A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 121

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864- , ed
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 912

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In 1846 Hedgman T. McClanahan married his cousin, Miss Mary Holloway, who was born in Paris, Kentucky, and who was a daughter of Robert and Benedictine Holloway. They located in Milan, and there Mr. McClanahan engaged in the mercantile business and afterwards filled the office of circuit. clerk and recorder for a number of years. He and his good wife became the parents of nine children : Charles, William, Helen, Susan, Samuel W., Robert. H., John T., Hedgman T., Jr., and Mary Elizabeth. The father died at the age of sixty-eight and the mother died at the age of seventy-one years. The father was one of the eight children of his parents, the others being: John, Thomas, William, Amelia, Mary, Susan and Lizzie. The family is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Mary Brinkley of Kansas City, Missouri, who is rounding out her eighty-second year.

Robert H. McClanahan was reared in Milan and in that town re- ceived such education as the public schools of his day afforded. Much of his real education, however, came as the result of practical experience, and newspaper work as many a successful man of the business world can tell. Mr. McClanahan has long been a leader in Democratic politics in Sullivan county, and has done good work for the party through the in- strumentality of his various publications, in the years that he has been identified with newspaper work. In 1886, as a reward for his party loyalty, he was appointed under Grover Cleveland as chief clerk of the postoffice inspector's office of the district of St. Louis, and he served therein until 1889. In 1892 he saw an opportunity for advancement and for good work in his profession, and the result was he took Horace Greeley's advice and went west, locating in Moscow, Idaho, where he engaged in the newspaper business again, and there he continued for four years. In 1897, 1899 and 1900 he was clerk of the session of the legislature for those years, and in March, 1901, he again invaded the journalistic field, this time taking charge of the Green City Press. Mr. MeClanahan was reading clerk of the forty-sixth and forty-seventh state general assemblies of Missouri in the years 1911 and 1913, and in 1912 he was elected a reading clerk of the Democratie national convention in Baltimore, and he was the only reading clerk who addressed that vast assemblage without the aid of the megaphone, his strong and resonant bass voice carrying to the remotest corners of the immense building that sheltered the convention at that time.

Mr. McClanahan is one of the prominent and popular men of Green City and is, in fact, more than ordinarily prominent throughout the

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county and the state, where he has long been known to a wide circle of people. His pleasing personality makes him a fit person to represent the public on the many occasions when he has served thus, and the paper of which he is the leading spirit is the Democratic headquarters of Sullivan county and of Northeast Missouri, as well. It is one of the clean, whole- some and dependable sheets that find publication in the county, and voices the sentiments and character of its editor and manager.

On March 15, 1883, Mr. McClanahan was married at Carrollton, Mis- souri, to Miss Ella B. Dunkle, who was reared and educated in that town. One daughter has been born to Mr. and Mrs. McClanahan-Mary Julia, the wife of Dr. J. D. Bohrer, of Green City. The family enjoy the sincerest regard and genuine friendship of a large circle of the best people in the city and county, who know them for their many excellent traits of heart and mind.

ROBERT DEATON WORRELL is one of the prominent men in Mexico, Missouri, taking an active part in both the commercial and civic affairs of the town. As the owner of the largest jewelry store in the place, he holds a prominent rank among the merchants, and during his residence in Mexico, he has more than once taken a part in political matters and has held various public offices. His success has been due to his industry and his keen business ability and his popularity is sufficient proof that no one begrudges him this success for it has been fairly won.

Robert Deaton Worrell was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, on the 28th of September, 1866, the son of Richard Bradshaw Worrell. The latter was a son of Robert Peacock Worrell, who was born in Virginia and spent his entire life in the state of his birth. He was a prominent citizen of his community and made a reputation for himself as a member of the Virginia legislature. Although he thought that secession was unwise, yet when he saw the break had come he took the part of the South, partly because the influence of his friends was all for secession. Richard B. Worrell was born in Danville, Virginia, and grew up in that state. With the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted in the Confederate army, becoming a member of the Guilford Grays of the Twenty-seventh North Carolina Regiment. He came to Missouri after the war, in 1866, locating in Monroe county where he engaged in the stock-raising business. He found that he could get prices for his stock that warranted his buying stock for sale purposes, and became quite a well-known trader of this section. He later located in Paris where he went. into the hotel and grocery business, and in 1886 he came to Mexico, where he became proprietor of the Windsor hotel. He was engaged in the hotel business for about twenty years, and was widely known throughout this part of the state, for he was a man of genial and kindly disposition who made friends easily and kept them. He married Jane Deaton, who was born in Illinois, the daughter of Robert and Keziah (Woods) Deaton. They came to Illinois in the early days from across the Ohio river in Kentucky. She died when her only child, Robert Deaton Worrell, was but ten weeks old, and he was reared by his grand- mother, Mrs. Deaton, at Granville, Missouri.

