A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 51

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

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Mr. Jones was married in Louisiana, Missouri, in October, 1875, to Miss Callie Owen, a daughter of Addison and Edna Owen, who came to Missouri from Kentucky and became residents of Hannibal. Mrs. Jones died in 1890, leaving three children. Charlotte is a member of the home family ; Harry, who died in September, 1911, left two daughters, Callie and Helen ; Edna, who is the youngest child of her parents, married Rus- sell Williams, a shoe dealer of Louisiana, Missouri. All three daughters educated in the Missouri Valley College at Marshall, Missouri. Mr. Jones is a member of the Presbyterian church of Frankford, and is a deacon of that body.

LEONARD D. KENNEDY is the postmaster of Frankford and a young business man whose career here began as a mature youth in this city in the government service. His family belongs to one of the recent acquisi- tions to Pike county, having been founded by the late Isaac M. Ken- nedy, merchant and postmaster of Frankford.

The remote ancestor of Mr. Kennedy was an Irishman who settled in Virginia, where Isaac Kennedy, the grandsire of Leonard D. Kennedy, was born in 1832. Isaac Kennedy came west to Illinois in 1849 and

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settled in Jersey county and during his active life was engaged in farm- ing there. He married Elizabeth Davis, born in Devonshire, England, and they became the parents of Isaac M., and Jesse of Alton, Illinois. Isaac N. Kennedy passed his minor years upon the farm near Jersey- ville. He was given a fair education and was dissuaded against the fortunes of a rural career by the attractions of a salesman's life. He became a traveling salesman for the Ely-Walker Dry Goods Company of St. Louis and left the road after several years to engage in business for himself in Frankford. He came to this point in 1902, opened a dry goods store, was appointed postmaster of the little city in 1902, as the suc- cessor of J. R. Weldy, and died in middle life. He was a Republican and soon became identified with the working organization of Missouri. Any matter of moment to the party affecting this section was referred to him and he was recognized in the makeup of representation from the county to local or other convention work of the party. He knew the chief leaders of Missouri Republicanism and was present at the Hadley banquet at St. Louis following the election of the governor.

In 1884 Mr. Kennedy married his first wife in Macoupin county, Illinois. She was Miss Mary C. Hall, whose father, David Hall, was one of the wealthy farmers of that county. Mrs. Kennedy died July 4, 1886. His second wife was Miss Edith Bothwell. Mr. Kennedy died October 18, 1909.

Leonard D. Kennedy grew up in the home of his grandfather Kennedy at Jerseyville, Illinois. He is the only child of his parents, and was born on July 20, 1885. Before he more than completed the work of the common schools he evinced a desire for business activity, and his busi- ness life began with a clerkship in Jerseyville, after which he became a postal clerk on the Frisco Railroad between St. Louis and Monett. The appointment of his father as postmaster of Frankford brought him to this place as assistant postmaster, and he was commissioned by Roose- velt in February, 1909. He is, of course, a Republican, but is better known for the efficiency of his performance of his official duty as post- master than for his political enthusiasm.

Mr. Kennedy was married in Frankford on September 23, 1906, to Miss Maud Weatherford, a daughter of Frank Weatherford, a granite and marble dealer of this place, and numbered among the early families of the county: Mrs. Kennedy passed away on February 22, 1911, leaving a son, L. D., Jr.

CHARLES O. POOL. A progressive and up-to-date man of the younger generation of active men in this community is Mr. Charles O. Pool, manager of the LaCrosse Lumber Company of Frankford, Missouri. The paternal line of his family was transplanted from Tennessee by the immigration from that state of Charles Pool's grandfather, William Pool, at a date near the middle of the preceding century. He settled in Lincoln county, Missouri, where he devoted his endeavors to the voca- tion of farming. His wife was a member of the Owens family and the children of their family included two sons and one daughter, now living. John W. Pool is a resident of Montgomery City. Elizabeth is Mrs. James East, of St. Louis. George P. Pool is the father of Charles O. Pool, to whom this sketch is dedicated.

George Pool was born in Lincoln county, Missouri, in the 'fifties. Educationally he is a product of the public schools of his rural district. His life interests have been confined to his home and the duties of his calling. He first learned the trade of carpenter and for several years was engaged in that branch of industry. In middle life, however, he discon- tinued his work as a builder and returned to the occupations he had Vol. III-22

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known as a boy. He now follows agricultural pursuits on a farm near Montgomery City. George Pool holds the political views of the Demo- cratic party, but has never been an aspirant for political favors.

