USA > Missouri > A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2 > Part 76
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Mr. Pemberton married Sept. 9, 1869, Susan Garner, who was born in Prairie township, Howard county, a daughter of Stephen and Nancy (Snoddy) Garner. She passed to the life beyond January 7, 1906, leav- ing six children, namely : Nannie E .; Walker; Narcissa; Robert; Sallie V .; John, living at home; and Kate, who since the death of her mother has presided over the household.
JOHN A. KENEPP is proprietor of the Walnut Grove farm, of one hundred and sixty acres, located in section 16 of Prairie township, Howard county. Mr. Kenepp is a business farmer, and his success as crop producer and stock raiser has been due to the energy and thor- oughness of method which he has applied to all his operations. His farm shows at a glance the excellent management bestowed upon it by its owner. His prosperity is due to his own efforts, and at the age of forty he has acquired the material circumstances which are the basis of content and progressive citizenship.
Mr. Kenepp was born near the Susquehanna river in Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1872. His father, Seth B. Kenepp, a native of Juniata county, belonged to an old Pennsylvania Dutch family. The mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Graham, also was born in Pennsylvania and was of Scotch-Irish family. In 1877 the parents came to Missouri, locating first at Moberly and later in Howard county at Fayette. The father was a skilled worker in marble and stone, and was engaged in that business at Fayette. He trained two of his sons to expert proficiency in the same trade. The father died at the age of sixty and the mother at seventy, and both were mem- bers of the Methodist church. Their family of nine children were as follows: Mary, Anna, Elnora, John A., George R., Sallie, Minnie, and Edward, who died aged one year.
John A. Kenepp was reared and educated in Fayette, where he acquired a practical education, and then began acquiring the art of.
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stonecutting under his father. When he was sixteen years old he was so proficient in the trade that he earned wages of four dollars a day during the construction of the court house at Fayette. When twenty- two he married Miss Anna E. Jacobi. She was born in Henry county, Missouri, April 19, 1871, a daughter of August and Emma Burkhart Jacobi. Her father was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and died at the age of seventy-two. Her mother is now living at Fayette. Mr. Kenepp and wife are the parents of seven children, whose names are: John R .; Clarence; Loraine; Ernst; Lucile; Edward; Marvin.
From his trade as stonecutter, Mr. Kenepp turned to farming as a more congenial occupation. He is a man of strong physique, weighs a hundred and ninety, and has all the energy and capacity needed for the management of a modern farm. His home is an attractive five-room cottage, surrounded with barns and all the facilities and comforts of the best of rural homes. He and his wife and three of the children are active members of the Methodist church.
GEORGE G. HARVEY. The Harvey farm adjoining Armstrong is one of the oldest estates of Howard county. It is a fine tribute to the integrity and sterling qualities of the family stock that one name may continue to be associated with a homestead for nearly a century. The Harveys go back to the territorial period of Missouri and their record has ever been distinguished by honor and prosperity.
The Harvey family came to this county in the year 1818. George G. Harvey was born on the old plantation, on November 18, 1834, a son of William, who was a native of Virginia. The father was married in Madison county, Kentucky, to Jane Givens, a representative of one of the old and well known families of that country. Soon afterward the Harvey family came to Howard county bringing slaves and establishing here a plantation which was devoted to raising of tobacco, hemp and cattle, and was one of the hospitable and well kept estates in the early days, as it has been in modern times.
The father was born in 1770 and died in 1848, at the age of seven- ty-eight. The mother passed away when seventy-five years of age. They were members of the Baptist church and had eight children, five daughters and three sons, including George G .; Martha; Margaret; Susan, of Glasgow; Loretta, of Roanoke, Missouri; Thomas J., who served in the Mexican war, and Mary J., who died at the age of about eighty years.
