USA > Missouri > A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2 > Part 77
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Born in Sullivan county, on September 29, 1861, Mr. Wattenbarger is a son of Jacob and Rebecca (Smith) Wattenbarger, both natives of the state of Tennessee. The father was a farmer in East Tennessee, and first came to Missouri in 1849. He was of German ancestry, his Ger- man progenitor having located in Tennessee upon his emigration from Germany. Jacob Wattenbarger devoted his life to the farm and stock business and died a man honored and respected in his community, where his word was ever held to be as good as any man's bond. He died there at the age of sixty-one years, in 1883. The mother lived to be seventy- five years of age, and when she died left six children,-three sons and three daughters. Two of the sons are now deceased, they being Samuel and George, who each left a widow to mourn his passing.
The early life of J. M. Wattenbarger was passed on the home farm, and there he early became skilled in the work of the place, and in doing developed a hardy and robust physique that has stood him in excellent stead all his life. The public schools of his native community, such as they were, afforded to him such education as he received, but he was an apt student, and ever delved into books outside of school as means of supplementing his country schooling, and when he was twenty-one years old engaged in teaching. For four years he carried on that work successfully, and then took up the study of law, entering upon his studies under the tutelage of Hon. A. C. Eubanks. He was admitted to the bar in 1889, and has since been actively engaged in the practice of the profession of law. He has shared in the principal legal business of the city and county, and has won a place for himself among the lead- ing men of the legal fraternity. A Democrat, he has given active coop- eration to the best interests of that party, and his election to his present office has the stamp of approval of not only his party, but of the com- bined voting element of the county.
Mr. Wattenbarger was married at Humphreys, Missouri, to Miss Mary Dewitt, on July 1, 1889. She is a daughter of Jones Dewitt, now deceased. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wattenbarger,- Eunice, Marion, John A. and Laura.
Mr. Wattenbarger has long been a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church South and is active in the good works of that body. He has given worthy service as superintendent of its Sunday-school, and has been actively interested in all that is good and uplifting in the lives of his fellows, every worthy movement finding in him an able support and helping hand. In addition to his other connections of a social nature, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, lodge No. 82 of Milan, in which he is popular and prominent, as he is in the varied circles of life in which he is to be found.
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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
SHOLTUS BROTHERS. The firm of Sholtus is one of the best known and most prosperous business establishments in the city of Milan, and the gentlemen who are now in control of the plant came into proprietor- ship in August, 1911. Success has attended their efforts, and they are rightly known as able and coming young business men in the city which has represented their home all their lives.
The Sholtus Brothers,-John M. and Edward T., were born in Milan, and are two of the four sons of Daniel and Lou (Butler) Shol- tus. The father died here in 1900 at the early age of forty years. He had been for years employed as a traveling salesman of commercial lines, and was a man of wide acquaintance and popularity in this part of the state. A Mason of prominence, one time Master of his lodge. Mr. Sholtus was buried according to Masonic rites. His widow, who still survives him, was a daughter of Judge Butler, well known and prominent in Milan. The Sholtus and Butler families have always been among the leading citizens of the city, and representatives of the two families have long been identified with the best interests of the com- munity in an active and helpful manner.
The four sons of Daniel Sholtus and his wife were John M., Edward T., Robert Leon and Daniel H. All four received solid educations in the public schools, and the oldest, John M., of the firm of Sholtus Brothers, finished his education in the Jackson University of Business, a well known and prominent business training school in Chillicothe, Missouri. Edward, who is the younger of the two, shares in the many excellent qualities of his brother, and their combined talents and busi- ness tact make a strong and successful firm. Honor and industry are the keynotes of their character, and they are well known for the many sturdy qualities of heart and mind with which they have been endowed.
As proprietors of the Milan Bottling Works, Sholtus Brothers have one of the most completely equipped plants of its kind in the county. The place is fitted with the most modern of fixtures and apparatus, and every appliance for the manufacture and handling of a high grade soda water is to be found in operation in their plant. They occupy a building of twenty-three by fifty feet the same being a two story brick, and the establishment is well arranged for the most successful opera- tion of their business. Four thousand cases of goods leave their ware- houses each month, and the demand for their goods is ever increasing. It is an established fact that none but the best and purest ingredients enter in the manufacture of their goods, which has already gained a reputation for purity and quality that is popularizing their output in a most remarkable way.
John M. Sholtus is a member of the Masonic order, and also holds membership in the Eastern Star and the Royal Arch degree. Both brothers have a secure place in the esteem and regard of the best people of Milan, and they have long been known for young men of the most worthy character, who give promise of a splendid business career and of a citizenship worthy of the families from which they have come.
CHARLES W. REEVES. The active business career of Charles W. Reeves has been a prosperous and varied one, and has included the business of banking, loans, real estate and farming. In all these lines he has been successful and prosperous, and he is today known as one of the able business men of Sullivan county.
