USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 49
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 49
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REV. FATHER HENRY F. NIEMANN.
li unselfish devotion to a single object will bring success, that is the secret of the success that has been won at Maryville. Nød- away county, Missouri, by Rev. Father Hlen- ry E. Niemann, who brought to the task accepted by him ample scholastic preparation and a capacity for affairs that would have trade him a leader in any large enterprise with which, under different conditions. he might have been identified.
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Rev Father Heury F. Niemann, the rec- tor of St. Patrick's Catholic church. Mary ville, was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, June 11. 1867. He is a son of Clement Niemann,
who located in St. Joseph in 1866 and was for years superintendent of the Hax Furni- ture Manufacturing Company of that city. Formerly he was the proprietor of a furni- ture factory at Quincy, Illinois, He was born at Oldenburg. Germany, in 1827. and came to the United States in 1847. He first lived in Ohio and then removed to Quincy, Illinois. where he married Bernadina Ording. Mrs. Niemann died at St. Joseph, Missouri, July 16, 1880. Rev. Henry F. Niemann is their sole surviving child and heir.
Father Niemann received his early train- ing in the Christian Brothers' College. St. Joseph, and in 1880 entered St. Benedict's College. Atchison, Kansas, and remained four years. He completed the classical course in St. Francis' Seminary. Milwaukee, in 1885. and in the fall of the same year en- tered the Royal Imperial University at Inns- bruck, in the Tyrol, Austria. He studied there four years and then went to Rome. where he studied ecclesiastical law in the Apolinaire one year. He met many of the high functionaries of the church while there. and had a private audience with his Holiness. Pope Lew NIH. Aside from the years of assiduous study of the languages, the sciences and biblical history, Father Nie- mann spent his vacations in travel, visiting all the cities of chief interest in Europe, in- cluding the birthplace of his ancestors and making himself as familiar with the civili- zation of the old world as he is with that of the new . He returned to the United States in 1800 and was ordained to the priest- hood March 16, that year, by Bishop Hogan, of Kansas City. He was assigned first as assistant at St. Peter's and Paul's church in that city. At the expiration of a year he went, as chaplain, to St. Mary's orphanage. Hear St. Joseph. Two years later he was
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transferred to Stanbury, Missouri, having charge of church work at Evona, Albany. Bethany, St. Mary's and Darlington. From that charge he was assigned to the American speaking charge at Maryville and came here in 1896. He found his congregation without a suitable place of worship and he set about a movement that resulted in the erection of St. Patrick's church, which cost about seven- teen thousand dollars. It was begun in Oc- tober, 1898, and was dedicated November 30, 1899, and is one of the finest structures in the city.
T. T. WILSON.
A prominent and influential citizen of Tarkio, Atchison county, Missouri, who is the postmaster of the place and is also the editor and proprietor of the leading Repub- lican paper of the county, is T. T. Wilson, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Washington county, lowa. January 26. 1861. a son of Alexander and Margaret (Auld) Wilson, the former of whom was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, born in Belmont county, Ohio, and one of the pioneers of 1857 in Washington county, lowa. The mother of our subject also came from Scotch- Irish ancestors and was born in Ohio. His death occurred in Washington county, in his sixty-second year. The brothers and sisters of our subject are S. W. Wilson, who is the manager of a printing and book-bind- ing company at Oskaloosa, Iowa; Jennie, who is the wife of Dr. W. F. Graham, a prominent physician of Atlantic, Iowa; Mrs. W. G. Nicholson, who lives in Denver, Colo- rado; and Mrs. J. L. Wilkin, who lives in Washington county, Iowa.
Our subject was reared in that county, where he received a good education, and
engaged in teaching very successfully for some time. Leaving this profession he en- tered newspaper work in 1883, at Lincoln. Kansas, some time later removing to Gree- ley, Colorado, where for four years he pub- lished the Greeley Sun. In 1889 Mr. Wilson sold his newspaper and located in Omaha. where he acceptably filled the position of secretary and treasurer of the Omaha Art Stained Glass Company, remaining with this organization until 1893. when he came to Tarkio, Missouri. Assuming control of the Avalanche, Mr. Wilson has made it the leading Republican paper of the county, comparing favorably with the best in the state. It has been the ambition of Mr. Wil- son to make his newspaper a clean, newsy sheet, that always advocates morality, tem- perance, religion and education. thus caus- ing it to be regarded an ideal family visitor.