George G. Harvey was reared on the old homestead where he learned the practical lessons of industry and also had the advantages of the local public schools. In 1859 he had an interesting experience when he drove a band of sheep to Austin, Texas, being gone on the trip for five months. In 1865 he married Miss Narcissa Snoddy. The Snoddy family is one of the oldest in Howard county, and claims many well known members. Mrs. Harvey was born in the neighborhood where she now resides and was reared and educated here. She is a daughter of Walker and Narcissa Snoddy, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have seven children: Georgiana, who is the wife of James Pyle, of Howard county; Thomas J., a merchant at Armstrong; Annie Shores, of Randolph county, Missouri; Narcissa, at home; William, a bachelor who assists in the management of the home farm; Eva, of Oklahoma; Mrs. Jessie Sterner, of Mexico, Mis- souri.
The old Harvey farm, the residence of the above family, consists of 325 acres of excellent land adjoining the town of Armstrong. A comfortable residence occupies a beautiful site and all around it
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are the blue grass pastures and the corn and wheat fields. It is a rural home with many conditions almost ideal, and its profitable culti- vation has been a source of great pride to its owner for many years.
BENNETT B. WARFORD. In Prairie township, Howard county, is located an estate known as Grand View Farm, the home of Bennett B. Warford. The Warford family has been identified with this seetion of the state since the pioneer period when land was to be had from the government. Bennett B. Warford has long been a successful farmer and stock raiser, and has given special service to the cause of humanity as a minister of the gospel.
He was born in Missouri, December 21, 1849. His grandfather, Abraham Warford, a native of North Carolina, was an early settler in Estill county, Kentucky. The Warfords are of English ancestry. In Estill county was born John Warford, the father of the proprietor of Grand View Farm. He grew up in his native county and was there married to Mary Baxter. She was born October 2, 1805, and was a sister of Phil Baxter, who became one of the prominent citi- zens of Howard county. John Warford and wife came to Howard county at an early date and secured land from the government, build- ing a log house and performing the labor and undergoing the hard- ships incident to life in a new country. The thirteen children in the family of these parents were as follows: Anna, deceased; Samuel, deceased ; Thomas B., who was a soldier under General Price and died in Louisiana; Elizabeth, now deceased; Susan Jane, who is living in Polk county, Missouri; Patrick, who is a resident of Howard county ; Mary Frances Snyder; Barthena C., who is deceased; Nancy Eveline Gladwell, of Carroll county, Missouri; John M., who was a soldier under General Price and was killed in the battle at Silver Creek; William Morton, who is a resident of Oklahoma City; Bennett B., who was the twelfth of the children; Crawford Harvey, a resident of Kan- sas City.
The father of this family was long a prosperous farmer and had a fine estate of 320 acres. He gained particular distinction as a grower of sweet potatoes, a crop with which he had peculiar success and in the raising of which he excelled any of the farmers in this part of the state. His death occurred when he was seventy-six years of age. His wife was a member of the Baptist church.
Bennett B. Warford, who was reared on the farm and educated in the public schools, but also largely by study at home, was a resident for some years in Carroll county, and then in Polk county, from which he returned to Howard county. For some time he was in northwest Nebraska engaged in evangelistie work as a preacher of the Church of God. At Hastings and other places the magnetism of his person- ality and his eloquence as a preacher drew such crowds that the halls could not contain them, and throughout the period of his work in the ministry, he exercised a great and beneficent influence upon his many followers.
Mr. Warford married Missouri Anne Craig, who was a worthy helpmate to him and a woman of noble character. Her father, Augus- tus S. Craig, was one of the old residents of Howard county and in the early days manufactured a large amount of salt at the old salt licks, situated in this vieinity. Her mother, whose maiden name was Mary Kirby, was a daughter of John Kirby, a pioneer in Howard county. Mr. and Mrs. Warford were the parents of three children : Flora B., the wife of W. J. Monroe, died July 10, 1897, leaving five children. These five children were as follows: Asa H .; Bennett Allen :
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Grace E .; Bertha Mary and Walter R. The second child of Mr. War- ford was James Edwin, who died at the age of fifteen months; the third, Arthur, who was born August 15, 1875, married Lottie Guilford, and they are the parents of two sons, Ova J. and Oswald. In the death of Mrs. Warford, which occurred February 22, 1910, Mr. Warford and children lost their best friend. She was sixty-three years of age at the time of her death and had long been a member of the Church of God.
