USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 49
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discharge from the service, he returned home and continued as a general farmer until his death, when, at the age of forty-eight years, he acei- dentally shot himself. He married Julia Blankinship. who was born in Virginia seventy-eight years ago, and is now living in Barry county. Missouri, an esteemed and respected resident of her community. Of their union fifteen children were born, eight sons and seven daughters. He was a steadfast Republican in politics, and a very active member of the Baptist church, often times serving as a minister.
Brought up on the home farm in Barry county, Missouri, T. K. MeKinney acquired a practical education in the public schools, and as a young man learned the trade of a blacksmith. He subsequently spent five years on the river, either as a raftsman or a pilot, afterwards turn- ing his attention to the free and independent occupation to which he was reared. Eight years ago, in 1903, Mr. Mckinney came to Jasper county, where, with the exception of two years that he spent in Cali- fornia, from 1905 until 1907, he has since resided. He has a highly productive farm of thirty-three acres. well fenced. with a beautiful residence and good barn and outbuildings, it being an ideal rural home, the lawn surrounding the house being ornamented with shrubs and flowers, and shaded by magnificent oak trees. Mr. MeKinney makes a specialty of stock raising. having some good road horses, and keep- ing thoroughbred swine, including Duroe-Jerseys and Poland Chinas. Five aeres of his land he devotes to the culture of strawberries, which vield him a good income each season.
Mr. MeKinney married first, July 13, 1879, Elizabeth Roberts, who was born in MeMinn county, Tennessee, and died in 1897, at the early age of thirty-four years. She was held in high esteem as a woman of noble character, and was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the four children born of their union, three are living, namely : Guy Early. Elvie and Ellen, twins, who are married and living in California. Mr. Mckinney married, in 1903, Mrs. Minnie (West) Borger, widow of Philip Borger, who died in 1894, leaving his widow with four children, Asa, Wilma, Lester and Lorena. Mr. and Mrs. McKinney have one child, Thelma. Mr. Mckinney is a man of fine personal character, with exemplary habits, and is actively interested in the advancement of educational matters, and is a valued member of the Baptist church. Mrs. McKinney is equally devout in religion, be- longing to the Christian church.
ROBERT HENRY SHELTON .- Among the venerable and highly esteemed citizens of Jasper county must be numbered Robert Henry Shelton, a retired farmer, now residing at Avilla. Although a native of Ken- tucky, he has been identified with the county for thirty-five years and has ever proved very loyal to its interests. He is widely known in the locality and enjoys the respect of his neighbors. Mr. Shelton was born September 22, 1838, in Russellville, Logan county, Kentucky, the son of Mayberry and Elizabeth (Henry) Shelton, natives of the Blue Grass state. and grand-son of Hall and Elizabeth Shelton. Ilis maternal grand-parents were Robert and Naney Henry, the grandfather was born in Scotland and his wife in Ireland, of Scotch ancestry. He grew to manhood on a farm in his native county and there acquired those habits of industry and thrift which were later to stand him in good stead. He had the misfortune to be bereft of his mother's care when a child and his father died in 1862, when he was a young man. He was the oldest of two children born to his mother. His brother Ashur lives in Washington county, Illinois. The following children were born of
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the second marriage of the father: Charles, Jane, Nancy, Lewis, Parena, Martha, Alice and George.
In the year 1853 Mr. Shelton removed to the state of Illinois with his father, and the residence there was of one year duration. He then returned to Illinois and lived there till 1875, when he returned to Missouri and located in McDonald township, Jasper county. For sev- eral years he farmed on rented land, but in 1884, being favorably im- pressed with the charms and advantages of this section, he purchased one hundred and twenty-two acres on White Oak Creek, making the purchase of D. R. Milton. Here he resided throughout the remainder of his active agricultural career, and in 1905 retired, leaving his son, Henry Shelton, in charge of the farm. In the year mentioned he re- moved to La Russell and there erected a handsome residence, but in May, 1911, he disposed of the same and took up his home in Avilla, where he purposes to reside permanently. His home is situated upon an aere and a fourth of desirable ground and this tiny farm Mr. Shel- ton finds mueh pleasure in bringing to the highest state of cultivation.