Mr. Wilson was married at Morning Sun, Iowa, to Miss Ella Graham, a daugh- ter of J. H. Graham, a prominent physician of southeast lowa. Mrs. Wilson was edu- cated at Monmouth College in Illinois and is a cultured and refined woman. Two chil- dren have been born of this union .- Mabel Elizabeth and Harvey Alexander. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are prominent mem- bers of the United Presbyterian church, where they are highly esteemed. Mr. Wil- son has been the postmaster of Tarkio since March, 1898, this being but a just reward for his zealous and active interest in every- thing pertaining to the Republican party.
H. H. TANSING.
A fact of which due recognition is not usually accorded in connection with the de- velopment of the west is that to no foreign element in so large a measure is due the pro-
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gress of the portion of the country as to those who have had their nativity or trace their lineage to the great empire of Ger- many. Among those who left the fatherland to identify themselves with American life and institutions, who have pushed their way to the from' and are a credit alike to the land of their birth and that of their adoption. is H. 11. Tan-ing. one of the young and enter- prising business men of Westboro, Mis- souri, where he is engaged in dealing in general merchandise.
Mr. Tansing was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, November 15. 1871. and come- si a family noted for industry and integrity. His father was the superin- tendent of a large manufacturing establish- ment in that country and was a man honored and respected by all who knew him. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Dorothea Maschmann and was born. reared and educated in the province of Han- over. At the father's death he left three chil- dren : Herman. of this review : E. E., who is now engaged in the meat market business in Westboro; and Clara, at home.
Mr. Tan-ing of this review spent the first thirteen years of his life in the land of his birth and acquired a fair education in German. In 1884 the family came to the United States and became residents of Atchi- son county, Missouri, where our subject continued his education, and thus became familiar with the language of his adopted country. In early life he learned the prin- It's trade at Rockport. Missouri, and føl- lowel that pursuit for a number of years. He also was engaged in the printer's trade in Helena, Montana, and in the spring of 1000 be came to Westboro, where he em birkel in the mercantile business. Although hi- residence here covers but a brief period
he is regarded as one of the popular business men of the town, for he carries a well select- ed stock, is honorable in all his dealings and obliging to his patrons.
Mr. Tansing was married in Atchison county, on the 5th of June. 1900. to Mrs. Lulu Thompson. Mrs. Tansing is a daugh- ter of M. L. Lee, a prominent and well known business man of Rockport. Missouri. Mrs. Tansing is a lady of intelligence and culture. Mr. Tansing is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity at Rockport. He was reared in the Lutheran faith, his parents having been members of that church, and in his political affiliations he is a Demo- crat. He is public-spirited in an eminent de- gree. National progress and local advance- ment are causes both dear to the heart of this adopted and thoroughly loyal son of the Republic. His devotion to the country is above question, and no native son of America is more true to her institutions or more faithful to his duties of citizenship.
WILLIAM E. SMITIL
The varied business training a young man receives in a country store and in gen- cral business in a country town is usually thorough and comprehensive enough to be of more real value to him than would be the special training, all along one line, that he would receive in a business house in a large city. He is brought in contact with all kinds of customers and is familiarized with the details of all kinds of deals and learns values and human nature, and gets always interesting. sometimes expensive. experimental instruction in the ancient. honorable and essential art of driving a bargain; and the country store has been a good point of vantage from which bright
WILLIAM F. SMITH
1 VEA YIL QUELINDA Y
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
men like the one named above have made successful starts in life.
William F. Smith, ex-circuit clerk of Nodaway county, Missouri, and a promi- nent real-estate and insurance agent of Maryville, was born in Nodaway county, May 22, 1858, a son of that worthy and venerable frontiersman, Jeremiah C. Smith, who settled in Boone county, Missouri, in in Atchison township. Nodaway county. This pioneer was born in Richmond, Ken- tucky, March 25, 1814. His father, who was the grandfather of William F. Smith. was a Virginian and a farmer and went into Kentucky in the days of Daniel Boone. His son, Jeremiah C., passed through many and diversified experiences before he reached Nodaway county. He was steamboating for a time on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers between St. Joseph and New Orleans : was an early merchant at Nashville, Mis- souri, where he lost his stock by a flood in 1844, and later he had a store at Claysville, Boone county. Ile married Nancy S. Jones, in January, 1850, and moved to Nodaway county, where his wife died, March 23. 1880. Their children are: Jeremiah M1 .. William F. and Jerome T. Smith, all of whom are citizens of their native county.