Mrs. George Pool, the mother of Charles O. Pool was in her girl- hood Miss Lucy Kruger, a daughter of Fred Kruger and his wife, and the third of their five children. Since her marriage to Mr. Pool five chil- dren have been born and reared in the Pool home. Clarence, the eldest, is a farmer near Montgomery City; Charles O., the special subject of this sketch, was the second in line. Anabelle, Ira and Raymond are still in the home of their parents.

Charles O. Pool, who was born on the eighth day of June, 1884, was educated in the public schools, partially in Montgomery City. When eighteen years of age he began his independent vocational existence by accepting a position of minor importance with the LaCrosse Lumber Company at that place. His ability and faithfulness were such that he speedily rose in rank and importance with the firm and he was trans- ferred to Jacksonville, Illinois, as foreman of the company's plant in that city. He fulfilled the duties and responsibilities of this promi- nent position for some years, and in 1908 accepted a position in his native state. His new location was Frankford, where he was made manager of the yard for the LaCrosse Company.

On May 18, 1910, Mr. Pool won a worthy domestic partner when Miss Leila Edna Benn, a scion of another early Pike county family, became Mrs. Pool. She is a daughter of Henry C. Benn and his wife, nee Kate Robertson, the latter representing the Robertson family who are reviewed at length elsewhere in this work. Mr. Benn, a farmer, died in 1902. Besides Mrs. Pool, his children were Zella, who is now Mrs. J. Brooks Brown, of near Frankford; and Charles H., who is conducting agricultural operations on property near his native heath.

Mr. and Mrs. Pool are also carrying on farming industries as a sub- stantial part of their activities. Their residence is in Frankford, where their property interests are considerable. They are members of the Bap- tist church and Mr. Pool is a popular member of the orders of Odd Fel- lows and Modern Woodmen.

WILLIAM HENRY MCLOED is a farmer whose forefathers were of the pioneers of Pike county and whose settlement was made in the vicinity of Dover in 1821. He is a son of James S. McLoed and a grandson of William L. McLoed, the founder and head of this numerous family in Pike county.

James S. McLoed was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, in De- cember, 1811, and the farm of Maxwell Nunn of Calumet district is the farm upon which he grew to manhood and where his father first settled. To William L. McLoed is due the credit for striking the first blows which converted this beauty spot of nature into a productive little community, and there he resided until his death in 1876, when he was eighty-five years old. He was born in Virginia, was liberally edu- cated, and was first a Whig and later a Republican. He was a staunch upholder of the Union in the Rebellion of 1861-5, and was in every way a forceful and popular citizen in his time. He was justice of the peace for some years ; he was an able conversationalist and as a public speaker was considered something of an orator. He was a member of the Primitive Baptist church. He married Sallie Stark, a sister of Judge James Ovid Stark, who is mentioned at length in this volume. His wife died in 1874 or thereabouts, the mother of seven children. Susan, the eldest, married Dr. William W. Wise; Sallie became the wife of Rev. Timothy Rogers, a minister of the Primitive Baptist church ;

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William L .; Jane, who married Richard Venable; Eliza died as the wife of Frank Shepherd; Mary, who married Lee Haney; and Emily married George Page; James S., the father of William Henry of this review; and George.

James S. MeLoed came to his majority under the influence of an intellectual home, and received training in the studies common and practical in his day. He manifested a studious disposition all through his active life, and passed for a man well equipped in an educational way, as a result of his careful and continuous studies. His knowledge of land surveys was expert and his information as to legal forms and requirements was known to be good. He was a notary public and his office was ever a popular one for the execution of and preparation of legal documents relating to contracts, transfers of real estate, and other matters affecting his county.

