USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 71
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 71
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and was a soldier in the war of the rebellion ; Mrs. Jane Emery, of Napa Valley, Califor- nia; and Mrs. Janet Boyd, of Red Oak, Iowa. The father of these children followed farming as a means of livelihood, and died in Delaware county, New York, at the age of seventy-three years, honored and respect- ed by all who knew him. He was kind and considerate to his family, was a good citizen and a consistent member of the Presbyterian church. His wife remained a widow for twenty years and was called to her final rest at the advanced age of eighty-seven years.
In taking up the personal history of An- drew Nicoll, we present to our readers the life record of one who has a wide and favor- able acquaintance in Atchison county, whose business career has been honorable and straightforward, bringing to him a com- fortable competence, and whose fidelity to the duties of citizenship has won him official honors in his adopted town. He was a little lad of seven summers when he came with his parents to the United States, and upon a farm in Delaware county, New York, he was reared to manhood, lessons of industry and economy being early instilled into his mind, his life also becoming imbued with princi- pies of honesty that have ever since char- acterized his dealings with those with whom he has come in contact. To the public-school system of the Empire state he is indebted for the educational privileges which he en- joyed. In 1857 he went to Ogle county, Illinois, where he engaged at farm work until 1863, when he removed to Cedar coun- ty, Iowa, and there purchased eighty acres of land, for which he paid the government price of a dollar and a quarter per acre. Later he sold that farm and purchased other land, having faith in Iowa and her future. Subsequent purchases extendled his posses-
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BIOGRAPHIC.IL HISTORY.
sions until he had five hundred acres, but afterward sold a portion of this, and at the present time he has three hundred and twenty acres of the rich land of the Hawkeye state. His home adjoined the town of Clarence for a number of years, but in 1893 he came to Tarkio in order to provide better educa- tional facilities for his children.
Mr. Nicoll has been twice married. In the spring of 1863, in Delaware county, New York, he wedded Isabella McGregor, a native of that county and a daughter of John and Mary ( Kennedy ) MeGregor. Her father was born in Scotland. and her parents both died in Delaware county. By the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Nicoll three children were born, namely : John . A., a resi- dent of Cedar county, Jowa : David, a physi- cian of Clinton, lowa: and Mrs. Margaret N. Whitnell, who is living in Delaware county, lowa. The mother, who was a con- sistent member of the Presbyterian church, died in 1870, her loss being deeply felt by her family and many friends. In November, 1872. Mr. Nicoll was again married, his see- end union being with Nancy Claney, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, a daugh- ter of David and Nancy Claney, both of whom departed this life in the Buckeye state. The children of the second marriage are: William, the eldest, who served with the Fifty first Iowa Infantry in the Philip- pines, is a popular and well educated young nan. He was a graduate of Tarkio Col- lege, a professor of mathematics in the high schon lat Red Oak for two years, and is now a me nber of the faculty in Tarkio College. being a proje or of mathematics there. George also is living in Atchison county. Kolert is a graduate of Tarkin College, of the dasti ago. Charles is pursuing his studies in Tarkio College and is a well known
and expert member of the college foot-ball team. Ann died at the age of eighteen years. Homer, the youngest, is seventeen and a student in Tarkio College. The children have been provided with excellent educa- tional privileges, thus fitting them for life's practical and responsible duties, for the par- ents realized fully the value of education in this world's activity.
Mr. Nicoll is a member of the United Presbyterian church of Clarence, lowa, and has served therein as eller for many years. In his political affiliations he is an inflexible Republican, unswerving in his allegiance to the party. On that ticket he was elected 10 the office of mayor, in which capacity he is now so capably serving, handling the reins of city government in a most careful manner. lle is well informed not only on political issues but has also made a study of the needs of the city and does all in his power to pro- mote its progress along lines of substantial improvement. Hle is a friend of education. of religion, of temperance and of all inter- e:ts which tend to benefit humanity. lle has a fine residence in Tarkio, and the mem- bers of the household occupy an enviable po- sition in social circles. Viewed from almost any standpoint, Mr. Nicoll's life may be termed a success. He belongs to that class of representative American citizens who promote the general prosperity while labor- ing for individual success, and is a man of pleasant demeanor and genuine worth, hay- ing gained the confidence and regard of all whom he has met.
JOHN HI. FELLOWS.
