USA > Missouri > A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2 > Part 119
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Mr. Wight and his wife had told them that her husband was from home and she was looking for him in that night and if he should encounter them she hoped they would let him through their lines. While Mr. Wight, with his charge, v hurrying along in the night, which was clear but with no moon, there suddenly rung out a peremptory com- mand to halt! At the same moment was heard the click, click of the hammer of a musket; and a challenge came immediately "Who comes there?" To which Mr. Wight responded, "Friends." The guard said, if friends, advance and give the countersign, to which Mr. Wight replied, "I can advance, but I cannot give the countersign." He then said ad- vance one at a time. Mr. Wight rode up, leaving the colonel in the rear. He told the guard who he was and that he lived at the next farm house and was trying to get home. "Who is this with you ?" asked the guard. A friend was the reply. The corporal of the guard was called and it so happened that one or both of them had taken supper at the home of Mr. Wight that evening, and the tale that he told so corroborated what his wife had told them at supper that the two men after parleying a little while allowed them to pass on. Poindexter, as you may imagine, was very nervous, for he was the very object of their quest. After passing the guards, wounded as he was, he took to the woods that skirted the road on either side to wait until Mr. Wight could reconnoiter, not knowing but that there might be soldiers at his home, so it was under- stood that if the coast was clear he would signal Poindexter to come in. Mr. Wight went home, but before going into the house he took the pre- caution to turn out both of the horses, that in case soldiers should be there and seeing two horses and only one man it would arouse suspicion. Upon investigation no soldiers were found. The signal was given and Poindexter came up. It was necessary to catch the horses, which was done by Mr. Wight without help from any one, the colonel being dis- abled by his wound. The task was accomplished and hurriedly they again started on their journey. Mr. Wight told his wife he intended to make a wide detour, so as to avoid any possible trouble from the soldiers, and that he would go through farms, not taking time to put up fences he would open, and for her to send some one the next day to put them up. He reached Huntsville before the dawn, delivered his charge to Colonel Denny, who kept him a while and then he was sent to St. Louis, where he was kept in Gratiot Street prison until the close of the war. He was then liberated, returning to his old neighborhood, where he lived for a few years and died. His body rests in the country church-yard near by.
We come to the closing scene. The war was over and the people were returning to their peaceful pursuits. Mr. Wight had occasion to go to Quincy, Illinois, and in doing so must pass through Macon City. While waiting for his train, which was to carry him to his destination, whom should he meet but Colonel Gilstrap. The colonel seemed glad to see Mr. Wight and was quite cordial. After passing the civilities of the day they stepped into a business house and after again renewing pledges of friendship Mr. Wight made ready to go to his train. As he stood in the threshold of the door opening into the street he received a blow from behind and on turning around saw Colonel Gilstrap with clinched fist, who made at him, saying "You are the G. D. old rebel that took Poindexter through my lines." He was accompanied by several men who seemed ready to do his bidding. In the scuffle that followed they both fell to the ground. While peace had been declared there still remained some soldiers on duty in the town. One of these, carrying a musket, placed Mr. Wight under arrest, marched him off out of sight, and then said to him, "You can go. I only took this method to get you out of their clutches, and my advice is for you to get out of town, for a
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man by the name of Brown was killed here yesterday under like cir- cumstanees." Mr. Wight was so outraged by such an attack that he . said, "No, I have done nothing to warrant such treatment, I was simply doing what the whole Federal army was trying to do, to bring these offenders to terms." And so he waited for his train and then went on to Quincy. Thus ended one of the many incidents with which Mr. Wight was connected during the Civil war.
JAMES WILLIAM WIGHT, son of the pioneer Randolph county citizen whose career is sketched above, was born in Randolph county, June 13, 1842, and has spent practically all his life in his native county. He attained more than ordinary educational advantages. He attended Mount Pleasant College in Randolph county, graduating with the highest honors of the class and being chosen by the president of the school from among the entire list to deliver the valedictory address. Subsequently he was again chosen to deliver an address about two years later, at which time he was awarded the degree of Master of Arts. Mr. Wight's career as an active business man was largely devoted to the beautiful old country estate of Wightland in Randolph county.
