USA > Missouri > A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2 > Part 53
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121
1638
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
gates two hundred and ninety-two acres in addition to the residence place, and he is known as one of the most progressive farmers of the county which has been his home from the time of his birth. He devotes much attention to the raising of high-grade live stock, including horses, mules, jacks, jennets, cattle and sheep, and his average flock of sheep numbers more than three hundred head. He gives personal supervision to his large landed estate and every detail of operation is familiar to him, so that he finds ample demands upon his time and attention. He has found satisfaction and profit in his close allegiance to the great basic industries of agriculture and stock-growing and through the medium of the same has become one of the substantial citizens of Northeastern Missouri, the while he has so ordered his course as to retain the unequiv- ocal confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
In politics Mr. Davis is an ardent Democrat, and he has given active and effective service in furthering the party cause, as he is a firm believer in the principles advocated by Jefferson and Jackson and is a member of the Democratic "old guard" in his home county. He holds member- ship in the Methodist Episcopal church and Mrs. Davis is a member of the Christian church. Mr. Davis is affiliated with the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons at Readsville, has served several terms as master of the same and has represented the organization in the grand lodge of the state.
On the 29th of September, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Davis to Miss Lucy Agnes Scholl, who was born in the house which is her present home and who is the only child of John B. and Dorcas A. (Boone) Scholl. John B. Scholl was born and reared in Callaway county, where he passed his entire life and where his father, John Scholl, was a pioneer, his settlement having been on the home farm now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Davis and Mrs. D. A. Scholl. John B. Scholl, the only son, came into pos- session of the farm upon the death of his father. His wife, now venerable in years, remains with her daughter on the old homestead, which is en- deared to her by the hallowed memories and associations of the past, and she is held in affectionate regard by all who know her. She is a daugh- ter of Rudolphus Boone, who was of the same family line as the historic character, Daniel Boone. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have had no children, but in their home they have reared several foster children, with utmost solicitude and devotion. Four of the children still remain with them, and all of the children have repaid their foster parents with love and filial devotion. They are Irene Ray, now the wife of Charles Fee, and resides near Fulton. Mabel Riddle, who was taken into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Davis when twelve years of age, has been specially active in Sunday school work. She served two years as county Sunday school superintendent of Callaway county and is at the present time superin- ' tendent of the Sunday school of the local Christian church. J. E. Baugh, who has always shown his love for his home and is a fine worker, now lives in Springfield, Illinois. Benithan E. Baugh died in 1895, and though young he had always exemplified the life of his Master by an unusually righteous child life. Guy S. Wren now resides in Seattle, Washington. Leonard A. Nail, who is a bright, promising boy, still lives with Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Dewey Pegg's whereabouts is not known. Jennie May Pegg, a bright and promising girl of twelve years lives at the home and is ever ready to do all she can for those whom she comes in con- tact with.
HONORABLE ALBERT G. DOD, a wealthy farmer and stock-raiser of Knox county, and one who has worthily represented the district in the formal state deliberations of Missouri, represents superior parentage as well as superior ability. His father was Prof. William Dod, who was
1639
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
born in 1812 and died in 1888, a native of New Jersey and a graduate of Princeton College. He was an honor student in the above institution and the valedictorian of his class, and he spent much of his life as a professor in higher institutions of learning. William Dod went as a young man to Center College, in Danville, Kentucky, where he was engaged for some time as a professor of mathematics. In 1865 he migrated to Knox county, where he took charge of extensive property, belonging to his father-in-law, George Jones, of Wilmington, Delaware. Professor Dod was a deeply patriotic man, his military sympathies being with the Union and giving rise to much activity in the shaping of senti- ment loyal to the nation. His marriage to Miss Elizabeth Jones, of Wil- mington, Delaware, took place early in life and they became the parents of a goodly family of children. The eldest, Albert G., is the subject of this review ; William L. is deceased; John M. is a physician of Jackson county; George J. has been well known as a former judge of Jackson county court; Archie A. is a prominent agriculturist of Inde- pendence, Jackson county ; Lillie M. is Mrs. Willard W. Carney, of Wichita, Kansas.
