A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography, Part 51

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 51
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 51

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Mr. Sayler married, in Illinois, Ella Pierce, who died October 13, 1883. Their children are Harley L., Ora H. and William .A. Mr. Sayler's second wife was Harriet L. Strawn, a daughter of Nelson Strawn. The children of this union are Edna V .; Phyllis E .: Jerre S. and Doris E.

GEORGE F. WOODWORTH.

In a part of the country devoted to stock- raising. as is northwest Missouri, there is a demand for organized effort to improve the grade of stock of different classes and to fur- nish information about it to persons requir- ing it. Such an effort has found form in different organizations, one of the most use- ful of which is that with which the gentle- man whose name is above has long been con- nected.

George F. Woodworth, the secretary of the Standard Poland China Record Asso- ciation, at Maryville, was born in Licking county, Ohio, January 23, 1851, a son of Al- meron Woodworth. The latter was born in Canada, a son of a New York farmer, and married Lavina Ames, and some years before

the outbreak of the Civil war emigrated to Missouri and located in Nodaway county. About the time of the beginning of the war, he returned east to Michigan, settling in Cass county, and lived there many years. His wife died there in 1868 and some years ago he went to De Witt county, Texas, where he died, in 1885, aged seventy-eight years, and is buried. Of his seven children George F. Woodworth was the sixth in order of birth. He grew up chiefly in Cass county, Michigan, and had the usual common-school opportunity to acquire an education. He became a resident of Maryville in 1878. His first effort as a business man was as clerk in l'itman's store in that city.

He next worked for the grain firm of Eddy & Smith, as their bookkeeper, and fol- lowing this employment he was engaged in the insurance business, at one time as a part- ner with W. Il. Chambers. One year spent in the implement trade brought him to the date of his connection with the Standard Po- land China Record Association, of which he was elected the secretary in 1894, to succeed Ira K. Alderman.

The Standard Poland China Record As- sociation was established in 1887 and opened its offices at Maryville. The purpose of the association is the maintenance of an im- proved system of recording and tracing pure- blooded China swine, and the publication of a record to be known as the Standard Poland China Record, complete within itself and containing histories of swine-herds and such other matter as may be deemed necessary to protect the interests of Poland China breed- ers. "The popularity of the association is indicated by the fact that it was chartered with five hundred shares of stock and has four hundred and eighty-five stockholders. There are five similar organizations in the

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United States, but the records of the asso- ciation are more complete than any other. every entry of registered stock being re- ferred to and numbered to show its origin. The directors of the association are W. T. Garrett (president ), D. F. Risk ( vice-pres- ident ). George F. Woodworth. (secretary). P. C. Miller. 11. Woodford, S. McKelvic, John Bollin. C. E. Tennant and O. S. Hotch- kin, treasurer of the association.

Mr. Woodworth married Miss Mary Swearingen, in 1879. and she died without issue. November 4. 1806.

JACOB FALKNER.

The quiet, unassuming, progressive citi- zens of our agricultural districts, men al- ways ready to do their duty, but seldom prominent personality in public notice, are the backbone of the nation. They are not only workers but producers, and when occa- sion demands they are soldiers, firm of nerve and sure of aim. Such a steady-go- ing and reliable citizen is Jacob Falkner. of Lincoln township. Nodaway county, whose postoffice address is Elo, and a brief ac- count of whose life it will be attempted to give fairly and impartially in the following paragraphs.

Jacob Falkner was born in Darke county. Ohio, June 6, 1843. a son of Christian and Elizabeth (Teaford) Falkner. His father and mother were both born in Ohio, and it is a coincidence that Jacob Falkner and Will- iam Mckinley were born in the same state and in the same year. Christian and Eliza- beth Falkner had eight children, as follows. named in the order of birth: David .A., a member of the Forty fourth Regiment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who was killed in ac- tion at Liberty. Virginia: Jacob, the imme-

diate subject of this sketch: William, who is dead: Anna : Aaron : George, a resident of Nodaway county: Rebecca. Joseph. and Christian. Jr .. now deceased. Christian Falkner, a life-long Democrat, died at the age of seventy years, on his farm in Andrew county, Missouri, his widow, aged eighty- one, is a member of the household of her son Jacob.