Mr. Shelton was married on the 26th day of March, 1861, the young woman to become his wife and helpmeet being Miss Susan Neighbors. daughter of Joel and Mary (Stanley) Neighbors, and granddaughter of John and Elizabeth (IIolcomb) Neighbors. John Holcomb, Mrs. Shel- ton's great-grandfather, was one of the first settlers of the territory of Illinois and assisted in laying out the town of Belleville. Joel Neigh- bors was a native of Virginia and his wife of Kentucky. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Shelton was blessed by the birth of five sons and three daughters, as follows: Monroe, born July 6, 1862, died in 1884; Gilum, born August 24, 1865; Dellah, born April 23, 1868; Emma, born Jan- uary 1, 1870; Harry, born February 23, 1873; Robert, born November 4, 1875: Hattie, born October 4, 1877; and Henry, born December 27, 1879. The family are affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church of LaRussell and are valued members of the congregation. The head of the house is a member of the Masonic order and exemplifies in his living the principles of moral and social justice and brotherly love of the great fraternity.
ELIZABETH L. HALL, M. D .- Dr. Hall is the only woman practicing medicine in the city of Carthage, and there is no woman in the state who has practiced as long as she has. The time has passed when a man must necessarily, because of his sex, be a better qualified physician than a woman. Some years ago people chose a third rate man rather than a first rate woman when in need of professional services of any kind, but time has shown that a woman can be every bit as good a practi- tioner as a man ; now a man or a woman stands or falls each on his own merit. This condition has been established by slow degrees; prejudice has died a slow, lingering death, for he was strong, born of custom and tradition. The woman physician is here and will stay here.
Dr. HIall was born in Salem county, New Jersey. Her father, Mor- ris Hall, was also born there, in 1826. The HIall family is one of the oldest in the United States; since 1665 they have lived in New Jer- sey, where they are well known and respected. Morris Hall was a large manufacturer of oilcloth in Salem county ; he had originated and operated a company there. Mr. HIall came with his family to Carthage in the early nineties and stayed here until the time of his death, in 1910, at the age of eighty-four. Mrs. Morris Hall's maiden name was Rebecca Barnes. She too, was born in Salem county, in 1833. Her birth was equal in descent to that of her husband, as she could trace her lineage
1
MCKAY FAMILY
READING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, T. J. THAXTON, R. A. MCKAY, SUSAN MCKAY, W. A. HAFFORD SITTING, JOHN MCKAY, BARBARA J. (MCKAY) HAFFORD, MRS. HARRIET C. MCKAY GRANDCHILDREN, THELMA HAFFORD, NELLIE HAFFORD, JUNIATA MCKAY, HAROLD HAFFORD
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as far back as could Mr. Hall. She is still living (1911) and is now seventy-nine years old.
Elizabeth Hall's education was liberal; she attended the public schools and was also sent to private schools. After her general educa- tion was completed she decided to study medicine. At that time there was no woman practicing medicine in the county and but few in all the United States. She was violently opposed in her desires. She was told that the practice of medicine was unwomanly, that she would never succeed and a thousand other objections were urged. She, with the quiet determination which has always been her characteristic, put aside all objections and began the study of medicine at the Woman's Medical College, Philadelphia. She was graduated from this college in 1892 and received her degree of M. D. She spent a year in the hospi- tals of Boston and Philadelphia, after which she came to Carthage and commenced her life work in 1893. At first her practice was very small, but by patience and perseverance she won the recognition that her abilities merited. Now she is an acknowledged power in the profes- sional world of Carthage. She is a progressive woman, not content merely to accept the old, tried methods of curing diseases, but is always looking for further and more advanced methods. She is a member of the County Medical Association, of the State Medical Association and of the National Medical Society. She is also a member of the local Medical Club. She is a daughter of the American Revolution and a member of the Cosmos Club of Carthage. She is as regular an at- tendant at the First Presbyterian church as her professional duties will allow. An appeal to her to assist in any of the undertakings of this church is sure to meet with her hearty support and cooperation. Dr. Hall is a woman of refinement and broad culture. Her interests are varied. Her intellectual attainments equal those of a man, but they have not been gained at the expense of her womanliness. In all the county there is no better physician than Dr. Hall, nor is there a more womanly woman.
JOHN CRAIG MCKAY .- The Scotch type is one which has found many representatives in the New World and it has assuredly contributed its quota toward the onward movement of progress. In short, America owes much to the Scotch stock and has honored and been honored by many noble men and women of this extraction. As his name indicates, the subject of this brief record is a son of Caledonia and he exemplifies in himself those rugged, noble characteristics which have served to "Make her loved at home, revered abroad."
