USA > Missouri > A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2 > Part 41
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Born on a farm in the northwest part of Ralls county, November 27, 1858, Dr. Bell is the grandson of E. Thomas Bell, who came by wagon over the scattered settlements of Indiana and Illinois to become a pioneer of Missouri and one of its makers. He was born in 1805 and died in 1867 at the age of sixty-two years. He was the son of Joseph Bell, a sol- dier of the War of 1812, during which service it is related that he escaped capture by the British and Indians and lay in the water and the swamps hidden from view for hours, listening to the cries of his comrades as they were tortured and burned by the Indians. Finally, believing that he was no longer sought, he ventured forth from his hiding place, only to espy an Indian standing a short distance away. His heart sank within him, and he quietly sat down under a tree to await his fate, having neither strength nor courage to make a longer fight. It so happened that the Indian did not see him, and he subsequently reached his friends in the white settlement some distance away. This old warrior and farmer accompanied his son, E. Thomas, to Missouri, and there he died during the forties, and is buried at Swinkey, Missouri.
The family is of English origin and extraction, the father of Joseph Bell having come to America from England and soon after the Revolu- tionary war. Joseph Bell was the father of three children : Mrs. Hagar; Thomas, the father of the subject, and Mary, who married Levi Keithly and died at their farm home between Center and Spalding Springs, on Salt river.
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E. Thomas Bell married Laura Dougherty, who was born in 1810 and died in 1892. Their children were: Judge James W., the father of Dr. Bell of this review ; a daughter, a nun in a St. Louis convent; Dr. Robert J., who was chief surgeon on the staff of General Parsons of the Con- federate service during the rebellion; he was a graduate of the Keokuk Medical College, and after the war practiced for some time in Hannibal, Missouri, where he came to be regarded as one of the most distinguished citizens of the place, and married Virginia Hughes; Dr. Leo Bell, a far- mer of Ralls county ; Mary, the widow of J. W. Hagar, living in Dallas, Texas ; Dr. Samuel I., who died in Hannibal, Missouri, as a young man ; Eliza, the wife of Charles Maens, of Leavenworth, Kansas; Elexis T., who died young ; Fannie married Samuel Christian, of Ralls county ; Dr. John, who graduated from the Keokuk Medical College, practiced for some time in Ralls county and is a large farmer near Monroe city ; and Ed- ward, who died young.
Judge James W. Bell was educated in private schools and the high school of his community, and following the completion of his schooling, engaged in teaching in Ralls county, in which he continued for some time. He was county commissioner of schools for Ralls county at one time, was county judge for six years, and resigned from office as presid- ing judge of the court. He was a leader in local politics and held a high position in the community which so long represented his home. He married Amanda Tipton, the daughter of William L. Tipton, who came to Missouri from Montgomery county, Kentucky, in 1833, and whose life record appears elsewhere in this work. Judge Bell passed away in September, 1912, the father of eight children, concerning whom the following brief facts are set forth: Elexis, the eldest, is a graduate of the law department of the state university, and is now engaged in the insurance business in St. Louis; he married Miss Hattie Hardy. Dr. William T. is the immediate subject of this review. Sarah married Charles Fowler of Buffalo, Wyoming. Mary E. is a teacher in the Mon- roe City schools. Frank is a resident of Monroe City. James, who grad- uated from the Kirksville Normal School, is teaching in the city schools of St. Joe, Missouri, and is married to Miss Nellie Brown. Celsus P., of Welch, Oklahoma, is a graduate of St. Louis Medical College and is practicing medicine in Welch. Emma married James Elliott, of Mon- roe City, Missouri.
Dr. William T. Bell came to years of maturity on the family home- stead in Ralls county, and made excellent use of his country school oppor- tunities. He engaged in teaching for some five years preparing himself for the University of Missouri, and was graduated from the Missouri Medical College in 1886. Following his graduation his first location was at Martinsburg, Missouri, and he later moved from that place to Florida, Missouri, finally coming to Stoutsville in January, 1890, since which time he has confined his activities to an extensive clientage in this city. In 1907 Dr. Bell further fortified himself in his profession by taking a post graduate course in the Chicago Post Graduate School of Medicine, and has with the passing years kept well abreast of the advances made in his profession. He is a member of the local and state medical societies, as well as being a member of the American Medical Association.