One of the enterprising residents of Dale township. AAtchison county, is John 11. Fellows, the owner of Cedar Hill farm. He
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
was born in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, May 10, 1851, a son of Isaac and Margaret Fellows. The former was born and reared in Vermont, while the latter was a native of Quebec, Canada, and was of Scotch lin- eage, her parents having come to the new world from the land of hills and heather. Isaac Fellows was one of the first settlers of Dodge county, Wisconsin, later removed to Waukesha county and subsequently took up his abode in Milwaukee, where he re- mained for a number of years. At that time the land on which the city now stands was a wooded tract. He cleared several farmis in that locality and after cutting down the trees sold the wood to the steamboats plying on the lakes. In 1865 he came to Missouri, locating in Andrew county, where lie died at the ripe old age of eighty-six years. He was a zealous Republican in his political affiliations, and both he and his wife were members of the Methodist church. The children born unto this worthy couple were as follows: William, a soldier of the Civil war who died in Missouri; Mary, who resides near Plum Creek, Nebraska ; Maria, who lives in Denver, Colorado; Lewis, who is a member of the Twenty-fourth Wiscon- sin Infantry and is now deceased; Edward, who resides in Atchison county ; William L., who also has passed away ; John H., of this review; Charles, who is a railroad man in the west ; and Newton, who died in infancy.
John H. Fellows was reared upon a Wisconsin farm where he was taught les- sons of industry and honesty, and these principles have permeated his entire career. He was educated in the public schools of the county and was an apt pupil. At the age of fourteen he came to Missouri and spent the remainder of his minority in Atchison county. He married in Savanna, Missouri,
in 1877, Miss Lida M. Condon, who was reared and educated in this state. She is the daughter of Harrison and Ann E. (Shaw) Condon. Her father was a native of Zanesville, Ohio, and lost his eyesight in the Civil war. He died in Colorado, at the age of sixty-three years. Of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Grand Army of the Republic he was a rep- resentative member and was respected by all who knew him. The mother of Mrs. Fellows lived to be sixty-five years of age, and at hier death left the following children : Byron E., a publisher of Maryville, Missouri, who mar- ried Miss Mattie Vaughn : Alice M. Nul, who resided in Salina, Kansas: Lilly S .; Frederick, who lives in York, Nebraska; Mrs. Fellows and W. E. Condon, who is a resident of Pocatello, Idaho.
For several years after his marriage John H. Fellows was engaged in the stock bus :- ness, spending three years in Texas and final- ly locating upon what is one of the best farms of this portion of Missouri. It con- sists of two hundred acres of rich land, upon which he has erected a model farm residence. He has made a specialty of the raising of Hereford cattle on the Cedar Hill farm and has spared neither time nor expense in bring- ing his herd up to a high standard, having some very fine specimens of this particular breed. All over the state his cattle are noted for their quality, size and value.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Fellows has been blessed with six children: Fred- eric C., born December 24, 1880; George B., born August 11, 1883; Maud E., born September 30, 1886; John E., born Octo- ber 6, 1891; Herbert Allan, born May 24. 1894; and Frank Audsley, born August 24, 1897. In politics Mr. Felows is a Demo- crat. and both he and his wife are members of
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
the Christian church. He is a prepossessing man, his great height giving him a fine bear- ing. while his genial disposition makes him a favorite with all his acquaintances.
JAMES M. CLISER.
This prominent and successful agricul- turist of Nodaway county is a worthy rep- resentative of an honored pioneer family of this state and has been actively identified with its development and progress. He was born in Page county, Virginia, May 16,1829. a son of John and Arisha ( Wood) Cliser. the former a native of Germany, the latter of Virginia. His paternal grandparents brought their family to America at an early day and settled in Virginia, where their deaths occurred. Their children were : John. the father of our subject ; David, who mar- ried after coming to this state, reared a fam- jiy of children and is now deceased : Martin, who died in Virginia : and Mrs. A. Fronk.
John Cliser, the father of our subject. grew to manhood in Virginia, and in early life worked at the blacksmith trade in connec- tion with farming. Ile sold his original Homestead and bought a larger farm in an- other county, where he lived for ten years, but lost money in this transaction. In May. 1817. he started for Mis uri, traveling by team to Parkersburg. Virginia, where he tik a brat and proceeded by water. He reached western Missouri in July, and first located at Fillmore, Andrew county, where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of timber land, upon which were some slight im provements. He was not long permitted to enjoy bis nes home, as his health failed and he died October to, 1817, at the age of fifty two years, and his remains were in- terred upon his farm. He was a soldier of
the war of 1812, a Democrat in politics, and an upright, honorable man. His wife died April 8, 1862, at the age of fifty-seven years, and was laid to rest by his side. She was a daughter of Joshua Wood, of Page county. Virginia, who was of Scotch de- scent and died before the Civil war. He was one of the prominent and wealthy farm- ers and slave-owners of his county, and was a member of the Primitive Baptist church. In his family were nine children, namely : Thornton, Pendleton, Singleton, Cassandra, Louisa, Lucinda, Sophia, Liza and risha. Singleton, Mrs. Cassandra Covingston and the mother of our subject were the only ones of this family to come to Missouri.
