounded at Big Shanty, Georgia; and Samuel MI., of the Eighteenth Missouri Regiment, now a resi- dent of Greene county, Indiana. Her father died in New Market, Taylor county, lowa.

Mr. and Mrs. Spence have two children : Charles, living in Lincoln township, Noda- way county ; and Nancy Emeline. They lost one child. James F., at the age of three years. Mrs. Spence is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Her husband is a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Grand Army of the Republic. Politically he is a Republican.

WILLIAM PRIDE.

The subject of this sketch, who has been prominently identified with the agricultural and political interests of Nodaway county, Missouri, for almost a quarter of a century, was born in Monongalia county, West Vir-

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ginia, January 24, 1829. a son of Burton leaving four children : James B. and A. II. and Nancy (Sutton) Pride, who as farm- who are engaged in farming on the home- stead : Malinda 11., the wife of 11. Shrock. a farmer ; and Nancy .A., at home.

ing pe ple spent their entire lives there. The maternal grandfather, Joseph Sutton, also a farmer by occupation, was born in Mary- land and died in Virginia. Ilis children were Nancy. Asa, John, Elizabeth, Mar- garet, Hannah and two who died young. The father of our subject was the third in order of birth in a family of five children, the others being Jesse. Henry, Sally and William. To Burton and Nancy ( Sutton) Pride were born nine children, namely : Mrs. Mary .A. Haines, of Pennsylvania; William, our subject ; Elizabeth, who died unmarried ; Malinda, the wife of S. H. Rose; Josiah, deceased; Nancy, wife of B. Renner; Re- Lecca J., the wife of L. Barrickman; Mar- garet, wife of J. Mathews; and James V. Our subject was the only one of the family to come west.

On a farm in his native state William Pride passed his boyhood and youth, pursu- ing his studies in the common schools. In Greene county, Pennsylvania, he was mar- ried, March 10, 1857, to Miss Elizabeth Stevens, a native of that county and a daugh . ter of Job and Edith ( Renner ) Stevens, who were also born in that state, where the father followed farming throughout life. After his death, the mother married a rela- tive, Ned Stevens, and in 1856 moved to Mercer county, Illinois, where he died, but the is still living, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. By her first marriage she had two children : Elizabeth, the wife of our subject : and Edward J. ; and there were also two children born of the second union, namely : Mrs. Emma C. Guthrie and James, " both residents of Illinois. Mrs. Pride, who was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, died January 0, 1885.

After his marriage Mr. Pride followed farming in West Virginia until 1864, when he moved to Illinois and first located in Vermilion county, but later went to Mercer county, where, after operating rented land for a few years, he purchased a farm. In 1877 he traded that place for his present farm in Nodaway county, Missouri, six miles northeast of Maryville. He has since added to it until he now owns three hundred and twenty-seven acres of land, a part of which is covered with timber, but the greater por- tion is under excellent cultivation and well improved bottom land. In connection with general farming he followed stock raising during his active business lite, but is now practically living retired on his homestead. enjoying the fruits of a well spent life, while he rents the land to his sons.

As a Democrat Mr. Pride has taken a prominent and influential part in political affairs, has been a delegate to numerous con- ventions, and has been honored with local offices of trust and responsibility, including that of justice of the peace, the duties of which he has most capably and satisfactorily performed. In religious faith he is a Meth- odist. llis success in life is due to his own well directed and energetic efforts, and for the same he deserves great credit.

ISAAC REAKSECKER.

Among the representative agriculturists of Nodaway county, Missouri, is Isaac Reaksecker, who was born in Monroe coun- ty, Ohio, October 9, 1849, and was reared and educated in much the usual manner of

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farmer boys of his day. Ilis father, Fred- erick Reaksecker, was born in canton Berne. Switzerland, January 16, 1816, and in 1819 was brought to America by his parents, Christ and Barbara ( Moser) Reaksecker, natives of the same place-the former born in 1778, the latter in 1780. The family land- ed at Baltimore, Maryland, and proceeded at once to Ohio, where as squatters they took up land and later entered it from the government. Christ Reaksecker died in Monroe county, that state, in 1856, his wife il1 1854. They were farming people and earnest members of the Lutheran church. In their family were eight children, namely : Christ, John, Peter, Samuel, Frederick, Levi, Barbara and Mrs. Rose .A. Case.