An influential Democrat, he was elected and served for eight years as clerk of the Randolph county court. Mr. Wight is one of the prominent laymen of the Southern Methodist church of the county, having served as recording steward, church treasurer, steward, district steward, Sunday school superintendent, member of the board of trustees of church prop- erty, chairman of said board in the church at Moberly. He holds the office of chairman of the board of trustees at the present time. His only fraternal or social relation is with the Order of Good Templars.
On May 12, 1868, Mr. Wight was married in Shelby county, Ken- tucky, to Aurelia Tevis Fullinwider. She was educated at Seience Hill in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Her parents were Henry Winter and Jane Amanda (Shipman) Fullinwider. Her grandfather, Jacob Fullinwider, was born at Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1767, moved with his father to Kentucky in 1783, and on the frontier of Kentucky became noted as one of the great Indian fighters. Later he served in the last campaign of Mad Anthony Wayne against the Indians of the Northwest. Rev. Peter Fullinwider, father of Jacob and great-grandfather of Mrs. Wight, set- tled at Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1852. He was a Reformed Presby- terian minister, and one of the great desires of his life was to preach the gospel to the Indians. It was on this mission that he sought the border countries in the same year that peace was declared between Great Britain and the colonies and only a short time after George Rogers Clarke and his Virginia soldiers had conquered the Ohio valley and made it a permanent part of the colonial possessions. Reverend Peter Fullin- wider was a great power for good during his generation, and one of the most noted of the early ministers of the gospel in the western countries.
He died in Shelby county in 1799, and was buried under the house, safe from Indian scalp-hunters.
The old Bible, which is now in possession of one of the great-grand- daughters, was brought from Switzerland in 1752, and was carried by him in all his wanderings, wrapped in a buckskin, taking part in many picturesque incidents in his remarkable career. To him it was the cherished treasure of his heart. Although it weighed thirty pounds. it was carried on horseback all over the country, and from its pages the little congregations, of whites, at Rice's and many of the other forts were taught the gospel. Many were the Indians that listened to his translations from this book, for he tried to study their language as far as possible. In old age it was for years his custom to sit at the table
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and read from this cherished volume, and daily he could be seen, his silvery locks falling over his shoulders, stooping over the book, enjoying its promises and enraptured with its beauties. One morning when his little grandsons were tiny boys playing about the room with their little sisters and cousins, the venerable grandfather was found to be dead with his face in the old Bible. "God hath taken him thus," it was said.
There are two children of Mr. Wight and wife, the son, James Winter Wight, being mentioned below, and the daughter being Frances Amanda Wight. She was born at Wightland, in Randolph county, October 7, 1876. She received her education at Central Female College in Lexing- ton, and was married October 14, 1896, to John B. Jennings. Her hus- band is a banker, and although a young man, is one of the oldest bankers in the state, having entered the Mechanics Savings Bank, Moberly, Mis- souri, as an employe after graduating from the high school, and now owning a half interest and being vice-president of the institution. Mr. Jennings is also vice-president of the State Bankers Association of Missouri. They are the parents of two children, whose names are Howard Wight Jennings and Frances Aurelia Jennings.
JAMES WINTER WIGHT, representing the present generation of this noted family in Randolph county, was born at Wightland, in Randolph county, July 1, 1869. He was educated at Central College in Fayette and at Washington University in St. Louis, and was graduated in law at the University of Missouri at Columbia, where he was awarded the Stephens medal for oratory. By profession a lawyer, he has always enjoyed special distinction at the bar, and has been prominent in public affairs. He served three terms as city attorney of Moberly, and was appointed county attorney by Governor Folk to fill out the unexpired term of the late Harry LaMotte. The electorate of the county subse- quently elected him for two full terms in this office. Aside from his law practice, Mr. Wight looks after splendid farm estate of five hun- dred acres called Wightland, this being the old homestead about which so many associations and memories of the Wight family center. James Winter Wight was married December 1, 1892, to Mary Elma Smith, daughter of John A. and Ellen (Gardner) Smith, of Palmyra, Missouri. Their three children are named Florence Loraine, James Augustine, and Frances Mildred.