Jeremiah C. Smith is one of the promi- rent and well-known characters of Noda- way county. He has taken an active interest in local politics as a stanch Demo- crat and has served as collector for Atchison township. He has made a success of life, and owns farm land to the amount of eleven hundred acres, as a result of his ca- reer as a Clearmont merchant and as a farmer and stock dealer and trader, and though past eighty-six years old he is yet ready for a trade on the spur of the moment.
He has moved but once since his advent in the county and then only to an adjoining farm. He has been a Mason for thirty- five years and has been prominent in his lodge.
William F. Smith, the immediate sub- ject of this sketch, spent his youth in his father's store and on the home farm. He acquired a fair knowledge of English, and 1839, and in 1856 located near Clearmont. at fourteen began life as a full-fledged clerk at Clearmont. He was in mercantile trade. as clerk and proprietor, for fourteen years, and at times during that period combined lumber and hardware trade with general merchandising He was inclined toward politics from early manhood and attended conventions and electioneered for his favor- ite candidates, thus gaining an influence which was valuable to him when personal favors were desirable. He was elected cir- cuit clerk of the county in 1886, having se- cured the nomination over the then incum- bent of the office, and was re-elected in 1800. After eight years' efficient and hon- orable service, he retired from the office and engaged in his present business ; but he has kept active his interest in politics and has twice been the chairman of the Noda- way county Democratic central committee. In 1806 he was a delegate to the national convention at Indianapolis of the "gold" Democratic party and that year took an ac- tive part in politics.
March 14. 1882, Mr. Smith married Mary E. Lewis, a daughter of Martin Lewis, of Clay City. Illinois. Their chil- dren are Fred L., William W. and Nannie E. Many of the fraternal orders of Mary- ville claim Mr. Smith as a member, among them the Masonic order, with the "blue" lodge, chapter, commandery and shrine of which he is identified, the Knights of
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Pythias, subordinate and uniformed ranks. the Knights of the Maccabees, the Frater- nal Vid Association and Odd Fellows, sub- ordinate and encampment.
THOMAS WARD.
Thomas Ward, whose identification with the farming interests of Lincoln township covers a period of twenty-four years, and who is well known among the enterprising farmers of Atchison county, was born in Lincolnshire, England, January 6, 1847. and was a member of a good family of that conn-
ty. His father, Charles Ward, was a farm- er by occupation, and was also a native of Lincolnshire. The paternal grandparents of our subject were Thomas and Caroline Ward, both of whom died in England. Charles Ward was reared to manhood in the county of his nativity and was there united in marriage to Catherine Bainbridge, who was born and reared in Lincolnshire. In 1856 they sailed with their family for the United States, taking passage at Liverpool on a westward bound vessel, which after six weeks spent upon the ocean dropped anchor in: the harbor of New York. Continuing on their westward way the family became residents of Peoria, linois, and there the father carried on farming until 1880, when I removed to Saline county, Nebraska, where he died. December 8. 1900, seventy- eight years of age, and is buried at Western, that county. Mrs. Ward is in her seventy- fourth year. They were the parents of the following named children: George, Susan, Charles, Caroline. William. Frank. John. Joseph, Judson and David, besides a daugh ter, lila, who died at the age of eight years. Throughout his active business career the father followed farming. He and his wife
are people of the highest respectability and enjoy the regard of all who know them.
Thomas Ward, whose name introduces this review, was reared upon a farm in Illi- nois, and early became familiar with the work of the fields. llis education was ac- quired in the common schools. At the age of twenty years he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Jane Hamble, who was born in Pennsylvania and spent her girlhood days in that state and in Illinois. Her parents were Joseph and Martha Hamble. Mr. Ward continued his residence in Illinois nn- ti: 1876, when he came to AAtchison county and began the development of a farm of one hundred and sixty acres which he had pur- chased. Until 1898 he continued the culti- vation and improvement of that land, but in that year sold out and bought the farm which he now owns, also comprising a quar- ter-section of land. This place is well im- proved with a good residence, a large barn and feed lots, an orchard and ample pastur- age, and the fields bring to him a good return for the care and labor he bestows upon them. Ile is successfully engaged in feeding and shipping stock, and through his well-directed efforts is meeting with creditable success in lis business.