Born in Union county, Oregon, on February 29, 1868, Charles W. Reeves is a son of Thomas and Francis (Boldridge) Reeves. The father, who was long an honored and esteemed citizen of this county, and a native of Brown county, Illinois, died here in 1905, when he
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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI
was sixty-one years of age. He served as a soldier in the Twenty-third Infantry of the Missouri Volunteers, and was with General Sherman on his march to the sea, and also in battles of Shiloh and Atlanta, serving two years. He was eleven months under Teudler & Robinson. His wife was a daughter of Willson Boldridge, who served as surveyor of Sullivan county for twelve years, and she was born within its con- fines. Three children were born to these parents: Charles W., Fred A. and Estella, who became the wife of C. E. Chaplain, of Garden City, Kansas.
Charles W. Reeves was reared on the farm and was early inured to the difficult tasks that fall to the lot of the country lad. He was amply trained in the work of the farm, and knew to the full the trials attendant upon the breaking of ox teams and in directing them in their work when broken. As a boy, Mr. Reeves had a strong penchant for banjo playing, and was known as a player of merit throughout the country. He had a unique experience in his youth, when for a season he traveled on the road with a blind man, he playing the banjo and col- lecting the coins from his audiences, which he maintains he always divided with the utmost precision between himself and his blind pro- prietor.
In 1892 Mr. Reeves was elected county surveyor on the Republican ticket and served in that office for twelve years. He was supervisor of censuses in 1910 of Second district of Missouri and in 1906 was mayor of Milan-the first Dry mayor. He later engaged in the real estate business, with a loan business in connection therewith, and has been thus engaged under the firm name of Reeves & McCallister for the past seven years. This firm has experienced a large and worthy suc- cess, and is known for the leading real estate and loan agency in the county. He has been vice president of the Milan bank since 1911 and has had a worthy part in the operation of that institution. Has been director of same since its organization.
Farming has taken a goodly share of the attention of Mr. Reeves, and he owns one of the finest farms of the county today. It comprises two hundred and sixty acres, and is known as the Rooks Valley Stock Farm. The place is well improved and has a capacious barn and other minor buildings, plenty of the purest of water, a comfortable country house, and all the proper and necessary equipment of a modern farm. Its spreading meadows of blue grass, hay and fields of corn and small grain make it one of the most productive places in the county. It is located twelve miles from Milan, one of the best farming districts in the state of Missouri, and in it Mr. Reeves betrays a pardonable pride.
Mr. Reeves has long been one of the wheel horses of the Republican party in the county of Sullivan, and he is always to be found an inter- ested principal in any cause that has a tendency towards the elevating and upbuilding of his fellow man, and his kindly support has never been withheld from any cause meriting the attention of the wholesouled and generous minded men of the community. He is a member of the Masonic order and member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is a member of the board of trustees. As a business man he stands especially high in the state, and he is known for a man of the most exaggerated integrity in all his dealings with his fellows.
On November 23, 1905, Mr. Reeves was united in marriage with Miss Mildred Heinzmann, a woman of the most excellent character and of a fine old family. She was born and educated in the state of Iowa, her later years having been spent in Missouri.
ROBERT L. MCCLURE. Born and reared on his present homestead, Mr. McClure has for a quarter of a century been one of the progressive
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farmers of Audrain county and is one of the well known citizens of his community. He represents a family which has been identified with this part of Missouri since the period of early settlement.
His father, David B. McClure, was born at Winchester, Kentucky, and at the age of seven accompanied his family to Missouri, where the McClures were among the pioneers of Callaway county, their home being near Fulton. During his young manhood David B. McClure made a journey through Pike county, where he met Miss Elizabeth McElroy. She had been born there in 1831. Their acquaintance ripened into mat- rimony, which continued happily for many years. The wife was the first to die, in 1892, while her husband survived until 1902. They were the parents of the following children: William E., a resident of southwest Missouri; Robert L .; Frank H., of Donley county, Texas; H. Clay, of Mexico, Missouri.
In 1859 the father bought six hundred and forty acres of land from the government, located a few miles from Mexico. He afterwards divided his estate among his children, one hundred and ninety acres going to his son Robert. It was on this old homestead that Robert McClure was born on the 28th of September, 1865, not far from where his present resi- dence is. Of the land inherited from his father he has since sold forty acres, but the remainder has never changed the name of ownership since it passed from the government. Mr. McClure received his early educa- tion in the schools near by and at Louisiana, and also one year's aca- demic course in the University of Missouri. After completing his education he returned to the farm and has made a prosperous career engaged in the quiet pursuits of agriculture. He was married in October, 1889, to Mary Dawson, whose parents, now deceased, were Callaway county farmers. The young couple began wedded life indus- triously, and by good management and economy have acquired a com- petence. Their land, though partly in cultivation, had practically no improvements, and they have since equipped it with excellent build- ings and all the facilities of a first class farm according to the high standards of Audrain county. Mr. McClure engages in mixed farming and raises a good deal of stock. He has been in poor health for a year or more, during which time his brother-in-law has managed the farm.