The ancestry as far as known was pure Scotch. His paternal great- grandfather was a Highlander and was a man of splendid physique, standing six feet six inches in his stocking feet. The maternal great- grandmother lived to the age of one hundred years and six months. She was blind for a time but received her second sight.
Mr. McKay is entitled to particular honor as a veteran of the Civil war. For some years he has been identified with the agricultural pros- perity and enterprise of this section of the state and he is especially well known among his brethren of the great basic industry as a breeder of fine saddle and driving horses and of registered Short Horn cattle and Poland China hogs.
Mr. Mckay was born January 23, 1842, in Mantrap, Scotland, the son of Peter and Barbara McKay, the former a blacksmith by trade. In 1855 the family came to America and settled first in Illinois, where the father followed his trade. About six years after the arrival of the fam- ily occurred the outbreak of the Civil war and both father and son en-
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listed in defense of the integrity of the adopted country they had come to love as their own. The father served three years and the son, as he himself facetiously puts it, was in the service of the Union for three years, three months, three days, three hours, three minutes, and three seconds. The latter was a member of Company H, Fifth Illinois Volun- teer Cavalry and saw some of the most important action of the war. He was a scout in the Southwest, served at the siege of Vicksburg and saw considerable service in Arkansas, Missouri, and the Mississippi River region. At the close of the war Mr. MeKay returned to Illinois and followed agricultural occupations until 1868, but in that year he came to Missouri and located in Jasper county. He is the possessor of one hundred acres located in McDonald township and he is known over a wide area as a breeder of fine saddle and driving horses, and also of regis- tered Short Horn cattle and registered Poland China hogs. He has in- creased his original tract of forty acres from time to time and has met with the utmost success in his undertakings. His farm is situated two and a quarter miles east of Avilla.
On the 18th day of June, 1867, Mr. MeKay laid the foundation of a happy married life by his union with Mrs. Harriet (Rice) Thaxton, a widow, daughter of Jeremiah and Massah (Bandy) Rice, whose native state was Tennessee. They have two children living: Barbara J., born April, 1868, the wife of W. A. Hafford, and Robert A., born in Novem- ber, 1870. Mrs. MeKay first married Jasper Thaxton, who was a native of Illinois. He served in the One Hundred and Eleventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and lost his life in charging Fort McAlester. She had two children by her first marriage, Delilah and Thomas J., but Delilah, who married J. W. Gulich, is now deceased. Mr. Mckay has numerous fraternal relations, these extending to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Grand Army of the Republic ; the A. H. T. A., and both Mr. and Mrs. MeKay are members of the Daughters of the Re- bekah.
Mr. MeKay, after a life of industry and usefulness, is now living in the village of Avilla, retired from the more strenuous occupations of his calling, with well-earned leisure to enjoy the finer things of life.
WILLIAM H. DUDMAN .- Conspicuous among the Jasper county men who are actively and prosperously engaged in the prosecution of a call- ing upon which the maintenance of our great nation so largely depends is W. II. Dudman, of Union township, whose well-kept farm lies in sec- tion 32. nine miles southeast of Carthage. ITe has two hundred and forty-five acres of choice land, on which .he has a tasteful and con- venient residence, a good barn, and all, the outbuildings and machinery necessarily required by an up-to-date modern agriculturist. Coming from English ancestry, he was born in Clay county, Illinois. June 27. 1863, during the troublous times of the Civil War.
His father, William Dudman, was born, in 1818. in England, and there while young learned the trade of a gunsmith. Immigrating to the United States with his family. he lived for a number of years in Clay county. Illinois. After the close of the war he made another move westward, journeying across the land with a train of prairie schooners to Newton county, Missouri, bringing with him thirty mules and other stock. Subsequently coming to Jasper county, he improved a large farm in Union township, and was successfully employed in cultivating the soil and raising stock for many years, living on his farm until his death, at the venerable age of eighty-nine years.
William Dudman was twice married. He married first a Miss Beatty, who bore him eight children. He married for his second wife
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Eliza Sims, who was born in Indiana, and they became the parents of four children, namely: Mrs. Sarah Medelico, of Enid, Oklahoma; Mrs. Sedonia Ilaggard, deceased: William H., with whom this sketch is chiefly concerned ; and U. Grant, living on the parental homestead.
