USA > Missouri > A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2 > Part 48
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county. After one year he removed to Randolph county, where he engaged in farming, merchandising and real estate speculating, and so continued until his death, which occurred at Huntsville, March 1, 1908. During the Civil war he was twice drafted for service, probably Confederate, but each time hired a substitute. He was a Democrat in his political views, and affiliated with the Baptist church at Huntsville.
Thomas Henderson Graves, the paternal grandfather of Seaton Eldridge Graves, worked a plantation in Virginia, where he was born and reared, but died in Huntsville, Missouri, in 1854. He was a Baptist in regards to religious belief, and a stanch supporter of the Republican party, which in his day was known as the Democratic party. Mr. Graves married Nancy Rittenhouse, who was born and reared in Kentucky, their marriage being solemnized in the old Rittenhouse home in Nelson county, Virginia. Eight children were born to them: Terry and Elmira, twins, born in 1821; Seaton E., born in 1823; Paulina, born in 1819; Ann, born in 1825; Clifton C., born in 1826, and two children who died in infancy, all of the children now being dead with the exception of Seaton E., Sr.
The mother of Seaton Eldridge Graves, Elizabeth E. Bibb, was born in Nelson. county, Virginia, in 1829, and came from that state to Mis- souri in 1852, her death occurring at Huntsville, June 24, 1872. Her father, George M. Bibb, was born and reared near Jamestown, Virginia, and there engaged in farming. He was a Republican-Democrat in poli- tics and a Baptist in his religious belief. Mr. Bibb married Elizabeth E. Southerland, who was born and reared in Maryland, and to their union there were born ten children, among whom were. George M .; Madison; Henry, who was engaged in merchandising ; Isaac, a well-known attorney- at-law of his day ; Richard; A. L., who for a number of years was engaged in the active practice of medicine and surgery; and Elizabeth E., who married Mr. Graves. Terry and Elizabeth E. Graves had thirteen chil- dren by their marriage, which occurred in Nelson county, Virginia, in 1820; Maria L., Ella C., T. H., W. T., S. J., Benjamin, Elizabeth, Addie L., J. A., John C., Seaton Eldridge, Charles W. and J. W.
Seaton Eldridge Graves received his education in the public schools of Randolph county, and subsequently attended Mount Pleasant College, at Huntsville. As a young man he learned the trade of printer, and during subsequent years worked in numerous offices throughout Mis- souri, publishing papers of his own at Pilot Grove, Blackwater, Martins- burg, and Clifton Hill. The Rustler, a thirteen-year-old publication, has had a constantly growing circulation and is well supported as an adver- tising medium by the business men of Clifton Hill and the vicinity. Mr. Graves has proved himself an able business man as well as a skilled journalist, and his public spirit has led him to champion a number of successful movements for the betterment of Randolph county, its inter- ests and its people.
On January 13, 1889, at Pilot Grove, Missouri, Mr. Graves was mar- ried to Miss Elizabeth Gourley, who was born in Cooper county, Mis- souri, September 18, 1861, and they are consistent members of the Chris- tian church, of which he is now elder and has been treasurer. In politi- cal matters a stanch Democrat, he has held the offices of alderman of Huntsville and mayor of Clifton Hill. Fraternally, he is a popular mem- ber of the Modern Woodmen of America.
JULIUS FRANK ROGERS. The career of Julius Frank Rogers, a vener- able citizen of Clifton Hill, Missouri, is one which illustrates most forcibly the fact that industry, perseverance and determination, properly applied, are the price of success. and that integrity and honesty are assets which cannot be overestimated. Mr. Rogers is a veteran of the Civil war, and
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has the unique distinction of having fought for and against the Union, having first been a private in the ranks of the Confederacy, and toward the close of the war taking up arms as a soldier of the Federal army. For many years he was engaged in farming in Randolph county, where he still owns considerable land, and is also engaged in money loaning and has won distinction as a breeder of valuable Percheron horses. Mr. Rogers was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, August 18, 1831, and is a son of John and Mary (Lamb) Rogers, natives of the Old Dominion State. They came to Missouri in 1851, locating in Morgan county, where the father followed farming during the remainder of his life and died in 1887, while his widow survived him until 1893. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom four now survive: Mary E., living in Clifton Hill; Ann, the widow of John Beck, of Bozeman, Montana ; Julius Frank and Charles C., of Zenar, Missouri.
