USA > Missouri > A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2 > Part 72
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
He was married in 1855 at Fayette, Missouri, to Miss Mary Louise McGarvey, youngest sister of the Rev. J. W. MeGarvey, president of the Bible College, Lexington, Kentucky. Five children were born of this marriage. Mrs. Haley died in 1887. In July, 1892, Rev. Mr. Haley married Mrs. Mary Stewart Campbell, of Kirksville, who survives him, he having died in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1913. Among his last literary labors was the preparation of the sketch of the Christian churches in Northeast Missouri for this history.
GEORGE THORNBURG is a scion of two of the respected pioneer fam- ilies of Northern Missouri, the Thornburgs and Kimbroughs, and is a native of Randolph county of this commonwealth, where he was reared and where he has found ample opportunity for productive effort as an agriculturist and stockgrower, being especially well known in the latter connection as a breeder of mules and of fine horses. He also has served as assessor of Randolph county two terms and thus in an official as well as business way has formed a large and favorable acquaintance there. There is more of interest in the life story of Mr. Thornburg, for he is the owner of the farm of one hundred and sixty acres on which he now resides and has acquired this property through his own efforts, his accom- plishment affording another proof that fortune seldom refuses to yield her favors to those who grapple with her with determination.
He was born on the 6th of September, 1870, a son of James Thornburg, who came from his native state of Pennsylvania to Randolph county,
1768
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
Missouri, in 1866 and passed into the great beyond in 1876. He had been a carpenter in the ship yards in Pennsylvania prior to his coming to this state, but here his attention was given to farming. The mother of our subject was a Miss Sally Kimbrough before her marriage, a Ken- tuckian by birth who had come to Missouri with her parents in girlhood. She preceded her husband in death, her demise having occurred in 1875. Five children came to these parents and of these George is now the sole survivor. They were Buddy, who died in infancy, and Fanny, whose death occurred in childhood; George, the subject of this review ; Ella, who became the wife of Ford Chapman of Randolph county and died leaving a son, Claud C. Chapman, now located at Enid, Oklahoma ; and Thomas Owen Thornburg, who died in December, 1911. After his father's death George lived with an uncle one year and then returned to his brother at the old home, where he remained until eighteen years of age. For a time after that he gathered experience in California and Arizona but finally returned to his native county, where he rented an eighty acre farm the first year of his return. The second year he rented two hundred and forty acres and the third year he purchased the farm of one hundred and sixty acres on which he now resides. Until 1900 his attention was given wholly to farming and to the breeding of mules and fine horses. In that year as a Democrat he was a candi- date for the first time for county assessor, was nominated over thirteen competitors, and was elected by three hundred majority. He was defeated in the election following his first term but in the race four years after that he was re-elected assessor of Randolph county by a majority of four hundred and eighty votes. He has proved a capable and efficient official, one whose services have been creditable both to his county and to himself, and as a citizen he stands well to the fore among the prominent men of his county. In religious belief and church mem- bership Mr. Thornburg affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal church (South), and fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order.
On March 15, 1893, Mr. Thornburg wedded Anna Belle, daughter of W. T. Edwards and Martha Edwards, of Randolph county. Mrs. Thorn- burg is the fifth of a family of seven children, as follows: Cyrus L. Edwards, of Huntsville, Missouri; James C. Edwards, of Billings, Mon- tana ; John Edwards, now' a resident of Elliott, Missouri; Dallas, deceased; Mrs. Thornburg; and Ruby and Grace, both residents of Moberly, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Thornburg have two sons : William Henry, born June 16, 1894, and George E., born July 15, 1899.
PHILIP GANSZ, editor and proprietor of the Macon Republican of Macon, Missouri, has figured prominently in the affairs of his city for many years. In practically every public activity undertaken since he took up his residence in Macon Mr. Gansz has been a factor. At all times ready to serve in any capacity that his community needed him, and conducting everything he has undertaken in an able and efficient manner, he has long been an invaluable man to his city. He has not only wielded the power of his paper for good, at all times working to mold public sentiment towards an end beneficial to the people's good, but has many times given his own personal services. From 1896 to 1897 he presided over the town as mayor. He has been a director of the Macon Building and Loan Association for eighteen years, and is now in his third term, making nine years in all, as vice president of the school board. He is an elder in the Presbyterian church, and has been superintendent of the Sunday school since 1910. For twenty years he has been a member of Missouri Press Association, and served one year as president of the organization.