Frederick Reaksecker grew to manhood in Ohio, and there married Christina. King. who was born in Greene county, Pennsyl- vania, July 20, 1826, a daughter of John and Christina (Yeager) King, also natives of Pennsylvania. Her father, who was of English and Irish extraction, was born in August, 1781, and died in December, 1863. while her mother was born in August, 1782, and died in Mason county, West Virginia. in 1878. Frederick Reaksecker made a trip to New Orleans on a coal boat, and in this way earned the money with which to enter forty acres of land in Monroe county, Ohio, to which he subsequently added until he had over two hundred acres of improved land. Selling out in the spring of 1856, he moved to Harrison county, Missouri, where he bought a large tract of wild land, and to its improvement and cultivation devoted his en- ergies for many years. A skillful farmer and a man of good business ability, he met with excellent success in his labors and be- came "well-to-do," accumulating a fine es- tate. He was a member of the Sweden-

borgian church and as a local preacher took an active part in its work. Politically he was first a Whig and later a Republican. During the Rebellion he was a strong Union man and several times went out with scout- ing parties. He died in Harrison county, November 16, 1884. honored and respected by all who knew him. His estimable wife is still living and continues to reside on the homestead in that county. The children born to them were Emily, the wife of C. Miller, of Phoenix, Arizona; Eliza, the deceased wife of O. T. Neff; Amanda, the wife of E. O. Neff, of Harrison county; Isaac, our subject ; Benjamin F., a resident of Arizona; James W., of Oklahoma; and Peter K .. of Harrison county, this state.

Isaac Reaksecker accompanied his par- ents on their removal to this state, and re- mained with them until twenty-two years of age, when he took charge of one hundred acres of wild prairie land given him by his father. He built a small house and lived alone for a number of years. He fenced his land and placed it under cultivation and has since added to the tract until he now has six hundred and eighty acres in one body, all under cultivation and well improved. This fine farm is one of the most desirable of its size in Nodaway county. Since 1875 Mr. Reaksecker has given considerable at- tention to the raising and feeding of stock, and in this undertaking has also met with success.

On the Ioth of June, 1886, Mr. Reak- secker was united in marriage with Miss Eva Vancuren, who was born in Belmont county, Ohio, November 18, 1860, and they have become the parents of four children, whose names and dates of birth are as fol- lows: Lester, April 24, 1887 ; Warren, Sep- tember 12, 1888; Neva, March 19, 1890;

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and Noble, May 12. 1892. Since the age of sixteen years Mrs. Reaksecker has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. and both she and her husband are held in high regard by all who know them.

Mrs. Reaksecker's parents. Wilson and Eunice ( Humphrey ) Vancuren, were born, reared and married in Ohio, where they con- tinued to make their home throughout life. the former dying there September 15. 1896. the latter December 4. 1874. Ile was a Dem: crat in politics and a member of the Christian church, while his wife was a Bap- tist in religious belief. The children born to them were John, Eva, Miner, Melissa, Staunton, Ora, Thomas, Charles and Robert. Ora and Charles are now living in Missouri. For his second wife the father married Hat- t'e Carpenter, who is still living, and to them were born six children, namely : David. Buella. Maggie. Wilson, Paul and Talmage. Mrs. Reaksecker's paternal grandfather, John Vancuren, was a native of Germany. a farmer by occupation and an early settler of Ohio. His children were David, Wilson. Ann, Vance, Andrew. Shannon, George and Margaret. The maternal grandfather, Will- iam Humphrey, was born in Virginia, of Irish ancestry, and also became a farmer of Ohio, where his death occurred. He had ten children, namely : Eunice. Sarah, Miner. Naomi, William, Elizabeth, Esther, Mar- cus, Sanford and Margaret.

JOSEPHES. CARDEN.

Joseph S. Carden, the assessor of Green township. No daway county, elected in 1809, 1. one of the most popular and best known citizens of the county. He was born April 5. 1808, on the old homestead farm of his father. J. W. Carden, a prominent and pop-

ular citizen, one of the oldest of the pioneer settlers of the county, and now the mayor of Quitman. His wife was . Anna Holt, a daugh- of William Holt, who was among the pio- neers of the county and of a prominent and highly respectable family. J. S. Carden was the fourth son and sixth child of a family of seven children born to his parents, and spent his youthful days on the farm, where he was taught industrious habits and hon- est methods in all his transactions. The labor performed on the farm gave him a sound body and great strength. fitting him for the harder labor and more severe trials of life that belong more especially to man- hood's lot. His education was secured in the public schools and in the State Uni- versity, and he also took a commercial course, which he finds of great use to him in his daily business transactions.