The birthplace of Albert Dod was Danville, Kentucky, and the date of his birth, April 24, 1839. He was educated by his father, the years of his intellectual development being interrupted by his service in the war, in which also his brothers, Dr. John M. and William L. also partici- pated, all three serving in McNeal's regiment. Albert Dod's more advanced studies were carried on at Jacksonville College, of which his father was the official head during the Civil war period. After his grad- uation he returned to his father's farm, taking charge of it in 1865 and continuing to supervise its affairs. This fine agricultural property became his own upon his father's death and its five hundred and twenty-one acres constitute one of the richest farms in Knox county.
In 1871 and again in 1887, the voters of Knox county chose Mr. Dod as their honored representative in the state legislature of Missouri. His service in that capacity was commendable to himself and satisfactory to the people in general, as well as to his constituency, the Republican party.
In his private and personal pursuits, Mr. Dod has become widely known as a breeder of Shorthorn and Polled Durham cattle. The former he has raised with conspicuous success for the last thirty-five years and the latter for fifteen years.
Mr. Dod is a variously gifted man, his conversational ability being not the least of his talents and one that made his political activities effective. His favorite subject, perhaps, is that of the military period of his life, for after his enlistment in February, 1864, with MeNeal's Regiment of Home Guards, he met with exciting experiences, especially in his subsequent service in the Union Cavalry service. His memories are vivid indeed of the campaign in southeast Missouri; of General Marma- duke's enforced exit from the state; of the Battles of Cape Girardeau, of Chalk Bluff and of White River; and of many interesting skirmishes. It is needless to say that Mr. Dod is one of our most highly esteemed members of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The religious affiliations of Mr. Dod are with the Presbyterian church, of which he and his family are members. Mrs. Dod was formerly Miss Nettie L. Dod, a daughter of William W. Dod, of Kentucky. Her mar- riage to Mr. Dod took place in 1897 and they have in the succeeding years become the parents of the following children : Albert G., William, Lettie, Ruth Esther, and Dorothy Olive. The Dod family are among the most esteemed and influential families throughout this section of the state.
1640
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
JOHN HUGHES SAMPSON. As a pioneer citizen of Boone county, Missouri, to whom was accorded the most unqualified confidence and esteem, John Hughes Sampson, for nearly sixty years a resident near Rocheport, is especially entitled to a memorial tribute in this publica- tion. He made his own life count for good in all of its relations and reared a family that for citizenship and attainment are of exceptionally high standing. Those surviving are all residents of Boone county and are numbered among its most prominent men and women.
John Hughes Sampson was born in Richmond, Madison county, Ken- tucky, April 6, 1818, which date is evidence that he was a scion of one of Kentucky's pioneer families. His parents were Richard Sampson and Mary (Watkins) Sampson, the former of whom was born in Balti- more county, Maryland, July 20, 1780, and the latter in Albemarle county, Virginia, on March 15, 1789, a daughter of Absalom Watkins. They were married at Richmond, Kentucky, in 1811 and came to Boone county, Missouri, in 1839, locating on a farm of 360 acres near Roche- port that has since remained the Sampson homestead. There both finally passed away of old age. John H. accompanied his parents to Mis- souri and remained at the parental home until his marriage in 1842 to Martha A. Wood, a daughter of Michael and Martha E. Wood, pioneers in Boone county who came from Kentucky in 1816. The young couple began life together on a farm of 126 acres which John H. received from his father. To this he added by subsequent purchase until he held 487 acres, on which he placed a fine residence, good barns and other improvements, making of it a valuable homestead and one entirely free of debt. It is still known as "Wheatland Farm" and lies along the state highway about three miles east of Rocheport. He was a wide-awake and enterprising citizen and a very successful agriculturist, to which vocation he devoted nearly sixty years of his independent career. Besides the general lines of farming he gave much attention to stockraising and the breeding of thoroughbred sheep, cattle and hogs. He was an importer of Oxford Down sheep and became well known in this connection, receiv- ing fancy prices for those of his breeding and raising. He was a promi- nent stock exhibitor at county and state fairs. His thrifty housewife also won many premiums at fairs by exhibiting different domestic articles that represented her handiwork, being especially skilled in needle- work. In 1868, with seven other citizens, he bought stock in the Colum- bia and Rocheport gravel