USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 56
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 56
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After his first marriage Mr. MeMichael worked a rented farm in Preble county. Ohio, until 1850, when he moved to Louisa county, lowa, and bought a farm, making it
Missouri, in 1876. He first purchased a farm east of Maryville, but five years later sold that place and spent ten years in the city lending money and speculating in real estate and cattle. In 1891 he bought his present farm of two hundred and twenty- seven acres of well-improved land, which his son-in-law. Mr. Bird. now manages, while he lives a retired life in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. He is entirely a self-made man, being the architect and build- er of his own fortune. When first married he gave the only five dollars he had to his wife to buy dishes : but by hard work, per- severance and good management he has be- come a well-to-do man, and can look back with pride over his past struggles, knowing that all that he has he has come by honest- ly. While in Wapello, lowa, he ran a grist- mill and carried on other business in con- nection with farming.
Politically Mr. MeMichael was original- ly a Whig, casting his first vote for Henry Clay, and since the dissolution of that party has been a stanch Republican. He filled several offices in lowa and Missouri, and has always been one of the enterprising and public-spirited men of his community. In early life he was a Presbyterian, and he is now connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has filled all the chairs. besides representing his lodge in the grand lodge of lowa twice.
Corydon Bird, a son-in-law of Mr. Me- Michael, was born in Beaver county, Penn- sylvania, January 30, 1848, and was reared on a farm. During his boyhood the Civil war broke out, and he first enlisted in the state militia, but afterward joined the One Hundred and Seventh Pennsylvania Volun- teer Infantry, which was assigned to the
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Army of the Potomac. He remained in the service until Lee's surrender and participated in the grand review at Washington, D. C., where he was honorably discharged, being paid off at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He was never wounded or taken prisoner. In the fall of 1865 he went to Iowa, where he married Miss Sarah J. McMichael, and to them have been born nine children, namely : Frank and Harry, both at home; William, who is married and engaged in mining in Quitman, Missouri; and Mary, Phineas, Corydon, George, Morton and Goldie, all at home. For a number of years Mr. Bird was engaged in mining in Colorado, but is now successfully operating Mr. McMichael's farm in Nodaway county, Missouri. Politi- cally he is identified with the Republican party, and socially affiliates with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
TOIN HUM.
In the citizen named above, Nodaway county has another self-made man who has during late years done his part toward the advancement of its material interests, and who, when the integrity of our country was in peril, risking his life for three long years in its defense and came near yielding it up on the altar of patriotism, for he received a shell wound on the head and escaped death by the merest chance. He is a man of in- dependent spirit, who has always worked and voted acording to his political convictions, but has never permitted himself to be blinded by the claims of any political faction.
John Hum, of Nodaway township ( post- office Burlington Junction ), Nodaway coun- ty, Missouri, one of the prominent farmers and stockmen of the county, an influential
citizen and a veteran of the Civil war, was born near Martinsburg, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, May 3, 1840. a son of Henry Hum (or Hamm), and is of German line- age. Henry Hum was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, also, and grew to manhood there and married Mary Rhodes, also a native of Bedford county, who died young, in Knox county, Illinois, where the family had emigrated in 1847, from Penn- sylvania, leaving four children. Mr. Ilum soon afterward, in 1852, went overland to California, stopping by the way in Stark county, Illinois, and for a time gave his at- tention to mining. After a time he aban- doned this occupation and enlisted in the United States army and saw three years' arduous and dangerous service, in Indian fighting, in the western territories. After the outbreak of the Civil war he served on the frontier until the close of hostilities. lle then returned to Illinois to see his children. who had grown to manhood and woman- hood during his long absence, but soon lo- cated in Doniphan county, Kansas, where he became a farmer and died at the age of sev- enty-six. He was a good citizen and a good Democrat, upright in all things and a believer in the teachings of the Bible. The children of Henry and Mary ( Rhodes) Hum arc: John, the immediate subject of this notice : Michael, who lives at Tonkawa, Oklahoma territory ; Mary, the wife of Robert Finley, of Hiawatha, Kansas; Rebecca, who is the wife of John Graves, of Nodaway township, Nodaway county, Missouri.