Robert Deaton Worrell received his education in the Paris schools and at the age of fifteen he entered a jewelry store in Paris to learn the trade of a jeweler. For four years he continued in this store and then he went to El Dorado, Kansas, where he entered the employ of a jeweler, and for two years worked in his store. He then went to Louisiana where he spent one year in the same occupation. It was 1888 when he came to Mexico, determined to make a start for himself. On the 7th of September, 1889, he went into the jewelry business here for

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himself, in a small room which is now a part of his present store. His business grew rapidly and in 1901 he bought out his largest competitor, and since that time each year has seen an increase in his own business. Hle is the proprietor of the largest store of the kind, in proportion to the size of the town, in the United States, and his stock is as up-to-date and attractive as any you might find in much larger cities. He has divided the store into seven distinct departments, each branch carrying a large stock. These departments are; jewelry and watches; silverware; optical goods and kodaks, stationery and leather goods, pianos and music, cut glass and china, and the manufacturing and repairing depart- ment. He has also established a branch store at Louisiana, known as the Worrell-Bass Company, Incorporated, which is doing a thriving business.

Mr. Worrell holds the political principles of the Democratie party, but to use his own expression he is not "hide bound." For a time he was a member of the city council but this is the only political office that he has held. He is mueh interested in education as may be seen from his membership on the Hardin College board of trustees. He is presi- · dent of the Commercial Club and is president of the Savings and Loan Association. He was the first president of the Missouri Society of Retail Jewelers and is a member of the executive committee of the National Retail Jewelers.

Mr. Worrell married Jennie Hitt, a daughter of Abram C. and Amanda (Netherton) Hitt, on the 14th of June, 1893. Mrs. Worrell is a native of Audrain county, Missouri, where she was born in 1868. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Worrell, namely, Dorothy, Carolyn, Mary, Elizabeth and Riehard Orlando, who are living, and Robert Rodes, deceased.

Mr. Worrell is a member of the Christian church, teacher in the Sunday school of a class of boys that is one of the banner classes of the school, member of the Masonic fraternity and a Knight Templar and has been treasurer of the K. of P. Paris Seetion for twenty years.

W. D. SETTLE. One of the best-governed communities of North- eastern Missouri is that section lying in Howard county, which has been fortunate in securing for its publie officials men of ability and purpose, earnest and painstaking in their efforts to advance their locality's welfare and that of its people, and regarding their offices as sacred trust. Many of these men are native-born residents of the county, who have risen to their high positions of responsibility through the medium of their own efforts, their ability having been recognized by the voters and rewarded by continued election. In this class may be named W. D. Settle, of Fayette, now serving his second term as county clerk of Howard county, and a citizen universally respected and esteemed. Mr. Settle was born September 24, 1855, in Howard county, Missouri, and is a son of John L. Settle.

John L. Settle was born in Howard county, Missouri, April 28, 1831. a son of Martin and Ann (Horseman) Settle, natives of Virginia, who eame to Missouri as pioneers and here died. John L. Settle was reared to agricultural pursuits, and was a farmer all of his life, until he retired from business activities several years ago, sinee which time he has lived retired at Fayette. Although eighty-two years of age. he is still pos- sessed of vigor and energy, while his wife also survives at the advanced age of seventy-nine; and both come of long-lived families. their parents all having lived to be more than seventy-five years old. Mrs. Settle bore the maiden name of Martha Dudgeon, and was born in Howard county, a daughter of Alexander Dudgeon, of Kentucky. Two children were

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born to Mr. and Mrs. Settle: W. D. and Jefferson Davis, who is engaged in the abstract business in Fayette. Mr. Settle is a Democrat; and he and his wife are consistent and highly respected members of the Chris- tion church.

W. D. Settle was reared on the home farm, and built up an excellent physique while developing his mind in the public schools. He was not satisfied to take up the vocation of an agriculturist, however, and at the age of eighteen years began a career as an educator which lasted for nearly a quarter of a century. His high abilities gained him a high place in his profession, while the gift of imparting his own knowledge to others made him a general favorite with his pupils everywhere. For eight years he served as county commissioner of schools, and during this time the standard of education was materially raised in Howard county and many greatly needed reforms were inaugurated. On January 1, 1907, he was elected county clerk of Howard county, and when his first term had expired he had built up such an excellent record in his office that he was the logical candidate of his party and became his own successor.