JOHN D. TAYLOR. One of the ambitious and representative younger members of the bar of Chariton county is he whose name initiates this paragraph, and he is engaged in the practice of his profession at Keytes- ville, the judicial center of his native county. The name which he bears has been identified with the history of Chariton county for nearly sixty years, and has been specially prominent in connection with the develop- ment of the agricultural resources of this section of the state.
Samuel Taylor, grandfather of John D., came from Tullahoma, Coffee county, Tennessee, to Missouri about the year 1854 and he first located near Glasgow, Howard county, where he was engaged in farming about one year. Prior to his removal to Missouri he had been the owner of a plantation in Coffee county, Tennessee, and the present town of Tulla- homa, that county, is located on a portion of his old homestead. From Howard county he removed to Chariton county and secured a tract of land in the southern part of the county, in the Gillis Chapel neigh- borhood, about eight miles distant from Glasgow. He became the owner of several hundred acres of land and developed a productive farm. He was a man of energy and good judgment, was somewhat eccentric in personality, but was inflexible in his integrity and commanded esteem
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and confidence of no equivocal order. He continued to reside on his old homestead until his death, at a venerable age, and he left an appreciable landed estate besides much personal property. In politics he was a staunch Democrat, and he was ever ready to defend his opinions con- cerning matters of public import. In his native state was celebrated his marriage to Miss Agnes Genevieve Williams, who survived him by sev- eral years, and their children were: Mary, James Francis, William A. and Tennessee. Mary, deceased, was the wife of Robert Metcalf, of Chariton county ; William A., resides in Keytesville; Tennessee, de- ceased, was the wife of Andrew J. Cuddy, of Kingman, Kansas.
James Francis Taylor, father of him to whom this sketch is dedi- cated, was born at Tullahoma, Tennessee, on the 10th of May, 1851, and was thus a boy at the time of the family removal to Missouri. He was reared to manhood in Chariton county, where he received the advantages of the common schools, and here he has been actively and successfully identified with agricultural pursuits and stock-growing during the long intervening years, which have been marked by earnest and effective industry on his part. He has given special attention to the raising of thoroughbred Holstein cattle and fine horses, and his present homestead farm is situated about two and one-half miles southwest of Keytesville. His political allegiance has ever been given to the Democratic party and he has shown lively interest in all that has tended to advance the general welfare of the community, though he has manifested no desire for public office. He was one of the organizers of the Christian church at Keytes- ville and served zealously as an official in the same. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.
James F. Taylor has been thrice wedded. He first married Miss Huldah Cazzell, and they became the parents of four children,-Alex- ander F. and Samuel, who died in infancy ; Franklin T., who is a resident of Brunswick, Missouri, and James F., who resides in Butte, Montana. After the death of his first wife Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Missouri Alice Beckett, daughter of John C. and Elizabeth (Col- lins) Beckett, the former of whom was at the time of his death the oldest native-born citizen of Howard county. Mrs. Missouri Alice Taylor was born in Howard county, in September, 1871, and her death occurred on the 14th of February, 1901. She is survived by five children,- Morris W., Roy J., John D., Walter S., and Agnes Genevieve. The last wife of James F. Taylor bore the maiden name of Maude Baker, who lived but a few months after marriage, dying in the early part of 1903.
John Dewey Taylor, third in order of birth of the five children of James F. and Missouri Alice (Beckett) Taylor, was born on the old homestead farm two and one-half miles south of Keytesville, on the 16th of December, 1883. He gained his early education in the public schools and after his graduation in the Keytesville high school he pursued special course of study in Central College, at Fayette and other schools. He began the study of law in a private way and finally continued his read- ing under effective preceptorship, with the result that he gained an excellent knowledge of the science of jurisprudence, as shown by the fact that he was admitted to the bar of his native state in 1908. Since that time he has been engaged in active general practice at Keytesville, and he has so proved his powers as a resourceful advocate and well fortified counselor that he has gained a substantial clientage. His prac- tice is constantly expanding in scope and importance and cumulative success is assured by his close application and recognized ability.
