USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 53
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 53
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deceased: John. also deceased; William, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where she died a resident of this county; Harrison, who May 4. 1885. died in Andrew county, Missouri; An- Dr. Ellis early became identified with public affairs, and in 1878 was elected to represent his county in the state legislature. at which time he retired from the practice of medicine. He continued to engage in farming until 1893. when he moved to Barnard, where he has a commodious and pleasant residence and is now living re- tired. As a physician he met with success and still receives calls from some of his okl patrons. In his farming operations he was likewise successful, and is to-day the owner of seven hundred and forty acres of valu- able land under a high state of cultivation and well improved. He owns other prop- erty which he rents, and at one time was a stockholder and president of the bank at Barnard. drew, a resident of Kansas City. Kan- sas: Ellen, the deceased wife of W. Wood; and James L., who lives on the old homestead in AAndrew county. By his last marriage the Doctor has no children, but is raising William Knoll Ellis, who was born in Germany. July 13. 1885, and was brought to America by his parents. The family located in New York, where the fa- ther died when William was only a year old, and the mother four years later. He was then taken in charge by the Children's Aid Society of New York, and with others was brought to Missouri. He is a bright boy who is now being reared and educated by the Doctor, and will undoubtedly become a useful man.
After his first marriage Dr. Ellis en- gaged in school teaching for some years, and in the meantime bought and borrowed medical books, which he perused. Ile com- menced the practice of medicine in St. Jo- seph, where he located after his marriage. but eight months later moved to Amazonia. where he engaged in practice four years. In 1854 and 1855 he attended lectures at the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, and after his graduation returned to AVma- zonia for one year. The following year was spent in Savannah, Andrew county, and while there he was married a second time. Hle bought a farm near the city, on which he lived until coming to Nodaway county in the spring of 1855, at which time the county had only seven hundred and fifty voters. He located on his wife's farm three miles from Barnard, and in connection with it- operation he engaged in practice until his wife's health failed and he took her to
Although reared a Democrat Dr. Ellis first affiliated with the Whig party, but since its dissolution has voted the Democratic ticket. Ile was a strong Union man during the Civil war, and served as a sergeant in the Thirty-sixth Regiment, state militia, which did duty in different parts of the state but was in no engagement. He was untir- ing in his efforts to preserve the Union and as a patriotic and loyal citizen has ever given his support to those enterprises calculated to prove of public benefit. Religiously he and his wife are earnest members of the Christian church, and he is a Mason.
JOHN M. DAWSON.
The son of a prominent lawyer and jurist, if he be observing and have a liking for the law, may in a way acquire a knowl- edge of the law comprehensive if not pro found, before entering earnestly and meth-
.
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odically upon the course of study prescribed for those who would enter the legal profes- sion. It is often said of lawyers, who, like the gentleman named above, associated in boyhood and youth with distinguished fa- thers who were always busy at the bar or on the bench and sometimes assisted them in the details of their work, that they were "born lawyers and brought up in the court."
John M. Dawson, ex-prosecuting attor- ney of Nodaway county, and a son of the late Honorable "Lafe" Dawson, ex-judge and eminent counselor at law, was born in Nodaway county, Missouri. March 13. 1863. His father, LaFayette Dawson, was born in Lexington, Missouri, May 20, 1839, and died January 28, 1897. He was a son of James R. Dawson, a farmer and an early county judge of McLean county, Illinois. The latter was born in Virginia and was of Welsh descent.
Judge Dawson passed his youth on the farm and obtained little more than a com- mon school education. He left his father's home at about the outbreak of the Civil war, "went west" and located on a farm in Bour- bon county, Kansas. He remained there until 1862, when he came to Maryville. Missouri, where he read law and in 1866 was admitted to the bar by Judge Pike. Ile at once engaged in active practice and early took a front rank as an expounder of crim- inal law. He was conected with practically all the prominent criminal cases tried be- fore the Nodaway circuit court for thirty years and was equally efficient as a prose- tor or defender. He was appointed by President Cleveland in 1885 judge of the circuit court of Alaska, and during his in- cumbency of the office was called on to try the case involving the confiscation of Brit- ish sealing vessels and rendered a decision
adverse to the interests of the vessel owners. The latter, through their counsel. Joseph H. Choate, the present ambassador to England, appealed the case to the supreme court of the United States, where the opinion of the trial court was sustained. Judge Dawson re- signed his position in the fall of 1888 and returned home to resume his law practice and fill the vacancy in his profession that had been occasioned by his official absence.
