USA > Missouri > Nodaway County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 76
USA > Missouri > Atchison County > A Biographical history of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri : compendium of national biography > Part 76
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IAMLINE E. ROBINSON.
The press has not only recorded the his tory of advancement but has also been the leader in the work of progress and improve-
ment,-the vanguard of civilization. The philosopher of some centuries ago proclaimed the truth that the pen is mightier than the sword, and the statement is being continually verified in the affairs of life. In moulding public opinion the power of the newspaper cannot be estimated, but at all events its in- fluence is greater than any other single agency. In the history of Nodaway county, therefore. an account of the Maryville Re- publican and its editor, Hamline E. Robin- son, should form an important factor.
Mr. Robinson was born April 22, 1845, in Brattleborough, Vermont, and traces his ancestry back to George Robinson, who set- tled in Needham, Massachusetts, in 1656. He is a representative of the eighth genera- tion of the descendants of the founder of the family in the new world. In 1720 the fam -. ily removed to Webster. Massachusetts, whence some of its members went to Wind- ham county, Connecticut, where many of the name yet reside, in East Thompson. In the latter part of the eighteenth century Elijah Robinson and his immediate family took up his abode in Windham county, Vermont. where many of his descendants yet reside. He was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Elijah Robinson, the father of our subject, was born in Jamaica, Wind- ham county, Vermont, and was educated for the ministry. He preached as a representa- tive of the Methodist Episcopal faith in the Green Mountain state from 1843 until 1855. and was then a member of the Wisconsin conference from 1850 until his death in 1887. Ilis wife bore the maiden name of Ellen Brown. She, too, was a native of Jamaica, Vermont, and her death occurred in Evans- ville. Wisconsin, in 1881. A rather remark- able fact is found in connection with the fam-
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ily history, which is that Mr. Robinson had four great-grandfathers in the Revolution- ary war. Elijah Robinson and John Patch on the paternal side and Nathaniel Cheney . and James Brown on the maternal side.
In taking up the personal history of Hamline E. Robinson we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in Nodaway county. He pursued his education in the common schools of Vermont and' Wisconsin and was also a student in the Evansville Seminary in the latter state. He was preparing for col- lege when he enlisted in the war of the Re- bellion. Prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he offered his services to the government, joining Company F of the Sixteenth Wis- consin Infantry on Christmas day of 1863. He thus served until June 18, 1865, when he received an honorable discharge and returned to his home.
After the war Mr. Robinson studied den- tistry in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1867 until 1870, and practiced' also to some ex- tent during that period. In March of the latter year he came to Maryville and opened ari office for the practice of dentistry, but in 1871 purchased the Maryville Republican, which he conducted until 1875, when he re- sumed work along professional lines, again engaged in dental practice until 1886. In that year he once more entered the journal- istic field and in 1888 again became proprie- tor of the Republican, which he has since conducted. In early life he had a taste for writing and when yet young contributed many articles for the country newspapers. The Republican was established in 1866 and is the largest and oldest paper of Nodaway county. Through its columns he labors earnestly to promote the welfare of the com- munity, to secure needed reforms and to pro-
mote substantial advancement along many lines of improvement and progress. He has always been a great lover of literature and scientific and historical works and through fifty years he has probably read three hun- dred' volumes each year. As he assimilates what he reads he is now recognized as a man of broad general information and schol- arly attainments and can write and talk in- telligently upon almost any subject. He has several times been called to public office, hav- ing served as census enumerator in 1880 and as city collector of Maryville in 1881. In 1872-3 he was the chairman and secretary of the Republican committee of Nodaway county and has been a delegate to various district and state conventions of his party and has taken an active part in campaign work.