The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm in Darke county, Ohio, and educated in the public schools. The fact that oppor- tunities in his childhood and boyhood were greater for the development of muscle than of brains has not prevented him from be- coming a well read man, conversant with all questions of public interest. He chopped and cleared land and attended log-rollings and participated in pioneer life in all its phases. In 1862, when he was nineteen years old. he enlisted in the Forty-fourth Regiment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in that organization and in the Twenty-third Regiment Ohio Veteran Reserves, he saw three years' ardu- ous service and made an enviable record as a brave and trustworthy soldier. His first experience under fire was at Dutton Hill. Kentucky. Then he fought at Hazel Green, Kentucky, and at Knoxville, Tennessee. After this he was taken ill and was sent to Louisville, Kentucky, on the hospital boat Joe Holt. He was for a time in a hospital camp. then was sent to Detroit, Michigan. where soldiers were needed for relief ser- vice. Thence he was sent to Grand Rapids and to Grand Haven, Michigan, and later he was sent to Milwaukee and afterward to Madison, Wisconsin.

After his discharge from the service. Mr. Falkner was married, at Milwaukee. Wisconsin, June 10, 1865. to Miss Juliette Cline, who was born, reared and educated in

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that city. Miss Cline was the daughter of Michael Cline, a solider in the Seventeenth Wisconsin Regiment, who died at Milwau- kee about twelve years ago. Mr. Falkner and his wife took up their residence at Bloomington, Illinois, and remained there about a year. Later they lived for about five years in Davis county, lowa, and then removed to Andrew county, Missouri. There they lived until 1890, when they came to Nodaway county and located on their present farm of eighty acres in Lincoln township. where they have developed a good home. with a comfortable dwelling and ample barns and outbuildings, Mr. Falkner's land em- bracing an orchard and fields devoted to crop raising and to pasturage, with plenty of good standing timber.

Mr. and Mrs. Falkner have two daugh- ters: Mary E., the wife of Parker Dewey, of Andrew county, Missouri, who has a daughter named Ruby Dewey ; and Cora, the wife of D. M. Tudder, of Andrew county, Missouri. Mrs. Falkner is a member of the Catholic church. Mr. Falkner is a Repub- lican and a strong Mckinley man, fully in accord with the president's policy on all im- portant questions. He is a member of Mar- shall Post, No. 162. Grand Army of the ! Republic, of the department of Missouri, and as a citizen is public-spirited and pop- 11lar.

JOHN A. LOGAN.

There are many quiet, persevering, cour- teous citizens of every community who are never very conspicuous, but who are always doing such good work as their hands and brains find to do, and who, as a class, do more for the advancement of the public interest than many who figure as leaders. Such an

unassuming, eminently useful. always re- liable citizen is the gentleman whose career it is now in order to consider.

John A. Logan, Green township, Noda- way county, is one of the prominent and en- terprising citizens of this county, where he located in 1860. He was born in Boone county, Missouri, September 1. 1844, a son of John B. Logan. Ilis father was born in Henry county, Kentucky and was a son of John Logan. The Logans are of the Scotch- Irish ancestry, who, since the earliest history of the United States, have been noted for their industry and intelligence, making use- full citizens in time of peace and true pat- riots in time of war.

John B. Logan was reared in Henry county, Kentucky, and lived there until his removal to Misouri. Arriving at the age of manhood, he was married to Miss Anna Hulen, a native of Kentucky and a daughter of Taylor Hulen, who also was of a Ken- tucky family. John B. and Anna Logan were the parents of twelve children, eleven of whom, six sons and five daughters. grew to manhood and womanhood. The first born. Mary, died in infancy. The names of the others are : William B. ; Larinda : Elizabeth, deceased, who was the wife of B. L. Holt and came to this county with her husband forty years ago and resided here and was well and favorably known until her death; James R .; Millie: John .A .. subject of this sketch; Iliram, Margaret, Martha, Richard and Joe. The father died at the age of fifty- four years, while on a business trip in Ken- tucky, of cholera, which was then an epi- demic in that state. The mother is living in Green township. now at the age of eighty- four years. The father was politically a Whig, during the palmy days of that party, and an ardent admirer of Henry Clay. In

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religion he was attached to the Christian church.

John .A. Logan came to Nodaway county when a boy, with his brother-in-law. B. L. Holt, and grew to manhood among the prim- itive surroundings of early days here, work- ing on the farm and receiving such education as the schools of the day afforded. During the war he served for a time in the militia. In 1871 he bought a tract of land and the following year he broke a portion of it, thus beginning the improvement of his present home farm. Mr. Logan now has a farm of one hundred and twenty acres of rich land. well improved. a good house, well, shade trees and pasture, and is engaged success- fuly in general farming and stock-raising.