By his first marriage Mr. Ward became the father of five children, one of whom, Frank, is now deceased. The others are Leonard, a resident of Nodaway county, Missouri: Oscar C. of Lincoln township. Atchison county: Lulu, the wife of S. Lane, of Westboro; and Minnie, the wife of IV. Cozod, of Lincoln township. The mother died January 27. 1880. She was a consist- ent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was respected and loved by all who knew her. In 1881 Mr. Ward'was again married, his second union being with
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Mrs. Mary E. Dack, a daughter of John
early in life and later went to Muscatine, Macrander, of Lincoln township, and widow | Iowa, where he died, in 1872. In 1862. at Muscatine, Iowa, at the age of nineteen, Fd M. Moss enlisted in the Thirty-fifth Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the end of the war.
of Black Dack, who was born in Lincoln- shire, England. in 1844. They were mar-, ried February 28, 1877, and Mr. Dack died October II. 1878, leaving a daughter, Fran- ces, who is now the wife of Frank Wood, of Nodaway county, Missouri. By the second marriage of Mr. Ward there are six children : Arthur. Walter, Everett. Harry, | Elbert and Claude Mckinley.
In politics Mr. Ward is a stalwart Re- publican. He has served with credit as a member of the school board and he takes a deep interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community, doing all in his power to advance those movements calculat - ed for the substantial improvement of the county. His social qualities render him popular and he has many warm friends.
HARVEY E. MOSS, M. D.
The profession of medicine has a fascina- tion for a certain class of young men of an investigating. scientfic turn of mind and has drawn to its ranks men of ability, who are not only living by it but are honoring it and elevating it-men who as family physicians are held high in the esteem of their fellow townsmen and are doing a good work for their profession and for humanity. Such a well equipped, enthusiastic and successful physician is Harvey E. Moss, M. D., of Maryville. Nodaway county, Missouri.
In 1869, with a team and only a few dol- lars, he made his appearance at Maryville, where he opened a restaurant in a small rent- ed building on South Main street and en- tered upon a career of business success. He bought and improved Maryville business property and when he retired from his res- taurant enterprise he was regarded as one of the wealthy men of the city. His last busi- ness venture was in Tecumseh. Nebraska. where he established the Farmers' Bank (now the First National Bank of Tecum- sch). but died a few months later. in 1881. leaving a valuable estate. He married Mar- tha M. Robinson, born in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1842, who died in Maryville, Missouri, November 29. 1897. She was prominently identified with the spiritual and material welfare of the First Methodist Episcopal church in Maryville, and was one of the chief donors to the fund for the erection of its new house of worship.
The children of Ed M. and Martha M. ( Robinson ) Moss are: Miss Kate E. and Dr. Harvey E. Miss Kate E. Moss is a graduate of the Illinois Female College with the degree of M. E. L .. and of the Ohio Wes- leyan University, class of 1892, with the B. A. degree, and is now the secretary of supplies for Missouri, Arkansas and Iowa. the Des Moines branch of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. Her residence is in Maryville.
Dr. Moss was born in Maryville, Mis- souri, May 30, 1872, a son of the late Ed MI. Moss, a pioneer in Maryville and one of the successful business men of the town. Ed M. Moss was born at Moore's Hill, Indiana, Dr. Moss was educated at the Ohio Wes- levan University, where he spent three years, in 1843. a son of Harvey E. Moss, a native of Massachusetts, who settled in Indiana and while there read medicine with Dr. J.
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BIOGR.IPHICAL HISTORY.
W. C. Vogt, of Delaware, Ohio, as his pre- 1835. a son of Abraham and Sarah ( New- ceptor. He attended lectures at Louisville ton ) Hedrick, both natives of Virginia. Medical College and was graduated at that institution in 1803. In 1807 he took a course at the Chicago Polyclinic, there doing special work in surgery, gynecolo- gy and dermatology. In 1900 he took a special course at the Chicago Eve. Har. Nose and Throat College, and is now giving his attention to these branches of the practice. He located at Wilcox, Missouri. for practice, and later located temporarily at Springfield, Missouri. In 1804 he re- turned to Maryville and was the county physician from 1895 to 1897. and in 1805 he engaged in the drug business, in which he continued until January, 1900.
Dr. Moss is a Republican, and takes an active part in politics. He has represented the local Pythian lodge in the grand lodge at its sessions during the past four years. He is an Odd Fellow. M. W. A .. W. O. W. and K. of P., and is medical examiner for the Woodmen of the World and Modern Woodmen of America, and also for the Kansas Mutual Life Insurance Company and of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company of Portland, Maine.