On Christmas day of 1871, in Maryville, Missouri, Mr. Robinson was married to MIiss Florence Annetta Donaldson, a native of Schoharie county, New York. They now have three children: Ellen Annetta, born September 23, 1872; Charles Lamb, born October 19, 1873; and Florence, born Janu- ary 16, 1884. Mrs. Robinson had a grand- father, John Rice, who served in the Revo- lutionary war, so that the children of the family can boast of five Revolutionary sol- diers among their ancestors. In civic socie- ties Mr. Robinson is prominent. He became a charter member of Ivanhoe Lodge, K. of P., of Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1868. In 1883 he became a charter member and the first chancellor commander of Tancred Lodge, K. of P., of Maryville, and ten years later aided in the organization and became one of the charter members of Vesta Lodge, K. of P., of Maryville, of which he was also the first chancellor commander. In 1868 he became a member of Abraham Lincoln
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Post. G. A. R., of Charlestown. Massachu- setts, and now belongs to Sedgwick l'ost. G. A. R .. of Maryville, of which he is a past commander. He was a delegate from Mis- souri to the national encampment held in 1893. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898, and 1900, and was aid-de-camp on the staff of Department Commander Peterson in 1898, and aid on the staff of National Commander Shaw in 1900. In the line of his chosen profession he has been connected with the Missouri Editorial Association from 1872, was its president in 1805-6, and has been a delegate to the Na- tional Editorial Association from 1892 until the present time. He was a charter mem- ber of the Northwest Missouri Press Asso- ciation, and has been elected historian of that organization for three terms of five years each, still occupying the position. He is a member of the Missouri State Board of Charities, his term of appoint- ment extending from 1896 until 1905. He is recognized as a leader in public affairs along many lines, and at all times hi- hearty co-operation is given to every movement which he believes will contribute to the public good.
G. W. LOTT, M. D.
One of the most exacting of all the higher lines of occupation to which a man may lend lis energies is that of the physician. A most crupulous preliminary training is demanded and a nicety of judgment little understood by the laity. Then, again, the profession brings one of its devotees into almost coll- Mant association with the sadder side of lite. that of pain and suffering,-so that a mand capable of great self-control and a heart responsive and sympathetic are essen- tial attributes of him who would essay the
practice of the healing art. Thus when pro- fessional success is attained in any instance it may be taken as certain that such measures of success have been thoroughly merited. Dr. Lott is unquestionably the leading physician in his town and is one of the prominent mem- bers of the profession in the territory covered by northwestern Missouri and southwestern łowa.
lle is numbered among the native sous of this state. his birth having occurred in Clinton county, on the 4th of July. 1858. His father. Fountain Pitt Lott, was born near Frankfort, Kentucky, March 25, 1828, and was of Welsh, Irish and Scotch lineage, his ancestors having come to America in colonial days and taken up their abode in Kentucky at an early period in the development of that commonwealth. Fountain P. Lott was united in marriage to Elizabeth New- man, also a member of a prominent Ken- tucky family. She was the daughter of William Newman, and when three years of age was brought to Missouri, where she grew to womanhood and acquired her education. Her death occurred October 3. 1878, and the Doctor's father is still living and enjoying good health. In the family were five chil- dren: W. R .. a farmer of Dale township. Atchison county: Ellen, who was the wife of Rev. J. E. Petty and died in 1888: G. W., of this review : Mary, the wife of V. B. Har- ris, of Tarkio, Missouri; and W. B. a teach- er in Blanchard, lowa.
Dr. Lott spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the county of his nativity and in the public schools acquired his primary education, which was supplemented by study in the Northwestern Missouri State Normal, at Kirksville. Later he matriculated in the State University at Columbia, Missouri, and progressed so rapidly in his studies that
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at the age of eighteen he was engaged in teaching, a profession which he successfully followed in Atchison county for nineteen terms. At length he determined to devote his time and energies to the practice of med-
1 icine and began study in Fairfax, Missouri, in 1881, in the office and under the direction of Drs. Hunter and Butler, with whom he remained until his admission to the medical department of the State University of Iowa, in the fall of 1882. He was graduated in that institution in 1889 and' since that time has continuously devoted his energies to the practice of the healing art. He is very care- ful and exact in diagnosing disease, never exaggerating its importance, and is very ac- curate in foretelling complications and re- sults. He keeps thoroughly in touch with the progress that is being made by the medical fraternity, and no new discovery in medical science is allowed to escape his attention. His labors have been attended' with a high degree of success, both from a professional and financial standpoint, and the fraternity as well as the public accord him prestige as a medical practitioner. He has been made United States pension examiner and effi- ciently performs the duties of that office.
In 1886 Dr. Lott was united in marriage to Miss Loah Biggerstaff, the accomplished daughter of R. J. and Jennie ( Wilson) Big- gerstaff, the former a well known merchant of Blanchard, Iowa, and the latter connected with a prominent family of Clinton county, Missouri. Mrs. Lott was born December 13, 1861, and is a graduate of an Iowa col- lege. Their marriage has been blessed with one child, Georgia Loah, whose birth oc- curred March 22, 1896. The Doctor and his wife have many warm friends in the com- munity and enjoy the hospitality of many of the best homes in this section of the state. 36
In his political views the Doctor is an ar- dent Republican and works untiringly for the interests of his party. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, taking an active part in its work and doing all in their power for its growth and promotion. He enjoys the confidence and' good will of the residents of this entire section of the country, both as a citizen and as an able physician and sur- geon, and is spoken of as one of the most prominent and representative men in the community.
