USA > Missouri > Jasper County > A history of Jasper County, Missouri, and its people, Vol. II > Part 58
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Mr. and Mrs. Ritchhart are the parents of four children, namely : Pearl Floyd, Cecil Edith, Ethel Grace and Clarence Heber. One child died in infancy, its death breaking the first link in the family circle. Mr. and Mrs. Ritchhart and daughter Edith are members of the Pres- byterian church, and Mrs. Ritehhart is a member also of the W. C. T. U.
CHARLES W. KYLE .- The substantial and prosperous agrieulturists of Madison township have no better representative than Charles W. Kyle. whose well improved and well managed estate, Grove Land, is pleasantly located in section 28, and, with its excellent improvements, gives ample evidence to the passer-by of his skill and good taste as a practical farmer and a rural householder. A son of Levi Kyle, he was born September 29, 1845, in Frederick county, Virginia, the descend- ant of a family highly respected and esteemed.
Levi Kyle was born in Virginia, of English antecedents, and there spent his entire life being engaged in agricultural pursuits. One of his brothers, William Kyle, served in the Mexican war under General Winfield Scott. The maiden name of the wife of Levi Kyle was Mary Rogers; she survived him and died at the age of seventy-six years. Four sons and three daughters were born of their union, and of these two children are living, as follows: Charles W., the special subject of this brief sketch ; and Thomas, who has never left his old Virginia home.
Reared on the parental homestead, Charles W. Kyle was early in- itiated into the labors incidental to farm life, being taught to work by his parents, who also trained him to habits of honesty and thrift. He received his education in the primitive log school house of his day, with its puncheon floors, slab seats and huge fireplace. In the spring of 1872 Mr. Kyle responded to the lure of the West and came to Jasper county, Missouri, in search of land whose price should be within his means. Buying eighty aeres in Madison township, he at onee began its im- provement, building first a small frame house. Sneceeding well in his undertakings, he made subsequent investments in land, and has
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now two hundred and fifty acres of as rich and productive land as can be found in the county. His large ten-room house is surrounded by beautiful forest trees, shrubs and flowers, and is very attractive as regards its environments, a finely-bearing orchard being one of its «harms. Grove Land Farm is well fenced and under a good state of cultivation, and is well supplied with barns, sheds, yards, wind mills, and all necessary implements and machinery for carrying on farming after the most approved modern methods.
Mr. Kyle married, in 1872, Martha Feries, who was born in Vir- ginia. where her parents, Martin and Elizabeth Ann (Fulkerson) Feries, spent their entire lives. Her father was a Quaker in religion, while her mother was a devout member of the United Presbyterian Church. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kyle, namely : George, who is engaged in the grocery business at Carthage; Mrs. Daisy Raine, of Madison township; and Frank, also of Madison township. Mr. Kyle takes great interest in educational matters, and has rendered good serv- ice as a member of the local school board. Religiously he is a deacon in the Presbyterian church, to which Mrs. Kyle also belongs, and an active worker in denominational affairs.
WILLIAM G. WILLARD .- Eminently worthy of representation in this volume is William G. Willard, one of the leading agriculturists of Madison township, who is distinguished not only for his high stand- ing as a man and a citizen, but for his gallant service in the Civil war, in which he served through three terms of enlistment. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, June 7, 1841, the same year in which the birth of the late King Edward VII occurred. His father, John Presley Willard, who was of pure Scotch ancestry, was a life-long farmer of Pennsylvania, dying at the age of eighty-four years. He married Naney Gambell, who was born in Allegheny county, Pennsyl- vania, of Scotch stock, and died in her native state at the age of sixty- five years. Nine children, two sons and seven daughters, were born of their union.