Mr. and Mrs. McClure's only child is now deceased. Mr. McClure is a Democrat in politics, a member of the Christian church, and takes a prominent part in Masonry, affiliating with the blue lodge, the chap- ter and the commandery at Mexico.
G. H. BESGROVE. Numbered among the able and well-to-do agri- culturists of Howard county is G. H. Besgrove, whose beautiful estate, Grand View Farm, is one of the best in regard to its appointments of any in Richmond township, comparing favorably with any in the neigh- borhood. He was born May 13, 1868, in Somerset, England, coming from a highly respected family of that county, one noted for its indus- try, courage and honesty.
His father, W. B. Besgrove, was there reared and married, the maiden name of his wife having been Elizabeth Stower. In 1881, in order to improve their financial condition, and to give their little family of children better opportunities for advancing in life, they emigrated to the United States, settling in Howard county, Missouri. Buying a tract of land a little later, he, with the assistance of his good wife, who was a most competent helpmate, cleared and improved a farm, on which both spent their remaining days, living to be upwards of three score and ten years. They were the parents of six children, all born
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in England, as follows: G. H., the special subject of this brief sketch; W. A .; F. J .; C. A .; Ernest; and Ellen, wife of Harry Nutt.
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A bright and active lad of thirteen years when he came with his parents to this country, G. H. Besgrove assisted his father in improv- ing a farm, remaining beneath the parental roof-tree until attaining his majority. Going then to Illinois, he worked as a farm hand for a number of seasons, making and saving quite a sum of money. Return- ing to Missouri to invest his earnings, Mr. Besgrove bought two hundred acres of land in Richmond township, Howard county, and immediately began its improvement. From year to year he increased its value, his estate, known as Somerset Farm becoming one of the best in the vicinity, and well adapted to general farming and stock-raising. In addition to raising on the rich bottom lands much grain, including wheat, corn and oats, he had excellent crops of bluegrass, and bred and raised cattle for the markets. That large farm is advantageously located three and one-half miles northwest of Fayette. Three years ago Mr. Besgrove bought Grand View Farm, which he now occupies, it being but three- fourths of a mile from Fayette, towards the north. He has since cleared the land, and has one of the most attractive homes in this section of the county, roomy and comfortable, and near town, school, and church. In his political affiliations Mr. Besgrove is a Democrat. He is a man of much executive ability, honorable and upright in his dealings, and a typical representative of the self-made men of our times, his present prosperity being entirely due to his own untiring efforts.
Mr. Besgrove married November 14, 1894, Miss Ella Kenepp, who was born in Clearfield county, Pennsylvania. Her father, S. B. Kenepp, spent his early life in the Keystone state, being there engaged first as a raftsman on the Susquehanna river, and later as a lumberman. After coming with his family to Howard county, Missouri, he was employed in the marble business until his death, at the age of sixty- nine years. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Graham, were the parents of ten children, two sons and eight daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Besgrove have three children, namely: Benjamin Lewis, a student in the Fayette high school; Ora Louise, born in 1900; and Harry M., born in 1906.
JUDGE JAMES EVANS ROSS, whose death occurred January 4, 1900, was one of the pioneers of Missouri, and also one of its most pros- perous citizens. During his lifetime his activities extended over a wide range of business enterprises, and his acceptance of a proposition prac- tically assured its success. His excellent judgment and his ability to do everything well that he undertook guaranteed this, even had his record, singularly free from the petty failures that usually dog the footsteps of the ordinary man, not been sufficient evidence. His first venture was as a farmer when he bought a small tract of land five miles west of Mexico, Missouri. Beginning here on the successful career that was to attend him throughout his life he gradually increased his holdings until he was the owner of six hundred acres. He later bought a large ranch near Baird, Texas, which under the management of his son, Hugh Warren Ross, has since become some of the best property in the western state. He was also identified with the launching of the Mexico Savings Bank, a highly prosperous institution, being one of the first stockholders, and later holding the office of president. His appoint- ment as judge on the county court was given to him by Governor Hardin as an acknowledgment of his high moral character and of his enviable standing in the community.