In 1879 Mr. Logan married Miss Cora Iluff, a daughter of Allan B. Huff, deceased. and Isabella Huff, of Quitman. Mr. and Mrs. Logan are the parents of three chil- dren : Helen, Blaine and James A. Polit- ically, Mr. Logan is a Republican, as were all of the six sons of the family, but he never has tried to gain political distinction. He is a man of sixty years, but time has so kindly touched him that he appears much younger. As a ctizen he is much honored and es- teemed : as a gentleman he is courteous and friendly, drawing toward him magnetically all who meet him.

ABRAHAM MERRILL.

This honored veteran of the Civil war and representative farmer of Nodaway county, was born in Wayne county. New York. April 3. 1843. a son of Ripley and Maria t Vanalstine ) Merrill, also natives of New York and of Scotch descent. Ilis maternal grandfather, Abraham Vanal- stine, belonged to a German family of the

Mohawk valley. He was a soklier of the Revolutionary war and a farmer by occu- pation. In his family were four children : Jacob, Peter, Evaline and Maria. About 1849 the father of our subject moved with his family to the territory of Wisconsin and took up a tract of government land, which hc transformed into a good farm, making his home thereon until called from this life in 1894, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. He was a plain, honest farmer. highly respected by all who knew him, and was a consistent member of the Methodist church, to which his wife also belongedl. She died in 1895. at the age of eighty-one years. They reared a family of eleven children, namely : George IL., now a retired business man of Beloit, Wisconsin: Will- iam, a farmer ; Abraham, our subject : Ilar- vey. Albert and John, all farmers; Mirs. Nancy Hilton; Mrs. Lucy Blackmore, de- ceased : Mrs. Lucinda Howe: Mrs. Susan Moffitt ; and Mrs. Alice Brooks. With the exception of one all are still living, but our subject is the only one residing in Missouri. John, Harvey and Nancy make their home in Kansas.

On the home farm Abraham Merrill grew to manhood and acquired his education in the common schools. In 1862 he joined the "boys in blue" of Company E, Twenty- second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, which was first assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, but was later transferred to the Second Brigade, Third Division, Twentieth Army Corps. He was in active service three years and was in many hotly contested en- gagements. His first battle was at Thomp- son Station, and his second at Brentwood. Tennessee, where with three hundred of his regiment he was taken prisoner by rebel cavalry. They were marched forty-eight

ABRAHAM MERRILL

THE

1 VEN JBL CUIT 41

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hours without rest or a mouthful to eat, and were then given only. two hours' rest and about three bites of corn bread. During the next twenty-four hours they were again upon the march without food, and then went into camp, where they received some corn meal, ground cob and all. Later they were put on a train and sent to Libby prison, Richmond, Virginia, where, on account of illness and bad treatment, Mr. Merrill's hearing became impaired. and so remains. Subsequently the privates were paroled and sent to Benton Barracks, St. Louis, but the officers were still retained. At the end of about a month spent in St. Louis, Mr. Mer- rill went with his command to Murfrees- 1 boro, where he did guard duty nine months, and was then legally exchanged. His com- mand joined Sherman's army at Chatta- nooga and participated in the Atlanta campaign and the march to the sea and through the Carolinas. After the surrender of Lee and Johnston, they proceeded to Washington and took part in the grand re- view in that city. Mr. Merrill was then mustered out and discharged at Milwaukee, June 12, 1865.

Returning to his Wisconsin home, he worked in the woods by the month one win- ter, and in 1867 came to Nodaway county, Missouri, and purchased one hundred and twenty acres of unimproved prairie land. Two years later he married Miss Sarah Seamans, who was born in Kane county, Illinois, March 1. 1851, a daughter of Clovis and Mary ( Walters ) Seamans, na- tives of New York and New Jersey. re- spectively. Her paternal grandfather, Clay- ton Seamans, was a merchant and farmer of New York. Her parents were married in Illinois, and in 1867 came to Missouri, lo- cating upon land which the father pur-

chased in Nodaway county, where he died in 1875. In early life he followed school- teaching, but during the greater part of his career engaged in farming. His wife still survives him and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Merrill. She is a member of the Methodist church, to which her husband also belonged. Their chikIren were Sarah, the wife of our subject; Roxana, the wife of L. C. Powell. a Methodist minister, who was located at Colorado City, Colorado, four years; and William C., a farmer of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Merrill have six children: Alice, the wife of J. R. Carmi- chael: Carrie, the wife of H. S. Cochrane; Cora, the wife of D. Hubbard ; Charles N., a farmer of this county; and Mabel and George, both at home.