Growing up on the home farm, William G. Willard was early taught to work, and in the public schools received a practical education. In 1862, soon after attaining his majority, he enlisted, at Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania, in Company G, One Hundred and Twenty-third Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Infantry, responding willingly to President Lincoln's call for sixty thousand more troops, given in August of that year. He served under Captain Boyce and Colonel John B. Clark, a minister of the United Presbyterian church whose voice could be heard above the roar of the battle. Honorably discharged in June, 1863, Mr. Willard returned home, and soon afterward went to Illinois, where he enlisted for a period of one hundred days in Company G, One Hundred and Fortieth Illinois Infantry, under command of Captain Turtleton and Colonel Whitney, and was stationed the greater part of the time at Memphis, Tennessee, or at Holly Springs, Mississippi, guarding rail- roads. Honorably discharged with his regiment in October, 1864, Mr. Willard went back to his old Pennsylvania home, and in March, 1865, enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania Vol- unteer Infantry, and was with his regiment at Appomattox Court House, where he witnessed the surrender of General Lee. Marching then with his comrades to Washington, D. C., he took part in the Grand Review, and was subsequently honorably discharged as orderly sergeant of his company. During his service in the army, Mr. Willard participated in several of the more important engagements of the conflict, includ- ing those at Antietam. Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He for-
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tunately escaped without a wound, although at one time, while he was on picket duty, a rebel bullet made its way through his coat, vest and shirt, but did not penetrate his flesh.
Coming from Illinois to Jasper county, Missouri, in 1898, Mr. Wil- lard bought his present estate, Cedar Hill Farm, which in point of improvements compares favorably with any in the neighborhood, and to the value of which he is constantly adding. The house is pleasantly located, and is surrounded by beautiful cedar and shade trees and beds of choice flowers. He has one barn thirty-two feet by fifty feet, and a newer one forty feet by fifty-six feet, and these, with the other necessary outbuildings, are models of comfort and convenience, evinc- ing in a marked manner the thrift and prosperity of the owner. In addition to cultivating the soil to good purpose, Mr. Willard also raises a fine lot of stock, his cattle and hogs being of a good standard grade.
Mr. Willard married, in Abingdon, Knox county, Illinois, Emma Streuble, who was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Adam Streuble, who was born in the same state, of German ancestry. Her father died in Illinois at the age of seventy-three years. Her mother, whose maiden name was Susan Shackler, now makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Willard. Both she and her husband united with the Presbyterian church in early life. Mrs. Streuble is now eighty-four years of age, and quite active for one of her years. She is the mother of six children, three sons and three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Willard are the parents of eight children, namely: William, in business in the West; Frank, an engineer on the Orient Railway, living at Fairview, Oklahoma ; Anna May, of Covington, Oregon; Mrs. Maud De Rosit, of Fair Play. Missouri : Leroy Miller; John; and Susie. Religiously Mr. Willard, true to the faith in which he was reared, belongs to the United Presbyterian church, while Mrs. Willard is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Socially Mr. Willard is a member of Stanton Post, G. A. R., of Carthage, Missouri. He is held in high esteem throughout the community, and his home is noted for its gen- nine hospitality, the latch string of the Cedar Hill farm house being ever out and its doors open to whoever comes, be he saint or sinner.
RILEY SHERRILL .- Noteworthy among the esteemed and valued citi- zens of Jasper county is Riley Sherill, of Madison township, who has been a tiller of the soil nearly all of his life, and still finds therein both profit and pleasure. He has never been satisfied with less than the best possible results in his agricultural labors, and as a natural consequence success has smiled upon his every effort. He was born in May, 1865, in Cedar county, Missouri, but has lived in several dif- ferent counties, always residing on a farm.
His father, Ephraim Sherrill, married Betty Willett, and they became the parents of three children, Thomas, William and Riley. He died in early life, and his widow married for her second husband Samp- son Swingle, of Union township, Jasper county, and to them four children were born.
Riley Sherrill was reared to habits of industry and economy, al- though not very much attention was paid to his education. his school life being limited to a few winter terms in the district schools. As a young man he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and for twenty-five years has been a resident of JJasper county. In 1897 he bought his present farm, which is located in Madison township, of Jesse Spencer, who had ocenpied it many years. Mr. Sherill has one hundred and twenty acres of well-improved land in this farm, one half of which is rich bottom land in the Spring river valley, and is prosperously en-
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gaged in general farming and stock raising. In addition he has twenty acres timber land. His house is admirably located on a high elevation of land, overlooking the valley and the surrounding country, and giv- ing to the estate its name of Over Look farm.
Mr. Sherrill married, at the age of twenty-one years. Emma Spencer, who was born, bred and educated in Jasper county, her parents having been early settlers of Union township. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sherrill, namely: IIelen, Rosa (who lived but six years) and Edward. The daughter Helen married Theodore Tallman. Mr. Sherrill is a Republican in politics, and has served as a member of the local school board. Fraternally he belongs to Green Grove Lodge, No. 208, A. H. T. A.