On the 25th day of March, 1891, Dr. Bell was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Davis, in Shelby county, Missouri. She is a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. E. C. Davis, of Hunnewell, Missouri, who has for many years been identified with the medical profession in Missouri. Dr. and Mrs. Bell have three children : Lertie, a student in the University of Mis- souri ; Herman W., in the high school of Monroe City; and Murline.
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MARK M. GILLUM is president of the Imperial Milling Company of Clarksville and is a representative of one of the oldest and most distin- guished of the pioneer families of Pike county, Missouri. His father was James C. Gillum and his grandfather, Tandy Gillum, the latter of whom settled among the forerunners of civilization about Oak Grove, Pike county, in 1834. The family originated in Albemarle county, Vir- ginia, and there both Tandy and James C. were born. Tandy Gillum was engaged in agricultural pursuits during the brief period of his resi- dence in Missouri and he died in 1841. He was twice married, first to a Miss Carpenter, who became the mother of one child, James C. The second union was prolific of three children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth,-Mrs. B. F. Robertson, William and Charles K., all of whom are deceased.
James C. Gillum was born in the atmosphere of ancient Charlottes- ville, which city was made sacred and historic by the home ties of Thomas Jefferson. His birth occurred in 1827 and after his father's death, in 1841, he fell to the care of his uncle in the Ashley community. His preparation for the life of a farmer came from the educational and other opportunities offered in Pike county and after reaching years of matu- rity he established himself in the community in which his boyhood had been spent. He first married a Miss Bryant, who was survived by two children at the time of her demise, namely,-America, wife of William Brown; and Edward, both deceased. For his second wife Mr. Gillum married Miss Corilla Eidson, a daughter of Hayden Eidson. She died in 1899 and Mr. Gillum passed to eternal rest in 1901. Their children are here mentioned in respective order of birth: Charles K., a farmer near Hannibal, Missouri; Frank M., of Glenwood Springs, Colorado ; Mark M., the immediate subject of this review; and Claud L., who is associated with the Imperial Milling Company, with the Clifford Bank as a stockholder and who is a prominent farmer in Pike county.
Mark M. Gillum, of this notice, was born March 22, 1865, and secured his early schooling in the vicinity of Paynesville. He initiated his active career as a farmer near Turpin, Missouri, and in that village conducted a general store for a number of years. In 1900 he became assistant cashier of the Clifford Banking Company in Clarksville and in 1906 he left the bank and came to the Imperial Milling Company as its presi- dent and active head. He is still financially interested in the Clifford Bank, in the management of which he is an important factor, and in connection with his brother, Claud L., controls extensive farming interests in the vicinity of Cyrene. The Imperial Mill is one of the oldest flouring mills of Northeast Missouri, it having been erected prior to the incep- tion of the Civil war and having been in continuous operation ever since. Its builder was E. D. Carroll. The Imperial Milling Company was incor- porated under the laws of Missouri and its charter calls for a capitaliza- tion of fifteen thousand dollars. Mark M. Gillum is president of this old and substantial concern, John O. Roberts, vice president, and Claud L. Gillum, secretary and treasurer.
April 13, 1887, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gillum to Miss Carey Randolph, a daughter of Dr. C. R. Bankhead, who descended from old pioneer families of Pike county. His forefathers were promi- nent in Albemarle county, Virginia, in the colonial epoch of national history. Mrs. Gillum was born near Paynesville, Missouri, where her father spent his life in the practice of medicine and where he married. Mr. and Mrs. Gillum have two children, concerning whom the following brief data are here incorporated,-Bankhead married Miss Ruth Stark, a daughter of William P. Stark, and is a prominent farmer near Clarks- ville; and Rachel C. is the wife of C. T. Yates, a business man in St. Louis, where he is a member of the board of education.
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In his political support Mr. Gillum holds to the same faith as that espoused by his numerous kinsmen-Democracy, but his activity extends only to the ballot. He is a man of mark in all the relations of life and commands the unalloyed confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens by reason of his sterling integrity of character and fair and honorable business dealings.
