USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 67
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 67
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The year of his marriage Mr. Goff came to Nodaway county, Missouri, and located upon his present farm, where he first pur- chased eighty acres of land. He set out hedge fences, broke the land and placed it under a high state of cultivation, set out fruit and ornamental trees and erected good and sub- stantial buildings, making it one of the best improved and most desirable farms of the locality. As his financial resources have in- creased he has extended its boundaries from time to time, and now has three hundred and twenty acres. He raises and feeds stock for market, and finds this branch of his business profitable. The Democratic party finds in
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him a stanch supporter of its principles, and his aid is never withheld from any enterprise which he believes calculated to prove of pub- lic benefit. Religiously he and his wife are members of the Christian church.
JOHN A. C. GOFF.
John A. C. Goff, now a leading farmer or Nodaway county, Missouri, was born in Hamilton county, Illinois, January 20, 1845. and was reared and educated in that state. His father. John R. Goff, was born in Ken- tucky Mary 26, 1812, of Irish descent, and the son of a prominent farmer and slave- owner of that state. He had several brothers and sisters, among the number being Will- iam. Lenard and Mrs. Jemima Alkire. Be- fore leaving his native state John R. Goff married. in 1835, Sarah M. Edwards, who was born in Brown county. Kentucky, Sep tember 1. 1816. Her father also was a farmer. In 1839 Mr. and Mrs. Goff moved to Illinois and first located in Hamilton county, where he improved a farm, but later told that place and went to Menard coun- ty, the same state, where he purchased prop- erty. Subsequently he took up his residence in Logan county, Illinois, where he im- proved a farm of two hundred and sixty acres, making it his home until his death, which occurred May 30, 1890. He was a progressive and successful agriculturist, and was a man highly respected and esteemed by all who knew him. In politics he was a Democrat, and was called upon to fill some minor offices, though he cared nothing for political preferment. He was an eller and active member of the Christian church, to which the mother of our subject also be- longed. She died January 29. 1885. leaving many friends as well as her immediate fam-
ily to mourn her loss. Her brothers were Robert and Alex Edwards. Her children were as follows : Emily .A., born April 22. 1837. is the wife of J. B. Copper ; Harvey E .. born January 20. 1839. is a farmer of Nodaway county : William, born March o. 1842, is a farmer of Andrew county. Mis- souri: John .A. is the next in order of birth : Isaac T., born September 14. 1847. died leaving a family: James .A., born June 3. 1850. is a resident of Decatur. Illinois: Elijah 11 .. born March 22. 1853. is a resi- dent of this county; Mary S., born August 3. 1855. died at the age of ten years ; Milton C ... born September 16. 1857, is a resident of this county : and Charles C., born November 23. 1861. died in Oklahoma. For his see- ond wife the father married a Miss Eng- land, who died in 1898, leaving no children.
John A. C. Goff assisted his father on the home farm until the Civil war broke out. when he enlisted. in 1864. at the age of eighteen years, in Company I. One Hun- dred and Thirty-third Illinois Volunteer In- fantry. He was in the one hundred days' service and died guard duty at Rock Island. Illinois, until discharged. Returning home he worked as a farm hand for some time.
In 1871 Mr. Goff was united in marriage with Miss Rebecca J. Wilson, who was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, August 20. 1846. a daughter of Thomas and Amelia ( Ches- ser ) Wilson, also natives of Ohio and farm- ing people. Both parents died in Illinois. The father was a Methodist in religions be- lief, the mother a Baptist. Their children were Sarah, the deceased wife of G. W. Smith, of Illinois: Margaret, the wife of F. Smith, of the same state: Belle, the wife of John Smith, of Illinois: William, who died in that state; Rebecca J. the wife of our subject: Mary, the wife of S. Wilson, of
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Illinois; Minerva, who died at the age of sixteen years ; Dyson, a resident of Omaha, Nebraska ; Samuel, of Illinois: Savilla, who died young ; Elizabeth, the wife of W. Ogles- by; Ada, the wife of M. Goff; and lda, the wife of C. Goff. Our subject and his wife had six children. of whom the second and fifth died young. The others are Charles E., born September 15, 1872; James T., Feb- ruary 29, 1876; lda .A., April 20, 1879; and Edith, May 7, 1885. lda .A. is now the wife of E. Thompson, a school teacher of Bar- nard.