Remaining at home on the farm until he was twenty-six years of age, Joseph S. Car- den began life on his own account. pur- chasing one hundred and sixty acres of wild land, but still remaining at home until he was married. His farm, the "Blue Grass Valley Farm." is one of the finest in the country, and his home one of the finest m his township. His entire one hundred and sixty acres are well fenced off into fields, for grain, pasture, etc., his blue-grass pastures and meadows rivaling those in the famous blue-grass regions of Kentucky. He has one of the finest barns in the county, and his residence is a model of modern style. with bay windows and porches. The en- the home exhibits evidences of taste, culture and refinement, having a beautiful yard. neatly kept lawn, flowers and shrubs. The house he erected in 1800. Mr. Carden is en- gaged in general farming and the stock Irsiness, and is one of the successful men

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of the county. Ile was married, November 4. 1896, to Miss Lida Ware, a woman of intelligence and good family, well educated and a teacher before her marriage from the time she was fifteen years of age. She is a daughter of II. II. Ware, deceased, who was a prominent and well known citizen. Ile was born in Ross county, Ohio, and moved thence to Nodaway county, Mis- souri. He was a brave soldier during the war of the Rebellion. serving as the ad- jutant of the Forty-fourth Missouri Vol- unteer Infantry and afterward as a mem- her of the Grand Army of the Republic. His wife, Miss Milly Needles, was a native of Missouri, and by her he had six children, viz. : John E., Mrs. Lida Carden, Samuel F., H. A., Glen D. and Allen E.

Joseph Carden is a member of the Ma- sonic and Odd Fellow lodges of Quitman. Mrs. Carden is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and stands high in the estimation not only of her sister members of the church but also among all the people of the community in which she lives. Mr. Carden may be properly classed among the self-made men, as he had but little assistance from his family or friends, and what he has accomplished has been mainly through his own unaided efforts.

JOHN P. FRAZEE.

The natural advantages of northwest Missouri attracted at an early day a superior class of settlers, thrifty, industrious, pro- gressive and law-abiding, whose influence has given permanent direction to the de- velopment of the locality. Among the worthy pioneers of Nodaway county John P. Frazee occupies a prominent place. He was born in Richland county, Ohio, April

16, 1832, was reared on a farmi and edu- cated in the common schools.

His parents, Joshua and Anna ( Pitt- man) Frazee, were born in Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish descent, and were married in Ohio. Her father, Elias Pittman, moved from Ohio to Andrew county, Missouri, in 1838, where he entered land and improved a farm, and in 1853 came to Nodaway coun- ty. Two years later he went to live with his children, and died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Frazee, in 1861. By occu- pation he was a farmer. His wife held membership in the Christian church. Their children were Thomas, who remained in Ohio: Benjamin, Andrew and Richard, all residents of Missouri ; Anna, the mother of our subject : Mrs. Sarah Brombaugh : Mrs. Melissa Duke: Mrs. Eliza Duke; and Mrs. Mary Myers. Our subject's paternal grand- father died in Pennsylvania, and his wife and children afterward moved to Ohio, where Joshua grew to manhood. He followed farming there until 1839, when with his family he drove across the country to An- drew county, Missouri. On reaching his destination he found that he had only a dime in his pocket. He soon found employment. but his wages were small. Needing corn for bread and feed for his stock, he drove to Clay county, a distance of one hundred miles, where he obtained it, but had to pay one dollar per bushel. Wild game. however. was plentiful and supplied the family with meat. As soon as he was able Mr. Frazee entered a tract of timber land, and after clearing a space planted the same in corn and vegetables for his own use. In 1853 he traded his land in Andrew county for a tract in this county, on which a small log house had been erected, and some of the land fenced and broken. At the end of a

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year he soll that place and entered a tract of wild land, which he improved and con- verted into a good farm, making it his home until his death. December 22. 1881. He was a Democrat in politics and hell some local offices, and was an eller in the Christian church, of which his wife was also a faith- inl member. She died January 30, 1875. They were the parents of four children, namely: Charlotte, who first married Rob- ert Campbell and secondly Henry Neal; John C .. our subject : Sarah, the wife of William Stevens : and William, a farmer of Oklaho- ma territory.