James Cliser is the oldest in a family of ten children. Of the others we make obser- vations as follows: Louisa died at the age of five years: Cassandra married John Brand and both are now deceased; Eliza is the wife of James Henderson; Sarah is the wife of William Gibbons, of the state of Washington : Joshua died on the homestead, November 2, 1899: John lives in the state of Washington: Julia died at the age of twen- ty-five years: Charles lost one leg and one arm while serving in the Confederate army during the Civil war, and died a number of years later from exposure: and Benjamin is a farmer of Washington.
In the Old Dominion James M. Cliser was reared and educated, in much the usual manner of farmer boys of his day. At the age of eighteen he came to Missouri with his parents and as his father died shortly after- ward he took charge of the farm. Guided by a mother's good counsel the family was kept together and reared to habits of indus- try and honesty. In 1854 our subject mar- ried Miss Louisa Best, who was born in Mis- souri. April 30. 1839, a representative of one
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
of the oldest families in the state. Her fath- er, David Best, a farmer and slave-owner of Kentucky, came to Missouri at a very early day and first settled in Clay county. but when the Platte country was opened up for settlement he moved to Andrew county. where he purchased land. AAbout 1857 he purchased property in Collins county, Texas, where he made his home during the Civil war. He was a Democrat in politics and both he and his wife were members of the Chris- tian church They are now deceased. Their children were: Mrs. Mary A. Hale; How- ard, a resident of Indian Territory : Louisa, the deceased wife of our subject: Mrs. Cath- erine Bounds, Mrs. Susan Skaggs, Mrs. Charity Muggs, Margaret, Richard, David and Silas. To Mr. and Mrs. Cliser were born eleven children: David M., born Feb- ruary 16, 1856, is a farmer of this county; Mary C., born April 30, 1857, is the wife of William Key, a farmer; Frances L., born July 12, 1858, is the widow of William Hubbard ; John H., born November 20, 1850, died August 27, 1865: Charles P., born Oc- tober 2, 1862, died May 14, 1881; Margaret E., born January 16, 1865, died October 2, 1865; Susan D., born October 6, 1866, is the wife of H. M. Witt, of Guilford; Cora B., born November II, 1868, died August 28, 1897; James E., born December 5, 1870, died . December 8, 1870; Thomas E., born November 24, 1871, is farming on the home- stead ; and Mattie N., born March 2, 1874, is at home. The wife and mother, who was an earnest member of the Christian church, died November 30, 1874, at the age of thir- ty-five years and seven months.
Mr. Cliser was again married May 24. 1877, his second union being with Miss Mary J. Hall, who was born in Andrew county, Missouri, November 7, 1844. Her parents,
Charles and Parmelia (Jackson) Hall, were natives of Indiana and Kentucky, respec- tively, and were married in Andrew county, this state, where the father entered land and improved a farm. He engaged in school- teaching for many years. Being a southern man and his sympathies with the south, he entered the Confederate army during the Civil war. On account of ill health he was compelled to return home before peace was restored, and died January 7, 1805. His wife still survives him, at the age of seventy- six years, and resides on the old homestead in Andrew county. His father was David Hall, an old-style Virginian, who moved to Indiana and later to Missouri, his last days being spent in Andrew county. His children were: Charles, the father of Mrs. Cliser ; D. I .; MeClure; James; William, who died in Indiana; John, who died in Nebraska; Elsie J., the wife of Thomas Walker; and Emily, who married J. Bass and died in In- diana. Mrs. Cliser is the oldest in a fam- ily of eleven children, the others being : Em- ily, the wife of James Robertson; David M. and John C., both residents of Andrew county; Lucy A., the wife of Jonathan Tur- pin; Susan C., the wife of Kendal Parker; Sarah M., the wife of Isaac Wright; Cath- erine, the wife of Robert Goodlow; William F., of Andrew county; Eugenia, now Mrs. Isaac Hummons; and Elsie P., the wife of A. F. Russell. The parents of these chil- dren were members of the Christian church, to which our subject and his wife and all of his children also belong, and of which Mr. Cliser has been an elder for thirty years.