From an early day he was most actively and conspicuously identified with the poli- tics of Nodaway county. He was a strong campaigner and took a prominent part in local and state campaigns. He was a presi- dential elector on the Tilden ticket and at one time lacked only half a vote of receiv- ing the congressional nomination, being de- feated by General Craig, of St. Joseph. The widow of Judge Dawson, born Clarissa Thornhill, is a resident of Maryville. Their children are: John M .; Cora E., the wife of Judge C. R. Fowler, of Knox county, Missouri ; and Eva M. Dawson.
John M. Dawson was reared and edu- cated at Maryville. He chose law for his profession and read under the preceptoral guidance of his father, and was first admit- ted in Alaska, by his father whom he accom- panied there to take the office of deputy clerk of the circuit court. He returned home after an absence of a few months. and was admitted by Judge Anthony to practice in the state of Missouri. He had done some justice work as counsel before his admission to the bar but was not connected with any specially important case until he became prosecuting attorney. He was elected pros- ecuting attorney in 1896, by a majority of nine hundred and seventeen, and succeeded J. S. Shinabarger. His first noteworthy case was that of the state of Missouri vs.
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Rascoe for the murder of Kate Buan, result- the Revolutionary war, and in killing In- dians as well as wild game. In the family ing in conviction, as charged. He prose- cuted John Joyce for the murder of Mont- . of James Hainey, Sr., were nine children, gomery and aided in the prosecution of Mrs. Ewing, charged with murder. In Novem- ber. 1900, Mr. Dawson was again elected prosecuting attorney, this time by a major- ity of two hundred and sixty-five.
July 26, 1897. Mr. Dawson married Viola, a daughter of John Green, of Mary- ville. He is regarded as one of the rising young lawyers of northwest Missouri, and those who have watched his course and are acquainted with his qualities, accomplish- ments and achievements predict for him a brilliant future.
P. J. HAINEY.
The subject of this sketch, one of the leading and influential citizens of Barnard. Missouri, was born in Pulaski county, Ken- tucky, June 29. 1838, and is a son of James F. and Rachel ( Spears) Hainey, also na- tives of Kentucky. Ilis paternal grand- parents were James and Nancy ( Crittenden ) Ilainey, the latter a cousin of Hon. John J. Crittenden, of national fame, and also a rel- ative of Thomas Crittenden. ex-governor of Missouri. In early life the grandfather, James Hainey, was a farmer and blacksmith of North Carolina, but spent his last days in Kentucky as a minister of the Baptist church. He was never a slave-owner, and was a man highly respected and esteemed by all who knew him. His old flint-lock gun, which he carried at the battle of New Orleans during the war of 1812, is now in possession of our subject and will be handed down to future generations as a relic. It was also used by the great-grandfather in
namely : William, Thomas C., John. James, Jr., Polly, Nancy. Sally, Anna and Abby. Our subject's maternal grandfather, Will- iam Spears, was a prominent farmer and slave-owner of Kentucky and an influential Democrat. His children were William. Hezekiah, John. Mrs. Fanny Dick, Mrs. Nancy Allen, Mrs, Sarah Dye, Mrs. Patsy Roy, Mrs. Betsy Davenport and Mrs. Rachel I lainey.
James Hainey, Jr .. the father of our sub- ject, followed farming in Kentucky until April, 1851, when he removed with his fam- ily to Missouri and entered land and im- proved a farm, making it his home until his dleath in 1862. Ile was a Douglas Demo- crat and a supporter of the Union during the Civil war. Ile was a true sonthern gentle- man and a consistent member of the Baptist church. After his death his wife lived with our subject, where he died in 1894. Their children were P. J., of this review : Abigail, the wife of 1. Adams: Harriette. the wife of F. M. Wall: Louisa, the wife of John Pulley: Nancy, the wife of W. 11. Shepard : Milford, who died in Kentucky: Dicy, the wife of J. E. Lamaster; Jane. the wife of W. T. MeMakin: and Samuel . 1., a resident of this county. Two of the sons were soldiers of the Union army during the Civil war.