For three years after his marriage Mr. Merrill continued to work for others and then located upon his farm, where he erect- ed a small house, which has since been re- placed by a good two-story frame residence. A barn and other outbuildings have also been erected, an orchard set out, and the land placed under excellent cultivation. Mr. Merrill raises some stock. By his ballot and influence he supports the Republican party, but has never cared for official honors. He receives a small pension in compensation for his arduous service in the Civil war, and is to-day an honored member of the Grand Army post at Maryville.

LANVILLE A. BROWN.

Through many centuries the history of countries were largely records of wars waged for preservation or for conquests, but with advancing civilization change has come in the public records. and now history is formed by the account of business activity

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and by the prowess of men in commercial. agricultural and professional life. Those who are most prominent in a community are they who contribute to the general upbuikl- ing by promoting business affairs and thus making possible a higher civilization. Class- ified with the leading merchants and reliable residents of Maryville is Lanville .A. Brown, a member of the firm of Brown Brothers. dealers in furniture. He has resided in this city only three years, but is already well known, having the public confidence, through his correct business methods and his fidelity to upright principles in trade.

Mr. Brown was born in Shelly county. Kentucky, November 18, 1867. His father. AArchie Brown, is now a retired resident of Maryville. The Brown family was founded in America by ancestry who left the north of Ireland and settled in South Carolina, in 1797. Archie Brown is a grandson of a Mr. Huddleson, one of the heroes of the Revolution. The grandfather of our sub- just. Lanville . Brown, Sr .. was born in Edgefield district of South Carolina, in 1801. and at an early period in the development of Kentucky removed to that state, where oc- curred the birth of his son Archie, who is a native of Nicholas county, born in 1839. The latter resided for a time in Bath eau ty, Ken- tucky, and was identified with agricultural pursuits in that community. In the upris ing of the citizens that took place at the time of the Civil war he enlisted with the federal forces and served under General Nelson. He married Martha Hall, a daughter of J. W. Hall, a farmer of Shelby county, and they became the parents of the i flowing cluldren : Lanville 1. : Charles A. : Minnie. the wife of W. S. Baskett, of Daviess county. Missouri; Nice: Anna, the wife of (i. W. Giromer, of Davies conmy : Joseph F., who

is a member of the firm of Brown Brothers ; W. E., a resident of Gentry county, this state: and Lela.

Lanville A. Brown, whose name intro- (luces this record, spent his boyhood upon his father's farm and worked in the fields through the sunny days of summer, follow- ing the plow as it turned the furrows prepar- atory to the spring planting. However, he preferred commercial life and began business on his own account at MeFall, Missouri, in 1888, as a dealer in furniture. He left Ken- tucky with a small capital and invested it in a stock of furniture and undertaking goods. For nine years he carried on operations there, but saw a broader field of labor in 1897, choosing Maryville as the scene of his efforts. Coming to this city, he entered into partnership with his brother, they becoming successors of the well-known firm of Brink & Frank, furniture dealers. They now con- trol a large and well selected stock which en- ables them to command an excellent trade, and their faithful adherence to correct bus- iness principles has insured them the confi- dence of the public and won for them an en- viable reputation.

In February, 1894, in Edwardsville, Illi- nois, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to) Eva M. Rockwell, a daughter of G. W. Rockwell. a farmer of St. Clair county, that state. They have one child, Lanville Rock- well. In Maryville they have already gained a wide circle of friends and the hospitality of many of the best homes is extended to them.

Mr. Brown is identified with the Knights of Pythias fraternity and is past chancellor of his lodge. He holds membership in the Presbyterian church, and in political circles his Republicanism is well known. He sup- ported Harrison and Mckinley and has taken

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an active interest in the work of his party since eighteen years of age. In the spring of 1900 he was nominated on the Republi- can ticket for alderman of the second ward of Maryville, and, although the Democrats carried the election generally, he received majority of the votes, being the only Repub- lican alderman elected. This fact is certain- ly an indication of his popularity as a citi- zen and of the trust reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. His public spirit is wide- ly recognized and his devotion to the public good is above question. He does all in his power to promote the welfare of the commn- nity along social, material, intellectual and moral lines. He is loyal and patriotic, and while he is in thorough sympathy with Re- publican principles he places country before party and public good before self-aggran- cizement. As his circle of acquaintances has extended his circle of friends has corres- pondingly increased.