For four years after his marriage Mr. Goff engaged in farming upon rented land in his native state, and then spent four years in Kansas, after which he returned to Illi- nois and bought a farm, making it his home seven years. In 1887 he sold out and came to Missouri, locating in Nodaway county. llis first purchase here consisted of an im- proved farm of eighty acres ; but a year later he sold that place and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Hughes township. After living there for a year he disposed of the farm and purchased two hundred and twen- ty acres of his present farm, to which he has added until he now has three hundred and forty acres under a high state of cultivation and well improved. His success in life is due entirely to his own unaided efforts, for he received no assistance from any source on starting out for himself. Being industrious, enterprising and energetic, he has succeeded in accumulating a comfortable property and is now quite well-to-do. In his political af- filiations Mr. Goff is a stanch Democrat, but has never cared for office, preferring to give his entire time and attention to his business Leander Seymour. the father of the sub- interests. Both he and his wife are active | ject of this sketch, moved with his father members of the Christian church, and are | from Erie county, Pennsylvania, to trish held in high regard by all who knew them. Grove, Missouri, and helped put the farm
WILSON B. SEYMOUR.
Wilson B. Seymour, who for many years has been one of the most prominent farmers in the county of AAtchison, Missouri, is a member of one of the oldest and best known families in the community in which he re- sides. Born December 28, 1860, at Irish Grove, Atchison county, a son of Leander and Elizabeth ( Beck ) Seymour, he grew to manhood, and to-day stands as a citizen of high worth and ability.
John Seymour, the great-grandfather of our subject, was a native of Germany, but on coming to this country located in New York state and later moved to Massachusetts and to Ohio, in which latter state he died. He was a prominent physician and well known man of his day. John, Jr., the grandfather of our subject, moved with his father to Massachusetts, and later to Ohio, but upon the death of his father he was sent back to Massachusetts, where he was bound out to learn the wagon-making trade. After learn- ing this trade he married and settled in Ohio, near the Pennsylvania line, where he lived until 1837. 1le then moved to Greene coun- ty, Indiana. remaining four years, and later to Ray county, Missouri, where he lived until 1845. His next move was to Holt county, and afterward to Atchison, where he bought land and followed farming, also working at his trade. In 1845 he died, and was buried Ion his farm. His wife, surviving him, at length was married to John Smelser, both of whom died a few years afterward. John Seymour and his wife had three boys,-Le- ander. John and George.
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into cultivation. He was fourteen at the time .of his father's death, after which he began working for himself. He found em- ployment in the service of the government. as a teamster in freighting. He drove oxen across the plains with supplies for the sol- diers, and also assisted in establishing forts in the west. In 1850 he went overland to California, where he mined for three years. returning home at the end of that time by the way of the isthmus and New Orleans. While in California Mr. Seymour saved some money, and on his return invested it in the place now known as the homestead. There he followed agriculture and labored otherwise for a number of years, and in 1888 went to Kansas, but returned after two years' time. He sold the homestead to his son and spent five more years in Kan- sas, where he owned three hundred and sixty acres of land. In 1894 he settled in Atchi- son county, where he bought a farm, which he afterward sold. At present he is living on one of his farms near Fairfax. He mar- ried Elizabeth Beck, a lady of culture and refinement and a daughter of Wilson Al. Beck, of North Carolina. Wilson Beck moved to Michigan and later to Indiana, and in 1848 settled in AAtchison county, Missouri. lle was a well known farmer and a man of sterling qualities. He died in 1861, and left three children: Elizabeth, the mother of our subject : Benjamin and William. Of
two others, Samuel had died on the plains, than any that has preceded it, the age of the
Ind Franklin had been lost .- supposed to have been murdered. Leander Seymour and his wife had six chikiren, namely: Frank- lin, born December 3. 1854: Lyda, now Mrs. .A. B. Lininger; Malinda; Wilson B., the subject of this sketch; Leander, a farmer of this township; and Mollie.
Wilson B. Seymour, the subject of this
biography, was reared on the homestead where he now lives. He bought the farm and carried on the work begun by his fa- ther. Ile is a successful stock-raiser and a prosperous farmer, and is considered one of the solid business men of the county. Hle was married. February 3. 1884, to Lura M. Pebley, after which he bought a farm east of his present one on which he lived for seven years. Lura Pebley was a daughter of Thomas and Rebecca J. ( Piburn ) Pebley, both of Clay county, Missouri. Mr. Pebley located in Atchison county in 1859, where he carried on farming. He died in 1880. and his wife died at the home of her daugh- ter Lura November 21, 1804. Their chil- dren were : Thomas, a farmer of Holt coun- ty: Sirelda B., the wife of W. A. Mavity: Lura M .. the wife of our subject : Robert 1 .. : Ida G., the wife of R. G. Seymour : John : Cora, deceased: and Elisha. railroad agent at Corning.