John Hum was reared on an Illinois farm and his youthful lot was a hard one. He ' worked for six years for Thomas Caldwell, doing every kind of farm labor, and attend- ed school only six weeks in the year. in the "winter season." Still he obtained consid-
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erable useful learning and was taught the lessons of honesty and of love of country. From the day on which he learned that the secessionists had fired on Fort Sumter he was desirous of fighting for the preservation of the Union, and September 17. 1861, ha enlisted in Company K. Forty-seventh Illi- hvis Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel John Biner and Captain Jacob Jamison. He par- ticipated in many engagements, among them the following : Island No. 10: Point Pleas- ant : Farrington, Missouri : siege of Corinth: battle of Corinth: Vicksburg, Mississippi : Mechanicsville: Richmond, Louisiana: Fort Dukusy, Louisiana ; Henderson Hills, Louis- jana : Centerville, Morris Plantation, Shreve- port (all in Louisiana ) : Abbeville, Mississ- ippi : Lake Chicot, Louisiana; and Tupelo. Mississippi. Our subject was wounded in the hand by a shell. when in Captain John M. Brown's company, at the battle of Abbe- ville, July 25. 1864, just after the Red river campaign by Farragut. He was honorably discharged at Camp Butler, Springfield, Illi- nois, October 11. 1864, after having made an enviable record as a gallant soldier.
After leaving the army he engaged in farm work. In 1860 he came to Atchison county, Missouri, where he lived until 1891. Ile then purchased of James Graves and Andrew Ault his present farm of eighty acres in Nodaway township, Nodaway coun- ty, a mile and three-quarters cast of Burling- ton Junction. On his well improved and care- fully cultivated farm there is a beautifu! cottage home, surrounded by a fine lawn, a splendid orchard and other evidences of taste and prosperity.
In politics Mr. Hum first supported Peter Cooper, of the Greenback party, later he voted for General Weaver and during the last campaign espoused the cause of Bryan.
Mr. Hum is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and possesses all the characteristics of the veteran soldier, frank- ness and friendliness being prominent among them.
WILLIAM S. FRAYNE.
William Sidney Frayne, one of the most widely and favorably known merchants of Nodaway county, has passed almost a quar- ter of a century as a citizen of this county. Hle was born November 6, 1853. at Palmyra, Jefferson county, Wisconsin, of English parents. His father, John Frayne, came from the county of Cornwall, England, where he was born in 1823. John was a son of Richard Frayne and had an elder brother of the same name. In 1838 an agreement of apprenticeship was entered into which affected John Frayne in a most interesting manner, and, to gratify the nat- ural curiosity of those who make a study of biography, a clause of that agreement is here inserted : "That John Frayne, being of the age of fourteen years or thereabouts, son of Richard Frayne, of the parish of Eglos Ker- ry, in the county of Cornwall, blacksmith. does put himself apprentice to the said Richard Fryne," etc. At the age of twen- ty-two, having completed his apprenticeship. he was taken on board the British ship Stikes, as a stoker, and the next year went aboard the Dido as a blacksmith. He left the sea in 1849. and from his certificate of service it is evident that he bore a good character, as the upper right hand corner of his certificate is not clipped off, but remains intact. His ships went on long cruises and were thus for many months away from port. Upon retiring from a sea-faring life he emigrated to the United States locating in
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Jefferson county, Wisconsin, where he fol- lowed his trade of blacksmith without in- terruption until 1878, at which time he re- tired from active business lite. Mr. Frayne married in Cornwall, England, Miss Ann M. Gay, by whom he had the following children : Mrs. Carrie Wilkinson, who died in Whitewood, Dakota; Emma, the wife of Fred J. Cronk, of Boone, Iowa; Mrs. Nellie Brown, of Hopkins, Missouri, and William Sidney, the subject of this sketch. The mother of these children died in 1894, and Mr. Frayne himself died in 1899, where he had passed so many years of usefulness and honor.
During the war of the Rebellion John Frayne proved his patriotism by enlisting in Captain Griffith's battery, Seventh Wiscon- sin Light Artillery, serving until October, 1862, when he was discharged at Humboldt, Tennessee, on account of disability. Ile was always a good soldier in war, as he was al- ways a true man in peace.