Mr. Warford's home farm, which contains 180 acres, is a place of many excellent improvements, and has been a very profitable farm under his management. He has two good houses and first class barns and all the improvements are up to the standards of Howard county agriculture. Both as a farmer and a minister he has made a record which deserves the name of success, and as a man of genial manner and worthy character, stands well in the estimation of all his fellow citizens.
HARVEY B. LESSLEY. A citizen to whose unaided individual efforts the people of Burton, Howard county, owe the fact that they are able to enjoy the advantages and conveniences of a postoffice, Harvey B. Lessley, present postmaster and successful merchant, holds prestige not only for the signal services he has rendered his community, but as a member of an old and honored family whose members have always been identified with the movements that have benefited their several communities. He was born near Glasgow, Howard county, Missouri, January 2, 1870, and is a son of John M. and Mary W. Lessley. His father, a native of the county, removed his family in 1898 to Oklahoma, and there they now reside. The parents of Mr. Lessley had seven children, viz .: Harvey B., J. W., Thomas M., George H., Carlisle S., Susy J. and Joseph C. The father was engaged in farming throughout his active years, and his politics were those of the Republican party, the principles and candidates of which he always supported.
Harvey B. Lessley received his education in the public schools and at Prichett College, Glasgow, and at the age of twenty-two years was united in marriage with Miss Ann B. Smith, who was born and reared in Howard county, daughter of Warren Smith, and in 1898 they accompanied the family to Oklahoma. Not long thereafter, however, Mr. and Mrs. Lessley returned to Missouri and settled at Lamar, six years later went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he spent two years in the street car service and one year with the Bell Telephone Company, and then came to Burton, where for five years he was engaged in busi- ness as a merchant. He then entered the live stock business, but soon purchased a large stock of dry goods, groceries, boots, shoes and notions, in addition to which he carries fresh eggs and butter. Anxious to please his customers, giving to all a fair deal, and with the best goods at the lowest prices, Mr. Lessley has built up an excellent business, and his trade extends over a wide expanse of country adjacent to Burton. His establishment is 90x21 feet, the stock is well arranged in modern style, and the whole appearance of the store gives evidence of the presence of thrift, industry and able management.
While Mr. Lessley is well known in the business world of Howard county, however, it has been his public service that has brought him more prominently before his fellow citizens. Through his untiring efforts, the postoffice at Burton, which had been discontinued, was re-established, and he was appointed to the position of postmaster, in which he has proved one of the most popular officials Howard county has known. His unfailing courtesy and pleasant personality have
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gained friends for him among those who have transacted business at the postoffice, and both he and Mrs. Lessley are general favorites in social circles. They have had two children: Raymond M., who was born October 25, 1902; and Carlie H. Lessley, who died at the age of four years. Mr. Lessley, like his father, is a stanch Republican, and is known as one of the wheel-horses of his party in this section.
JOSEPH D. SEVIER. In the person of Joseph D. Sevier, Milan has the representative of one of the oldest American families, as well as of a pioneer family of this section of the state. The Sevier family is of French origin, and of three brothers, one, William by name, was the grandfather of the subject. William, who was the grandson of John Sevier, one of the earliest settlers of the Tennessee region, married a daughter of the well known Richardson family of Baltimore, Mary- land, a family which at one time owned practically all of the town- site of Baltimore. William died in 1845, leaving five sons and three daughters. He came to Boon county, Missouri, in 1823 and remained on a farm until 1837, when he settled in Sullivan county, where he reared his family, and lived a life of the utmost usefulness and prac- tical value in the community. Among his children was Thomas R. Sevier, who is the father of Joseph D. of this review.
Thomas R. Sevier grew to young manhood on the home farm, and early married, choosing for his wife one Elizabeth Dusky, a native daughter of Boon county, Missouri. The Dusky familywas an old and honorable pioneer house of that county, and members of it have long held prominent places in the affairs of that region. Three sons and four daughters were born to them, who were named as follows: Evelyne, Joseph Dewitt, Laura, Isabelle, James P. and John R. Thomas Sevier lived to the fine old age of eighty-six years, and died in the esteem and respect of all who had shared in his acquaintance during the many years of his residence in Sullivan county. He lived a life of the most austere and devout nature, and as a member of of the Method- ist Episcopal church was prominent for long years as a class leader in that body. His wife died when she was seventy-four years of age.