DAVID HENRY KISSEL .- A skilful and well-to-do agriculturist of Jas- per county, David II. Kissel owns and occupies the Hillsdale Farm. which is located on sections nine and ten, and from the thrifty appear- ance of the place it is evident that he takes pride in his business, his land being finely improved and under a good state of cultivation, and amply supplied with all the accessories of a first-class estate. This farm, long known as the Tom Irwin farm, was bought from Owen S. Wieks by Mr. Kissel in 1903, but he did not assume its possession until 1906. He is a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Crawford county, August 15, 1857.
Henry Kissel, Mr. Kissel's father, was born at Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio, of German ancestry, and spent his entire life of seventy- eight years in his native state. He was a man of versatile talents, in addition to carrying on general farming with good results, being a skillful mechanic, and he worked in the local car shops and as a car- penter. He was a man of high character, a Democrat in politics, and a member of the German Lutheran church, to which his wife also be- longed. He married Barbara Wert, who was born in Crawford county, Ohio, and there died at the age of seventy-four years. Six sons were born of their marriage, as follows: David Henry, George Lewis, Mar- tin Luther, John Melanthon, Charles Richard and Joseph Franklin.
Brought up on the home farm in Crawford county, Ohio, David H. Kissel obtained a practical common school education when young, and continued a member of the parental household until after attaining his majority. Going to Michigan in 1879, he spent a year in Hillsdale, and was subsequently actively and successfully engaged in tilling the soil in Ohio for a number of years. In 1900 he came with his family to Jasper county, and three years later, as mentioned above, bought the Tom Irwin farm, which he has occupied the past five years. Hillsdale Farm contains one hundred and twenty acres of rich and productive land, and has improvements of an excellent character, including a good house, surrounded by beautiful shade trees and shrubs, two barns, one of which was erected in 1909, and a good supply of the implements and machinery demanded by the modern agriculturist.
Mr. Kissel married, in 1880, Eliza J. Newell, who was born in Han- cock county, Ohio, near Findlay. Her father. Thomas Newell, a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, died at the age of seventy-six years. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the Ninety-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and after taking an active part in thirteen of the important engage- ments of the Civil war was honorably discharged from the service, his term of enlistment having expired. Mr. Newell married Catherine Slife, and to them nine children were born. Mr. and Mrs. Kissel are the parents of six children, namely : William Henry; Mrs. Edith Mabel Roper, of Carterville. Missouri : Mrs. Maud B. Johnson. of Carthage,
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Missouri ; Mrs. Myrtle C. Dorland, a twin sister of Mrs. Johnson, living in Newton county, Missouri; Vernon Eugene, of Madison township; and Burl J., living at home. Mr. and Mrs. Kissel have also eight grand- children. Politically Mr. Kissel is a steadfast supporter of the prin- ciples of the Democratic party. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Kissel and their son Burl are members of the Presbyterian church, and Mrs. Kis- sel is a member and an officer of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
FURROW BESSE .- A thriving and progressive agriculturist of Jasper county, Furrow Besse is a well-known resident of Madison township, his valuable farm, "Pleasant Home," in section 9, giving substantial evidence of the excellent care and skill with which it is managed, and presenting to the most casual observer a beautiful picture of happy country life. A son of Dr. Cineinnatus Besse, he was born March 1, 1857, in Auglaize county, Ohio, coming on the paternal side of hon- ored New England ancestry and being a Mayflower descendant.
Ilis grandfather, Alden Besse, bore the name of one of his immi- grant ancestors, John Alden, one of the first Mayflower passengers to step his foot on Plymouth Rock, the line of descent, without doubt, being traced through his mother. Educated for the ministry, Rev. Alden Besse became a powerful preacher in the Methodist Episcopal church, and was well versed in Bible lore, having read the good book through three times, in addition to which he made a special study of the gospel. He was a thirty-second degree Mason, and at his death, at the venerable age of eighty-five years, was buried with Masonic honors. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Furrow, was born in Virginia. She survived him, pasing away at the age of ninety-five years. Three children were born of their union, namely : Cincinnatus, Lueretia and Minerva.