pike, in which he retained his interest until it was taken over by the county. It is now a part of the state highway. He and his wife passed away on the old homestead of old age, the death of the former having occurred on August 7, 1900, when in his eighty- third year, and that of the latter on November 4, 1907, she also being full of years. They became the parents of eleven children, one of whom, James D., died in childhood. The mother took a keen interest in the education of her children and strongly encouraged them toward attain- ment. Those to reach maturity are mentioned as follows : Richard Henry, who received his education in a Boone county academy, spent his life on the farm and passed away at the age of fifty-six; Michael Wood, who also was a farmer, died at the age of forty-two; Mary Watkins, who began teaching at the age of sixteen, has now devoted forty consecutive years to her profession, most of the time in Boone county; she was educated in her home under the instruction of a governess and took up her life work first as a teacher in public schools, then in Stephens Col- lege, later as an instructor in the Columbia public schools, and finally as a member of the faculty of the Grand River College; Martha Denny, the second daughter, was her mother's dependence and remained at the old home until her death at middle age; Margaret Frances, now residing
1641
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
in Columbia, also became an educator and taught first in the Columbia public schools and later in Stephens College; Sarah Caroline, another of the daughters identified with the teaching profession, is now residing with her sisters in Columbia; John Thomas is a property owner and stock dealer in Columbia and resides in Columbia; Julia Elizabeth, a graduate of Stephens College and of the New York Conservatory of Music, is now a member of the Stephens College faculty ; Walter Irvin resides in Columbia, Missouri, and has spent ten years of his life there in the grocery business and William Arthur, who manages 220 acres of the old homestead, resides in Rocheport. Both parents were members of the Walnut Grove Baptist church, of which the father was clerk for forty years and deacon thirty-three years up to his death. He was a Democrat in politics but never sought official preferment. He was a man of fine business discernment and sound judgment, which qualities were appre- ciated by his children, who always sought his counsel and wisdom in the management of their affairs. He himself arranged, according to his own notion, the final disposition of his estate, which remained intact until a quite recent date.
WILLIAM ARTHUR SAMPSON, a resident of Rocheport and the next youngest son of John Hughes and Martha ( Woods) Sampson, now owns and manages 220 acres of the old Sampson homestead near Rocheport, also a farm of 125 acres, one mile from Rocheport in Howard county, on state highway, on which is located a very valuable mineral spring and a noted health resort. He continued along the successful lines of his father, raising considerable stock and doing extensive farming. He was married October 25, 1899, to Miss Musette Norris, daughter of A. G. and C. A. Norris, the former of whom is president of the Rocheport Bank and is a large property owner in that community. Mr. and Mrs. Samp- son have one child living, Norris, now aged twelve years (1912), another child having been lost in infancy. He is a member of the old Walnut Grove Baptist church, with which the parents of Mr. Sampson were so long identified.
THOMAS WATKINS SAMPSON. In the family of Richard and Mary Sampson was one other son, Thomas Watkins Sampson, who later fol- lowed his parents to Missouri and became prominently identified with the life of Boone county. Born October 6, 1815, in the same Kentucky city and county as his brother John Hughes, at nineteen he received from Governor Clark his commission as a captain in the Kentucky State Militia, and at twenty he was made a major. In 1846 he helped to raise and became second-lieutenant of a company of Kentucky volunteer cav- alry to join General Sterling Price, later the noted Confederate general, for service in the conflict with Mexico but the company was not accepted. He became a quarter-master, however, at Fort Leavenworth and in that capacity forwarded trains of supplies across the plains to General Price for his commands in New Mexico and Chihuahua. In 1837 he cast his first vote in Kentucky for Cassius M. Clay for surveyor. In 1848 he started for California via New Orleans, where he suffered from yellow fever, thence to Santa Fe, New Mexico, Old Mexico and California, returning eastward three years later. After locating in Missouri he resided on a portion of the old homestead near Rocheport and died there at the age of eighty. He was a member of the Democratic state conven- tion at Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1860. The following children were the issue of his marriage in 1848 to Lessie B. Melody : John W. and Melody, now located in Texas; Cassius Clay, Watkins, Kate and Pauline, all in Colorado ; and Mary, who died in Colorado as Mrs. Robert Stone.