"Sid" Frayne, as he is familiarly called, received a good, liberal education in the schools of the city in which he was reared. When he was twenty years of age he began to learn the tinner's trade, in the employ of William De Wolf, of Whitewater, Wiscon- sin, and worked in the towns of Waukesha and Baldwin in that state and at Steamboat Rock, Iowa, besides being at times "on the road." In 1877 he removed to Missouri, his capital at that time amounting to one hun- dred dollars. With this small sum he en- gaged in business, in partnership with C. S. Martin, under the firm name of Martin & Frayne. For three years these partners worked together, their business being located on Barnard street. Mr. Frayne withdrew from the above-mentioned firm and founded the firm of Frayne & Jeffers on Third street.
Four years later Mr. Jeffers retired from the firm, and Mr. Frayne became sole proprietor. In 1891 he erected his large warehouse and store-room, known as the Eli, which place of business, next to the bank, is the most im- portant one of Hopkins. Hardware. har- ness, furniture and agricultural implements constitute his stock in trade, and without doubt it is the most extensive of the kind in Nodaway county.
As a competent and progressive business man Mr. Frayne is to be congratulated, and as a successful and wide-awake citizen he merits and receives the appreciation of his fellow-men. Many men have labored throughout their entire lives and have ac- complished less, and few men in Missouri have made their presence felt and achieved so wide and excellent a reputation at his age.
In December, 1878, Mr. Frayne married Nellie Crinklaw. a daughter of David Crink- law, then of Hopkins. Missouri. To this marriage there has been born one child, Rol- lie Frayne. Mr. Frayne is a member of Palmyra Lodge, Palmyra, Wisconsin, A. F. & A. M. ; of Owens Chapter, Maryville, Mis- souri; Shekinah Council, No. 24, R. & S. M., of Kansas City, Missouri; Maryville Commandery, K. T .: Moilah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., St. Joseph, Missouri, and of the Western Consistory, at Kansas City, Mis- souri. He is the president of the Eli Hard- ware Company of Hopkins, Missouri, and is everywhere highly esteemed for his high character and strictly honorable methods of transacting business.
GUSTAVE BAYHA.
One of the representatives of the farm- ing and stock-raising interests of Atchison county, Gustave Bayha, has long been iden-
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tified with the progress and development of this section of the state and is a descendant of a good family of Germany. He was born in Wurtemberg, that country, on the t4th of November, 1834, and spent his younger days in attending school, acquiring a liberal edu- cation. His father. Frederick Bayha, was also born in Germany and having arrived at years of maturity he married Nancy Laiser, who also was a native of the father- land, and there they spent their remaining days, both dying when about sixty-one years of age. The father was a loyal and faithful soldier in Napoleon's army for seven years and went with the army to Rus- sia when Moscow was destroyed, narrow- ly escaping death in the massacre which occurred in that campaign. He was a courier and was sent with dispatches through the enemy's country at the time of the battle of Moscow. This enabled him to make his escape from Russia and to his home in Germany he returned, there spending his re- maining days. Both he and his wife were members of the Lutheran church. In their family were nine children, of whom four died in the fatherland, namely : Fred, Louis. Charles William and Matilda .. Those still living are Emily, who resides in Germany; Gustave: Sophia, of Germany; and Theo- dore, who died in Miami county, Kansas.
Gustave Bayha pursued his education in the schools of his native country until nine- teen years of age, when, in 1854. he sailed from Bremen for New York city, being sixty days in making the voyage on a sailing ves- sel. After arriving in this country he pro- ceciled to Lake county, Illinois, where he se- cured employment in farm work, remaining with one employer for five years as a most trusted and faithful farm hand. On the ex- piration of that period he removed to De
Witt county, Illinois, where he again worked on a farm, continuing there for about eight years. He cultivated rented land for a number of years, but during the early part of the Rebellion he put aside all personal considerations to join the army and aid in the preservation of the Union. During three years of the war he was at the front. participating in many hotly contested bat - tles and skirmishes, including the siege of Vicksburg, the battle of Shiloh and many others. On the expiration of his term of enlistment he received an honorable dis- charge and returned to Illinois, where he continued to follow farming on rented land until 1877.