EDWIN BRIGHT OGLESBY is most successfully engaged in diversified agriculture and fruit-growing on his fine estate of 200 acres, three miles distant from Clarksville, Missouri. His father, the late William F. Oglesby, was one of the early post-bellum sheriffs of Pike county. Sheriff Oglesby came to Missouri in 1847 from Lynchburg, Amherst county, Virginia, where he was born August 7, 1832. He passed his early life on the plantation of his father, who was a slave owner, and after reach- ing his legal majority he was himself the owner of a number of slaves. He was a son of John and Mary (Sharp) Oglesby, concerning whose children the following brief data are here incorporated: Frances, born January 24, 1819, married Wm. T. Carter and passed her life in Warren county, Missouri ; Sarah A., born April 20, 1821, married Duncan Grant and died in Lynchburg, Va .; David, born April 7, 1823, spent his entire life in Virginia ; Mary, born May 7, 1825, married Ed Crumbpacker and died in Unionville, Missouri; Lucy P., born June 24, 1827, married Mr. Phelps, died in Oregon ; Constance V., born June 11, 1829, married Dan Crumbpacker and is now a resident of Unionville, Missouri ; William F. was father of the subject of this review; and John L., born August 12, 1834, passed away at Lynchburg, Va., in 1908.
William F. Oglesby was a youth of fifteen years of age when he came to Missouri and he passed the remainder of his lifetime in this common- wealth. He had received a good country school education and for a short time after his arrival in Missouri resided in Warren county near a sister. Prior to the inception of the Civil war he was engaged in the tobacco busi- ness and during that time he was a resident of Quincy, Ill. He was a planter and slave owner and felt keenly the hardships consequent to the liberation of the slaves without compensation from the government. Although he gradually became reconciled to the new conditions he never entirely forgave the influence that created the rupture between the states and deprived his people of their old-time support. After the close of the war he was engaged in the tobacco business in Clarksville in com- pany with Davis and Major. In 1874 he was elected sheriff of Pike county, on the Democratic ticket, and after his four-year term had ex- pired he returned to farming. In June, 1881, he made a hurried trip to Eolia to catch the southbound train and between Whiteside and Silex the train was wrecked. He was fatally injured and died August 26, that year.
Sheriff Oglesby married, in 1859, Miss Mary Melvina Goodman, a daughter of William A. Goodman, who came to Pike county, Missouri, from Albemarle county, Virginia, with his family, in 1836; Mr. Good- man was born within two miles of Charlottesville, Virginia, in April, 1813, and was a son of Jeremiah Augustus Goodman, a volunteer soldier of the United States in the battle of Lundy's Lane, War of 1812. His grandfather was a gallant and faithful soldier in the Colonial army of the Revolution. Augustus Goodman married Mary, a daughter of Manoah Clarkson, who owned a farm joining the Thomas Jefferson estate. Other matters relating to detail in connection with this patriotic old family appear in the Goodman sketch proper herein. The children born to Sheriff and Mrs. Oglesby were: Dolly C., Kate R., William S. (deceased), Sarah Frances (deceased), Lucy Melvina, Edwin B. (of Vol. III-18
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this notice), George Pendleton, and Marvin, all residents of Phoenix, Arizona, except Edwin B.
Edwin B. Oglesby was born in Bowling Green, Missouri, August 4, 1875, while his father was sheriff of Pike county. He was educated in the public schools of Paynesville and Clarksville and his entire career as a business man has been passed on the farm where his father settled soon after the war and where his brothers and sisters grew up. Farm- ing and fruit growing constitute his chief diversion and his estate on the Paynesville gravel road is located in the midst of the picturesque land- scape through which this prominent highway winds.
In Clarksville, May 14, 1902, Mr. Oglesby was united in marriage to Miss Frances Thomas, a daughter of Matthew G. and Mary (Baker) Thomas, settlers in Clarksville from St. Charles county, Missouri, but whose parents were a contribution to this state from Virginia. The house- hold of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas comprised Mattie, wife of Charles Mowen, of St. Louis; Mabel, died as the wife of Wayne Rollins; and Miss Mary is a member of the Oglesby household. Mrs. Oglesby was born on the 7th of August, 1881. Four children have come to bless the Oglesby home, namely, William, born September 3, 1903; Mary Melvina, born January 4, 1905; Edwin Francis, born December 1, 1906; and Clarkson Hill, born November 9, 1908.
In politics Mr. Oglesby is allied as a stalwart supporter of the prin- ciples and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor and while he is not an active politician he is deeply and sincerely interested in all matters projected for the good of the general welfare. He is a man of fine mentality and broad human sympathy. He thoroughly enjoys home life and takes great pleasure in the society of his family and intimate friends. In religious matters he and his wife are devout mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church South and they are rearing their children in the faith of that denomination.