Julius Frank Rogers was educated in the schools of his native state, and was twenty years old when he accompanied his parents to Morgan county, Missouri. Reared to agricultural pursuits, he was engaged therein at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted in Parson's division, under General Jackson, in the Confederate service, and continued to fight with that organization for about one year. Returning to Missouri, from 1862 to 1864 he was engaged in the manu- facture of tobacco, but during the latter year enlisted in Company K. Forty-second Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, in the United . States service, and after six months received his honorable discharge at Nashville, Tennessee, March 28, 1865. At that time he returned to Missouri, and spent a short time in Randolph county, but subsequently went to Adams county, Illinois, and was there engaged in farming for one year. He then again returned to Randolph county, purchasing a small farm on which he lived until 1867. In that year Mr. Rogers located in Clifton Hill, there engaging in the hotel and livery business for twenty years, and in buying and selling stock, but about fifteen years ago pur- chased eighty acres of good land. He cultivated this tract for about three years and then sold it, and purchased fifty-seven acres on the edge of the corporation limits, where he built a fine home. In addition he owns eighty acres west of the town and 110 acres of bottom land, is a stockholder and director in the Clifton Hill Banking Company, has done an extensive business in money loaning, and is considered one of the best breeders of Percheron stock in his locality.
In 1866, Mr. Rogers was married to Miss Catherine Rucker, and to this union there have been born four children: John Franklin and Charles A., who are deceased; Buddy and Leonard of Clifton Hill. In politics a Democrat, Mr. Rogers served his community as constable for twenty years, was deputy sheriff for ten years, and eventually was elected mayor of Clifton Hill. In his official capacities he demonstrated himself an able, faithful and conscientious official, giving to his public service the same enthusiastic effort that marked his business transactions. He is a well-known member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic, and with his family attends the Christian church of Clifton Hill. He is a leader in all movements calculated to benefit his community, and can at all times be relied upon to support public morality, education and good citizenship.
HON. CHARLES T. LAMB. In choosing the individual who shall occupy the highest office within the gift of the municipality, the citizens of any live community can be generally trusted to name one who has proven his worth and ability in his own affairs, his fitness for handling great issues and his loyalty to the welfare of his section. The complex and perplexing
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duties of the office of mayor of a thriving city such as New London, call for a high order of courage, absolute integrity in civic affairs, and enterprise tempered with conservatism, for a community is often judged by the character and actions of its chief executive and the stand he takes in matters of great issue. The present incumbent of the mayoralty chair of New London, the Hon. Charles T. Lamb, has shown himself not only a man of excellent judgment and executive powers in the discharge of his official duties, but has fostered the community's industrial interests as president of the New London Fair Association, and in the business world is widely known because of his activities as a real estate and emi- gration promoter.
The Lambs of this strain emanate from sea-faring people of Ireland. The grandfather of Charles T. Lamb brought to the United States a vigorous body and an untrammeled mind, developed in the salt waters of the coast of Erin, and in company with a brother, settled in Connecti- cut. From this point he made his way south to Virginia, and the roman- tic and aristocratic elements of the Old Dominion added poesy and intel- lectual strength to the natural endowments of the new generation. Alfred W. Lamb was born in Virginia in 1828, was there given a college education, and came to Missouri as a young man, in company with his brother, the late eminent Dr. C. L. Lamb, of Hannibal, who served as a Confederate soldier. Both men attained eminence in their chosen pro- fessions, and Alfred W. Lamb became one of the able lawyers, leading politicians and prominent railroad officials of Northeastern Missouri. He was one of the promoters and early presidents of the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, took an active interest in politics as a Democrat, and was elected to the Fifty-first and Fifty-second congresses from the Hanni- bal district. His connection with the bar began before the Civil war, as did his connection with politics here, and he was circuit attorney when his district extended from St. Charles, Missouri, to the Iowa line. He chose corporation law after he had established himself in the confidence of Missourians and his knowledge and skill in this department of law won him a place in the esteem and respect of men of large affairs. He was attorney for the Hannibal & St. Joseph and St. Joseph & Grand Island Railroads for many years and his duties kept him much in New York City and at other centers of financial influence in the United States.