1769
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
Born in Palmyra, Marion county, Missouri, November 1, 1857, Mr. Gansz was the son of Carl and Mary (Koehler) Gansz, both natives of Germany. Their marriage took place in 1856, five years after Mr. Gansz came to America and took up his residence in Palmyra. Mr. Gansz worked at his trade of stone mason until he died September 7, 1882. They were the parents of eight children, six of whom are living, Philip, August C., postmaster at Louisiana, Missouri; Mrs. Annie G. Hamil of Macon ; Mrs. H. A. Hollyman of Palmyra; Charles F. of Palmyra; and Miss Susie Gansz of Macon.
Mr. Philip Gansz attended the public schools of Palmyra, finishing his education in St. Paul's College. When only thirteen years of age he began work as a stone mason, but, determined to have an education under any circumstances, studied in the evenings at home. He worked at his trade until he was twenty-four, and then on January 1, 1883, with M. P. Drummond, founded the Marion County Herald. He remained with this until 1890, for six months working at his trade in the daytime and in the newspaper office at night. Mr. Gansz purchased the Macon Republican, which had been established in 1870, in 1890. The paper is an eight-page, seven-column periodical with a circulation of twenty-five hundred. It is published strictly on the cash-in-advance basis with a subscription price of one dollar per year.
Mr. Gansz was married November 27, 1891, to Jessie Wilson, daugh- ter of Maj. and Mrs. Samuel J. Watson of Macon. They have had no children, but have adopted one daughter, Miss Jessie Collett. Mr. Gansz has lodge affiliations with the I. O. O. F., the Knights of Pythias, and the B. P. O. E.
REUBEN B. HUME. Among the old families of Howard county the Humes have had a prominent place from the times when Missouri was on the western frontier. They were planters and slave owners in ante- bellum days, they stood with the Confederacy and gave more than ordi- nary sacrifices of life and property during the war, and during the sub- sequent half century their lives have been led along the paths of quiet industry and prosperity, and as farmers and good citizens they have done their full share for the enrichment of community life.
Reuben B. Hume, whose rural homestead known as the Maples, in Chariton township, contains a large and productive acreage, was born on the same farm on the 10th of July, 1864. Originally from England, the first American Hume settled on the Atlantic slope before the Revo- lutionary war. One of his descendants was Reuben Hume, of Virginia. He reared seven sons. One of these, Joel, Sr., married Polly Payton, daughter of Yelverton Payton, the Paytons having given service in the ranks and as officers during the Revolution. It was Joel, Sr., who founded the family in Howard county, whence he migrated from Madi- son county, Kentucky. He bought over seven hundred acres on first settling here, and later acquired more until his possessions comprised fully two thousand acres, the labor of planting and cutivating and har- vesting its crops being performed by the large retinue of slaves kept on the estate. Three of Joel's sons, Reuben Y., Joel L. and John G., fought in the armies of Price and Joe Shelby during the war. Joel himself, their father, for his sympathies with the South, was gathered in by the raiding bushwhackers and taken to Glasgow, where he was sentenced to be shot. The execution was delayed a few days, and death came to his rescue before the sentence could be carried out, largely due to the shock of seeing his neighbors and friends put to death. His end came in the Glasgow prison on November 27, 1864.
Reuben Y. Hume, the father of Reuben B., was born in Madison Vol. III-31
ยท
1770
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
county, Kentucky, October 3, 1826, and is still living at the great age of eighty-seven. He married Frances Payton, daughter of Joel and Mil- dred Payton, who came to Missouri from Madison county, Kentucky. Reuben Y. Hume and wife had six children, one of whom died young, and the others are : Dr. Joel Y., of Callaway county ; John O., of Howard county ; Henry D., of Idaho Falls, Idaho; Mrs. C. T. Garner, of Rich- mond, Missouri; and Reuben B. The mother died January 3, 1910, aged eighty, after a long and happy married life of fifty-eight years. The father, who makes his home with his daughter in Richmond, was converted by Brother Alexander Proctor and baptized by Rev. Miller in 1855 and for many years took an active part in the Christian church.