Joseph D. Sevier born Feb. 19, 1849, was reared in the log cabin home of the family, which was so common a structure in his youth, and his schooling was gained in a log cabin school house, that boasted of an open fireplace and a puncheon floor. When he was nineteen years old he went to Bethany, Missouri, and there was occupied in the black- smith business for five years. His next occupation was in the saw mill business in Sullivan county, and for five years there he did a large business in lumber sawing. In 1884 Mr. Sevier was elected to the office of sheriff of Sullivan county on the Republican ticket, and served for two years, in 1885 and 1886. It is of record that he made a courageous and ever ready sheriff, and his career as a public official was one entirely in keeping with the character of his general life. In 1887, with the termination of his service as sheriff, Mr. Sevier turned his attention to farming, in conjunction with which he operated a saw mill for something like three years. In 1890 he established a flouring mill business in Milan and equipped his mill with the modern roller process now in vogue in this place. For eighteen months Mr. Sevier followed that business, and the years between 1892 and 1896 found him occupied with various types of industry. In 1901 he erected one of the many brick buildings now to be found in Milan. This was a 50x24 foot building, equipped with gasoline engines and other up-to- date machinery and apparatus necessary for the carrying on, of a machine shop, in which it was his intention to interest himself in an
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active manner, and in 1908 he, with his son, erected a 50x30 two story brick building, to be used as a garage, and for the repairing of automo- biles, in which business they have since been occupied. Their place is one of the best equipped and managed among its kind in the county, and prosperity has attended the efforts of Mr. Sevier and his son in this venture. Both he and his son are known to be most efficient mechanicians, and their reputations as such are sufficient to gain and retain to them a wide patronage in the community.
Mr. Sevier early took upon himself the responsibilities of a home, and was but twenty-one years of age when he married Miss Ruan Har- mon. She was born in Sullivan county, and is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Knifong) Harmon. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sevier, named as follows: Lizzie, Oscar, Effie, Edgar, Thomas, Orvan, Ray and James. Oscar is a farmer near Milan, Edgar is a farmer in South Dakota, Thomas is associated with his father and Ray has a plumbing and heating business in Milan.
Mrs. Sevier is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Sevier is fraternally identified by his relations with the Independ- ent Order of. Odd Fellows. He is a man who has long upheld the best interests of the city and county in every way in his power, and has a large circle of friends among the people who have known him all his life.
CHARLES RICE. A man who has long stood for all that went to make for the best interests of Milan along lines of education, moral, social and business progress, Charles Rice has well earned the high place he holds in the estimation of the best people of this city and the county. He is a man possessing the keenest intelligence and the good judgment and fitness of conviction which have always marked his activities have rendered him an ideal official in the office of mayor, to which he was elected in 1912.
The son of a farmer, Charles Rice was born on the 31st day of Jan- uary, 1863, in Adair county Missouri. His father, C. T. Rice, was born in Tompkin county, New York state, and removed from that state to Chicago, Illinois, in 1848, when Chicago was the merest hamlet. He was there engaged in the building and contracting business and was located where the Illinois Central Railroad now has its station. Mr. Rice survived the cholera epidemic that passed over the place in 1848, and continued there until 1858, when they removed to Adair county, this state. C. T. Rice married Katherine Wickoff, whose mother was one of the old family of Dotys. They were New England people, who dated their establishment in America back to 1620, and members of the Doty and Wickoff families have been prominent in many walks of life from then until now. C. T. Rice died in 1882 when he was seventy-seven years of age, and the mother died when she was seventy- two years old. They reared a family of three sons and four daughters, all of whom lived to fill useful places in the world.