Accustomed to out-door employment and amusements from his youth up. W. H. Dudman developed a magnificent physique, being six feet in height and weighing two hundred and twenty-five pounds. Acquir- ing a substantial knowledge of the common branches of study in the district schools, he remained at home until attaining his majority, in the meantime forming an intimate acquaintance with the art and science of agriculture. Being then presented by his father with a deed to eighty acres of land in section 32, Union township, he started in life for him- self, and as a general farmer and stock raiser has met with genuine success. Accumulating money in his operations, he wisely invested in adjoining land, and has now two hundred and forty-five acres of up- land and low land on Center Creek, his farm, being one of the best in regard to its improvements and appointments of any in the township. He has a conveniently arranged six-room house, surrounded by , shade and ornamental trees, a stock and hay barn, thirty-six feet by forty feet. a good granary, and large windmill for pumping water for his stock. Mr. Dudman carries on mixed husbandry on an extensive scale, raising grain, cattle, horses, sheep, mules and hogs, having for many years been an important factor in developing the industrial interests of the community.
Mr. Dudman married, at the age of twenty-two years, Anna Crouse, who was born and educated in Ohio, being a daughter of William and Susan (Baker) Crouse, both of whom spent their last years in the state of Washington. Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dudman, including: Mrs. Edna Davis, of Reeds. Missouri, who before her marriage was a successful school teacher; Lida, who has taught school most successfully in Union township for the past four years; Delbert Dova : Norman ; Alpha ; Joyce and Celestine.
In his political relations Mr. Dudman is a sound Republican. Fra- ternally he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, and religiously he and Mrs. Dudman are both members of the Presbyterian church, in which he has served as deacon.
EVAN S. BUCK .- An honored veteran of the Civil war and at present one of the substantial and influential agriculturists of McDonald town- ship, Jasper county, Missouri, Evan S. Buek was born in this county, the date of his nativity being the 15th of November, 1844. He is a son of Thomas and Sarah (Shelby ) Buck, both of whom were born and reared in the fine old state of Indiana. The paternal grandfather of him whose name forms the caption for this article was born in Ohio. The Buck family came to Missouri in the year 1841 and were pioneer farmers in Jasper county, the father entering a tract of land on White Oak Creek, which he later exchanged for an adjoining tract of one hundred and sixty acres. He spent the remainder of his active career in improving his land and in general farming and he was summoned to the life eternal in the year 1882. His wife, who survived him by about five years, passed to the great beyond in 1887. They were the parents of six children and of the number five are living at the present time, in 1911. At the time of the inception of the Civil war the father became an ardent sym- pathizer with the north and he served as a gallant and faithful soldier in the Fifteenth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, in which his son, Evan, likewise served. His son William was killed by Bushwhackers near Jop- lin, and at the time the father and son Evan were fighting side by side.
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E. S. Buck, of this notice, received his rudimentary educational train- ing in the public schools of Jasper county and at the age of seventeen years, in November, 1862, he enlisted for service in Company A, Twenty- fifth Missouri Regiment, under command of Colonel Phelps, in the Union army. After the expiration of his first term of enlistment he became a member of Company C, in Colonel Allen's regiment. He saw a great deal of active service in Missouri, fighting guerrillas and bushwhackers. Among other prominent engagements in which he participated was the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. He received his honorable discharge and was mustered out of service in June, 1865, at Springfield, and immed- iately after the close of the war he returned to Jasper county, where he eventually turned his time and attention to farming. Purchasing a tract of thirty-three acres of land in McDonald township, he set about im- proving his estate, gradually adding to the original farm until he is now the owner of one hundred and twenty-six aeres, all of which is in a high state of cultivation. In addition to diversified agriculture he devotes a great deal of time to the raising of thoroughbred stock and along both those lines of enterprise he has met with remarkable success, being rec- ognized as one of the prominent and influential citizens and business men of this part of the county.