Mr. and Mrs. Seymour are the parents of six children, namely: Royal R., born November 11, 1884: Ralph, August 17. 1886; Lizzie, March 11, 1888: Harley, March 7. 1891: Verna. December 2, 1893; and Hallie. November 25: 1807. Our sub- ject is a member of the Democratic party.
JAMES B. ROBINSON.
The fact that this is, more remarkably young man's pre-eminence in the business world, finds verification anew when the suc- cessful career of the gentleman whose name is above is considered. In his early 'teens he was a clerk in a leading financial institu- tion : at thirty he was its president, and dur- ing the six years that have followed he has proven himself not only "the worthy succes-
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sor of a worthy sire" but also a man of affairs of signal ability and discretion.
James B. Robinson, the president of the Nodaway Valley Bank, of Maryville, is a dis- tinguished representative of the banking in- terests of Nodaway county and a member of one of the old and substantial families of the state of Missouri. He was born in Noda- way county November 24, 1864, and is a son of the late financier and man of affairs, Theodore L. Robinson. The latter was born 1833, and was a son of Daniel Robinson, one of the pioneer merchants of that county.
If Mr. Robinson was not scholarly from in Callaway county, Missouri, February 8. | the standpoint of collegians, he was thor-
Theodore L. Robinson was the only member of his father's family who lived to maturity. His business experience from his youth was in the mercantile line, and when he located at Maryville, in 1857, it was but natural that he should have cast about for opportunities to advance his fortune as a merchant. His means were small and his stock necessarily limited, but his business thrived, and after some years he sold it to advantage and entered upon a trade in hard- ware and lumber, which was likewise profit- able. His entry into the banking business succeeded his retirement from the lumber trade. The Nodaway Valley Bank came into existence in 1873, as the successor to the private bank of George S. Baker & Company, the first banking concern in Maryville. The new institution began business with a cash capital of fifty thousand dollars, with Theo- dore L. Robinson as the cashier and James B. Prather as the president. Upon the death of Mr. Prather Mr. Robinson became the president and the institution was reorganized as a private bank, Theodore L. Robinson and James B. Robinson being the sole owners of the Nodaway Valley Bank. This institution has always done a remarkably safe and suc-
cessful business from its inception, but un- dler the guidance and direction of Theodore Robinson its affairs were especially well managed. The result of his labors for the concern were to improve the character of business and to extend and enlarge its pop- ularity. While actively engaged in banking Mr. Robinson entered other lines of business, which yielded his estate large returns and acquired valuable lands and city property.
oughly self-educated and practical and pro- gressive in other things. His interest in public education was abiding and helpful. For twenty years he was an active member of the board of education of Maryville, and he served the city ably as a member of its board of aldermen. October 9, 1859, Mr. Robinson married Rebecca J. Ray, a daugh- ter of the late James Ray, from Nelson county, Kentucky, who was an early settler in Nodaway county; and she survives him and lives in Maryville with her three chil- dren. The eldest, James B. Robinson, be- came the president of the Nodaway Valley Bank June 6, 1894, a successor to his worthy father ; the second is Fred P. Robinson, the cashier of the Nodaway Valley Bank, who married Mary Miller, and they have two children,-Mildred and Virginia; and the third is Miss Jennie Robinson.
James B. Robinson is distinctly a product of Maryville, not simply for the reason of his nativity there but also because he was educated there and taught the principles and practice of important and successful business and has risen to a position at the head of one of Maryville's leading financial institu- tions. It must not be overlooked that he rose to this place by virtue of his own per- sonal merit and ability, having begun at
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eighteen as a clerk in the Nodaway Valley Bank and been promoted from time to time until at his father's death he was in every way and for every reason eligible for the position Theodore L. Robinson had so ably filled. Shortly before the death of Theodore L. Robinson the bank was incorporated and its capital stock was increased to one him- dred thousand dollars. In February, 1900. the bank had a capital of one hundred thou- sand dollars and surplus and undivided profit aggregating fourteen thousand, eight hun- dred and eleven dollars, and it- deposits amounted to two hundred and sixty-one thousand, one hundred and three dollars. Its president is James B. Robinson and its cash- ier Fred 1. Robinson, and those gentlemen. with John T. Welch and William C. Ellison, constitute the board of directors.
