A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography, Part 46

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 46
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 46

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George and Nancy ( Johnson) Johnston had fourteen children, eleven of whom grew to manhood and womanhood,-Jolin, Mary, Jesse, Rachel, Elizabeth, George, James, William, Joseph. Ephraim and Wilson. The three others died in childhood. George Johnston, the father of these children, was a large, strong man, a "six-footer." He was of the stuff of which pioneers were made and right well did he perform his part in every relation of life. In politics he was a Whig, in religious affiliation a Methodist. He died at the age of seventy-one, his wife at the age of seventy-three. They were no more full of years than full of honor, and they were long regarded by their neighbors who came into the country later as living links connecting the new order of things with the old. Their son Ephraim grew up on

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the farm, helped clear land and put it under cultivation and perforce learned all about the hardships of farming when and where farm- ing was hard. When he arrived at man's estate he was strong. vigorous, enterprising, hopeful and determined. He was educated in the public schools and at Delaware Col- lege, Ohio, of which his father was one of the early supporters. In 1846 he married Rebecca Jones, a daughter of Henry and Rachel ( Corken ) Jones, of a good old Ohio family. "Methodists with a tincture of Qua- ker." Miss Jones was born in Ross county, Oho. Her father died in Ohio and her mother survived him, and at her death, at the age of ninety-six, was one of the oldest women in her vicinity. She bore her hus- band four sons and three daughters, named Simpson, Nelson, Henry, Milton. Elizabeth, Rebecca and Rachel.

The children born to Ephraim and Rebec- ca ( Jones ) Johnston were: AAngust. now in business at Quitman, Missouri : Adaline. the wife of J. W. Smith, of Green township; Rachel, the wife of David Woods, of Nod- away county: Milton of Green township; Howard, in business at Cameron, Missouri ; Edward, residing at Quitman: Clarence. who died aged forty-three; and Henry W., also deceased. The last named became a minister of the Weslyan Methodist church and for a considerable period was well known as a missionary in the African Geld. Ile died in Indiana, not long after his retirement from foreign work, and a wid wy and three chil- dren survive him. He was at that time a member of the Wesleyan Methodist confer- ence of Indiana.

Mr. Johnston removed with his family from Ohio to Missouri in 1802, and soon after enlisted in Company I, Forty eighth Missouri Volunteers, under the command of

Captain Grigsby. He was mustered into the service at St. Joseph, and saw much active and dangerous experience of war, and was mustered out at Benton Barracks, at the end of his time of enlistment. He has since lived the peaceful, but not easy, life of "the hus- bandman and the shepherd," and is growing old almost imperceptibly: indeed, with his six feet of stature, his two hundred pounds healthy weight and his vigorous look and clastic step, he appears ten years younger than he is. He is a Republican in politics, an advocate of universal freedom, education and temperance. ard he and his wife are consistent and helpful members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church.

B. RALEIGH MARTIN.

Americans who can trace their lineage to men who, in the war of the Revolution. risked their lives in defense of American independence, have just reason for "pride ,of ancestry," which places then infinitely above Anglo-maniacs who boast of their de. scent from some of America's oppressors. The genealogy of the family of Martins, of which the prominent citizen of Maryville. Missouri, above mentioned, is a worthy rep- resentative, reveals his descent from some of the prominent Revolutionary stock of Virginia. His great-great grandfathers. James Martin and William Morris, were soldiers in our war for independence. The former was born in Halifax county, Vir- ginia, in 1740. One of his sons, the great- grandfather of our subject, was born June 1. 1801. and went with his wife and child to Kentucky in 1823. settling in Mercer county. His outfit consisted solely of a two year old filly, upon which his wife rode and carried the baby and a feather bed. and

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a few cooking utensils which he carried as he led the way on foot. Dr. Martin's ma- ternal grandfather was Dickson Kirk, who was six weeks old when. in 1790, his father (a Scotchman, and a Revolutionary pa- triot ) crossed the mountains from Virginia to Kentucky and settled where Lebanon How is. Jesse Martin, Dr. Martin's father, was born in Mercer county, Kentucky, April 8, 1824, and in 1845 went with his family to McDonough county, Illinois, where his wife died July 4, 1851, and where he died June 8, 1864. Jesse Martin was a Jackson and later a Douglas Democrat. He recruited soldiers for the Union army during the Civil war and served his township as su- pervisor. He married Paulina Coe Kirk, the youngest daughter of Dickson and Nancy ( Hodskin) Kirk. Their children are: Dr. F. M. Martin; Jolin C., of West Liberty, Iowa; Mary E., the wife of John H. Richeson, of Grand Island, Nebraska; Rachel P., the wife of P. H. Carlile, of Mc- Donough county, Illinois; James D., of Orleans, Nebraska; William F. and Jo- seph E., of McDonough county, Illinois; Lucy A., the wife of Rev. George W. Shad- wick, of Fidelity, Illinois; and Henry and Miss Susan A. Martin, on the old family homestead in Illinois.