Vol. III-23
1642
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
ALFRED GREEN NORRIS, president of the Rocheport Bank, Rocheport, Missouri, was born on a farm ten miles northeast of Rocheport on the 30th of August, 1849, a son of Samuel G. and Parthena J. (Murray) Norris, both Virginians by nativity. The father, born in Albemarle county of the Old Dominion in 1824, was a lad about eight years of age when he accompanied his parents, William and Margaret Norris, to Boone county, Missouri, about 1833. They settled on the farm near Perch, which finally became the property of their son S. G. Norris and which was the birthplace of our subject. The grandparents lived on this homestead until their deaths from old age. Parthena, a daughter of Thomas Murray, lived to the age of eighty-seven years. Though settlers had been locating in Boone county several decades before the advent of the Norris family, the country was still undeveloped and S. G. grew up familiar with pioneer life in the woods. He and his father helped to clear up much of that section of Boone county. In 1858 S. G. Norris came to Rocheport, where he was employed as a carpenter and plasterer a number of years. He died in Saline county in 1873 at the age of forty-nine years. Five children survived him, as follows: Henry, who became a merchant and was a former district judge and county treasurer of Howard county and who died in Fayette, Missouri, in 1908; A. G., whose name introduces this review; F. T., now vice president of the State Bank at Slater, Mis- souri; A. J., who was killed in a mill explosion at Rocheport in 1870 at the age of eighteen, he being the engineer and the only one injured; the same mill has exploded since but fortunately without injuring any one ; and Georgia, now the wife of Hugh Byers, of Marysville, Missouri. A. G. Norris came to Rocheport in 1858 with his father and has now been a resident of the town continuously for fifty-four years. In his younger years he learned his father's trades and worked some at them but his preference was for a business career. From 1883 until 1904 he was engaged as a general merchant at Rocheport, also dealing in agricultural implements and conducting an undertaking establishment in connection with the business. In 1904, when the stock of the Rocheport Bank was increased to $30,000, Mr. Norris became president of the institution, suc- ceeding W. R. Wilhite in that position. He has now served nine years as president and has given the most efficient service in that capacity, guiding the finances of the bank in safe but profitable channels and build- ing up its importance. The Rocheport Bank was organized in 1868 by Dr. W. S. Woods, who served as its president ten years before his removal to Kansas City, Missouri. There are three hundred shares of the bank stock and all are owned by citizens of Rocheport and its com- munity. Mr. Norris is a notary public and also operates an insurance and real estate office in connection with his banking business. He has been successful in his business career and is one of the most substantial men of his community as well as one of its most worthy and esteemed citizens. In political views he is a Democrat, and fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he has filled all the local offices, and is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
In 1870 he was united in marriage to Carrie A. Scobee, of Rocheport, who died in 1908. Two daughters were born to their union, one of whom died in childhood. The other is Musette, now the wife of William A. Sampson, whose individual sketch appears in this work.
JAMES H. STARR, vice-president of the Bank of Centralia and one of Boone county's most extensive land owners and stock dealers, has been a leader in the growth and development of the county for over twenty years. He was born in Carey, Wyandotte county, Ohio, where he
1643
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
was reared and received his early educational training in the public schools. Desiring a location where he could carry on farming and stock raising on a more extensive scale than in Ohio, he decided to seek a home in the west and in 1890 he located on a farm a few miles north of Cen- tralia, Missouri. There Mr. Starr engaged in farming and in breeding fine stock, making a specialty of a noted strain of Duroc Jersey hogs. For years he has also dealt largely in sheep, buying as many as 30,000 or 40,000 head annually on the western ranges and shipping them to Boone county to feed. While he disposes of large numbers to other feeders, still he can successfully handle and feed on his own farms from 12,000 to 15,000 head of sheep each year. Mr. Starr has served as vice- president of the Bank of Centralia about twelve years and for the past four years he has resided in Centralia, from whence he directs the management of his two fine farms, one three miles east and the other nine miles north, together aggregating about 1,000 acres. Besides his large holdings in Boone county Mr. Starr is also a stockholder and a director in the Chicago & Alton Railway Company.