ALEXANDER C. LAUGHLIN.
Alexander C. Laughlin, one of the early settlers of Nodaway county and a prominent citizen of Washington township, is a native of Jefferson county, Iowa, and was born February 12, 1844. He is a son of David and Deborah ( Wilson) Laughlin, who were of Scotch-Irish descent. They were born and reared in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. David Laughlin's brothers and sisters were Isabel, Hugh, Rebecca, and Mary. David was reared in Pennsylvania, but when a young man went to Iowa, and in 1842, after his marriage, entered some land, which he began to cultivate. He was a plain, honest farmer and' was well known in the commit- nity. Politically he was a member of the Republican party, but never sought office, He died December 17, 1883, in Jefferson county, lowa. His wife still survives him, living on the old homestead. She was a daughter of Alexander and Margaret Wil- son, who in 1840 went from Pennsylvania to Iowa, where he died in 1865, at the age of ninety years; and Margaret died January 18, 1880, aged ninety-six years and sixteen
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days. Ile was a Democrat and later a Re- publican and represented his county in the legislature. His children were Mary, Caro- line, Alexander. Ilugh, Elizabeth, Sarah, and Deborah, the mother of our subject. David Laughlin and his wife had six children. namely : Margaret A .: Alex. C., the subject of this sketch; John T., living on the old homestead; Sarah E., the wife of .A. R. Beale: Mary C., wife of William D. Wilson : and Hugh M., of Van Buren county, lowa.
Alex. C. Laughlin, whose name appears at the opening of this biography, was edu- acted in the common schools of his native county. He remained at home until Jan- uary 4. 1864. when he enlisted in Company F. Third Regiment, lowa Cavalry. John W. Noble was in command and the cavalry was consigned to the western department. Ile was on the raid after General Price in southern Missouri and took part in many hotly contested fights in Arkansas, Kansas, Indian Teritory, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala- bama and Mississippi. Ile luckily escaped injury of any kind. Hle was at the surren- der of Macon, Georgia, and from there was sent to Augusta, that state, thence to Atlan- ta and at last to Davenport, Iowa, where he Was mustered out and received an honorable discharge.
On the roth of August, 1865, Mr. Laughlin returned to fowa, where he worked on his father's farm until 1869. In that year. after his marriage, he moved to Missouri, locating in Nodaway county. The country was then wild prairie and there were few settlers. He bought one hundred and twenty acres of lang four miles from the nearest neighborhood on the north, and after build- ng asmall beuse he began a life of farming. lle gave his entire attention to the raising i farm products and feeding hogy and cat
tte, of which he had a large number. He now has two hundred and forty acres of highly cultivated land, on which there is a large house and commodious outbuildings. Hc has always made enough money to keep his family in comfort and is conceded to be one of the prosperous farmers of the county. Po- litically Mr. Laughlin is a Republican. He served four years as assessor and as justice of the peace for fourteen years.
On the 30th of January. 1868, Mr. Laughlin married Sarah E. Pearson, who was born in Allen county, Indiana. May 20. 1851, a daughter of Sampson Pearson. The latter was a native of Ohio but moved to Indiana and then to lowa, where he carried on farming. After his family scattered he made his home with his son in Gentry county. Missouri, where he died, January 5. 1898, aged eighty-eight years. His children were : Mary E., the wife of A. Taylor: Silas; Young S .; Henry; Rachel; John ; Sarah E., the wife of our subject; and Anna. Mr. Laughlin had six children by his first wife: Ada E., the eldest, was born in Jefferson county, lowa, January 30, 1868, and is now the wife of J. W. Barkley, their home being in St. Joseph, Missouri; Mary E., born in Nodaway county, May 15, 1871, is the wife of W. F. Shaw; Alexander P., born in Noda- way county. September 12, 1875, is the next of the family; John D. was born in Nod'a- way county, January 2, 1878; El W. was born July 12, 1880, in the same county ; and Albert W., born in Nodaway county. Jan- uary 11. 1884. is now in Colorado. Mrs. Laughlin, their mother, was a consistent Methodist and died in the faith of that church May 26, 1887. Mr. Laughlin was again married, March 1, 1891, his second union being with Miss Gillie 1. Shepherd. She was born in Missouri, May 18, 1858, a
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
daughter of Nimrod Shepherd, a native of Virginia, who settled in Nodaway county, Missouri, in early life. IIe also lived some time in Andrew county. He entered the Con- federate army in 1861 and died while in ser- vice. His children were : William E., a Mis- souri blacksmith; Martha; Mary; Gillie, the wife of our subject; Cordelia Ann, the wife of James P. Green; Frank, a farmer; and Clayburn, a farmer. Mrs. Shepherd married A. R. Bowles, a capenter and farmer, who died in this state. She died September 8, 1891. She had one child by the second union, Ada F., who married J. M. Hall, a farmer and teacher of Gentry county, Mis- souri.