DR. THOMAS J. DOWNING, prominent among the practicing physicians of New London, is a native of Pike county, Missouri, where he was born on May 26, 1851. His father was William C. Downing, who died in Bowling Green, Missouri, in 1882, his birth occurring in Kentucky, in 1812. William C. Downing was a boy of seven years when his father, James Downing, brought his family out to Missouri and settled near Auburn, Lincoln county. This locality received a settlement of Down- ings from Crab Orchard, Kentucky, headed by Ezekiel Downing, whose father, also Ezekiel, was born there in 1754, September 21, and mar- ried Rachel, a daughter of Thomas and Phoebe Brown. The father of the first Ezekiel was John Downing who came to Missouri in 1819 and died about 1845 near Auburn. He was a hatter in his native state, but Mis- souri offered little encouragement or support for such a trade and he took up farming instead. He married Lucy Casey, a niece of Colonel Casey who fell at Fort Duquesne in the French and Indian war. She was of Irish extraction. The children of James and Lucy Downing were William C., Andrew J., Benjamin F., James, Mrs. Sutton, Mrs. Martha Griffith, Mrs. Polly Bradley and Mrs. Prudence Greene.
William C. Downing, the eldest child of his parents, was a man of strong and active mind. He attended public schools of the county, spent a year in college and was a well educated man and had a very fine library. He taught school several terms in Lincoln and Pike counties in the early days. He also took a prominent interest in the subject of farming and helped to carry on the farmers' movement which took the form of the "Grange" in the early seventies. He became a personal representative of the order as a lecturer and added to the popularity of the body among
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the patrons of husbandry because of his enthusiasm and energetic efforts along the lines of its advancement. He located near Bowling Green about 1850 and there ended his days. He was a Cumberland Presbyterian and a man earnest in good works and a consistent member of his church. He possessed a lively, yet intense and earnest temperament, and was a man prepossessing in appearance, weighing about two hundred and sixty pounds. He owned slave labor, and it followed naturally that he clung to the traditions of the South in its contest over slavery during the war. He married Margaret Ann Reading, a daughter of William Reading and a granddaughter of George Reading, the original of that large family which settled in Pike county as pioneers, and whose sketch appears else- where in this work. William Reading was a cavalryman during the War of 1812, and he took his side arms home with him and gave them into the keeping of his cousin, one Holliday, with the request that Holli- day see to it that they were buried with him (William) when he died. The issues of the Civil war made a rebel of William Reading, and two of his sons went into the Confederate army. When the Federal authorities made requisition upon the disloyal citizens of Pike county for arms, this old sword was turned over to General John B. Henderson, with a promise from the General that it should be returned to its owner after the war. The Fates, however, decreed otherwise, and the old vet- eran of 1812 was buried without his sword, and died the enemy of Gen- eral Henderson.
The children of William C. and Margaret (Reading) Downing were as follows: Lucetta, who married James Jones and passed her life in Pike county; William R., of Liberty, Missouri ; James L., a Confederate soldier, was killed July 4th at Helena, Arkansas; Joseph Columbus of St. Louis; Benjamin F. died in childhood; Miss Rebecca, of Bowling Green ; also George W .; Samuel C., now deceased; Dr. Thomas J. of this sketch ; Andrew J., a farmer near Curryville, Missouri; Docia, the widow of James M. Offutt, of Bowling Green; Susan Martha married W. H. Miller of Pike county, and Nancy M. is the wife of James Duvall, of Olney, Missouri.
Thomas J. Downing received the rudiments of an education from the country schools of his native place and by continued study placed him- self in the advance of many young men with much better opportunities. He delved into the classics and by a thorough course of reading familiarized himself with eminent authors and their works upon a wide range of subjects. In the early years of his majority he added much to the efficiency of the teaching force in Pike county, and after a few years devoted to the teaching profession he turned his mind toward medicine as a means to a field of broader usefulness. He was a student with Dr. O. C. Hawkins and then entered the St. Louis Medical College, now a part of Washington University, and was graduated therefrom in 1874. He took a post graduate course there in 1896. Dr. Downing's life work in medicine has been devoted to the community in and about New London, and he has won an excellent reputation and practice in the years of his activities here. He is a member of the National, State and County medical societies, and is in sympathy with the progressive move- ments of the profession. Dr. Downing is without political aspirations, his one ambition in that respect being for the ultimate success of Demo- cratic principles. He is a member of the Christian church and is presi- dent of the Business Men's Bible Class of New London, perhaps one of the leading features in Sunday-school efforts in the town.