In Ohio, prior to coming to Missouri, he was united in marriage to Miss Hattie L. Gibbs. Mr. and Mrs. Starr are both active members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Centralia, and during the construction of the new Methodist Episcopal church, an exceptionally fine edifice which was recently dedicated there, Mr. Starr served as chairman of the building committee.
While Mr. Starr keeps in close touch with his large and varied busi- ness interests and devotes the most of his time to its management, still he is now being ably assisted by his only son, Chester G. Starr, who has already demonstrated those qualities of alertness and discernment in busi- ness which have proved such potent factors in the successful career of his father.
RICHARD H. GOODMAN. The connection of Richard H. Goodman with banks and banking dates back to the year 1875, when he received his first experience in fiscal affairs as clerk in a bank in Louisiana. His varied banking experiences from then until now have given him a wide acquaintance with financial institutions, particularly those of his native state, and since he organized the Bank of Louisiana in 1887, his whole concern has been for the welfare and prosperity of that institution. His career has been one of the most successful order and Louisiana has found in him a man who has been at all times heartily engrossed in the best welfare of the city, and one who has ever taken a leading part in activities tending to elevate the communal life of his community. As cashier of the Bank of Louisiana, he is a figurative landmark in the financial sphere of Pike county, and much of the financial growth and advancement of this section of the country may be traced to his continued activity in this line of enterprise.
Richard H. Goodman is the son of pioneer parents of Pike county, and he was born in the farming country ten miles distant from the city of Louisiana on May 26, 1854. He is the son of William A. and Mary Elizabeth Goodman, and the father was a man who took a prominent place in the varied affairs of his township prior to the War of the Rebel- lion, and whose admirable individuality and personality has been im- pressed upon his community through his children and his grandchildren.
As a youth of fourteen years Richard H. Goodman left his child- hood home and began his life of urban activity. As a preface thereto the boy indulged in a course of training in a commercial school, after which he secured a clerkship in the office of the tax collector, James A. Sanderson. During the two years he was thus. employed he mastered in
1644
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
full the details of the office, and gained a proficiency in clerical work that fitted him for a position in the old Commercial Bank, and it was there that he gained his initial banking experience, and no doubt it was there he acquired a liking for the business that has affected his entire life. In 1875, when he was twenty-one years old, Mr. Goodman was appointed to a position in a then well known St. Louis bank, receiving his appointment through the offices of General Henderson. That bank was a forerunner of what later developed into the Merchants-Laelede National Bank. Having been gripped by the desire to see the west, and to take his chance in the gold fields of that region, he did not accept the position in St. Louis. After due preliminaries, he found himself at Ban- noek, Montana, and there he entered the employ of Grater, Kinney & Company, a firm engaged in the operation of stores, mines and a bank. Mr. Goodman was busily occupied in his duties about one of the mines as a laborer, when he was summarily called to assume the duties of a position in the bank of the company, his former experience having in some manner "leaked out," and it was but a short time before he became one of the leading men in the bank at Bannoek. One year in the west was suffi- cient to allay the attack of western fever he had suffered, and upon his return to Missouri he held a elerkship for a short time, and then engaged in the livery business, but this too proved a brief experience, for he was offered a desirable position in the bank of Ray & Block, in Louisiana, going from them to the Mercantile Bank and remaining with that con- eern for about five years.
The moral and financial encouragement and support of General Henderson, his long time friend, and a number of other men of weight and influence in the community, caused Mr. Goodman to organize the Bank of Louisiana in the year 1887. The charter called for a capital stoek of $15,000, which amount was soon increased to $20,000, and Gen- eral Henderson was chosen president, with himself cashier and general manager. The bank from then until now has been one of the strong factors in the financial world of Louisiana and the county, and the com- mercial value of the stock is a sufficient evidence of the strength and standing of the bank in this district, it being a fact that there is no stock on the market at $400 a share.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.