Although honored with election to congress, Mr. Lamb regarded the distinction of much less consequence than his legal profession, and he breathed relief when the responsibilities of political office were lifted from him and he was permitted to pursue his course in professional and business life. His success in business was scarcely less remarkable than in the law, and his investments in lands and other substantial property became extensive and created for him an estate of great value. Alfred W. Lamb was a striking example of memory development. He satis- fied his voracious appetite for knowledge by reading and observation and possessed the faculty of recalling for future use whatever would aid him in argument or illustration. He was simply one of the few Websters of the Missouri valley who carved out a destiny with the force of his intellect and went to his grave before he enjoyed its emoluments long or the peace and pleasures of a ripe old age. He belonged to no church or fraternal lodge. Mr. Lamb married Miss Mary McDannold, of Natchez, Mississippi, a daughter of William McDannold, a gentleman of eminence in the legal profession of Mississippi, whose five sons all died in the Con- federate cause. Mr. Lamb died in 1888, and his wife passed away ten years later. Their two children were: Charles T .; and Mrs. H. K. Gilman, of Ithaca, New York.
Charles T. Lamb was born in Marion county, Missouri, January 24,
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1864, and went through the public schools of Hannibal. He began life as a youth upon a cattle ranch in Texas, going out there in 1879 and becoming identified with the Nueces Land and Cattle Company, whose ranch lay across the Rio Grande river, from Eagle Pass, Texas. He continued in the service of this corporation until 1887 and was manager of the ranch for nine years. Returning to Missouri, he engaged in farm- ing, and soon came to New London. He began his residence in the county seat in 1891 and his career has covered a period of breeding standard-bred horses, shipping cattle and mules and horses and in carry- ing on the business of an extensive land-owner and man of affairs. His wide information on the subject of stock brought him the appointment of superintendent of livestock for the Missouri commission at the Louisi- ana Purchase Exposition, in this position creating an interest in the exposition among the leading stockmen, or men who breed prize animals of any kind, secured the entry of a prize-winning exhibit of animals for his state, saw it take rank as a dairy and cattle commonwealth and also saw this state win all the championships of the world in Berkshire hogs. Mr. Lamb was made president of the New London Fair Association in 1908 and conducted, together with his aids, a successful fair in 1912. He took real estate exploitation from his office in New London in 1909, and now represents the M. K. & T. Railway Company for its Texas lands, and handles the Northeastern Missouri territory for the "cut-over" lands of the southeastern part of the state.
On December 4, 1888, Mr. Lamb was married to Miss Maggie V. Vorhis, daughter of Col. C. Vorhis, a widely-known public man of St. Louis and Hannibal and a Democratic politician. Mrs. Vorhis was for- merly a Miss Gordon, and her children were: Mrs. R. H. Stillwell ; D. J. Vorhis, who is now deceased; and Mrs. Lamb. Colonel Vorhis is a resi- dent of Hannibal and eighty-five years of age. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lamb: Mary M. and Charles T., Jr., the latter associated with his father in business. Although interested in politics only for his friends, Mr. Lamb was elected mayor of New London in 1911, on the Democratic ticket, and is giving his adopted city a safe, clean and businesslike administration. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the Hon. Champ Clark for the presidency in 1912.
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL JAMES is the cashier of the Bank of New Lon- don and a citizen of prominence and good repute in his community. He was born in Pike county not far from his present residence, and his life has been passed almost wholly within the confines of this county. His family belongs to the age of pioneers in Missouri and was founded by a contribution from the citizenship of Kentucky, where, near Lexington, John R. James, its founder, married and began his career in life.