In Lawrence county, Missouri, in the year 1870, Mr. Buck was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Cherry, who was born and reared in the state of Missouri and who was a daughter of James and Rachel (Tolliver) Cherry, both natives of Tennessee. From Tennessee the father came to Missouri and was one of the first settlers of Lawrence county. He was en- gaged in farming operations during the remainder of his life time. Mrs. Buek was the fifth in order of birth in a family of nine children and she was summoned to the life eternal in the year 1904, at which time her loss was uniformly mourned throughout this entire community. Mr. and Mrs. Buek became the parents of three children : James T., Robert and Nona. James T. Buek, whose birth occurred in June, 1873, was married, on the 21st of June, 1899, to Miss Elsie Fagan, a daughter of George and Rachel Fagan, of Illinois. Mrs. Fagan died in Missouri in 1897 and Mr. Fagan passed away at Parsons, Kansas, in 1905. Following are the names and respective dates of birth of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. James T. Buck,-Thelma, June 9, 1902; Wilma, December 8, 1905; and Willis, October 12, 1907. James T. Buck is engaged in farming. Robert Buck, born in 1871, married Hattie Davis and has six children, Dewey, Isabel, Evan, Jessie, Jason and Letha.
In politics E. S. Buek is a staneh advocate of the cause of the Repub- lican party, and, while he has never shown aught of desire for public office of any description, he is ever ready to give of his aid and influence . in support of all measures and enterprises projected for the good of the general welfare. He retains a deep and abiding interest in his old com- rades in arms and signifies the same by membership in Avilla Post, No. 20, Grand Army of the Republic. IIe is also affiliated with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in their religious faith the family are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JOHN G. LEIDY .- Noteworthy for his good citizenship and his many sterling qualities of heart and mind, John G. Leidy holds an assured position among the respected residents of Carthage, where he is living retired from active pursuits, enjoying to the utmost his well-earned leisure from business cares. A Pennsylvanian by birth, he was born near Danville, Columbia county, July 6, 1840.
James Leidy, his father, a native of Pennsylvania, moved to Lee county, Illinois, in 1856, and was there employed in tilling the soil
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until his death, in 1881. He was an active supporter of the Demo- cratic party, and a consistent member of the Presbyterian church. He married Desire Girton, who was born in Pennsylvania, and there spent her entire life, passing away in 1842. She left three children, two daughters, Mary Jane and Annie, and one son, John G.
In 1862 John G. Leidy, promptly responding to President Lincoln's call for "three hundred thousand more," enlisted, in Lee county, Illinois, in Company H, Seventy-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Captain John G. Price and Colonel George Ryan, and with his com- rades went first to Camp Dement, thence to Louisville, Kentucky. Eleven days after leaving camp his regiment was under fire at Perry- ville, Kentucky, where his company lost seven men, while twenty more were seriously wounded. The regiment was assigned to the Twentieth Army Corps, First Brigade, First Division, and later in the Fourth corps of the Third Brigade, First Division, and served under Generals Rose- crans and Thomas, taking part in many battles, including the engage- ments at Franklin, Tennessee, and at Nashville, and following Hood's men across the river into Huntsville, Alabama. On June 12, 1865, Mr. Leidy was honorably discharged from the service, and returned to his home in Lee county, Illinois. Going to Adair county, Iowa, in 1867, he lived near Greenfield three years, and then went back to his Illinois home. Coming to Jasper county, Missouri, in the fall of 1881, Mr. Leidy located northwest of Carthage, and having purchased land was busily and profitably engaged in its improvement until 1905, as a general farmer and stock raiser meeting with eminent success. Since that time he has resided in Carthage, where he has an attractive home.
Mr. Leidy married, in Lee county, Illinois, in 1865, Nettie Beach, who was born in Delaware county, Ohio, and was there bred and edu- cated. Her father, Melville Beach, a native of New Jersey, moved first to Ohio, from there moving to Lee county, Illinois, where he continued a resident until his death, in 1881. He was a fine man, and a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church. The maiden name of the wife of Mr. Beach was Nancy Wilson. She was born in Ohio, and there died in early life, leaving two children, Nancy, and a son, James C. Beach, who served as a soldier in the Civil War, belonging to the Fourth Illinois Cavalry. Three sons and three daughters have blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Leidy, namely : James A., of Cumberland county, Virginia ; Agnes, wife of C. C. Smith, of Carthage; Fred B., of Marion township, Jasper county; Frances B., a stenographer in Chi- cago; Charles G., of Denver, Colorado; and Helen May, wife of G. D. Smith, of Lockwood, Missouri. Independent in his political views, Mr. Leidy votes for the best men and measures regardless of party prejudice. Socially he belongs to Stanton Post, No. 16, G. A. R. Mrs. Leidy is universally respected for her many admirable qualities, and is a con- scientious member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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