Mr. Settle was married in 1877 to Sallie Patrick, who was born, reared and educated in Fayette, Howard county, Missouri, a daughter of Robert M. and Martha (nee Watts) Patrick, well-known residents of Howard county. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Settle : Mae, the wife of E. H. Sears, of Fayette; J. Robert; Wilford L., a grad- uate of Central College, who received the degree of A. B. from that institution in 1910, and is now engaged in teaching; and Morris D., who is now a junior in the Fayette high school. W. D. Settle is a member of the board of managers of the Pythian Home of Missouri in Springfield, Missouri. He also holds membership in the local lodges of the A. F. & A. M. and Odd Fellows, and in all fraternities has numerous friends. He and his family are members of the Christian church. A man of genial and pleasing personality, he is popular with the citizens of his community, who recognize in him a capable public official, a conscien- tious public-spirited citizen, and a kind and sincere friend.

SIDNEY J. ROY. The activity and enterprise of any growing center of population is perhaps as clearly indicated in the class of professional men who look after its legal interests as in any other respect, and it is with pleasure that we refer to the career of Sidney J. Roy. He eon- duets a general practice of law in the city of Hannibal, Missouri, and in many important litigations has demonstrated ability beyond the ordi- mary. His accuracy and familiarity with the law is well known and his practice is a large and lucrative one. In 1912 he was secretary of the Commercial Club of Hannibal and he is an ardent supporter of all measures and enterprises projected for the good of the general welfare.

A native son of Missouri, Sidney J. Roy was born in Nelsonville, Marion county, this state. He is a son of Fantly Jackson and Vienna (Finnell) Roy, both of whom were born in Warren county, Virginia. William Roy, paternal grandfather of the subject of this review, settled in Fabius township, Marion county, Missouri, as a pioneer, in the year 1836, and there he was extensively engaged in agricultural enterprises until his demise. Fantly J. Roy was engaged in business during the greater portion of his active career and he and his wife became the parents of eight sons and two daughters.

In the public schools of Nelsonville Sidney J. Roy received his early educational discipline. In the 1889 session of the state legislature he was elerk of court for the general assembly and in 1893 he was assist- ant chief clerk of the house of representatives. In the sessions of 1895-

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1897 he served as correspondent for a number of metropolitan and state papers. His articles, however, which attracted considerable atten- tion for the truths brought out and for the able manner in which they were presented, caused the senate to refuse him a seat at the reporters' table, presumably on account of his vigorous assailing of some of the efforts of legislation. Mr. Roy was admitted to the bar in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1894 and in 1897 located in Hannibal, where he was eity attorney, under Mayor O'Brien. In 1900 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Marion county and subsequently he became secretary of the Merchants Association. He was one of the prime factors in the organization of the Commercial Club of Hannibal, of which he is now secretary. He controls an extensive law practice and is recognized as one of the leading attorneys in Northeastern Missouri. He is a great booster for his home city and his natural talent as a writer is made fre- quent use of in painting pen pictures of the beauties of Hannibal, in emphasizing its commereial importance and in predicting its future greatness.

Mr. Roy was married, June 20, 1894, to Miss Jenny Smith Curry, a daughter of Dr. William A. Curry, a leading citizen in Jefferson City, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Roy have one daughter, Mary Sydney.

An orator of power, a keen lawyer, an acute logician, and withal a student of men possessing a rare insight into their natures, Sidney J. Roy is, indeed, a man of fine legal ability. His record at the bar and the honors which have been bestowed upon him stand proof of his worth.

ROBERT M. SPAULDING. The owner of the Spaulding Springs, a well-known resort in Ralls county, Missouri, is one of the few pioneers of the first half of the nineteenth century, who has spent his life in this county. He is an active man yet in spite of his years of hard work, and his influence in the county has grown with the years, so that for a long time he has been a power in the community. In establishing and devel- oping Spaulding Springs, he has added to the real estate values of the county, and in addition has made of the springs a very attractive resort for those seeking mineral waters. Mr. Spaulding is now ninety years of age and the years that he has lived in the state of Missouri have seen the passing of the frontier further west and the gradual advance of civilization, until she has now taken her place among the foremost states of the Union. During these years Mr. Spaulding has grown wise in the ways of men, and has attained a wide knowledge of business, and this broad experience has made him a wise and invaluable aid to many a young man just starting in life. As the oldest resident in the community he is entitled to the respeet of all, but his fine personality and strong eharaeter have won for him not only respect but genuine friendship from the many people with whom he has come in contaet throughout his long and varied career.