Dr. F. M. Martin, of Maryville, was born at Macomb, Illinois, November 6, 1850, and was a farmer and a country school teacher until he was twenty-three years of age. He was educated in the Ma comb ( Illinois) normal school and was principal of the Colchester ( Illinois) grad- ed schools three years. He read medicine with Dr. B. R. Westfall as his preceptor, the noted homeopathist of McDonough coun- ty, and a graduate of Hahnemann College, Chicago. At this prominent institution Dr. 22

Martin also took his degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1877. and soon afterward locat- ed at La Harpe. Illinois. He practiced there ten years and then located in Maryville, Mis- souri. He is a member of the American and Missouri Institutes of Homeopathy and of the Missouri Valley Homeopathic Medical Association. He is the sole representative of his school in Maryville and enjoys a large and profitable practice. He is a well known Democrat and has served two terms as county coroner and three terms as the county physician of Nodaway county. He married August 24, 1871, Salome S., a daughter of Dr. Westfall, his medical pre- ceptor. Their children are: B. Raleigh Martin; Mabel P .; Charles V .. now a stu- dent at Hahnemann Medical College, Chi- cago ; and Alice A. Martin.

B. Raleigh Martin was born in McDon- vugh county, Illinois. July 6. 1872, and at the age of fourteen accompanied his parents to Nodaway county. He received his pri- mary education in the public schools of La Ilarpe. Illinois, and Maryville. Missouri, and was graduated at the Maryville Acad- emy in 1892. He had selected the law for his profession early in his youth and had read law some years before his graduation. He entered Judge Ramsey's office to pre- pare himself for passing the examination, and was admitted to the bar one year later before Judge C. A. Anthony. He opened an office at Hopkins and practiced there un- til his removal to Maryville to enter upon his duties as prosecuting attorney. He was nominated for this office by the fusion convention of Nodaway county in 1898 and clected by a majority of six hundred and eighty-five votes. Prior to his official con- nection with the prosecutor's office he was retained in some of the leading criminal

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cases tried in the circuit courts of Nodaway county, Missouri, and Taylor county, lowa, notably in the case of the state of Missouri vs. Ulmer and Rasco, and the state of lowa vs. Friend, Beabout and Pope, tried at Bed- ford. Since his incumbency of the prose- cutor's office Mr. Martin has prosecuted, for murder, Jesse for the killing of Griffin, and Ida Ewing for the murder of her sister-in- law, both noted cases. Mr. Martin is recog- nized as one of the finest orators in north- west Missouri, and for his age has not a peer in the state. His eloquence has won him a wide reputation and he has many de- mands from other states for lectures and public addresses. He is powerful before a jury and has before him a great future in his profession.

Mr. Martin married, in Jackson county, in 1893. Miss Mabel Thruston. He is a Mason and Knight of Pythias.

GEORGE W. NULL.

This honored veteran of the Civil war and well known agriculturist of Nodaway county, Missouri, was born in Gallia coun- ty. Ohio, September 17, 1842, a son of George W. and Helen ( Wiseman ) Null, also natives of that county, where the father spent his entire life as a farmer, dying there in 1842, when our subject was only nine days old. He was the third in order of birth in a family of seven children, the others being Mathew, Jane, David, Hannah, Mary and William. Their father, William Null, also a farmer, was born in Pennsylvania and died in Gallia county.

Sammel Wiseman, our subject's maternal grandfather, was born in Virginia, of Ger- man ancestry, and followed farming as a

life work. He was a prominent and active member of the Methodist church, and filled most of the church offices, including those of class-leader and exhorter. He was a great Bible student and a fluent talker on Bible subjects. While a resident of Ohio he or- ganized the first Sabbath-school in his sec- tion, and after coming to Missouri, in 1851, organized the first in the neighborhood where he located. Enterprising and public-spirited. he proved a useful man in a new country. During the Civil war he was a strong Union man, but the high position he held in the community protected him from the southern sympathizers. He purchased land and also entered a tract in Nodaway county, which he transformed into a good farm, and in connection with its operation he conducted two sawmills, but he finally soll his prop- erty and moved to Maryville, where he spent his last days in retirement from active la- bor. His death occurred during the war. His children were Allen, a resident of Ohio ; Johnson, who died in California; Whit ; Franklin; Susan, who first married a Mr. Powell and secondly a Mr. Demsey ; Mary. the wife of William Neal : Helen, the mother of our subject : and Sarah, the wife of .1. Graham. The mother of our subject was twice married, her second husband being Thomas Kelly. In 1852 they came to Mis- souri and settled on a farm in Nodaway county, but six years later sold their prop- erty here and moved to Kansas. In 1850 they returned to Ohio, and in 1863 again came to this county, where they purchased a farm. llere the mother, who was a con- sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, died in 1865. By her first marriage she had two sons: David A., who died in 1861, leaving a widow ; and George W., our subject. By the second union there were