On November 13, 1877, Dr. Downing married Miss Connie Hays, a daughter of G. C. Hays, whose wife was formerly Miss Mary J. Wise. The other children of the Hays marriage were Margaret, the wife of
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Judge Roy of New London ; Hannah, who married William Wood, and George C. and Thomas E. Hays, of Hannibal, the last named being a prominent lawyer and mayor of that city.
Three children were born to Dr. and Mrs. Downing. The eldest and only son, Thomas Campbell, died in 1901, unmarried. He was educated in William Jewell College, and was principal of the Bucklin high school at the time of his demise. Mary is the widow of R. S. Wood, of New London, and Miss Babnel, also of New London, who was a graduate of Lindenwood College at St. Charles, Missouri, in 1906.
MARION C. BIGGS. As a representative of one of the most notable pioneer families of Northeast Missouri, the ancestry and individual career of Marion C. Biggs form some of the most appropriate material for historical notice in this volume. Mr. Biggs, now retired in New Lon- don, has been among the most prosperous and enterprising of the Ralls county farmers and stockmen, and has long been a citizen of substantial influence in the community.
A native of this section of Missouri, he was descended from one of the first white families to settle north of the Missouri river. His first American forefather was banished from England by the Cromwell Com- monwealth about 1650 for the part he took in espousing the cause of Charles the First, and he settled somewhere among the fringe of colonists between New York and the James river. A lineal descendant of this exile was John Biggs, who served on General Marion's staff during the War of the Revolution. Hence comes the christening of some of his posterity with the name of his old military commander.
One of the children of this Revolutionary patriot was Davis Biggs, who was a prominent pioneer Baptist of the original St. Charles county, Missouri, and he was the leading spirit in founding the Biggs family and fortunes in the wilderness of Missouri early in the last century. This old pioneer, as mentioned elsewhere in this work, was one of the early legis- lators of Missouri.
William Biggs, a son of Rev. Davis Biggs, was born about the time the family was established in Missouri, and he spent most of his life on Peno creek in old Pike county. He inherited strongly of the ability of his reverend father, and as a man of influence in his locality his fellow voters elected him to the lower branch of the legislature from Pike county, his name being among the early public representatives of that county.
Among the children of William Biggs was John D., the father of Marion C. During his youth he had the advantages of association with his grandfather the Rev. Davis Biggs, and the fine mental attainments and native force of character in both the grandfather and father did much to prepare John for a useful career. He began his practical career in Spencer township of Ralls county, in which vicinity he acquired some two thousand acres of land. He personally directed his extensive farm- ing operations until about fifteen years before his death, when he removed to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, for his health. After a few years there he located in Montgomery county, Kansas, and died near Cherryvale in that state in August, 1889.
Although a slaveholder, John Biggs was one of the men of that class who were persuaded that the proper solution of the slavery problem lay in gradual emancipation. He gave his willing efforts toward every movement to attain that end, and had the country possessed a sufficient number of such citizens it is probable that the costly and tragic war would have been averted. He was originally a Whig in his political beliefs, but after the war declared himself a Democrat. His inclination for literature and history made him a man of wide information, and this
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together with his thorough practical ability made him a logical represen- tative of his community, and he was elected and served as member of the lower house of legislature during the war. He lived and died in the faith of the Missionary Baptist church, and served as deacon for many years.
His first wife, who died in April, 1875, was before her marriage Miss Harriet Bentley, a daughter of Samuel Bentley. Mrs. Biggs was the mother of a large family of fifteen children, ten of whom grew up and are mentioned as follows: Elizabeth, deceased, was the wife of William Culbertson of Ralls county ; Julia, Mrs. Clark Owen, died at New Lon- don in 1910; Susan is Mrs. Jane Briscoe, of New London; Rev. James D., a Baptist clergyman, died at Odessa, Missouri ; George D. is a resident of Panhandle City, Texas; Rebeeea, who died in Ralls county, was Mrs. Richard Dalton; Marion C. is the next of the family; Alice, who married Marshall Smith, died in Ralls county in 1907; Naney M. mar- ried Henry Donley of New London; and Lena is the wife of Franeh . Glenn, a merchant and president of the First National Bank of Nevada, Missouri.
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