Robert M. Spaulding is descended from a family that carries on its records the names of some famous men. This family was probably orig- inated in America by two English brothers, Edmond and Edward Spaulding, one of whom founded the Massachusetts branch of the family, and the other of whom is responsible for the Maryland braneh. In the colonial records of Virginia mention of various faets concerning Ed- mond Spaulding is made, which lead to the belief that he lived in Vir- ginia at one time and that he subsequently settled in Maryland. in St. Mary's county, his brother going at the same time to Massachusetts. One of the direet descendants of this Edmond Spaulding was John Aaron Spaulding, who was born, it is believed, in St. Mary's county,

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Maryland, in 1752. In 1776 he enlisted in Capt. John A. Thomas' com- pany which was a part of Colonel Smallwood's regiment of the Mary- land militia. He took part in many of the most important battles of the Revolutionary war, among them being the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Monmouth, Brandywine, Germantown, Camden, where Gates was defeated, the most terrible defeat inflicted upon the Amer- icans during the whole war, Guilford Court House, Eutaw Springs, and Cowpens, the last, which was fought on January 17, 1781, being Mor- gan's brilliant strategic defeat of Tarleton. After the war, in 1819, he applied for a pension, for he was injured during his seven years of fight- ing with the British, and always was forced to walk with the aid of a crutch. He received the pension and in addition to this monthly allow- ance, he received an annuity, which it is claimed was paid him as a reward for the part which he took in the capture of Major Andre, the British spy who paid the penalty for his negotiations with Benedict Arnold for the surrender of West Point. While the name of John Spaulding is the one which has gone down in history as one of the cap- tors of Major André, yet it is believed that this John Spaulding was the man. The only proofs lacking to show without a doubt that this is true is the congressional medal presented to each of the three captors, and the special stone ordered by the government which was to be placed over the grave of each. It can be easily understood how both of these marks of identification should be missing however.

After the war was over, in 1785, John A. Spaulding left the com- munity of Leonardtown, Maryland, and crossing the Blue Ridge into the country into which Daniel Boone had penetrated only a few years before, he settled in Washington county, Kentucky. This backwoods pioneer became in time a slave-holding planter, raising the tobacco that meant so much to Virginia and Kentucky in those days, and was a typical sport loving Englishman, in spite of the fact that he had spent many years fighting against the English. He was fond of the hunt and was a master of the rod, living to a ripe old age, and seeing Ken- tucky admitted into the Union as a state, for he died in 1843. He was twice married, his first wife being Miss Nellie Mattingly. Four sons and as many daughters were born to this union, among whom were Ben Aaron; Joseph, born in 1800; Nicholas, born in 1802; Nancy, who mar- ried William Redmond, of Nelson county, Kentucky; Mary, whose first husband was Mr. Nesbit and whose second was Philip Peek; and another daughter. John A. Spaulding married for his second wife a Miss Moore, and from this marriage one son was born, namely, Ignatius Spaulding.

The eldest son of John A. Spaulding, Ben A. Spaulding, was born April 8, 1798, received such education as the log-cabin school house of the backwoods country could afford. This was not a very broad educa- tion but it sufficed to meet his requirements in a somewhat varied career. As a youth his father apprenticed him to a cooper, and he thus started out in life equipped with the knowledge of a trade. It was about 1818 that he made his first journey away from home, his destination being Missouri. With two other boys he bought a cargo of whiskey, which they loaded on a boat and carried up the river to St. Louis, where they sold it. Then proceeding on up the river to St. Charles, Missouri, Mr. Spaulding made that place headquarters during his temporary sojourns in the state. About this time he took the contract for the erection of the first courthouse at Fulton, Missouri, which he executed. During this time he made frequent trips to Kentucky by horseback, thus keep- ing in touch with his parents as long as they were alive.