John R. James was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, in 1800. He was given a liberal education there in his teens, and before he attained his majority he withdrew from the paternal roof and began his journey to the West. He stopped in Kentucky and while there made the acquaint- ance of the young lady who became his wife. They came at once to Missouri, and there, in their youth and strong in heroic purpose, they settled near Elk Lick Springs in Pike county in 1818. The young hus- band, scarce more than a boy in years, devoted himself to such rural activities as contributed to the support of his modest household, and among other occupations, taught school in the first cabin colleges of Missouri for several years and in this manner laid the foundation of a successful civil and industrial life.
The farm that John R. James made out of the virgin domain near Elk Lick Springs remained his abiding place until death called him. His
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knowledge of legal forms and acquaintance with legal procedure of the time made him a valuable citizen to his community and he was much occupied in those respects. He made wills, executed conveyances, gave advice to his neighbors on all subjects, wrote their letters concerning matters about which their limited education had not informed them, and in devious ways made himself indispensable to his neighbors and to all in their community. While he was not gifted as a public speaker, he was able to gain and hold the interest of an audience with his fund of informa- tion as a conversationalist, and was popular in that way. In early life he was of the Whig persuasion politically, but the incidents and results of the Rebellion made him a Democrat. He was a member of the Christian church. No member of the James family other than John R. came to Missouri. He seems to have left no tangible record of his ancestors or his close relatives, and his passing marked his life as the beginning of a new branch of the James family. He married Elizabeth Thompson, a daugh- ter of Gilbert Thompson, who came to Pike county as a pioneer, and whose family history will be seen in more detail in the sketch of Green G. Thompson in this historical work. Mr. James died in 1875 and his wife passed away in the year following. Their children were Thompson B., who passed his life in this community, married Miss "Puss" Crowson and left a family at his death. Jafferson G. died in 1911 in San Francisco, California; he went to that state following the Civil war, engaged in ranching near Fresno and accumulated a property estimated at seventy- three thousand acres of land at that point; he left a family at death. Clarinda Ann became the wife of James L. Alford and died in Ralls county. Mildred J. married Burgess Lake and passed away in this sec- tion in 1911. Augustus P. died in Pike county as the husband of Victoria Sutton. William M. passed away in Ralls county. Margaret is the wife of Jay B. Brashear, of Center, Missouri. John D. married Virginia Rector and died in Ralls county, leaving a family. Alexander C. is the subject of this review.
The country schools educated Alexander C. James for the most part, who was born at the family home near Elk Lick Springs on October 3, 1843. With the approach of manhood came the disturbing political sit- uation of the Civil war period, and he evaded the complication thus aris- ing by emigrating to California while the fratricidal conflict was being carried to its conclusion. He went by steamboat from New York to Colon, crossed the Isthmus of Panama by rail and landed at San Fran- cisco without delay or untoward incident. He passed the first year on the ranch of his brother at Fresno, mentioned above, and then went over to Virginia City, Nevada, and was engaged chiefly in the wood business dur- ing the three years he remained there. He returned home by the same route he took going to the West and in 1866 engaged in farming in the community of his birth. In 1876 Mr. James left the farm and became deputy sheriff and collector under Sheriff John D. James for two years, and was again appointed by Sheriff Samuel J. Melson during his four year term. In 1884 he was elected to the office of sheriff and collector and during his two year term the office was divided and in 1886 he was elected county collector, serving four years. He was succeeded in the position by H. W. Ogle. Save for an occasional convention he has since attended, in one of which he witnessed the second nomination of Presi- dent Cleveland, he has taken no active interest in county or national politics.
Retiring from office Mr. James was appointed cashier of the Ralls County Bank in which position he served three years and resigned to organize the Bank of New London in 1894. This institution was char- tered with a capital stock of $15,000 and began business with Bayless Vol. III-21
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Rector as president and Mr. James as cashier. Judge J. H. Priest suc- ceeded to the presidency upon the death of Mr. Rector and Mr. W. H. Glascock is vice-president of the institution, which is one of the solid and conservative financial institutions in the county.