P. J. Ha'nev accompanied his parents of their re.noeni to this state. in 1851. and re- mained at hohe until reaching manhood. For a time " pursued his studies in a log school het se, ai 1 through his own exertions has obtained a good practical education. In ISor beerii ed in a volunteer militia organ- ization to resist Caleb Jackson's attempts at
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secession. When that gentleman was re- moved from office and Governor Gamble put in his place permission was granted to raise state militia, which our subject joined. His command was stationed in this congress- ional district, and, though subject to calls from any quarter of the state, remained most of the time in the vicinity of St. Jo- seph. In 1864 Mr. Hainey enlisted in the Sixteenth lowa Volunteer Infantry, and was with Sherman on his celebrated march to the sea. When Lee surrendered he was ill in the hospital at Willett's Point, Long Island, and from there was sent home. While en route he heard of President Lincoln's assassination. Ile was mustered out at Dav- enport, Iowa, and honorably discharged June 5. 1865, after four years of faithful service as a member of the local and the United States troops.
In 1859 Mr. Hainey had married Miss Jane Marlow, who was born in Virginia, in October, 1840, and from that state moved to Ohio, and later to Missouri. Her parents. James and Anna ( Parrott ) Marlow, also natives of Virginia, improved the farm in this county, but later moved to Harrison county, this state, where the father died in 1885. In politics he was a Democrat. The mother is still living, at the age of eighty- one years, and finds a pleasant home with our subject. Her children were Jane, now Mrs. Hainey: Electa, the wife of P. B. Pulley; Margaret, the wife of J. Silvers; Emma, the deceased wife of C. M. Carter: Mary, the wife of Newton Bowen: and John, a resident of Harrison county. Mr. and Mrs. Hainey have four children : Will- iam T., a miller of Rosendale: James F., a resident of Barnard; Thomas C., a drug clerk of Barnard; and Nettie, the wife of George C. Thompson, notary public and in-
surance agent at Barnard. They also have eight grandsons and two granddaughters.
When Mr. Hainey was discharged from the service he joined his wife and child in lowa, and soon after came to Nodaway county. Being physically disqualified for farm labor, he located in Barnard, where he served as constable and justice of the peace for some time. He also read law, was ad- mitted to the bar, and has since engaged in practice. He has also served as notary public, abstract and insurance agent and having prospered in his undertakings is now the owner of three or four pieces of good property in Barnard. He is one of the Democratic leaders in his township, and as a delegate has attended both national and state conventions of his party as well as all local conventions. Socially he is a member of the Masonic fraternity. the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Grand Army Post of Maryville, and is a man of promi- nence in his community.
JAMES H. FILSON.
One of the early settlers and a promi- nent and representative farmer of AAtchison county. Missouri, is James Il. Filson. the subject of this sketch. He was born in Carrol county. Illinois, April 13. 1849. a son of John and Jemima ( Hopkins ) Filson. natives of Virginia and of Ohio, respective- ly. John Filson located in Indiana when a young man, married there and engaged in farming. Early in life he had been a river trader, had built flat-boats, loaded them with produce and floated them south on the river, trading along the coast. About 1840 he moved into Illinois, where he engaged in farming until 1854. when he went to Iowa. where he improved still another farm, and
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in 1880 came to Missouri and settled in Atchison county. Here he continued to be actively engaged in agricultural pursuits 111- til the time of his death. in December. 1890. his wife surviving him for five years. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Filson were : Rob- ert L., who died in the Civil war; Emme- line, deceased; James Hl .. our subject : Reuben : Wilbur, deceased : and Emma. now Mrs. E. B. Henderson, of Nebraska.
James H. Filson, our subject, was reared on his father's land and went with the fam- ily in its removals, marrying in Jowa in 1872, and coming to Atchison county, Mis- souri, in 1878. The land was then but wild prairie, for which he paid nine dollars per acre: now he would not part with it for Fifty dollars per acre, so much has it been improved. The farm consists of one hun- dred and sixty acres well under cultivation. stocked with the best breeds of cattle. and ornamented with beautiful and com- modious buildings, which are surround- ed by orchards and ornamental trees. These wonderful changes have been ef- fected in a comparatively short time by the excellent management ard industry of Mr. Filson.