In that year Mr. Bayha arrived in Mis- souri and has since been an active factor in the substantial development and improve- ment of this portion of the country. Hle pur- chased three hundred and twenty acres of broad prairie land, at five dollars per acre. and as the years passed has increased its value by judicious improvement and cultivation un- til it is now worth sixty dollars per acre. Ile has also extended the boundaries of his farms until his landed possessions aggre- gate four hundred and eighty acres, and his farm is regarded as one of the best in this portion of the state. He has a commodi- ous two-story frame residence with an L. situated on a natural building site that gives him a commanding view of the surrounding country; ornamental and forest trees cast their shade over lawn and house and the rich foliage adds to the beauty of the picture. In the vicinity of the house are commedions barns and good buildings, all painted and in excellent state of preservation. His land is used for grazing, for meadow and for cultivation and the place, is regarded as one of the best farms in Atchison county.
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On the pasture lands are found good stock. the sale of which adds materially to his in- come as the years pass by. In the fields are found the various cereals best adapted to the climate, and everything about the place indicates the progressive spirit and careful management of the owner.
In 1871 Mr. Bayha was united in mar- riage, in De Witt county, Illinois, to Mrs. Mary .A. Hollycross, a widow, who was born near Milford, Union county, Ohio, December 23, 1840, her parents being Isaac and Louisa ( Bailey) Morse, the for- mer a native of Rhode Island and the lat- ter of Ohio. Her father was a blacksmith by trade and followed that pursuit for many years. He resided at various places, being a resident of Kosciusko county, Indiana, for five years, after which he removed to Union county, Ohio, and thence to De Witt coun- ty, Illinois, where he now makes his home, at the very advanced age of eighty-eight years. His wife died in 1897. She was a faithful and loyal member of the Methodist church and did all in her power to instill into the minds of her children lessons of indus- try, integrity and morality. She became the mother of ten children, of whom eight are living, namely : Mary A., the wife of our sub- ject ; Joseph H .; Lewis; Heber; Harriet ; Alice; and Lillie and William, who are res- idents of Atchison county. Those who have passed away are Mrs. Lizetta Bedwell and Mrs. Adeliza Bates. After attaining to wo- manhood Mary Morse became the wife of Henry Hollycross, by whom she had one daughter, Henrietta. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bayha had been blessed with seven children, namely: Hermon, who is living in Holt county, Missouri; Mrs. Minnie Da- vis, of Atchison county; Mrs. Jessie Davis,
also of the same county; Theodore, Matilda, Anna and Bertha.
In his political views Mr. Bayha is a Re- publican but has never been an aspirant for office. He is of the Lutheran faith, while his wife belongs to the Baptist church. He is a man of sterling worth and no native son of America is more loyal to the institutions and interests of this republic than he. At the time of the Civil war he manifested his pa- triotism by three years' service at the front, aiding in upholding the cause of the Union, and protecting the starry banner of the na- tion. He is broadminded, enterprising and public-spirited, and is justly accounted one of the leading and representative citizens of his community. In business his efforts have been crowned with a creditable degree of success. He is a good financier, possesses excellent executive ability and his keen dis- cernment and capable management, combined with untiring industry, have won to him a handsome estate, making him one of the most substantial residents of Atchison county.
E. J. BENDER.
E. J. Bender is the cashier of the Farm- ers' & Merchants' Bank of Elmo, Missouri, one of the most solid and popular banks in Nodaway county and which has the fullest confidence of its patrons. He has been con- nected with this bank since 1893. This bank was established at Elmo in 1887, and has always done a general banking business, buys and sells exchange, makes collections, etc., all of which is carried on in a business- like manner. The bank building is a two- story, brick structure, solidly built, is fitted up in a modern manner, with tile floors,
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good furniture, and an excellent safe, giv- ing the entire interior a substantial and tasteful appearance, such as is seldom seen in a small country town. In 1803, when the subject of this sketch became connected with this institution, it was owned and conducted by Messrs. Bilsby & Ralston, its founders. The bank was incorporated February 11. 1897. and since 1898 J. J. King has been its president.
E. J. Bender, the gentlemanly and ac- commodating cashier of this bank, was born at Maitland, Missouri, October 16, 1860. and is a son of Samuel Bender, a prominent and well known citizen of Skidmore, this state. He removed in 1873 to Monroe township. Nodaway county, Missouri, set- tled on a farm, and there lived for some years. It was upon this farm that the sub- ject of this sketch was reared, and upon which he was inured to hard labor and hon- est methods, so that his bodily strength and strength of character were built up together. Ile received his education in the public schools, and later pursued a course of study in the Burlington Commercial College, lowa. which latter has been of great practical use to him in his present responsible position. Ile is one of three children born to his par- ents, two of whom are still living, himself and E. R. Bender, the latter of whom lives on the home farm.