Mr. Laughlin is a member of the I. O. O. F., and of Marion Post, No. 119, G. A. R., of Stanberry, Missouri. He and his wife have five children : Harvey W., born Decem- ber 20. 1891 ; Virgil F., November 20, 1893; Russell C., July 10, 1895; Getha I., June 18, 1897; and Marvin E., October 29, 1898.
DOCTOR F. BAILEY.
Doctor Franklin Bailey, the assessor and township clerk of Lincoln township, Noda- way county, and one of the well known, pop- ular and' reliable men of the county, was born in Buchanan county, this state, Octo- ber 23, 1859, a son of James and Mary A. (Cravens ) Bailey. Joel Bailey, the grand- father of our subject, was born in North Carolina, where he married Nancy Curley, a daugliter of Larkin Curley, who was a Tory during the Revolutionary war. Joel and Nancy Bailey had ten children,-seven sons and three daughters. Three of the children died young. Mrs. Bailey died in Andrew county, Missouri, at the age of fifty- six years, and her husband died in Leaven-
worth county, Kansas, at the advanced age of eighty years: James M. Bailey, the father of our subject, was born in McDowell county, North Carolina, April 1, 1837. He was a farmer by occupation, and came to Nodaway county in 1850. He enlisted on the Union side, in Company K, Thirty-sixth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, under Captain John Grigsby, and saw much hard service for six years. After receiving an honorable discharge, he returned to Nodaway county, where he engaged in farming. Ile was mar- ried, in 1858, to Mary A. Cravens, a native of Missouri. They had seven children, namely: D. F., the subject of this sketch; Nancy Caroline; Jerry S., of Sterling, Ne- braska; Elisha K .; William T., who enlisted at Fort Omaha, Nebraska, September 14, 1883, in Company H, Fourth United States Infantry, and served continuously in that Company until February 22, 1898, re-enlist- ing March 18, 1898, in Company K, Sixth United States Infantry, and was a member of that company at the time of his death, which occurred in a hospital in Manila, Phil- ippine Islands, June 14, 1900, having an army record of nearly seventeen years; Eli- jah T. and Mary J., of Cameron, Nebraska. Mrs. Bailey died in 1873, and Mr. Bailey afterward married Matilda Jones, of Leaven- worth county, Kansas, and they were the parents of six children, namely: Larkin, Ida, Edward, Ora, Sally and Benjamin. Mr. Bailey is a member of the Republican party, and of Elmo Post, No. 162, G. A. R. D. F. Bailey, whose name heads this sketch, lias lived in Buchanan, Nod'away and Atchison counties, Missouri, and also in Leavenworth county, Kansas. Ile learned farming and received his education in these places. Ilis father taught him two things to be followed through life, honesty and in-
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dustry, and he has followed these teachings throughout his whole career. His practi- cal business education was increased by read- ing and observation. In 1883 he married Medora E. Spencer, who was born and reared in Nodaway county. She was a daughter of Thomas Spencer, a soldier in the Civil war, who was killed at Blue Mills. lle left a wife and two children .- our sub- ject's wife, and her sister Elizabeth, who married John Bailey of this township. Mr -. Margaret Spencer, the widow, was a daughter of Joseph Hudson, one of the first settlers of Kentucky, who came to this coun- ty in 1847, and she married for her second Inhand a Mr. Ramsey, of this township. Mr. Bailey and his wife had two children. namely : E. Lewis and James Thomas. Mrs. Baley diet November 1, 1899, and her death caused much regret in the community, a, she was a kind and loving woman who had many friends.
Mr. Bailey has a good farm of eighty acres, which he keeps in excellent condition. He votes with the Republican party and has been a delegate to several of the county con- He has also served as a member of the school board. He is a member of the Sons of Veterans, and also of the Pyra- 111 |> Order of Woodmen, Nebraska. Mr. Baly has won memy friends In his frank, gena manner.