Reuben B. Hume was reared on the old homestead which has so long been in the family and as a boy attended the neighborhood schools. On September 4, 1895, he married Miss Nancy Denny, daughter of Humphrey and Margaret (Snoddy) Denny, of Randolph county. Her mother still lives on the homestead in that county, but her father, who was long one of the substantial farmer citizens of that county, died at the age of sixty-four on April 20, 1893. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. The children of the Denny family were : Narcissa, deceased ; James; David; Nancy Hume; Elizabeth ; John A .; Humphrey B .; Margaret and Maurine.
Mr. and Mrs. Hume are the parents of two children: Margaret M., aged twelve; and Reuben Y., Jr., born September 12, 1907. The Hume homestead comprises three hundred and eighty acres, devoted to the staple crops of the field and meadow, and their residence is a comfort- able abode with the best surroundings and conveniences of the modern rural home. Mr. Hume is affiliated with the Armstrong lodge No. 70, A. F. & A. M., and with the Masonic chapter of Royal Arch at Salis- bury. He is a deacon in the Christian church, and is a public-spirited citizen whose work in the community is for the better things and whose home in a center of hospitality and wholesomeness.
JOHN B. BELL. The example of faithfulness to principle, strict adher- ence to duty, and unfailing perseverance in the support of what he has considered to be right, taught by the career of John B. Bell, of Fayette, Missouri, is one the emulation of which will be of great benefit to the younger generation. Early in life Mr. Bell became a supporter of the cause of temperance, and throughout his career he has continued firm in the faith, refusing to change his views even when to do so would have resulted in much financial gain. To men such as he and to their sturdy defense of their governing laws of conduct history owes much, civilization more, for the fundamental doctrines from which has sprung our modern life, have at all times owed their being to such intrepid support. Mr. Bell, who is at this time proprietor of the electric lighting plant and ice plant of Fayette, and an extensive dealer in hard and soft coal, was born at old Rocheport, in Howard county, Missouri, February 3, 1862, and is a son of Rev. W. F. and Sarah D. Bell.
The paternal grandfather of John B. Bell was of Scotch ancestry, while his wife was an Irish woman by birth. Rev. W. F. Bell was born in 1831, and became a pioneer preacher in Missouri, and an earnest and zealous worker in the cause of his Master. He married Sarah D., daughter of Thomas Ridgway, and they became the parents of five children, as follows : John B .; Mrs. W. P. Stapleton of Albany, Missouri ; M. P. and W. C., twins, the former living at Fayette, and the latter at Washington, Indiana ; and Mrs. Thomas Crump of Fayette, Missouri.
John B. Bell received excellent educational advantages, attending a military school known as Blees Academy and Central College. In 1880
1771
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
he became proprietor of the third grocery store in Fayette, having chosen a mercantile career in preference to agricultural pursuits or a profes- sion. As a youth, Mr. Bell had decided that he should devote his life to the support of temperance, and when he opened his grocery he refused to follow the usual custom and handle whiskey, although he lost a num- ber of customers thereby. He continued to successfully follow the gro- cery business for four years, and then transferred his activities to the hardware business, in which he spent the next ten years. Mr. Bell's next venture was in the fine live stock line, in which he met with almost phenomenal success, specializing in Hereford cattle, visiting the fairs at St. Louis and elsewhere, and breeding six champion animals of the Louisiana Exposition in St. Louis, 1904. In 1905 Mr. Bell sold out his stock business and opened the electric light plant in Fayette, which is the best supplied city in the state as to electricity, in comparison with its size. He is erecting an ice plant in connection with his light plant. He is also in the wholesale and retail hard and soft coal business here, in partnership with his son, Arthur W. Bell. His business enterprises have proved uniformly successful, and he is looked upon as one of his community's most substantial men. At all times he has been consistent in his support of those principles which led him as a lad to join the tem- perance movement, and during the last election gave his vote to the "Drys," although the saloons were good customers of the electric light plant and coal company, and Mr. Bell's vote cost him no little sum of money.