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eight children, namely : Mrs. Margaret Harmon : Jolin W., a resident of California ; F. L., of Oklahoma ; Samuel, who was killed in an Indian fight on the plains in 1864; William, a resident of lowa; Newton and Henry, both farmers of this county; and Pascal B., a resident of San Francisco, Cali- fornia.

During his boyhood George W. Null at- tended the common schools and made his home with his mother and stepfather. He accompanied the family on their removal to Kansas and remained there until 1860, when lie again came to this county. During the dark days of the Rebellion he enlisted, at Maryville, Missouri, in Company I, First Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, which was re- organized as a cavalry regiment after three years' service. Mr. Null was mustered in at Omaha, and before the expiration of his tern re-enlisted. He first served under Fremont in Missouri, but in 1862 was transferred to Grant's army, joining the command at Fort Donelson. As a part of Lew Wallace's di- vision, the regiment took part in the battle at that place and at Shiloh, reaching the bat- tle-field Sunday in time to take part in the second day's fight. They next went to Mem- phis, and from there to Helena, Arkansas, and under command of General Davidson re- turned to Pilot Knob, Missouri. They took part in the engagement at Cape Girardeau, April 26, 1863, built a fort at Pilot Knob. and then went to St. Louis, where they were reorganized as a cavalry regiment. They next went to Batesville, Arkansas, and in March, 1864, proceeded to Jacksonport and Duvall's Bluff. They were granted a thirty- days furlough after their re-enlistment and sent out on the plains to Fort Kearney. Mr. Null was then engaged in patrol and scout duty during the troubles with the Indians,

and remained in the service until January 11. 1866. when he was discharged on account of disability and paid off at Fort Leaven- worth. He was slightly wounded by a ball on the head, but was more severely injured by his horse falling with him.

While on a furlough in 1864, Mr. Null married Miss Lydia J. Ware, who was born in Andrew county, Missouri, August 10. 1845. Her father. Jahn Ware, was born in New Jersey, but reared in Ohio, and in In- diana married Mary Terhune, a native of Kentucky, who was reared in Indiana. In 1840 they moved to Andrew county, Mis- souri, and later came to Nodaway, where the father improved two farms, becoming one of the substantial agriculturists of his community. He was an active church worker and a highly respected man. His death oc- curred December 18. 1891, but his wife is still living on the old homestead. In relig- ions faith they were Methodists. Their chil- dren were Joseph L., a harness and saddle- maker ; Lydia J., wife of our subject : Adam, deceased ; Isaac S .; J. W .; Mary E., the wife of William Miller; and Charles E., a resi- dent of Colorado. To Mr. and Mrs. Null have been born nine children: Mary, the wife of J. L. Partridge; Orlin G., a farmer; Wilbur, a professor at Cameron College: Laura, the wife of A. Wiley; Charles, a Methodist minister of Colorado: Sarah, the wife of R. Corken : Anna, Hubert and Ama, all at home.

After receiving his discharge from the army Mr. Null returned to his wife in Mis- souri, and has since devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits, owning at different times four farms. In 1874 he purchased the place near Maryville, where he now resides, and has since added to it until he has two hundred acres, which he has placed under a

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high state of cultivation. He raises and feeds stock for market, and is successfully engaged in general farming. By his ballot and influence Mr. Null supports the men and measures of the Republican party, has been a delegate to various conventions, and has most creditably and acceptably filled the of- fice of justice of the peace. He has also been a member of the township board, and has done all in his power to advance the interests of the e mmmmmnity where he resides. He is a representative American citizen, loyal to his country and its interests, and well merits the esteem in which he is held.

ABRAHAM HAGEY.