In his vigorous days he did carpenter work, and he always carried on his farming. He was a supporter of the Union during the war and found his political home in the ranks of the Democratic party. Like his father, he was a "Hardshell" or "Ironside" Baptist, and was noted for his conscientious regard for the right in all things. He was a quiet and gentle man and breathed the spirit of peace and counseled harmony between men and communities. He died in 1885, his wife having passed away in 1857. She was Miss Sallie Kelly in her maiden days, a daugh- ter of Vincent Kelly and Susan (Moore) Kelly who settled in Pike county from Kentucky. Mrs. McLoed was born in January, 1811, and her children were Susanna, who married Judge John A. Mackey and died in 1865 without issue; John, who spent his life in Pike county and died in 1893, leaving a family; Lucinda, who married Marion Mac- key, died in 1875, leaving four children; William H. of this review; and Benjamin F., farmer of Pike county, who married Rebecca A. Scott.

William Henry McLoed is living in the neighborhood of his chil- dren, where he was born in 1841. His education came to him chiefly through the country schools. At the time of the Rebellion he was enrolled with the Home Guard and in 1867 he withdrew from the par- ental home and located where he is now to be found, on a portion of the John W. Griffey farm. This tract of 240 acres reflects the care and cul- tivation he has bestowed upon it with unremitting zeal, in the preserva- tion of its virgin forest, the beautiful groves into which its landscape has been fashioned by master hands, and in the general thrift which abounds and is evident in every corner of his domain.

Mr. McLoed has sought and held no office. He is a Democrat in politics and his religion is Universalism. He first married Miss Sarah Stark, a daughter of James and Catherine Schooler Stark. Mrs. Mc- Loed died January 19, 1880, without issue, and on January 3, 1884, Mr. McLoed married Miss Mollie Poyser, a daughter of Adam Poyser, who came to Missouri from Ohio, with his wife, who was Catherine Grubb prior to her marriage. The Poyser children were William, George, Charles, Ann, Lou, Sallie and Mollie. Mrs. McLoed was born in 1858, and she and her husband are the parents of two sons,-Ora Henry and James Adam, both of whom are yet in the parental circle.

RICHARD B. NOEL. On the inauguration in January, 1913, of the new state administration, Richard B. Noel, as pardon attorney, had the honor of being the first appointee of Governor Major, to be confirmed by the senate. In selecting Mr. Noel for this important office, under the new state administration, Governor Major conferred a deserving honor not only upon the personal ability and career of Mr. Noel, but at the same time fittingly honored the county which has for many years been

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the home of the Noel family-Lewis county. The Noels have been resi- dents in that section of Missouri since the decade of the forties, and the name has always been borne with credit and honor by its various repre- sentatives.

The appointment of Mr. Noel as pardon attorney, was confirmed by the senate on January 17, 1913. The news concerning the selection by Governor Major of Mr. Noel for this office had been announced dur- ing the previous month. The Canton Press at Canton on December 13th referred to the appointment in the following lagnuage: "Governor- Elect Major has shown his ability to select good material for his ap- pointments, and in doing so has honored Lewis county by the appoint- ment of R. B. Noel as pardon attorney. Mr. Noel is one of the most loyal and enthusiastic Democrats in Missouri, is a bundle of energy, possesses fine legal talents, is fair minded and we doubt if Governor Major could have found a more competent man in the state for this office than our own Dick Noel." The Lewis County Journal on the same date spoke as follows: "Lewis county, and Monticello, especially, has been highly honored in the selection of R. B. Noel by Governor-elect Major for the appointment of pardon attorney. The Governor has made a wise selection, and got an able and conscientious attorney."

The office of pardon attorney holds for two years, and its salary is $2,400 per year.

Mr. Noel, who was born on a farm in Lewis county, and grew up in the environment of the country, has had a hard working career, and through his own industry and ability has advanced to his present suc- cessful position. He had to earn the money to pay his own way from the beginning, since his parents were people of limited means, though honest and respected citizens, and enjoying the thorough esteem of their community. Richard B. Noel was born on his father's farm in Lewis county, April 3, 1871, and his parents were Richard F. and Margaret (Simpson) Noel. The founder of the family in Missouri was Grandfather Thomas Noel, who brought his family and household goods to Lewis county in 1845, and devoted the remainder of his life to farming. Richard F. Noel, the father, was born in 1838 in Henry county, Kentucky, and has also been a farmer throughout his active career. The Noel homestead at this time comprises a tract of 120 acres in Lewis county. The mother, who was born in Kentucky in 1852, was a daughter of Benjamin Simpson, who was an early settler of Knox county, Missouri, during the early fifties. The four children of Richard F. Noel and wife were as follows: Richard B .; Mrs. Jennie Johnson, re- siding near Steffenville, Missouri; Mrs. Anna Lee Kenrick, also of Stef- fenville; and Benjamin E., who is a farmer of Lewis county.