On the 13th of November, 1822, Mr. Spaulding was married to Ma-

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tilda Hagar, a daughter of James Hagar, a member of the family, for which historic old Hagarstown, Maryland, is named. Mrs. Spaulding was born in 1799, on the 16th of April, and she died January 5, 1877. In 1829 Mr. Spaulding moved with his family to a farm on Cedar Creek in Ralls county. On the way hither he stopped at Bouvet Springs, where salt was being manufactured from the mineral springs there by an old Frenchman named Bouvert. These springs are the present Spauld- ing Springs. The farming which Ben Spaulding carried on in this rough country was primitive indeed, but he made a good living out of the cooperage business, which he carried on where the farm now owned by the widow of his son Thomas, is located. He also inherited the love of the chase from his English ancestors, and his pack of fox hounds were an important adjunct of his establishment. He was the township . squire, was a Jaekson Democrat, and was one of those free-speaking, em- phatic citizens, whose influence over a community is always a powerful one, and when, as in the case of Mr. Spaulding, this is directed toward the right, it is of inestimable benefit to the community. He died in 1874, on the 20th of February. Ben Spaulding and his wife were the parents of ten children. The eldest was Robert M .; Thomas A., was a forty-niner, and spent twenty years in the state of California. During the Mexican war he was a member of Captain Laughlin's company, which belonged to Colonel Ralls regiment and was a part of General Price's Division of the army commanded by General Taylor. He died after his adventurous life in the old Spaulding homestead, leaving a family. Zerelda married George A. Whitecotton, and died in Ralls county. She was the mother of J. H., John T., and William White- cotton, who are men of prominence in Northeast Missouri. William E. spent his life in Monroe county, and died in Paris, Missouri. James A. was killed by bushwhackers at Florida, Missouri. Emerine died unmarried. John was killed in Ellis county, Texas, as a peace officer while making an arrest. Benjamin F. died at Waxahachie, Texas, in 1909. Edwin died at Paris, Missouri, and Catherine passed away before maturity was reached.

Robert M. Spaulding was born November 6, 1823, ( ?) in old Wash- ington county, Kentucky. He came to Ralls county when civilization here was in rather primitive stages and his education was obtained in the crudest of schools. The log schoolhouse where he learned to read and write did not possess even the luxury of a puncheon school and he followed the pointer of the school-master down the line of the alphabet while standing on the ground for a floor, with the roof overhead of clapboards. He learned the cooper's trade from his father and worked with and for his father while he remained a member of the family cir- cle. After a time he married and then giving up the cooperage busi- ness, he settled on a farm not far from the old homestead, and began to devote his time to agriculture and the raising of mules. In 1883 he pur- chased Bouvet Springs, and improved it, making it a very attractive spot for summer visitors. He was very successful as a farmer and in his later project prosperity also came to him, so that in 1911, when the weight of years compelled his retirement from the active management of the resort and of the two sections of land in which his farm con- sisted, he was accounted a well-to-do man. He is now living quietly, watching the work which he carried on for so many years handled skil- fully by those whom he has trained to take his place.

Mr. Spaulding took no active part in the Civil war. He sympathized with the South, however, and he had two brothers in the Confederate army in Texas, yet he himself did not bear arms. He was successfully en- gaged in raising mules at this time, and since the prices they brought Vol. III-52

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were very high, he had quite a large amount of cash in hand most of the time. It became noised abroad that he was keeping the proceeds of his sales somewhere hidden about his premises and he was called upon by some of his enemies to surrender the gold or suffer the consequences. He finally succeeded in making those who threatened him believe that they had been misinformed, but in reality he had secreted fifteen hundred dollars in gold under a rock in the garden, and had told no one but his wife. When the war was over the hiding place gave up its plunder and Mr. Spaulding was able to exchange it for currency at the rate of two for one.

His inclination for the out-of-door sports Mr. Spaulding inherited from his forefathers. While the large game of the frontier days abounded he kept a "pack and mount" and well knew the excitement of a chase after fox, deer and wolf. He has always been greatly ad- dicted to fishing and has fished the waters of the Atlantic ocean from the coast of Florida around, into and across the Gulf of Mexico, from every noted fishing port along our southern border. For ten or fifteen years he spent his winters in the warmer climate of the southern gulf states, and much of this time was spent in the romantic land of the Aztecs and their Spanish fellow citizens south of the Rio Grande.

In politics, Mr. Spaulding has ever been a supporter of the Dem- ocratic party. He was a member of the convention that nominated Governor Stone, and he also helped to nominate Judge Buckner for Congress, and to send there also, Col. Dick Norton and Champ Clark from the ninth district of the state.