LYSANDER D. RAMSAY.
Vtv để hogy he sind of the legal I ically, o funnet be denied that members the bay Site les affre prominent actor- to point of another class of the je mehr The - but the natural re- ullacon nosere muntest and require 1 e ability and training
which qualify one to practice law also qualify him in many respects for duties which lie out- side the sphere of his profession and which touch the general interest of society. The subject of this record is a man who has brought his keen discrimination and thor- ough wisdom to bear not alone in profession- al paths but also to the benefit of the city which has so long been his home and with whose interests he has been thoroughly iden- tified. He holds and merits a place among the representative legal practitioners and cit- izens of Atchison county; and the story of his life, while not filled with dramatic epi- sodes, is such a one as offers typical example of that alert American spirit which has ena- bled many an individual torisefromobscurity to a position of influence and renown solely through native talent, indomitable persever- ance and singleness of purpose. In mak- ing the record of such a life contemporary biography exercises its most consistent and important function.
Lysander Davis Ramsay was born in Andrew county, Missouri, April 4. 1840. Ilis father. Lockwood L. Ramsay, was a na- tive of St. Louis, Missouri, and died on Lake Tahoe, in Eldorado county, California, in 1872. His mother bore the maiden name of Jane Fenton and was born in Boone county, Missouri, while her death occurred in Indian Territory, in 1867. Their sur- viving children are: Mrs. Martha W. Elledge: Mrs. Susan F. Cox. of Wakeeney. Kansas: Anthony W., of Bijou, California L. D., of this review: John L., of Cheyenne Wells, Colorado: and Judge W. W. Ramsay. of Maryville, Missouri, who has been the judge of the Kansas City court of appeals. state committeeman of the Democratic cen- tral committee and a member of the St. Jo- soph Asylum Board.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Lysander D. Ramsay spent his youth in | Ramsay and Sarah E., a daughter of George his parents' home, and between the years R. Ramsay. Although they both bore the same name there was no relationship between them. The children of the marriage are: Edward, a teacher of Nodaway county; Frederick A., who is in the auditor's office of the Burlington Railway Company; Jessie, who is engaged in teaching; Otto A., who resides in Rockport: Bessie, who is also a teacher; Ledora, Charles, Thomas and Mary C. 1865 and 1870 was a resident either of Ne- braska City, Nebraska, or of Hamburg, Iowa. In the latter year he located in Noda- way county, Missouri, and for ten years was identified with its educational interests as a teacher in the public schools. Having ac- quired a liberal education he decided to enter upon professional life and chose the law as best suited to his tastes and ability. While teaching he carefully read many of the text- In politics Mr. Ramsay is well known as a Democrat and has wielded wide influence in campaign work in Atchison and adjacent counties. For eight years he was the chair- man of the Democratic county central com- mittee, for four years was a member of the congressional committee and for six years a member of the judiciary committee. He was a delegate to the national Democratic convention in 1900, and at all times he has given liis earnest support to all legitimate measures and movements toward securing the adoption of Democratic principles. Hle has served for two years as prosecuting at- torney and was postmaster at Rockport during President Cleveland's second admin- istration. As a result of his capable service il; that capacity he was invited to engineer the establishment of the first rural delivery in Atchison county and accomplished that work in a most speedy time and capable manner. He is one who ever places the country's good before party and subjugates self-aggrandizement to the welfare of the community which he represents. books on law and thus prepared himself for the bar. He was admitted by Judge Kelly in 1874, and at once began practice. He has been prominently connected with much of the civil and criminal litigation of the county. He has defended sixteen men charged with murder of the first degree and secured the acquittal of fifteen of them. while the other escaped from jail, pending Jus bail. He prosecuted two men for mur- der in the first degree, convicted both and both broke jail. One made good his escape. while the other was killed when the officers were attempting to recapture him. For twenty years Mr. Ramsay was a law part- ner of the Hon. John P. Lewis, of Rockport. and a stronger or more successful law firm never entered a case in the Atchison county courts. The relation that was maintained between them throughout the years of their connection was most amiable and productive of the strongest attachment each for the other. During those years there was never a settlement, a disagreement.or an unpleas- ant feature in their personal relations, and Mr. Ramsay says that if he possessed a for- tune at his death he would be content to T. N. KELLEY. designate his late partner as his executor without bond.
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