To accept the management of such a large estate as was left by Theodore L. Rob- inson and to assume the official direction of an institution of the importance of the Nod- away Valley Bank, was to assume a respon- sibility not lightly to be considered. To have demonstrated an ability to bear this re- sponsibility and to have established an unre- served public confidence at as early an age as thirty was to win specially high honors. . At that age James B. Robinson became the president of the bank and the actual head of all the Robinson interests.
Mr. Robinson was married, in Mary- ville, October 3, 1804. 10 Maggie, a dangh- ter of Dr. 1. B. Garrison, of Mbany, Mis- souri. Two children are the result of this union : Theodore G. and James B. Jr.
EMMETT E. RICHARDS, M. D.
A prominent member of the medical pro- Fession, located in Tarkin, Atchison com- ty, Missouri, is E. E. Richards, the subject
of this sketch, a graduate of Washington University, at St. Louis, in the class of 1898. He was born in Atchison county, Missouri. December 11. 1870. a son of Judge John and Elizabeth ( Hays) Rich- ards, the former of whom was a prominent and well known pioneer of this county, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio. Five sons and five daughters were born to the parents of our subject, E. E. being the eldest. So1.
E. E. Richards received his academic education at Dixon, Illinois, where he grad- uated in the scientific and business courses. later entering Washington University, at St. Louis, at which great institution he grad- uated in 1898, with various class honors. and later took a course in hospital work in that city.
Dr. Richards was married, June 28. 1899, near Linden, in this county, to Miss Bessie Carpenter, an educated and cultivat- ed young lady, a daughter of C. 11. Car- penter, a well-known citizen of Buchanan township. Both the Doctor and his ac- complished wife are members of the Chris- tian church and have a beautiful home on College avenue. Dr. Richards' business of- fice is pleasantly located and furnished with modern equipments, instruments and medical appliances. He is a great student and takes pride in his library, already comprising many valuable volumes, to which he adds every book of merit upon his profession as soon as it appears, keeping thus in touch with all recent discoveries. May 1. 1900. he located for the practice of his profession in Tarkio, Missouri. Ile is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the City Hospital Mumini, of St. Louis, and also of the Missouri Valley Medical So- ciety, of the Missouri Valley.
EMMETT E. RICHARDS
NEW YC# PUBL -LI RARY
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
JAMES L. LAMASTER.
James L. Lamaster, a descendant of an honored pioneer family and one of the lead- ing farmers of Nodaway county, was born January 30, 1843. in Morgan county, Ken- tucky. Ile was a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth ( Wyerman) Lamaster, both of Kentucky when married.
Elijah Lamaster, the grandfather of our subject, was of French descent and was one of the early settlers of Kentucky. He was a very prominent man and was well liked by all who knew him. His children were: Ben- jamin, the father of our subject : Ambrose : William; Isaac; and Lewis, who moved to Missouri and then to California. Benjamin Lamaster was reared in Kentucky, where he remained until after his marriage. After the fall of 1859 hie settled in Andrew county, Missouri, where he rented a farm for two years. He then bought a farm, which he sold a few years later and moved to St. Jo- seph, Missouri, where he ran an express wagon until his death, which occurred in 1889. In politics he was a Republican. He married Elizabeth Wyerman, a daughter of Jacob Wyerman, a miller and farmer by oc- cupation. Jacob Wyerman died at the age of one hundred years and left as his chil- dren John, Elizabeth, Polly, Benjamin, Mar- garet, Jemima, Bunyon, William, James, Nancy, Jackson and Sarah. Mr. Lamaster and his wife had eight children, namely : Jolın, of Oklahoma : J. L., the subject of this sketch: Jemima, the wife of R. McMakin; Elizabeth, who married H. Edwards ; Nancy J., the wife of John McCoy ; Elijah, of Okla- homa ; Melvina, the wife of F. Hanks; and William, of St. Joseph. Mr. Lamaster was seventy-one year's old at the time of his death, and his wife died at the age of sev- enty-three.
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J. L. Lamaster, whose name heads this sketch, was educated in the common schools of his native place. Ile moved from Ken- tucky to Missouri with his parents when fif- teen years old and grew up on the Platte purchase. He remained under the parental roof until he was of age, and in 1861 enlisted in Kimball's regiment of the state militia, serving six months. In August, 1864. he en- listed in the Forty-third Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and was assigned to the western department. He did good serv- ice looking after government property and bushwhackers. A portion of his regiment was captured at the battle of Glasgow, but the company which Mr. Lamaster was in was not captured. He received an honorable dis- charge at Benton Barracks, St. Louis, and also his pay, June 30, 1865.