Born and reared in the Buckeye state, Cincinnatus Besse attended the common schools, academy and college, and after receiving the de- gree of M. D. entered the medical profession. Soon after the breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted in an Ohio regiment, and on March 2, 1862, was captured by the enemy and confined as a prisoner at Salis- bury, North Carolina, until June 3 of that year, his fare during those three months having been horse flesh and decayed meat. On being re- leased he joined General Burnside's army, was sent to New York, and later, with his own regiment, helped burn the old prison at Salisbury, where he had undergone such hardships and privations and in which he had also helped to comfort some of his fellow-prisoners by reading the Bible to them. He was an active participant in thirteen hard- fought battles, and three times charged on the enemy's breastworks.
After leaving the army, Cincinnatus Besse spent two years or more in Hancock county, Illinois, where he was engaged in the practice of medicine. Coming from there to Jasper county, Missouri, in 1867, he located in Madison township when the country roundabout was in its pristine wildness, and here continued his professional labors until his death, at the comparatively early age of fifty-two years. He was a man of deep religious convictions and a valued member of the Christ- ian church. Dr. Besse married Saloma MeCullum, who was born in Ohio, but was brought up and educated in Hancock county, Illinios. To them three children were born, namely: Alden, of Prosser, Wash- ington ; Mrs. Lucretia Burget, of Minnesota ; and Furrow, the special subject of this brief biographieal record.
A small child when his parents moved from Ohio to Illinois, Furrow Besse gleaned his first knowledge of books in the common schools of
.
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Hancock county, Illinois, and at the age of ten years came with the family to Madison township. He began his career by working on a farm, but was afterwards engaged in business pursuits for a while, be- ing located at Carthage for two years and at Eureka Springs for a brief time. Resuming then his former occupation, Mr. Besse is now the owner of "Pleasant Ilome," a farm of one hundred and ninety-one acres, in sections 9 and 10, Madison township, on which he has made excellent improvements, his property now ranking among the most attractive and well-kept estates of his community.
Mr. Besse married, at the age of twenty-five years, Ida Johnson, a daughter of the late Stephen and Mary (Loekhart) Johnson, and into their home three children have been born, as follows: Beulah, who was successfully employed for several years as a teacher in the public schools, is now Mrs. Charles W. Dahlman, of Castle Rock, Washington ; Mabel, wife of W. S. Tucker, of Quiney, Illinois; and Ralph, a student in the University of Missouri. In his political affiliations Mr. Besse is a Republican, and religiously both he and his good wife are consistent members of the Christian church.
JACOB N. BRADBURY .- A well-known and respected citizen of Mad- ison township, Jacob N. Bradbury, proprietor of Maplewood Farm, is distinguished both for his own life and work and for the honored an- cestry from which he traces his descent, the founder of one branch of his genealogical tree having been a Mayflower passenger in 1620, while one of his Bradbury ancestors, many generations removed, was at one time Lord Mayor of London, England. He was born April 13, 1841, in Withamsville, Ohio, but was reared in Illinois.
His father, Gideon Bradbury, migrated with his family from Ohio to Brown eounty, Illinois, where he spent his remaining years. He married a cousin, Eliza Bradbury, and they became the parents of five children, as follows: Gibbons; Jaeob N., the special subject of this sketch ; Emma, deceased ; Morris: and Theodore. The mother died at McPherson, Kansas, aged seventy-nine years.
But a child when taken by his parents to the Prairie state, Jacob N. Bradbury was there educated. attending the rural schools of Brown county. In 1863, animated by the daring and venturesome spirit of the typical American of the present day, he joined a band of nineteen brave and hardy men who had responded to the lure of the far West, in which they hoped to find an advantageous location. Traveling over- land, the party camped and cooked by the wayside, at night taking turns in standing guard in the Indian country, which was full of treaeh- erous redskins, having various thrilling experiences while erossing the plains. After mining for silver in Nevada, Mr. Bradbury went to Cal- ifornia, where he visited relatives a short time. Tiring of the wild life and the unsatisfactory returns for his labor. he left the Pacific coast after an absence from home of five years, and returned East, go- ing by way of Nicaragua, thence by steamer to New York City, and from there to Ohio.