In the meanwhile Mr. Taylor has gained excellent repute and prestige as a representative of the pedagogic profession. He began teaching in Vol. III-51
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the district schools when but sixteen years of age, and he continued to be engaged in educational work until December, 1907. He taught two years in the district schools of Chariton county, was principal of the public schools of Dewitt, Carroll county, for two years, and thereafter served two years in a similar capacity at Hale, that county. Mr. Taylor is an uncompromising and effective advocate of the principles and poli- cies of the Democratic party, and he has given yeoman service in behalf of its cause. He began making campaign speeches for his party several years before attaining to his legal majority and he has continued active in service in the party ranks. In November, 1908, he was elected repre- sentative of his native county in the lower house of the state legislature, and he has proved a most faithful and valued member, his first term expiring in January, 1911. In the Forty-sixth general assembly he was chairman of the committee on criminal jurisprudence and also a mem- ber of the committee on elections. Mr. Taylor has been a member of the Christian church since he was thirteen years of age, and his wife ' likewise is a zealous member of this denomination. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he is a popular member of Warren Lodge, No. 74, Free & Accepted Masons, in his home city of Keytesville.
On the 12th of August, 1903, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Taylor to Miss Jessie F. Turner, who was born and reared in Carroll county, this state, and who is a daughter of the late John F. Turner, a representative member of the bar of that county, where her mother, Mrs. Sarah (Baldwin) Turner, still maintains her home. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have no children.
HUGH BALDRIDGE. The cattle business has added much of the wealth of the present day to the northeast part of the state of Missouri, and rightly takes a prominent place among the considerable industries of the state. Particularly in Sullivan county has this industry played an important part, and built up the fortunes of innumerable energetic and capable men who have seen the opportunities the business has held out to them, and who have taken advantage of the timely tips of fortune. Among the cattle men who have gained prominence, popularity and prosperity in this work, the name of Hugh Baldridge stands forth pre- eminent among the leaders of the industry in the county, and as presi- dent of the Short Horn Stock Association, his prominence is of a greater order than it might perhaps otherwise be. This does not represent his only activity, for he has long been a leader as a breeder of thoroughbred registered short-horn cattle, and is an auctioneer of note throughout Northeast Missouri. Further, as proprietor of the Blue Grass Stock farm, his prominence would be assured, had he no more extended inter- ests in the business.
Hugh Baldridge was born in Sullivan county on August 15, 1877, his birthplace being located some twelve miles distant from the town of Milan, and his father being Lindey M. Baldridge, who was a son of Willson Baldridge, the first county surveyor of Sullivan county, and who laid out the town of Milan in his official capacity as county sur- veyor. His son, Lindey M., later joined him in the work, and the two served in that office for a period extending across thirty years. The father of Hugh Baldridge passed his life in Sullivan county.
Hugh Baldridge was reared on a farm in Sullivan county and received the best part of his actual schooling in the rural schools of his native community. He was but twenty-two years of age when he married Miss Bessie Molkins, the daughter of W. J. Molkins, who was treasurer of Sullivan county for four years, and is one of the estimable men of the county. Mr. Baldridge early turned to the stock-raising business, and
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so successful did he find himself that he gradually widened his field of operations until he is now the leading stockman in the county. As an auctioneer he has no rivals, and is an excellent judge of men, as well as of cattle,-a characteristic that is of vital importance to one in his business. In recent years Mr. Baldridge associated himself with one Mr. Dunlap, and they conduct their business under the name of Baldridge & Dunlap. In addition to his many activities of a private nature, Mr. Baldridge is president of the Short Horn Stock Association, one of the leading stock concerns in the state. He has a fine place, known as Blue Grass Stock Farm, and here many handsome and valuable specimens of thoroughbred short horn cattle are produced annually, his place being known for one of the finest and best conducted in this section of the state.