Returning to Andrew county. he resumed work on his father's farm until 1866, when he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Nodaway county. When he came to this county it was but sparsely settled and the land upon which he moved was but little improved, having nothing but a small log cabin on it. In 1867 he married and in 1868 sold this farm and bought an interest in the Hainey place. He now owns one hundred and eighteen acres of this place, and on it he has built a comfortable home and com- modious barns and outbuildings. He is a self-made man, having acquired all of his possessions by hard work and perseverance. He married Dicy C. Hainey, who was born in Kentucky, a daughter of James F. Hainey, who was one of the early settlers of the Platte purchase. He was a highly respected farmer. Our subject owns the old Hainey homestead. Mr. Hainey's children were : P. J., a prominent man of Barnard; Abigal, the wife of L. Adams; Harriet, the wife of
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F. M. Wall: Louisa, the wife of J. Pully; Diey, the wife of our subject : Milford ; Lu- cinda, who married William T. MeMakin; Nancy C., the wife of William Shephard; and Samuel.
Mr. Lamaster had four children by his first marriage, namely: Ida, who married B. Gift ; Mary M., the wife of HI. Lamaster ; William T., deceased ; Dicy, deceased. Mrs. Lamaster died December 2, 1872. She was a consistent member of the Methodist church. Mr. Lamaster remarried, January 1, 1874, when Mary A. Henderson, a daugh- ter of Widows and Margaret ( Irvin) Hen- derson, became his wife. Widows Hender- son, Mrs. Lamaster's grandfather, was a prominent physician and farmer of Ohio. where he owned large tracts of land. He was a Whig in politics, but during the Civil war became a Republican. He died in An- drew county, Missouri, where he settled on the Platte purchase. His children were Re- becca. Anna, Nelson, Noah, Sally, Abel, Katie, Widows, Gilford and Mary. Widows Henderson, a farmer, was married, in Mis- souri, to Margaret Irvin. They settled in Nodaway county in 1866. Mr. Henderson was a strong Republican and served in the state militia for six months during the Civil war. He died in Missouri in 1893, and his wife, who survives him, makes her home with a son in St. Joseph, though visiting among the other children very often. Mar- garet ( Irvin ) Henderson was a daughter.of Frank Irvin, who was of Irish descent and a farmer of Tennessee. Ile reared a large mumber of children: Maskin, Hampton. Rachel, Cynthia, Betsy, Robert, Eliza, Mar- garet and James. The parents were mem- ler- of the Christian church. Widows Hlen- derson had six children, namely: E. W .. a In-iness man of St. Joseph, Missouri; Mis-
souri J., the wife of J. M. Miller ; Mary .A., the wife of our subject : Elizabeth, who mar- ried W. Sharp; Florence, who died young; and Dora C. These parents were also men- bers of the Christian church.
Mr. Lamaster and his wife have four children, namely: John E .. Walter S., James L. and Arlan R. Our subject re- ceives a small pension.
DAVID YEISLEY.
David Yeisley, an influential citizen and well known farmer of Nodaway county, Mis- souri, residing near Arkoe, was born in Ash- land county, Ohio, December 30. 1826. Ilis father, John Yeisley, was of German de- scent. and resided in Pennsylvania. In his early manhood he moved to Ashland coun- ty: Ohio, where he bought a piece of heavily timbered land. and after clearing it began farming. He died on the old homestead in 1842. A prominent Democrat, he repre- sented his county in the state legislature, and was an active worker in the interests of his party. An honorable, intelligent man, he was held in high esteem by all who knew him. He married Saloma Camera, who was also a native of Pennsylvania, and they had eleven children, namely: George, Peter. Jacob, Mary, Philip, Joseph, Susan. David, our subject. Samuel, William and Sarah,- all of whom grew up.
David Yeisley, the subject of this biog- raphy, was educated in the common schools of AAshland county and grew to manhood at his parental home. In 1848 he went to lowa, where he engaged in breaking prairie ground. He farmed in Hardin county. lowa, for several years, and in 1857 moved to Missouri, where he has since resided. Hle bought one hundred and sixty acres of nnim-
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proved land, on which stood a small log cabin, and after breaking the ground he be- gan farming. He was a good worker and it was not long until he had a neat and at- tractive farm, of which any one might well be proud. Here he raised stock and general farm products and became one of the well known farmers in that vicinity. He is a Democrat in politics, and was a member of the state militia during the Civil war, though he was not called upon to serve in active battles.
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