Charles Rice received his education in, the public schools, and that meagre training was supplemented by practical experience in the business of life. He has for years been identified with the lumber interests of this section of the state, and maintains one of the best and largest lumber yards in Sullivan county. He carries a full stock of building material, including' lime, cement, lumber, brick, etc., and his operations place him among the big business men of the district.
Politically Mr. Rice is a stanch and ardent Republican, and has long been active in the interests of his party. His city has honored him in placing him upon its board of aldermen for five successive years,
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and in 1912 gave further evidence of the faith and confidence of his fellow citizens in him by calling him to the office of mayor, a position which he has thus far filled in the most acceptable manner. Mr. Rice is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a mem- ber of its board of trustees. He has fraternal relations with the Knights of Pythias Lodge and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in the last named of which he has passed all chairs. .
In 1886 Mr. Rice was united in marriage with Miss Evie Waddill. She was reared and educated in Kirksville, Missouri, and is a daughter of Jacob F. Waddill, a native of the state of Kentucky. Two daugh- ters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rice, named as follows: Opal, deceased; and Helen, who is living.
The Rice family maintains a leading place in the best social activi- ties of the city of Milan.
JOHN W. CLAPP. It is now close upon one hundred years ago since the paternal grandfather of John W. Clapp migrated from the fair state of North Carolina, for many generations the home of the family, and established the present Clapp family in the middle west. That worthy ancestor was John Clapp. He was a gallant soldier of the Black Hawk Indian war of 1832, and all his life was a useful and much esteemed citizen. He first settled in Edgar county, Illinois, in the early days of the nineteenth century, and there he passed his remaining days, the busi- ness of agriculture taking his attention for the most part. Among his family was a son, Rezin Clapp, who was born in Edgar county and there reared. This representative of the Clapp family, like his father, busied himself in farming and cattle raising on an extensive plan, and gained considerable prominence and no little prosperity in that field of industry. He was a Democrat of weight and influence in his community, and religiously was identified with the Methodist Episcopal church South. He died in Sullivan county, Missouri, when he was seventy-nine years of age, and his widow yet survives him, being now in the seventy-third year of her life. John W. Clapp, was one of the eight children of his parents, Rezin and Nancy (Jenkins) Clapp, and of that number seven are yet living. The mother was of Indiana birth, and her parents were of French origin and ancestry.
On the farm home of his parents, John W. Clapp early learned lessons of industry and integrity that have had their effect upon his entire life. His early home was in Coles county, Illinois, where he was born on the first day of September, 1865. When he was three years old the family moved to Grundy county, Missouri, where they remained until 1881, when the family removed to Sullivan county, Missouri. He was a constant attendant at the public schools of the county and in later years attended the Humphreys College in his general collegiate course. He read law with Judge Risin and Dr. Bolt, of Trenton, Missouri, and was admitted to the bar in 1890. He located in Milan, and has here been successfully engaged in practice from then until the present time. He has gained a foremost place among the legal fraternity of this section of the state, and is looked upon as one who has succeeded in his profession.
A strong Democrat and an ardent supporter of the cause of that party, the ability of Mr. Clapp as a speaker of some note has gained him an added prominence in the district. He was for four years chairman of the Democratic Central Committee of the county, and gave most praiseworthy service to his party in that important capacity. He served as city attorney and police judge of Milan for seven years, and was elected prosecuting attorney of the county in 1898 and served one term, refusing to run a second time. As a man who has ever had the
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courage of his convictions, and one who has upheld the standard of honor in all his dealings with his fellows, he has won and retains a sure place in the esteen of all who have known him in any capacity. He is a member of Seaman lodge No. 126, of Milan, Missouri.
In 1893 Mr. Clapp was united in marriage with Miss Susie K. Ran- nells, of Livingston county, Missouri, a daughter of James and Sarah (Grace) Rannells.
JACOB M. WATTENBARGER has the unique distinction of being the only man ever elected to office in Sullivan county, Missouri, without opposition, and such were the conditions of his election to the office of county attorney of Sullivan county, in 1912, and the quality of his service in that office since his succession to its duties have proven in no uncertain terms the wisdom of the unanimous choice of the people in that campaign.
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