Mr. and Mrs. Baldridge have five sons and one daughter, named as follows: Mary, Noel, Henry, Herbert Hadley, Fred and Hugh, Jr. The family enjoys the friendship of many of the best people of the city and county, where they have been known throughout their lives, and their home is a popular one, and noted for the splendid cordiality and hospitality that is to be found within its doors. Mr. Baldridge has no fraternal associations beyond his membership in the Masonic order.
W. H. CHILDERS. A man who has filled a prominent place in Sulli- van county as one of her most prominent attorneys, a public official for many years and a citizen of the highest order, W. H. Childers holds his present place in the community which has long represented his home by virtue of his attainments and character. No other element enters into the secret of his popularity and prominence, and it is wholly in keeping with the spirit and sentiment of this publication that some space be accorded to a recital of the more salient facts of his career thus far in life.
Born in Monroe county, Iowa, on June 7, 1857, Mr. Childers is the son of Isaac and Hulda (Thorp) Childers. Isaac Childers was the son of William, and the family is believed to be one of Welsh origin. Vir- ginia was long the home of the Childers family, and in that state Isaac was reared, coming to Iowa in 1851. He wedded Hulda Thorp in West Virginia prior to that time, and of her it may be said that she was a daughter of Hezekiah Thorp, a man of Irish ancestry, and a family that had for some time been established in West Virginia. In 1861 Isaac Childers came to Sullivan county, bringing his family hither, and they located in Jackson township. Both parents are now deceased, the mother having passed away in 1887 and the father in 1892, when he was seventy-three years of age. He was a farmer and stock man and gained some prominence in that business during his lifetime.
A Democrat, he was active and popular in the ranks of that party and with his wife was a stanch member of the Methodist Church, South, though at one time identified with the Church of the United Brethern.
W. H. Childers was one of a large family of fifteen children born . to his parents, nine sons and six daughters making up that number. Of that goodly family six sons and three daughters are now living, one of the latter being Mrs. R. S. Jackson of Page township, Jackson county. As a youth at home W. H. Childers, who was the fifth son of his parents, grew up on the home farm and in addition to the work of the farm, attended the nearby schools. His school period was limited, but his edu- cation was derived from sources outside his actual schooling, and close observation, combined with a considerable home study fortified him admirably against the business of life. He was still very young when he engaged in teaching, and for seven years he was successfully engaged
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in education work in Sullivan county in his capacity as a teacher, several terms being taught in his home district. Unwilling to give his life to teaching in the rural districts, the young man, ambitious and energetic, gave his spare time to the study of law, later entering upon a course of study under the tutelage of Judge J. R. Butler, and so well did he prose- cute his studies that in April, 1891, the young student was admitted to the bar. From then his career has been a successful one, and he has occupied a leading place in the legal activities of this city. In 1909 Mr. Childers was elected justice of the peace at Milan and still retains that office. He was at one time assistant in the regular session of the legis- lature as ruling clerk of the session, and in the session of 1909 served as judiciary clerk of the legislature. For sixteen consecutive years he has done duty as a notary public, and in many ways has been active and prominent in the legal fraternity of this section of the state. A brother, J. W. Childers, is county attorney for Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and has been called upon to conduct some very important affairs in litigation in his private capacity as attorney.
On February 27, 1887, Mr. Childers was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Smith, a young woman of many excellent qualities and of good family. She was born in Kentucky, the daughter of J. P. Smith, now a resident of St. John, Kansas. One daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Childers, Everella. Mrs. Childers died when but twenty-eight years of age, her death occurring on February 28, 1888. She was a con- scientious and consistent member of the Christian church, and was a most worthy and estimable young woman, who was loved by all who knew her, and mourned by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. Childers has never remarried.
JONAS VILES, A. M., Ph. D. Professor of American History at the University of Missouri, Professor Viles has a high standing among Mis- souri educators, and has done much practical and original research work in history and made important contributions to the knowledge of our American nation. Professor Viles has been connected with the history department in the State University since 1902.
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