May 25. 1897. Dr. Moss married, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Emma J. McMurry. a daughter of Peter McMurry, of Andrew county, Missouri, and a teacher in the Mary ville public schools. Their child. Edward McMurry Muss, was born April 6. 1809.
WILLIAMI N. HEDRICK.
Frederick Hedrick, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Germany and came to America, settling in West Virginia. where he was one of the representative farm- ers of Greenbrier county. He was a mem- ber of the Methodist church, being one of the best workers of that church. His chil- dren were Moses, Abraham, David, John, Joseph, Esther, Rebecca. Catherine and Elizabeth. Abraham Hedrick, the father of our subject, was reared and educated in his native state, and became a plain. honest farmer. He married Sarah Newton. also of West Virginia, and they both lived to a ripe okl age. Mr. Hedrick died March 2. 1884. and Mrs. Hedrick died in April. 1896. Their children were: Louisa : Fred- erick. a farmer living in lowa: W. X .. the subject of this sketch: Mary. the wife of J. Fry: Isabelle, who married a Mr. Lewis: Daniel, a Methodist minister : Ruth. the wife of R. E. Irwin : and David, who. on entering a steamboat at Gallipolis, Ohio, lost his footing and was drowned.
William N. Hedrick, whose name heads this personal biography, remained on the old homestead in Greenbrier county, West Vir- ginia, until 1856, when he went to lowa. where he engaged as a farm hand. In 1859. his health being impaired. he returned to his home in West Virginia, where he re- mained until January, 1862. He then went to lowa, where he remained until the follow- ing year, after which he settled in Missouri. The first year spent in this state he rented a farm, and the next year he was employed as a hand to drive stock to the market at
William N. Hedrick, one of the old set ters of Atchison county and one of the most prosperous farmers in that section of the Omaha. In this way he learned much about Mate, was born in West Virginia, May 30. [ cattle, which was of great help to him in
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
after years. He sold some stock which he owned, and bought one hundred acres of land, which he began to cultivate. Hle then built a frame house and began to raise stock. Gradually he added to his possessions until he was the owner of nine hundred and sixty acres of valuable land and a great many head of cattle. Ile gave several acres of land to his children, but is yet in possession of eight hundred and sixty acres, besides a sec- tion of land which he owns in Oklahoma. He began life in Missouri with but little money, but by hard work and careful man- agement the soil of this state proved an Eldorado for him, and he is one of the most well-to-do farmers in the county. He has had a good many set-backs, such as lending money which was unreturned, and going as security for friends who were unreliable. He has always been a very charitable man, and has never refused assistance to any one. Mr. Hedrick is a stockholder of the Ex- change Bank of Fairfax, and was one of the directors for many years. In later years he has been diminishing his business, so that his time can be given to other pleasures and duties.
In 1860 Mr. Hedrick married Elizabeth Curry, a daughter of George W. Curry, a prominent farmer of Virginia. Mrs. Hed- rick died in 1861, leaving no children. She was a member of the Presbyterian church. In December, 1863, our subject was again married, this time to Jane Curry, a daughter of Robert Curry and a cousin of Elizabeth Curry, our subject's first wife. Robert Cur- ry was a farmer, and in 1859 moved to Mis- souri, where he bought some unimproved land and began farming. He returned to West Virginia in 1868, but came again to Missouri, where he spent the remainder of his days. His children were: Robert C.,
a farmer of Atchison county: G. W., of West Virginia : Mrs. A. Price: Amanda, the wife of C. Price: Elizabeth R. Burdett ; Alexander : James. A. : Margaret : Frances; and Jane, the wife of our subject. By his second marriage Mr. Hedrick was the par- ent of three children, whose names are : Lu- ther C., of Oklahoma : Damaris L., the wife of W. T. J. Youell, a farmer; and Beatrice C., at home. Mrs. Hedrick died in 1890. In October, 1891, Mr. Hedrick married Rosa B. Howell, who was born in Kentucky, February 6, 1861. a daughter of Andrew and Lucinda ( Killern) Howell, both na- tives of Virginia but residents of Kentucky. Andrew Howell died in that state, and his wife came to Missouri in 1888 and lived with her daughter up to the time of her death, which occurred September 3. 1897. Their children were: Sarah J. Simpson; May: Daniel C .: Louisa, of Danfield, Mis- souri; Margaret A .: Martha W. Noble; Rosa B., the wife of our subject; and Nana C.
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