During 1880 to 1886 Mr. Filson was engaged in the hardware business in West- boro, also dealing in grain at the same time. In 1886 he was elected to the office of con- ty clerk and moved to Rockport. but re- turned to his farm at the expiration of his two terms of service and has since then given his attention to his farming interests. He also raises some good stock, being very successful in all he undertakes.
The marriage of Mr. Filson took place to Miss Mary L. Johnson, who was born in luchana, March 25. 1850, at Hopkinton. lowa, the educated and intelligent daughter
of Insley and Eliza J. ( Douglass ) Johnston, both of whom were born in Ohio. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Filson are : Emma M .. now a student at Tarkio College: Rus- sell E., at Tarkio College: and James L., residing at home. Wilber. the first child, died in November, 1880. The religious con- nection of the family is with the Presby- terian church, where they are highly es- teemed. Mr. Filson has long been a mem- ber of both 1. O. O. F. and the United Workmen, in both of which organizations he has acceptably filled official positions.
Throughout the county Mr. Filson is re- garded as a progressive and influential factor. He has filled the township offices in the gift of the Republican party, and has done much to further the principles which he takes pleasure in upholding. He may truly be said to be a representative citizen of Atchison county.
PETER MCKENZIE.
The successful farmer who has carved out his own way in the world and has ar- rived at a position of eminence among his fellows is as truly a self -- made man as the banker, merchant, statesman or professional man who rises in life through his own abil- ity. Among the many prominent farmers of Atchison county, Missouri, none more truly deserves a place in a work like this than Peter Mckenzie, the proprietor of the Highland stock farm near Tarkio.
Mr. Mckenzie traces his lineage to the old Scottish chiefs of the Highlanders, men poted for bravery, honesty and love of coun- try. His father. Peter Mckenzie, who was a farmer, married Margaret Davidson and they had four sons who grew to manhood : Donald, who is a farmer near Quebec. Can-
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ada: Robert, who is a successful merchant at Quebec: John who also is a merchant ; and Peter, concerning whose career more is to follow. In 1843 Mr. and Mrs. McKen- zie came with their family to America and located near Quebec, Canada, where Mr. Mckenzie won success as a farmer and died at the age of seventy-eight years, and where his wife died at the age of eighty- two years. They were highly respected by all who knew them for their honest, upright lives and their kindness of heart, which prompted them to be to many a man and woman in trouble the "friend in need" who is the "friend indeed."
Peter Mckenzie was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, May 15, 1838, and was about five years old when his parents brought him to Canada. He was reared on his father's farm near Quebec, and taught to be honest and industrious. He attended public schools near his home as opportunity offered, but gained his education principally by contact with men. In due time he began farming and stock-raising for himself in Canada, where he remained until 1879, when he mar- ried and settled in Missouri. His home farm consists of four hundred and eighty acres of well improved and well cultivated land. on which there are good buildings and which is provided with all the machinery and other appliances necessary to good farming. The place, located two and a half miles from Tarkio, is divided into pasture and meadow lands and fields devoted to the cultivation of corn and other grain, and in- cludes a fine orchard and a beautiful grove. Mr. Mckenzie also owns a good 'farm of eight hundred acres known as Red Stone ranch, near Artesian, Sanborn county, South Dakota. He is an extensive breeder of Polled Angus cattle and owns as good
specimens of that breed as are to be found anywhere in the west. Ile raises annually about one hundred head of cattle and usual- ly owns from eight to ten hundred head, and as a general farmer he has been uncom- monly successful.
Politically Mr. Mckenzie is a Republi- can, but he is not a practical politician, nor does he seek office for himself, though he is influential in his party and has been able more than once to assist the political aspira- tions of deserving friends. In religious affil- iation he is a Presbyterian and he has held the office of elder in his church for twenty years. He was a leader in a movement which resulted in the erection of the pres- ent house of worship of his church and was a liberal contributor for that purpose. He was received as an Entered Apprentice, passed the Fellow Craft degree and was raised to the sublime degree of Master Ma- son in Tarkio Lodge, No. 358, F. & A. M., of Tarkio, in 1889, and took the Mark Master's degree, the Past Master's degree, and the Most Excellent Mas- ter's degree of capitular Masonry and was exalted to the august degree of Royal Arch Mason in Rockport Chapter, R. A. M., of Rockport, in 1892. His geniality and his friendly disposition have led him in- to many paths of usefulness and his capacity to win and retain friends and his high repu- tation as a business man combine to render him exceedingly popular. Still in the prime of life, strong and robust, he bids fair to be spared for many years, and those who have watched his honest advancement thus far in life predict for him still better things in the years to come.