After a brief stop in Ohio Mr. Bradbury came to Jasper county, Missouri. and in 1868 bought one hundred and sixty aeres of land in Madison township, in section 10, and later eighty acres adjoining, and immediately began the pioneer task of reelaiming a farm from its orig- inal wildness. Mr. Bradbury is a farmer of wide experience and good ability, and his homestead property, Maplewood Farm, in point of im- provements and equipments ranks with the best in the township, bear- ing evidence of the skill and intelligence with which it is managed.
On February 16, 1876. Mr. Bradbury was united in marriage with
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Alice Mitchell, who was born in Pike county, Illinois, a daughter of Harrison Mitchell, who was born in Illinois, and still resides in Pike county, that state. His wife, whose maiden name was Isabelle IIill, was born in Illinois and died in early womanhood, leaving two children, as follows: Alice, now Mrs. Bradbury, who was but a child when her mother died; and Joseph Mitchell, of Griggsville, Illinois. Eight chil- dren have brightened the union of Mr. and Mrs. Bradbury, namely : Walter, who superintends the work on the home farm; Clara, who completed the course of study at Marionville College, Missouri, with a high record for scholarship, being graduated with honors from that institution at the head of her class, that of 1911; Mrs. Birdie Leaming, of Los Angeles, California: Mrs. Della Ingle, of Sheridan township; Mrs. Daisy Groves, of MeDonald township; Alpha Brown, of Lincoln township: Bessie, a junior at Marionville College ; and Nina, a student in the Carthage high school. In 1909 Mr. and Mrs. Bradley made a trip to the Pacific coast, visited in Los Angeles, and spent several months in the Golden state, Mr. Bradbury finding in the face of the country but little to remind him of his life there nearly a half a cen- tury before. The beautiful, roomy and comfortable home of Mr. and Mrs. Bradbury is noted for its generous hospitality, guests ever find- ing a sincere and hearty welcome, and it is in very truth the abode of peace, plenty and happiness. Politically Mr. Bradbury is a stanch Re- publican. Fraternally his son, Walter Bradbury, is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mrs. Bradbury is a member of the Maple Grove W. C. T. U.
GEORGE B. LOWRY .- Numbered among the citizens of high repute and good standing in Jasper county is George B. Lowry, a prosperous and progressive agriculturist of Union township, widely known as pro- prietor of Clover Leaf Stock Farm, one of the best improved and most desirable estates in the community. A native of Missouri, he was born in 1857, in Cedar county.
His father, William D. Lowry, was born and reared in Tennessee, but in early life moved to Missouri, and was subsequently engaged in general farming in this state until his death, in 1892, at the age of three score and ten years. Ile was a man of sterling integrity, inde- pendent in politics, and a conscientious member of the Baptist church. He married, in Greene county, Missouri, Margaret Killingworth, who was born in Tennessee. She survived him several years, passing away at the venerable age of eighty-four years. She, too, was a faithful member of the Baptist church, and, like her husband, was held in high respect and esteem throughout the community. She left three children, as follows: George B., the special subject of this brief personal review ; Mrs. M. E. Hornback, of Phoenix, Arizona ; and Mrs. Allie Bradley, of Union township.
Brought up on the home farm, George B. Lowry obtained a prac- tical education in the district schools, and afterwards followed drilling and mining for fifteen years, being employed at Webb City and in Joplin. In 1907, turning his attention to agricultural pursuits, Mr. Lowry bought his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres, it be- ing what was long known as the Fuller farm, one of the best in Union township. It is well improved, having a finely located house, a large barn, and all the buildings, machinery and appliances required by an up-to-date farmer. Center Creek flows through the estate, furnishing the necessary amount of water for land and stoek, and the orchard, pastures, meadows and grain fields yield bountiful harvests, the farm being well adapted for the raising of clover, blue grass, wheat and corn,
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the principal productions. Mr. Lowry pays special attention to the raising of stock, having some of the finest specimens of high grade Percheron horses to be found in Jasper county and keeping a large bunch of Shropshire sheep and some mules.
Mr. Lowry married, in 1881, Clara Rothenberger, who was born and educated in Jasper county, coming from a family of worth and stabil- ity. She passed to the higher life in 1888, leaving three children, namely : Mrs. Gertrude Gill, of Webb City; Burton, of Hood River, Oregon, superintendent of the Hood River Fruit Farm; and Roe, who is in partnership with his father, helping to manage the varied interests of the Clover Leaf ranch. Politically Mr. Lowry is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
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