After his marriage Mr. Cliser remained on the home farm with his mother until the spring of 1855, when he bought eighty ! acres of timberland in Nodaway county and erected a cabin near his present home. At
BIOGR.1PHICAL IIISTORY.
different times he entered land, finally aggre- gating two hundred acres, near this tract, and by hard work and persistent effort converted the place into one of the most desirable farms of his community. Calves being plentiful, he gradually became connected with the stock-raising industry, which he car- ried on in addition to farming. Success has attended his well directed efforts and he is now the owner of six hundred acres in the homestead, besides another farm of eighty acres elsewhere. He has money in the bank and also loans some on his own respons- ibility. As a business man he is enterprising. progressive and reliable, and carries forward to successful completion whatever he under- takes.
money from their prisoners; but Mr. Cli- ser's friends advised him not to pay one cent. Then they wanted one hundred dollars to re- lease him. After two weeks spent in the guard house he was brought up for trial, but his witnesses gave him such a good name that the prosecution failed to find anything against him and he was released. A few days after he was released from custody these same midnight rangers came to his home and demanded thirty dollars, which he had agreed to pay ( for his release) while in jail. To meet this he had to give up his choice cow and calf. the one belonging to his wife.
AMBROU'S COLLINS.
Politically Mr. Cliser affiliates with the Ambrous Collins, whose residence is in Green township, is an old settler and one of the industrious men of Nodaway county. Ile settled here in 1873. previous to which time he was a resident of Greene county, In- cliana, in which state he was born September 7. 1849. Ile is a son of Floyd Collins, a far- mer of Greene county, whose ancestors were of Scotch extraction and had lived in Vir- ginia for many years. Floyd Collins mar- ried Miss Martha Burch, a native of Greene county, Indiana, and a daughter of George Burch, an inhabitant of that state. Floyd Collins and his family left Indiana and re- moved to lowa in 1861, making the journey with two teams, consisting of six yoke of oxen and two wagons, besides other stock and cattle. The journey, a long and tedious one, at length terminated, and Mr. Collins found himself in Page county, lowa, four miles from Clarinda. Here Mr. Collins en- gaged in farming during the remainder of his life, dying in 1875. at the age of sixty- five. Politically Mr. Collins was a Demo- Democratic party and takes an active inter- est in public affairs. lle served as justice of the peace for a number of years, and he has been found true to every trust reposed in him, whether public or private. \ south- erner by birth and training, his sympathies Were naturally with the Confederacy dur- ing the Civil war, but in 1863 he joined the Union army, enlisting in Company M, Ninth Missouri Cavalry, which did guard duty most of the time in the central part of this state, looking after deserters and bush- whackers. He was in battle at Candden Point, and at different times was stationed at St. Louis, Mexico and St. Joseph, re- maining in the service until July, 1865. At one time he was ill with typhoid fever and was sent home on a furlough, it being three months before he was able to rejoin his com- mand. Before entering the army he was ar- rested and put in jail at Maryville by the United States troops, who released the man he was with on the payment of a sum of money. Their object seemed to be to get. crat, and religiously a "hardshell" Baptist.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
The widow of Mr. Collins died in Gentry county, Missouri, at the age of seventy-five years. She was a most worthy woman, kind and affectionate in disposition, an excellent wife and mother and a good neighbor, and was held in the highest esteem by all who knew her because of her goodness of heart.
Floyd Collins and his wife were the par- ents of nine children that grew to mature years, namely: Abigail McCraw, of Kan- sas City, Missouri; Ambrous, the subject of this sketch; Martha McAllister, of Chilli- cothe, Missouri; Z. Benson, of Cherokee county, Kansas ; Davis, of Oklahoma; Maria Porter, of Quitman, Missouri; Amanda Hale, of Atchison, Kansas : Hubbard, of Ok- lahoma; and Alice Nelson, of Gentry coun- ty, this state.
Ambrous Collins was eleven years of age when his parents removed to Iowa in 1861. Of the six yoke of oxen that drew the two wagons with the household goods and family in them Ambrous took principal charge, and drove from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Clarinda. Iowa, with a six-ox team. He obtained his education in a log school house and by reading and study at home. In 1869 he went to Jackson county, Missouri, and in 1873 removed to Nodaway county, where he has ever since made his home. The farm upon which he lives contains three hundred and eighty-three acres of fine farming land, divided into fields of convenient size, and upon the place is an excellent barn.