Mr. Bell was married to Lena Kingsbury, who was born, reared and educated in Howard county, daughter of H. and Ann Kingsbury. Three children have been born to this union, namely: Ida L. Kardell of St. Louis; H. K., an electrical engineer of St. Louis; and Arthur W., who in addition to being his father's partner is also proprietor of the Empire theatre, a popular playhouse of Fayette, devoted to moving pic- tures. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and all have numerous friends in social and religious circles of the city.
JOSEPH B. DENNENY. In the financial circles of Northeastern Mis- souri and in his native county of Howard, Joseph B. Denneny is well and favorably known as president of the Fayette Bank, Fayette, Mis- souri, a leading financial institution of Howard county and one of the oldest.
He was born on a farm near Fayette on January 22, 1871, a son of John Denneny. The latter was born in Ireland and came to the United States in 1866, locating soon afterward in Howard county, Missouri, where he followed farming and established a reputation as a man of the strictest honor and integrity. His wife was Mary Burk as a maiden, also a native of Erin's Isle, who kept the pathway of life with him many years and as a devoted wife and mother assisted in rearing their six children to those habits of industry and honesty which have enabled them to take worthy and useful stations in society. Of the three sons and three daughters in this family Joseph B. Denneny is third in order of birth. He was reared on a farm and grew up under the healthful influences of country life, growing strong in mind and body and in those traits of character that have made possible his success in life. He received both a public school and a normal school education and became a bookkeeper in 1894 in the financial institution of which he is now the executive head. This rise was the premium of merit, and as president of the Fayette Bank he has directed its affairs with wisdom, fidelity and marked financial ability. This bank was organized in 1871, is one of the oldest and most popular banks of the county and during
1772
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
the more than forty years of its existence its doors have never failed to open for business except on legal holidays. Associated with Mr. Denneny in the conduct of its affairs are Robert W. Payne, vice presi- dent; Edwin W. Bedford, cashier, and Alva L. Kirby, assistant cashier, the first two of whom receive individual mention in this work.
In 1897 Mr. Denneny was joined in marriage to Miss Linnie Tillery, who comes from one of the good families of this state and was educated at Plattsburg, Missouri, and at Hardin College, Mexico, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Denneny have two sons and a daughter, viz .: Joseph B., Jr., Richard T. and Sarah Elizabeth.
In politics Mr. Denneny is aligned with the Democratie party, and as a citizen he is progressive and public spirited, one who is known as a man of the strictest integrity and who is firm in his decisions as to right and wrong. He has been treasurer of Fayette school district for the last twelve years, and fraternally is identified with the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks at Columbia and Knights of Pythias lodge at Fayette. Mrs. Denneny is a member of the Baptist church and stands high among the people of Fayette for a consistent walk in life. Mr. Denneny is a man of strong physique and possesses a pleasing and genial personality that gains and retains for him many and sincere friendships.
WILLIAM T. LESSLEY. Appointed to the office of postmaster of the thriving little city of Glasgow, Howard county, in 1905, Mr. Lessley has given a most careful and effective administration, in which he has shown marked executive ability. The Glasgow office provides not only for the purely local service but also is the center from which three rural free- delivery routes radiate, two of these routes having received such ser- vices since 1903 and the other having been established in 1902.
Mr. Lessley enjoys unalloyed popularity in his native county, and thus there can be in his case no application of the scriptural aphorism that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country. He was born in the northeast part of Howard county, and the date of his nativity was April 17, 1849. This was the year that was marked by the exodus of many Missouri citizens to California, in which state the gold exeite- ment had its inception in that year. The Lessley family was founded in Howard county in the pioneer days and the name has been prominently and worthily linked with the civic and industrial development and prog- ress of this favored section of the state. James H. Lessley, father of the present postmaster of Glasgow, was born in the state of Kentucky and was a lad of eight years at the time of the family removal to Mis- souri. He was reared to manhood in Howard county, and his early environment and labors were those common to the pioneer epoch. His entire active career was given to the great basic industries of agrieul- ture and stock growing and he became one of the substantial farmers of Howard county, where he ever commanded inviolable place in popular confidence and esteem. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah E. Rennolds, and she was a member of a family that early settled near Columbia, Boone county. James H. Lessley was a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and in politics he was originally a Whig, his allegiance being transferred to the Republican party at the time of its organization. He died in Glasgow in 1872, and his widow still resides in this place, her age being ninety years at the time of this writing. She is one of the venerable and loved pioneer women of Howard county, and her reminiscences concerning the early days are graphic and inter- esting. She is a devout member of the Christian church, as was also her husband, and their four sons and three daughters are all living.