On the 10th of February, 1847, Mr. Spaulding married Minerva J. Norton, a daughter of Thomas P. Norton, who had come to Ralls county from Kentucky, but who was born in South Carolina, in 1790. As a child Mr. Norton had been brought by his parents to Kentucky, and in 1812, he had there married Jane Robinson, whose birth had taken place in Hancock county, Kentucky. Mr. Norton moved with his family to Missouri in 1815, and settled on Sugar creek, in Pike county. After living here for a time, in the year 1818, they moved to the little community of Hydesburg in Ralls county, finally settling per- manently in Center township, where the father died in 1848, his wife surviving him until 1850. Mr. Norton was one of the first men to pene- trate the wilderness to the north of the Salt river, and in this region he ran a carding mill for many years, on the spot where the farm of his grandson, William R. Norton, is now located, south of Center, Mis- souri. Thomas P. Norton and his wife were the parents of seven chil- dren. Robert died in 1823. William B., who was married three times, and left one son at his death. He lost a leg in the Mexican war, having taken part in some of the fiercest conflicts of that struggle. Ulysses died leaving a son. Minerva, who married R. M. Spaulding, was born in the first brick house built in Ralls county, in 1826. Elizabeth mar- ried Fountain Kenney and left a son. Dr. James J. Norton died in Monroe county, leaving no children.

Mrs. Spaulding died in 1896, on the 2d of March. She was the mother of Douglas P., who is dead; Norton F., also deceased, who mar- ried Annie M. Wilson, and left a son; Miss Rolla Spaulding, who is the companion of her father; Sterling P., the active manager of the Spaulding ranch and farm; and Eliza J., who is the wife of J. W. Hays, an attorney of Hannibal, Missouri,

Mr. Spaulding was brought up under the influence of the Roman Catholic church, but he married a Protestant, and as an evidence of his broad-minded spirit, permitted his children to choose their church affil- iations for themselves. Only one, Mrs. Hays, chose the faith of her

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father. Mr. Spaulding in addition to his farming interests is a stock- holder in the Ralls county bank and in the Farmers and Merchants bank, of Hannibal, Missouri.

JOHN A. KNOTT is editor and proprietor of the Hannibal Morning Journal and has been identified with state journalism for nearly forty years. The dissemination of news, the discussion of public questions and the promotion of the general welfare of his community through the col- umns of his paper constitute life's object with him as a private citizen. His public service both to his city and state has been no less important and earnest. Since 1902 he has been the popular and efficient incumbent of the office of state railroad and warehouse commissioner and during the entire period of his active career he has been deeply and sincerely inter- ested in Democratic politics, serving on a number of important com- mittees of the Democratic party and representing his home district as a delegate in a number of its presidential nominating conventions.

John A. Knott was born in Millersburg, Callaway county, Missouri, in 1852. He is a son of William B. and Martha A. (McClelland) Knott, his father having been born in Maryland and his mother in Kentucky. John A. was bereft of his father when a mere child and at the age of eight years he began to work in a general merchandise store. He was a clerk until he had reached his eighteenth year. His first newspaper experi- ence was as owner of the Chamois Leader. In 1878, with his brother, William J. Knott, he started the Troy Free Press. In 1885 he became a resident of Hannibal, where he has since resided and where for the past twenty-five years, he has been editor and owner of the Morning Journal, the leading Democratic daily paper of Northeastern Missouri.

In early youth John A. Knott became aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Democratic party and in recent years he has figured very prominently in political circles in Missouri and the west. He has sat in almost every Democratic state convention for the past thirty years and in 1895 he visited a number of states as a Bland campaign com- mitteeman. In that year he was a member of the national convention which met in Chicago and there worked hard for the nomination of Dick Bland. In 1900 he was a Bryan delegate to the national convention in Kansas City and at that time Governor Dockery placed him on his staff as lieutenant colonel. In 1902 he was honored by his fellow citizens with election to the office of state railroad and warehouse commissioner by a majority of more than 40,000 votes and he is still incumbent of that position, in 1912. He has been a member of the state Democratic committee. president of the Missouri Associated Democratic Clubs, presi- dent of the Missouri Editorial Association, president of the Northeast Missouri Press Association and a member of the Trans-Mississippi con- gress. He was a member of Governor Stephens' committee to locate the best place for the Missouri fruit experimental station.

June 9, 1880, Mr. Knott was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Breckenridge, a daughter of the famous western pathfinder, Major Thomas E. Breckenridge, who served with General Fremont in a number of Indian campaigns. Mr. and Mrs. Knott have one daughter, Eliza- beth, who is the wife of Harold A. Stillwell. He has one grandchild, Harriet Knott Stillwell.

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A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 121

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864- , ed Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 912

Author: Williams, Walter, 1864- , ed
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 912