John P. Frazee remained with his par- ents until twenty-eight years of age, and then entered land and improved a farm. . \t the age of thirty-nine be married Miss Celia Shanks, who was born in Muskingum coun- tv. Ohio. December 6, 1840, a daughter of William G. and Sarah ( Lee ) Shanks. The father was born near Wheeling, West Vir- ginia, March 11, 1822, and died in Missouri, December 20, 1868. He was one of a family of nine children, the others being Joseph, Elizal eth. Michael, Stephen, Frank, Sarah, Fliza. and Martha, the wife of J. West. Mr -. Frazee's maternal grandfather, Sam- 1101 Lee, was a prominent citizen of Ohio. in whose family were four children,-James, Cornelius, Mrs. Jane Luton and Sarah. After his death the mother married James Hughes, by whom she had one child, Mrs. Angel'ne Bonus. Mrs. Frazee is the oldest in a family of seven children, and in order of birth the others were as follows: Mary, the voice of William Frazee; Joseph, a farm- er : William, deceased ; Mrs. Vier Albright ; Algertom, a farmer ; and Mrs, lda Roelf- soll. The parents of these children were members of the Christian church, to which our subject and his wife also belong. They

have four children, namely: Rosella, at home; Lawrence, who is married and en- gaged in farming on the homestead : Chester and Alpha, also at home.

Since his marriage Mr. Frazee has re- sided upon his present farm near Mary- ville, and so successfully has he been that he has been able to add to his landed posses- sions until he now has three hundred and twenty acres of fine valley land, all under a high state of cultivation and well improved with good buiklings. He is interested in both general farming and stock raising. During the Civil war he was a member of the Home Guards, but on account of his health was unable to enter the regular serv- ice. Ile affiliated with the Democratic party until 1860, when he voted for Lincoln, but since then has supported the Democratic and Populist parties. His career has ever been such as to commend him to the confidence and high regard of those with whom he has come in contact, and those who know him best are numbered among his warmest friends.

GEORGE R. HORTEN.

G. R. Horten, dealer in hardware and agricultural implements of all kinds and a prominent and solid business man of Quit- man, carries a full line of shelf and heavy hardware and all kinds of farming im- plements needed on any farm. Since lo- cating in Quitman he has built up a large and profitable business, which for some time previously had been carried on by W. 1 .. Holt, a man well known to all living in Nodaway county. Mr. Horten also handles a general line of wagons, buggies and car- riages of every make and style, and the goods sold by him give the most general

GEORGE R. HORTEN AND FAMILY

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satisfaction. His leaders are the Bain wagon and the Burlington ( Pioneer ) buggy, than which no better wagons and buggies are made in the United States.

Mr. Horten was born near Springfield, Sangamon county, Illinois, February 27, 1869, and is a son of Joseph and Mary E. (Tracey) Ilorten, both of whom were from Illinois. Mr. Horten was a babe in his mother's arms when his parents removed from Illinois to Nodaway county, Missouri. they settling in the northern part of the county, in Atchison township, where they lived for a good many years. Joseph Hor- ten was a farmer by occupation, a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, and in politics a Republican. Ile was a man of strength of character, and was well known to many of the citizens of the county as a man of integrity and honest methods in business and a good neighbor. He died in Kansas at the age of sixty-eight, and his wife died at the age of fifty-one. They were the par- ents of four children, viz. : William, of Burlington Junction, Missouri; Sarah King, deceased ; Anna, of Nebraska, and George R., the subject of this sketch.

George R. llorten was reared on the farm, on which he performed his full share of work, developing his muscle and gaining bodily strength which he could have gained in no other way. His education was.obtained in the common schools, and he has always been a successful business man, noted for his straightforward methods of doing busi- ness and for his industry and integrity. He was married September 14, 1890, to Miss Clara Kelley, a daughter of Newton Kelley. deceased, and his wife, Martha E. To this marriage there has been born one child, Nelly. Mr. Horten is a regular Democrat, and a member of the Masonic lodge of Quit-

man, and also of the Odd Fellows lodge. He is of powerful physique, and weighs two hundred and thirty pounds. Mrs. Horten is a member of the Christian church. Both are highly respected people, because of their many excellent traits of character and disposition.

JOHN G. BAILEY.

There are many reasons why John G. Bailey should be mentioned among the lead- ing citizens of Atchison county. First, be- cause he is one of her native sons ; secondly, because he has so long been actively con- nected with the development and growth of this portion of the state; and, thirdly, be- cause he manifested a very brave and val- orous spirit at the time of the Civil war. Few men have longer witnessed the upbuild- ing of this county than Mr. Bailey, who has scen its transformation from a wild and thinly populated district until it has become the scene of great activity in all departments of business life, its progress having been carried forward along lines that have con- tributed in large measure to the prosperity of its citizens.

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A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography, Part 42

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