JOHN GRAVES.

It is always both pleasing and edifying to read the record of the life of a successful self-made man, and such a record cannot but be a source of encouragement to young men just entering upon the real battle of life. There is much in the career of Mr. Graves to give hope to such,-very much in the sub- stantial reward of his industry, integrity and perseverance .- to prove the wisdom of the principles by which he has been governed in the struggle for success which he has made so manfully and so victoriously.

John Graves was born in Vinton county, Ohio, March 4. 1841. a son of Edmund and Amy ( Clark ) Graves. Edmund Graves was a son of James and Sarah Graves. James

Graves was descended from English ances- tors and was a native of Virginia. His wife also was born in the Old Dominion. They located early in that part of Jackson county, Ohio, now included in Vinton county, and there lived their alloted days and passed away, and there also Edmund Graves grew up and married a daughter of James Clark. one of the earlier settlers in what is now Vinton county. Edmund and Amy ( Clark ) Graves had four children: Sarah, the wife of William Dickson, of Davis county, lowa; Jane, who married Warren Chaffee, and lives in Pottawatomie county, Kansas: John, and Albert, who is deceased. The mother, who was a model woman of goodness and a de- vout Methodist, died in Vinton county, Ohio, when scarcely past middle age. The father married again and by his second mar- riage had three children : Eunice, who lives in Fort Worth, Texas; Belle, who married J. W. Hall and also lives in the Lone Star State: and Charles, a well-known resident of Nodaway county, Missouri. Edmund. Graves died in Missouri, at the age of sixty- nine years. Politically he was a Democrat. He was a devout and consistent member of the Methodist church, a good neighbor and a useful citizen.

Edmund Graves was a pioneer in Stark county, Illinois, where he located with his family, in 1854. John passed his childhood in Vinton county, Ohio, and was thirteen years oldl when he was taken to Illinois, where he finished his education in the public schools and learned to do all kinds of farm work. He has vivid recollections of trips to Peoria, thirty miles away, where the grain raised on the Stark county farm was taken to market, and he also sold dressed pork there at two dollars a hundred weight. He was. married July 4. 1864. to Rebecca Hum, a

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Young woman of intelligence and companion- able qualities, who made him a worthy help- meet. Mrs. Graves was born at Martins- burg. Bedford county. Pensylvania, Jan- uary 15. 1845. She was three years old when her mother, nec Mary Rhodes, died, in Knox county, Illinois, where the family had re- moved in 1847 from Pennsylvania, and she was taken to Stark county, Ilinois, and adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson Trickle, then a young couple, who treated her in all things as their own child and gave her a good home until her marriage.

llenry llum, her father, in 1854. went overland to California and there engaged in mining. He made the journey across the plains, then infested by Indians and wild beasts, with an ox team and was more than six months en route. He and has party were obliged to ford streams and make their way through tortnous mountain passes, and killed buffalo and other game by the way, for subsistance. Not meeting with success as a miner, he eventually turned soklier and fought Indians in the far west until the ont- break of the Civil war, when he enlisted in a California regiment and served three years on the frontier. After the war (in 1805) Mr. Hum went to Ilinois to see his children. but soon emigrated to Kansas and settled it: Doniphan county, where he took up the career of a farmer. He died there, at the age of seventy-six. Mr. Hum was of German ancestry and was born in Pennsylvania. Ilis 1. ther. John Hum, spelled the family nam. Hamm. Mrs. Graves' brother, John Hum. served his country in the Civil war as a sol dier, and he is now a resident of Burlington Junction, Nodaway county, where he has it good home. (See sketch elsewhere. ) Her brother, Michael Hum. lives at Tonhawa. Oklahoma territory. Her sister Mary. is

the wife of Robert Finley, of Hiawatha, Kansas. Five children have been born to John and Rebecca ( Hum) Graves. Their oldest son. Jefferson T., married Margaret Ferguson and they live on a farm adjoining the home farm of Mr. Graves; Edith mar- ried W. P. Neft. of Nodaway township: Mary married Samuel Jones, of Green town- ship. and Emma B. and Hattie are success- ful teachers in the public schools of Noda- way county, and before her marriage Mrs. Neft made an enviable record as an educator in the county schools.

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A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography, Part 51

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