Richard B. Noel received his primary education in the common schools of Lewis county, and subsequently attended the Western Acad- emy at Labelle, and also the State Normal school at Kirksville. For three years he was in the active work of the school room, and made an excellent record as a teacher. While engaged in teaching Mr. Noel's ambition and all his spare energies were directed to the study of law. In April, 1896, he had taken up his residence at Monticello, where he entered the law offices of Blair & Marchand. In September, 1898, oc- curred his admission to the bar and since that time for fifteen years, he has been one of the rising and prominent lawyers of Lewis county.

Mr. Noel has been one of the influential Democrats of Lewis county, and of his district for a number of years. In the fall of 1902 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Lewis county, and the able manner in which he discharged the duties of that office brought about his reelec- tion in 1904. As prosecuting attorney, he had a number of important

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cases. He secured conviction in some of these cases of periods of seven, twelve, twenty-five and fifty years, and also a number of convictions for minor offenses. This record has been seldom surpassed in the an- nals of the local prosecuting attorney's office. Mr. Noel has always taken an active part in supporting the ticket, and has campaigned through the county a number of times. He became an ardent supporter of Sergeant Governor Elliott W. Major during the latter's first candi- dacy for office of attorney general, eight years ago, having circulated one of his original petitions in Lewis county at that time. Thus both on the merit of his own record, and through his personal friendship with Governor Major, his appointment as pardon attorney came as a fit- ting reward for his successful work.

Mr. Noel has devoted considerable time to farming, in addition to his public duties. He and his brother own a farm of 160 acres in Lewis county, and besides the raising of a general crop, they are well known breeders in this section of fine Shropshire sheep and Poland-China swine, and at the Sedalia fair in 1910 and 1911 took first prizes for both breeds. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America. In October, 1898, occurred his marriage with Miss Rilla Ellison, a daughter of George Ellison of Labelle. Mr. and Mrs. Noel are the parents of four children: Mary Frances, Richard Bruce, Benjamin Field and Ronald.

EDGAR ANDREW (DRUEY) PARKS. Two generations of Parks, father and son, have given their aid to the encouragement of musical effort in the city of Louisiana. They have done this not solely as the heads of the flourishing business house which bears their name, but as ardent musi- cians who work to further their art for the art's sake. Both Edgar Alonzo Parks, Senior, and the son who now continues his name and business, have been known to the people of their native town as men of distinctive musical tastes and attainments, combined with practical business sense. The father was a pioneer in the music trade in Louisi- ana, and worked untiringly to establish the Parks Music House, and to put it on a firm basis. When he was called to his last rest, a little past the prime of life, he left his business in the safe keeping of his son, whom he had trained to be his able successor, and under the guidance of Edgar Andrew Parks, Junior, the business has prospered and ex- panded as much as his father could have wished.

Edgar A. Parks, Junior, the subject of this history, known among his friends and relatives as "Druey" Parks, was born on the town-site of Louisiana, on the 7th of April, 1871. His was the fourth generation of the Parks family to breathe the air of Missouri, his great-grand- father, William M. Parks, having emigrated to that state from Euclid, New York, in the year 1837, shortly after the death of his wife, who had been a Miss Fannie Hyde, of Livonia, Livingston county, New York. Their children were as follows: Nelson, who died without issue; Theron, whose children were Theron, "Bud," Melissa, and Alice Rena ; Monroe, who was the father of Mollie, Fannie, and Leonard; Harriet, who married Benjamin F. Skinner, of Monroeville, Ohio, and who had three children; Maria, the wife of Joseph Thomas, also of Monroeville, who had four children. Frank, Jasper, Jeff, and Parker; Sophronia became the wife of O. H. P. Hendershot, of Cleveland, Ohio, and was the mother of Adrasovia, Sutton, Sheldon, Carrie, Clarence, and Perry ; Julia, who married Mr. Lindsay, and lived at Montpelier, Idaho; Fannie married George Washington Taggart; Emeline married C. G. Hunter, and has two children, Blanche and Mattie; Prudence Amanda was the mother of Charles, Lannis, Helen, and Fannie, by her first husband, Dr.