Mr. Collins was married September 28. 1875, to Miss Cornelia Holt, a woman of a good family who was reared and educated in her own county. She is a daughter of William R. and Sarah (Warren) Holt, and is the mother of one son, William B. Collins, who was born April 1, 1884. William R. Holt, deceased, one of the pioneer settlers
of the county, was born in Orange county. North Carolina, in 1818, and was a son of William Holt, a soldier of the war of 1812. As the name would indicate, the Holt family is of English origin. William R. Holt re- moved to Missouri in 1837, settling in Clay county. Ile was married October 31, 1841, to Miss Sarah Warren, a native of North Carolina, born November 18, 1824. She was a daughter of Briscoe M. S. Warren. a native of Orange county, North Carolina, and his wife, whose maiden name was Ade- line Troxler, was also a native of the same county. In 1839 they located in Clay coun- ty, removing to Nodaway county in 1865, where they passed the remainder of their lives, the former dying at the age of eighty- two years and the latter at the age of sev- enty-one. They were the parents of five children, namely : Mrs. Sarah Holt : George H. T., of Green township; Mrs. Mary A. Malvern, deceased: Mrs. Rachel E. Jenkins. of Oklahoma ; and Mrs. Emily F. Lewis, who died in Brown county, Kansas, near Hia- watha.
In 1848 William R. Holt located in No- daway county on a farm, upon which he him- self built a log house and made many other improvements. Mr. and Mrs. Holt were the parents of nine children, as follows: Mrs. Cornelia Collins ; Mrs. Emily F. Prather, of Maryville, Missouri ; Mrs. Missouri Linville, of Green township; Barton W., of the same township; William L., of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Mary E. Ramsey, deceased; Benjamin F., deceased ; and two others who died in infancy. The father of these chil- dren died May 16, 1896, when he was sey- enty-eight years of age. For the most part his life had been that of a farmer, and in pol- itics he was a Democrat. The family are members of the Christian church and are ex-
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BIOGRAIPIIIC.IL. HISTORY.
emplary in their lives. Mrs. Holt is a lady of superior intelligence, has many friends in the county and has witnessed many changes since coming to this county to live.
Mr. Collins is one of the leading Demo- crats of his county and has been elected to the office of justice of the peace three suc- cessive times. He is a man of good judg- ment and has no object in the fulfillment of the duties of his office except to see justice done. A man of genial temperament, he is in robust health and has many friends.
HENRY F. STAPEL.
No adequate memorial of Henry F. Stapel can be written until many of the u-e- ful enterprises with which he is connected have completed their full measure of good in the world, and until his personal influence and example shall have ceased their fruitage in the lives of those who have been about him, as he has been an actor in the busy places of the world : yet there is much con- cerning him that can with profit be set down here as an illustration of what can be done if a man with a clear brain and willing hands but sets himself seriously to the real labors and responsibilities of life. He is to-day widely and prominently known as the secre- tary of the Missouri Mutual Insurance Com- panies, attorney at law and as editor of the AAtchison County Mail. His labors have made the city of Rockport, in which he makes his home, well known not only throughout the commonwealth but in other portions of the nation. It was his genius that planned and created the mutual insur- ance which is followed in Missouri and which has become so popular wherever known, and it has been his industry and en- ergy that have brought about its phenomenal
growth. As an inspiration to ambitions young men of the future and as a tribute of honor and respect. a brief history of Mr. Stapel's life and his work is herewith given.
Henry F. Stapel was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, on the 30th of September. 1858, and is a son of Ernest H. and Louisa ( W'ulber ) Stapel. His father was a native of the province of Hanover, Germany, born in the year 1825, and when sixteen years of age he bade adieu to his friends in the land of his birth and crossed the Atlantic to the new world. He located in Dearborn county, where he was married and became a prom- inent and successful farmer and merchant. He died in 1898, and his widow now resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. They were the parents of the following named: John, who is the special agent of the Missouri Mutual Insur- ance Companies: Henry F., of this review; Louise, the wife of William Graf, of Cin- cinnati, Ohio: Anna, who is living in Indian- apolis: Rosa, now the wife of John Munich, of Cincinnati: William, whose home is in Indianapolis; and Ernest 1 .. the general agent and assistant adjuster of the Mutual Insurance Companies.
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