On August 10, 1869, Mr. James married Miss Laura J. Nally, a daughter of William H. and Mary J. Nally, of which family there appears a detailed account on other pages of this historical and biographical work.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. James are Mary Elizabeth, the wife of Henry Indorf, a merchant of New London; Lola, married to Theodore Emerson, a farmer of Ralls county, and Iona, the wife of J. D. Smith, who is engaged in farming near New London.
Mr. James is a Master Mason and an Odd Fellow, and in addition to his banking interests, is something of a farmer himself, being the owner and indirect operator of a fine farm in Spencer township.
GEORGE E. MAYHALL is one of the old members of the bar of Ralls county in which he has passed his life for the most part, and in which he has attained a considerable prominence in connection with the public and professional life of the district. He is a director of the Bank of New London and has an established insurance business in this city, in addition to large property interests throughout the county. He is a native son of Ralls county, born September 24, 1834, in the old part of the Ferd. Alexander residence.
Mr. Mayhall is the son of Samuel W. Mayhall, born in Franklin county, Kentucky, December 17, 1804. The elder Mayhall learned the trade of a brick maker in his youth, and came to Missouri in 1830. After a brief stop in Palmyra, he located in Ralls county where he made brick and carried on building operations for many years in which time he erected the first brick court house and many of the first brick business houses of New London. He was a determined Whig until the Republican party was evolved from its ruins, and thereafter he was allied with the new party. He was constable of his district for thirty-six years and a member of the Christian church.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was William Mayhall, orig- inally known as Mayhugh. He was born in Wales on March 17, 1778, and was married in the United States to a Miss Ward, born in Ireland in 1782, and the pair settled in Franklin county, Kentucky. He died there in 1860, and his widow survived him until 1875. They were the parents of twelve children.
Samuel W. Mayhall, their son, and the father of the subject, married Louisa Aslop, who died in 1882. Their children were Margaret, who became the wife of Judge William E. Harris; Jefferson A .; Elizabeth ; Sarah; John W .; George E .; Augusta; Louisiana, who married William Wickersham; Clay M., the late distinguished editor and one of the found- ers of the Ralls County Record; Frances, who married Thomas R. Dodge, of Vandalia, Missouri; Samuel D .; Laura, the wife of John Bale of Hannibal, and William S., located in Minnesota.
George E. Mayhall received his education in the schools of New Lon- don and in McGee College, and with the close of his college career he took advantage of an opportunity to visit the then practically unexplored West, and he went by stage coach from Independence, Missouri, out the old Santa Fe trail to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in which territory his work for the next year was located. The journey of twenty days was made without untoward incident and the government work of section- izing a portion of the arid domain under the supervision of Robert P. Kelley, the contractor, was the object of his errand to the west. The novelty of the life and the change of climate contributed largely to his
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bodily vigor, and when he returned home he was in prime condition for another siege with his text books.
In 1860 Mr. Mayhall began reading law with J. P. Lancaster in New London and he was admitted to practice law upon examination before Judge G. Porter in 1862, being complimented at the close of the test upon his understanding of the basic principles of the law. He was elected to the office of county clerk of Ralls county the same year and was returned to the office until he had held it almost thirteen years, when he was succeeded by Benjamin Stephens.
During all these years of his public service he had kept in touch with the law by practice in the circuit court and when he resumed private life he devoted himself more closely to his profession. He subsequently en- gaged in the handling of and dealing in real estate, also carrying on an insurance business, and for some years conducted this dual vocation in connection with his law practice. The combination, however, was even- tually succeeded by law and insurance, in which field of enterprise the evening of his life finds him still active and prominent.
Mr. Mayhall has been a Republican since the war. He voted for Bell and Everett in 1850 and for President Lincoln in 1864, since which time he has followed the fortunes of the Republican party. He comes from a Whig family and it was said of his father that he seemed to feel "he would have to go to heaven by way of Henry Clay." Mr. Mayhall was a delegate to the Republican state convention of 1904 and to the judicial convention the same year where Judge Norton was named judge of the court of appeals.
Associated with those having in charge the affairs of public education in New London, Mr. Mayhall has given the public the benefit of his best service in behalf of the youth of this modern age. He is a stockholder of the Ralls County Fair Association and of the Bank of New London.
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