In 1879 Mr. Mckenzie married Miss Mary McKillop, a daughter of Daniel and Ann (McMillan) McKillop, who was born
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and reared in Canada and who is, like him- self. of Ilighland Scotch ancestry. Mrs. Mckenzie, who is a woman of much in- telligence and sound common sense, as well as of many accomplishments, has during her twenty-one years of their married life been a worthy helpmeet to him, and he gives her credit for having aided him materially to the attainment of his substantial success. Mrs. Mckenzie's parents died in South Dakota.
J. WOODSON SMITH.
In studying the lives and characters of prominent men we are naturally fed to in- quire into the secret of their success and the motives that prompted their action. Suc- cess is oftener a matter of experience and sound judgment and thorough preparation for a life work than it is of genius, however bright. When we trace the career of those whom the world acknowledges as successful and of those who stand highest in public esteem, we find that in almost every case they are those who have risen gradually by their own efforts, their diligence and perse- verance. These qualities are undoubtedly possessed in a large measure ly the gentle- man whose name introduces this sketch. and added to these is a conformity to the ethical principles of business life that may well be termed the keynote of his character. It is this which commands the respect and confidence so universally given him, and which has won for him a liberal patronage along the various lines of industrial and commercial activity with which he has been connected.
Mr. Smith is a native of Missouri, his birth having occurred in Cooper county, in December. 1841. His father. S. D. Smith.
was a farmer near Syracuse, that county. He was born, however, in Louisa county. Virginia, in 1807, and died in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1882. The Smiths were of English lineage and the family was founded in Virginia at a very early period in its col- onization. Also a lineal descendant of the Dandridges of Virginia. S. D. Smith was a third cousin of Martha Washington. whose maiden name was Dandridge. He wedded Mary Thomson, who died in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1897. at the age of eighty-seven years. Their children are; Mrs. Thomas V. Ellis, of Clinton, Missouri; Mfred T., who was connected with the wholesale shoe house of Kimball & Company. of Kansas City, Missouri; Charles Q .. of Maryville: J. Woodson; George C., of the Smith-MeCord Dry Goods Company, of Kansas City; and Mrs. N. R. Pittman, of Clinton, Missouri.
Mr. Smith, who is the subject proper of this review, was educated in private schools and entered upon his business career as a salesman for Il. S. Mills, a prominent dry- goods merchant at Arrow Rock. Saline county, Missouri. His close application to business, his fidelity and sound judgment won him the confidence of his employer and he was made head clerk, remaining with Mr. Mills for five years. A decision to en- gage in business for himself led to the organ- ization of the firm of Smith Brothers, which carried on business at Arrow Rock for three years. Maryville was then selected as a more promising point for this energetic firm, its members being men of landable ambition and determined purpose, who could not content themselves with mediocrity, de- siring broader fickls for their labors. For a quarter of a century Mr. Smith has been regarded as one of the most enterprising
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business men of Maryville. In March. 1875, in connection with his brother. he opened a dry-goods store at the southwest corner of the square under the firm name of Smith Brothers. Their capital at that time was a modest one of ten thousand dollars, but they had a large reserve fund of expe- rience, adaptability and resolute purpose, which opened the way for their immediate success. Their business constantly grew in volume and importance, until, at the expira- tion of twenty years, they sold a stock three and a half times as great as the original. to the firm of Donnell, Frazer & Company.
Mr. Smith is a most progressive and pub- 1 lic-spirited citizen, believing most firmly in the present and the future of Maryville. He has therefore not hesitated in making in- vestments here, and time has shown the wis- dom of his decision. The growth of his mercantile interests made necessary and justified the erection of the Smith Block. a three-story brick structure. the front part of which was built in 1880, while in 1895 it was extended to the alley. This is one of the leading stores and office buildings in Maryville, and is an indication of the sub- stantial growth of the city. The efforts of ' Mr. Smith, however, have by no means been confined to his mercantile and building inter- ests. He is a man of resourceful ability, whose energies have extended to other fields of labor that have not only advanced his individual prosperity, but have also contrib- uted to the general welfare.
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