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Warren Emerson, and afterward married Dennis Kelley; Nancy, the wife of Philip Caverly, was the mother of William, Charles, Esther, Fannie, Nelson and Lizzie; William O., the grandfather of Edgar A. Parks, Junior, was the youngest child.

William O. Parks was born at Livonia, Livingston county, New York, on February 28, 1820. He acquired his elementary education in the schools in the neighborhood of Euclid, where he grew up. At the time of the opening of the Van Buren administration, he went with his family to make his future home on the banks of the Mississippi, in the village of Louisiana. Here his father was an unassuming factor in the preliminary work of making the future metropolis of Pike county into a large and prosperous municipality. . The many children of the elder Parks have all played their parts well in the building up of the section ' of Missouri in which they settled. Their father, William M. Parks, died at the age of sixty-nine in the year of 1856, at the home of his son, Wil- liam O. Parks, at Louisiana, and is buried in Riverview Cemetery. His wife passed away in 1837, being forty-seven years old, and is buried in Ohio.

When it became time for him to adopt a trade of his own, William O. Parks established himself in Louisiana as a baker, since there was no one to supply the people of the growing town with bread. Next he drifted into the hotel business, becoming the proprietor of a hostelry quaintly called "Parks' Tavern," after the old-fashioned style of no- menclature used prior to the Civil war. Later he had the courage to become a demonstrator and salesman of "that new-fangled contriv- ance," the sewing machine, which had just been invented by Elias Howe. It is not known just what make of machine he handled, but the mere fact that he had the enterprise to introduce what was then a commercial oddity among the scattered settlers of Pike county, is very significant, for it shows where some of the. later generations of Parks got their energy and capability. Mr. Parks remained in the sewing ma- chine business up to the time of his death.

Brought up in the great Empire State where reverence for the coun- try's flag has always been something approaching a religion, Mr. Parks' sympathies in the struggle between the states were enlisted on the side of the North. A firm believer in the inviolability of the Union, he sup- ported President Lincoln's policies, and gave sons to the volunteer army which defended the flag, and restored the country to its unity. He was a member of the Republican party, and supported its principles dur- ing the whole of his long and active life.

Mr. Parks was prominent in Masonic circles. For the long space of twenty years he was worshipful master of his lodge. He was high priest of the chapter for twelve years and belonged to the local com- mandery.

William O. Parks departed this life in 1900, and his wife, Eliza A. (Robinson) Parks died nine years later, and is buried beside him in the Louisiana cemetery. Their children were Edgar Alonzo Parks, Senior ; Julia C., who was first married to Nick Parks, but afterwards became the wife of William Anderson, and passed her life in Chicago; William S., who was a citizen of the Louisiana community all of his life; Mollie A., who is married to John M. Hazelbaker, and resides at Pueblo, Colorado, and William Wirt, who lives in Louisiana.

Edgar A. Parks, Senior, was born in Louisiana, Missouri, on the 19th of March, 1845. He was equipped for the duties of life with a high school education. In 1861, when a tender youth of sixteen years, he enlisted in the Tenth Regiment of Missouri State Militia, serving for six months in the regimental band. At the end of this time, he joined the

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Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, under Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, and was on the battlefield of Shiloh aiding the hospital corps, when his regiment was cut to pieces by the Rebel fire. Subsequently, he returned to Mis- souri, and served for another six months as a bugler in Captain Clint Anderson's company of the state militia. After this, having fulfilled his contract with the state, he left the service.

When considering what peaceful occupation to adopt his natural inclination for ·music asserted itself. In 1863 he organized a concert troupe at the head of which he traveled through Illinois, Iowa, and Wis- consin. This venture, a somewhat daring one for a boy of eighteen, only lasted a few months. Mr. Parks then received employment as an orchestra leader in Milwaukee, and in that capacity went on tours cov- ering a large part of the state of Wisconsin. After a time, he returned to Louisiana, where he organized the silver cornet band which bore the name of "Parks' Band," and continued to exist as such from 1864 to 1905. Mr. Parks' reputation as a band leader had spread by this time, and he was called upon to travel about a great deal as a band teacher. He had classes in Montgomery City, New Hartford, Illinois, and Ash- ley, Missouri.

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A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 51

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