Mr. Bender was married, in Nodaway county, in 1801, to Miss Alice Clark, a daughter of N. Clark, a well known and highly respectable citizen of Skidmore. Mrs. Bender is a woman of superior intelligence. education and refinement, and is the mother of one son, Clark Bender. Mr. and Mrs. Bender are members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, are both in the prime of life. have numerous friends, because of their gen-
eral worth, affability and generous and genial disposition, and are most highly es- teemed by all that know them.
ALMYRON C. HOPKINS.
The connection of Almyron C. Hop- kins, public administrator of Nodaway county. Missouri, with the official affairs of this division of the state, dates from his induction into his office in January, 1897. 1 lis citizenship began when he took charge of the joint business of the Kansas City. St. Joseph & Council Bluffs and the Omaha & St. Louis Railroads at Burlington Junction.
Mr. Hopkins was one of the old men of the "Q" system when he dropped the operator's key to assume his present duties. He be- gan railroading when that important busi- ness was in its infancy and was connected with the operating departments of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern and the Bur- lington & Quincy systems nearly thirty years.
Jabez Monzo Hopkins, the father of
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Almyron C. Hopkins, was born in Oneida county. New York. in 1819, and became a carpenter and woodworkman. He married Angeline Kennedy and settled in Lake county, Ohio, near Painesville, where he died in 1891, his wife in 1893. They had seven children, three of whom are dead. Those who survive are Delavern, of Ore- gon : Almyron C .; Lyman. of Painesville. Ohio, and Nettie, the wife of Earl Barthol- omew. of Perry. Ohio. Almyron C. Hop- kins, the subject of this sketch, was born at the old family home, near Painesville, Ohio, August 17, 1844. and was yet a schoolboy when the war broke out and had not yet finished his education when, July 27, 1863. he enlisted, in the Second Regiment, Ohio Heavy Artillery. He was mustered in at Columbus and saw service in Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia, in keeping open com- munications for the Federal army. He was in the battles at Strawberry Plain, Varnell Station and Cleveland, Tennessee, and was stationed at Greenville, Tennessee, the old home of "Andy" Johnson, when the war ended. His command was ordered to Camp Chase and there paid off and discharged.
In beginning civil life, Mr. Hopkins spent two years in school as a student at Grand River Institute, Austinburg, Ohio. He chose railroading as an avenue offering op- portunities for a young man to advance ac- cording to his merits and was employed by the Lake Shore railway as a switchman at Perry, Ohio. While there his work caused him to be much about the station and he be- came familiar with telegraphy and station work. The company installed him in the position of night man at that point, and later the day office was given him, and he was in its service until 1872. About that 27
time a heavy immigration was settling the plains of Kansas and Mr. Hopkins decided to join the caravan for the Mecca of the west. He took up a homestead in Ottawa county, Kansas, not long before the begin- ning of the drying-up process began. He was hopeful for more favorable conditions from year to year, but at the end of three i years despaired, and, with his substance nearly dried up, went back to Ohio. He re- turned to the Lake Shore service in his for- mer capacity and remained there until 1881, when he again came west, this time stopping in Iowa. His first agency was at the station of Hawthorne. Later he was at Farragut and was stationed at Red Oak, from which place he removed to Nodaway county, to represent, at Burlington Junction, the inter- ests of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Coun- cil Bluffs and the Omaha & St. Louis lines.
Mr. Hopkins allied himself with the Re- publicans until that party adopted the plat- form of 1896 and nominated its candidate. The record of the nominee. Mr. Hopkins thought. showed a friend of the white metal, and his acceptance of the nomination on an avowed gold platform caused Mr. Hopkins to declare his alienation from the party. He was selected to make the race on the fusion ticket, as a Populist, for public administra- tor, that fall, and was elected by a majority of ten hundred and three, and was re-elected to the same position in 1900, by a majority of 264, leading his ticket by 67 votes.
Mr. Hopkins was married in 1867, to Ruth E. Terrill, a daughter of Horace Ter- rill, of Windsor, Ohio. Their children are : Grace E., the wife of H. R. Kester, of Nod- away county ; and Charles, of St. Joseph, a conductor on the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railway. Mr. Hopkins is a
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