1773
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
William T. Lessley was reared to the sturdy discipline of the pio- neer farm, and in this connection waxed strong of mind and physical powers, his educational advantages having been such as were afforded in the somewhat primitive common schools of the locality and period. Through self-discipline and long association with men and affairs Mr. Lessley has effectually supplemented his early training and is a man of broad information and mature judgment. When but sixteen years of age he manifested his youthful patriotism by tendering his services in defense of the Union, the integrity of which was jeopardized by armed rebellion. He enlisted as a member of Company A, Fifteenth Missouri Cavalry, commanded by Col. Alexander F. Denny. The regiment was stationed the greater part of the time at Huntsville, Alabama, where it remained until the close of the war, when Mr. Lessley and his comrades received their honorable discharge.
Mr. Lessley has ever been found aligned as a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he has been a prominent figure in its councils in Howard county. He has never severed his allegiance to the great industries of agriculture and stock growing, and he continues to reside upon his fine homestead farm, in Chariton township, five miles southeast of Glasgow. He is recognized as one of the liberal and public-spirited citizens of the town. Here he has held the office of postmaster for a longer period than has any pre- vious incumbent, and his administration has met with unqualified popu- lar approval. His fine farm . comprises four hundred and thirty-five acres, and is known as Valley View Stock Farm. Special attention is given to the raising of high-grade live stock and the farm is one of the valuable places of Howard county, with improvements of the best order. Mr. Lessley still gives a general supervision to the operations of the farm, in the matter of directing business policies, etc., and he shows lively interest in all that tends to promote the full development of the admirable agricultural and stock resources of his native county. He and his wife have a wide acquaintanceship in this county, where their circle of friends is equally large.
On the 25th of November, 1875, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Lessley to Miss Laura Stanley, who was born and reared in Howard county and whose gracious personality has made her a popular figure in the social life of the community. She is a daughter of the late Aaron W. Stanley, one of the sterling pioneers of Howard county. Mr. and Mrs. Lessley became the parents of eight sons and five daughters, and the family relations have been of the most ideal character, the children having honored the family name and proved themselves worthy in all relations of life. Herbert is a resident of Montana and is engaged in mercantile pursuits; Ida R. is the wife of L. M. McQuitty and they reside in Fayette, Missouri; Viola B. is the wife of Joe F. Geiger; W. Montie is engaged in farming on the old homestead; Marvin R. is in Rattone, New Mexico ; Nelia N. is assistant postmaster of Glasgow, under the administration of her father; Grace remains at the parental home, as do 'also Romie and Forrest H. of Nevada, who are twins, and the home circle likewise includes the younger children,-Emmett S., Frank, George W. and Nolla O. Two are deceased. The children have been afforded excellent educational advantages, and Ida R. has been a success- ful and popular teacher of music, a line in which she has special talent.
WILLIAM L. HANNACA. The present efficient and popular mayor of the thriving little city of Glasgow, Howard county, stands emphatically exponent of all that makes for liberal, loyal and progressive citizenship, and his administration of municipal affairs has brought about a splendid
1774
HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
advancement in Glasgow. He is one of the most aggressive and enter. prising business men of his native county, and in Glasgow his business interests are wide and varied. His capacity for achievement seems to be without limit, and his progressiveness in connection with public affairs is as great as are his energy and versatility in the ordering of his private business and property interests. Popularity of the most unequiv- ocal order is his and Mayor Hannaca is in every sense one of those ster- ling citizens who should find special recognition in this publication. He was elected mayor of Glasgow in 1909, re-elected in 1911 and his present term will expire in May, 1913.
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.