Abraham Hagey, a justice of the peace and a prominent farmer of Lincoln town- ship. Nedaway county, is a native of Carroll county, Ohio, and was born July 4. 1833, a son of Abraham and Susannah ( Harnor) Ilagey, who were descendants of Pennsyl- vania Dutch ancestry. They moved to Nod- away county in 1852, where they both lived until the age of ninety years. Five children were the result of this union, namely : Mrs. Maria Bowman, of Burlington Junction ; a son who was a soldier in the Confederate army, was killed at Corinth, in September, 1863: Jacob, killed at Champion Hills, in the Confederate service: John Hagey, of Green township, who was in the Confederate sery- ice: and Abraham, the subject of this sketch.

For three years during the Civil war Mr. Hagey resided in Iowa, when he re- mwclt . Nodaway county and settkd on a tril « me and a half west of the present Ste để Davon. In 1880 he was given to. I in which he lived in til November, 1900, hem he remore Ito Burlington June- ton Herog out - three hundred and twen-

ty acres of land in Lincoln township. The farms are all well improved by substantial buildings and conveniences : and while he has devoted much time to farming he has given much attention to carpentry and wagonmak- ing. Ile cast his first vote for James Bu- chanan in 1856, and has adhered to the Dem- veratic party ever since. Before moving to Towa from his home in Ohio he held the po- sition of justice of peace, and, after nearly forty years, he was elected to the same of- fice in Nodaway county, having occupied that office for the past eight years, filling it with honor and to the welfare of the public. He has also taken much interest in educational lines, having been a school director for fif- teen years. Ile is now living retired, in the village of Burlington Junction.

At the age of twenty-five years he was united in marriage with Sarah Ann Van Sickle, a native of Ohio. Twelve children blessed this union, eight of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Hagey are the grandparents of eighteen children. The family are faith- Inl followers of the Christian church, and are recognized among the leading citizens of the community.

THOMAS M. BAILEY.

Thomas M. Bailey, the postmaster of Rockport, Missouri, and a member of the law firm of Hunt & Bailey, settled within the limits of Atchison county after the ex- piration of what may be called pioneer days. When he located in the county the lawless- ness and disorder resulting from the Civil war had ceased, and peace and quiet had been re-established. He united with a community of intelligent and prosperous citizens, being from the first not only with them but also of them. While he was well qualified upon

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locating in Atchison county to be a teacher in the public schools, which profession he had followed in his native state, yet he sought employment upon the farm and spent two years near Phelps City as a farm hand. While engaged in teaching he had made some little preparation for the practice of law, reading with Ingersoll & Shoun at Greenville, Tennessee, and in 1887 he lo- cated in Rockport to complete his law studies and to enter upon the practice of the law. Arriving in Rockport on March 20 of the year last named he at once became a student in the law office of John D. Campbell, and was admitted to the bar at the January term. 1888, immediately afterward forming a partnership with his perceptor, Mr. Camp- bell, under the firm name of Campbell & Bailey, a firm which was dissolved only by the death of the senior in 1895. Soon after- ward the firm of Hunt & Bailey was formed, and this firm continues to the present time. During the same year, 1888, Mr. Bailey be- came a candidate for the office of prosecut- ing attorney of the county, being nominated by the Republican party, and was elected. He was again elected in 1890 and was elected for the third time in 1892, thus serving suc- cessfully for six consecutive years. His is one of the strong legal firms of the coun- ty, and its connection with much of the im- portant litigation of the county is a matter of public note and comment.

Mr. Bailey is a son of Marion L. Bailey, a farmer, who spent his life in Greene coun- ty, east Tennessee, dying there in 1896, at the age of sixty-eight. He was descended from the Baileys of Pennsylvania, who were themselves descendants of one of three brothers who came from England to Amer- ica prior to the Revolutionary war, separat- ing and drifting into different parts of the

country. In his later business years Marion L. Bailey followed the occupations of tanner, saddler and shoemaker. He married Sarah H. Williams, by whom he had the following children : Alexander H., of Holt county, Missouri ; Mrs. E. A. Reed, of east Tennes- see ; Nannie P., the wife of John R. Weems, of east Tennessee; Thomas M .; John M., of Langdon, Missouri; Mrs. H. M. Hunt, of Lockwood, Missouri ; Mrs. C. M. Hunt, of the same place; Joseph B. Bailey, of Fuller- ton. Nebraska ; and Lydia A., the wife of J. M. Williams, of Greene county, cast Ten- nessee.

Thomas M. Bailey was reared in his na- tive county and received his education in the high schools of Greenville. Tusculum College and the Tennessee Wesleyan Univer- sity located at Athens. When he completed his education at this university he had passed his majority. He at once adopted the pro- fession of teaching, which he followed only a short time, and then began reading law, carrying on stock trading as a business in the meantime as a means of livelihood. As previously 'stated his law preceptors were Ingersoll & Shoun, whom he left before his final examination and removed to Atchison county in 1885, since which time he has been continuously a resident of this county.

Mr. Bailey's heroism is a matter of pe- culiar interest for the reason that he was one of those "east Tennessee Republicans" when it required more than ordinary courage to belong to that particular brand of polit- ical faith. During the war of the Rebellion east Tennessee remained loyal to the Union, but it was overrun by rebel hordes and many of the patriots of that part of the state suf- fered severely because of their fealty to their country. Hence if any man has a strong claim to be considere l a Republican it is the

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man who thus remained true during "the time that tried men's souls."

Besides his services to the county in an official capacity. Mr. Bailey has rendered conspicuous service to his own immediate school district as the president of the board of education ; to his town as alderman, and to his party as chairman of the county cen- tral committee. In 1896 he was a presiden- tial elector and has represented his party at many of its important district and state con- ventions. In November. 1898. he was ap- pointed postmaster of Rockport, a position which he has filled with conspicuous ability and with general satisfaction to the patrons of the office.

Mr. Bailey was married. in 1888. to Miss Minnie, a daughter of Jesse Sliger, of Atchi- son county, and to this marriage there have been born Jessie S. and Thomas M., Jr., both bright and intelligent children. Mr. Bailey is a Mason and a Knight of Pythias, and a most useful and honorable member of so- ciety generally.

ROBERT B. A. MCBRIDE.

Robert B. A. MeBride. the pastor of the United Presbyterian church in Tarkio, was born in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, De- cember 21, 1867. on a farm which is a part of the original tract that was claimed by the founder of the family in America. He is a son of Davidson C. and Mary (Lowry) McBride. His father was born in Lowell- ville. Ohio, near the Pennsylvania line and not far from the old McBride homestead, July 30, 1840. When about five years of age he accompanied his parents on their re- moval to the homestead farm, which bor- dered the state line, but is on the Pennsyl- vania side. He was for some time a student

in Westminster College, but his text-books were put aside at the time of the great Civil war, and with patriotic spirit he responded to his country's call for aid, enlisting as a member of Company D. One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. After his return from the war he married and located upon a portion of the old homestead farm.

The paternal grandparents of our subject were Joshua Anderson and Martha (Dick- son) McBride. The former was born on the old homestead farm, where he spent most of his life, his death occurring there. He was a son of John and Mary ( Anderson ) McBride, and the parents of John McBride were Samuel and Lydia ( Reed ) McBride. Samuel McBride was the progenitor of the family in America. He was born in 1749. near Belfast, in county Antrim, Ireland, and came to the new world in 1772, landing on the 20th of August. Samuel, Joshua Ander- son and Davidson C. McBride were all elders in the United Presbyterian church of als- sociate Presbyterian church, one of the par- ent bodies of the United Presbyterian church, all serving in what is practically the same congregation. They spent most of their lives on the same farm, in what is now Lawrence county, Pennsylvania.

On the maternal side the Rev. Mr. Mc- Bride is also of Irish lineage. His mother. who bore the maiden name of Lowry, was born in Mahoning county, Ohio, February 8, 1844, a daughter of Robert and Margaret ( Stewart ) Lowry. Her father was a son of William and Mary ( Houston) Lowry, and was born near Lowellville, Ohio, Au- gust 12, 1818. He was an elder in the U'nited Presbyterian church, of Poland Cen- ter, Ohio, and later in the church at Deer Creek, Pennsylvania. His father, William

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Lowry, was born October 11. 1784, in county Down, Ireland.

Robert Burton Anderson McBride, now the honored pastor of the United Presby- terian church at Tarkio, supplemented his preliminary educational privileges by study in the Grove City College, at Grove City, Pennsylvania, where he was graduated with the degree of bachelor of arts, on the 25th of June, 1891. In the following Septem- ber he matriculated in the theological sem- inary of the United Presbyterian church at Allegheny, Pennsylvania, as a student from Beaver Valley presbytery. On the 11th of April, 1893, in the First United Presbyterian church of New Castle, Pennsylvania, he was licensed to preach. On the 25th of April, 1894, he was graduated by the theological seminary, and on the ist of May was or- dained by the Beaver Valley presbytery pastor of the congregations of Oak Grove and Neshannock, in Lawrence county, Penn- sylvania. He spent almost three years there and then resigned that charge in order that he might accept a call from the United Pres- byterian church in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where he was installed as pastor on the 23d of Feb- ruary, 1897. There he labored successfully for a little more than three years, when he resigned in order to become the pastor of the United Presbyterian church at Tarkio, where he was installed April 24, 1900.

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A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography, Part 46

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