Judge Ross was born August 19, 1831, on a farm in York county,
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Pennsylvania, which his great-great-grandfather, Hugh Ross, received as a grant from William Penn. Hugh Ross, and his brother Charles Ross, who was one of the signers of the declaration of independence, were the descendants of an old Scotch family. Hugh Ross' son and namesake, the great-grandfather of Judge Ross, was an attorney and took a prominent part in public affairs, but despite these activities which tended to draw him toward a larger center of population he retained his affection for the old farm, and lived and died there. He willed the farm to his son, William, who in his turn passed it on to his son Hugh. It is still held intact by the Ross family.
Judge Ross received his education in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and did not come west to Missouri until 1855. His aim was to grow stock, but he had not decided on the place where he would reside permanently until he met the president of the Wabash Railroad, then the old North Missouri Railroad, in St. Louis, who advised him to go to Audrian county. Judge Ross accepted his suggestion at once and went on to Mexico where he bought the tract of land mentioned in a preced- ing paragraph. Four years later he met Miriam Elizabeth Warren who was visiting in Audrain county, and their marriage took place March 3, 1859. Miss Warren, who was born in Kent county, Delaware, was the descendant of a family whose line of American ancestry was equal in length to her husband's. One of her greatgrandfathers, Samuel Warren, received the deed for the Warren farm near Fredericka, Kent county, Delaware, from the Indians, and it was passed down intact from genera- tion to generation to her father, Solomon Townsend Warren. Miss War- ren, who was one of six daughters, 'received her education at home under the direction of governesses and tutors.
Judge and Mrs. Ross remained on the farm west of Mexico until 1874 when they moved into town in order to educate their children at the Hardin College which had just been opened under Professor Terrell as president. All of their five children, one of whom, May, has since died, a young bride, graduated from this school. The only son, Hugh Warren Ross, besides his work as a ranchman on his property near Baird, Texas, is also interested in a private bank there. Two of the. daughters, Etta Bille, and Miriam, are married, the one to W. W. Hubbard, of Chester- ton, Maryland, and the other to Bird H. McGarvey, a banker of Kansas City, and the third daughter, Julia, is still at home with her mother.
The family has spent a great deal of time in travelling, particularly through the South and in California. They also spent a year in Europe, visiting Italy, France, Germany, Holland, England, etc., with a six weeks' stay in Rome where they had an audience with Pope Pius.
WILLIAM M. ROBERTSON. The Robertson family has been identified with Pike county since the decade of the forties. The founder of the family name and fortunes in this vicinity was Edward W. Robertson, who came from the original seat of the Robertsons in Fleming county, Kentucky, where he was born in 1822. He came from a household of slave owners, energetic business people and money makers, and while the older members of the family devoted most of their lives to the prac- tical affairs of their time and generation in Kentucky, the younger men of the name received the best obtainable advantages of education, and consequently Edward W. was one of the few men of his time who pos- sessed a classical education.
The father of Edward W. was one of the big men of Fleming county, where he was known for his extensive enterprise as mule dealer and trader, pork packer, shipper and flatboatman. His mules were sent South to supply the planters working slave labor, some of his pork was
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exported to Ireland, and some of it, with other provisions and local products, went down the two great rivers to New Orleans and helped to swell the immense traffic of the river before the Civil war. This Ken- tucky planter and business man married a Miss Pepper, and of their family Edward W. and Dr. Robertson, who finally located in Missis- sippi and died there, were the only members of the family to identify themselves with Missouri.
When Edward W. Robertson came to Pike county he was a young man with no fortune except his talents and his industry, but his educa- tion was not only an aid to himself but to others seeking knowledge in the community where he lived. Until after the Civil war his home was on Buffalo creek, and he devoted himself throughout his active career to farming. In the early forties a classical man rarely settled in a com- munity as frontier and rural as Pike county, and consequently he at once become conspicuous and gained a high degree of respect for his cul- ture and knowledge. His vocabulary was cultivated and extensive, and though he never used it in public speech, yet with it he exercised no small influence through his pen. He was a stern, old-school father and never released his authority over his home. He was reared a Catholic and married a member of the same church, but his children sought homes in the Protestant church and became active in their respective denomina- tions. He was never in practical politics, but voted Democratic, largely on the issues of the war.
A short time after his settlement in Pike county Edward W. Robert- son married Dazarine Emerson, whose father, Edward Dyer Emerson, was a pioneer of Pike county, coming from Virginia. Mrs. Robertson died July 25, 1887, and her husband in 1888, their last years having been spent on the farm of their son Judge Simeon H. on Salt river. Their children were: Elizabeth, who married Montgomery Shotwell and died in Pike county ; Simeon H., born January 23, 1847, was a successful farmer and for six years county judge and married Lucinda Unsell; Edward Dyer, now a resident of Oklahoma; William M., of Frankford ; Charles R., a farmer near Frankford; Edna, wife of Jabez Dougherty, of Bowling Green; Kate, wife of Henry C. Benn, of Frankford; and Dr. George C., of Eolia.
Mr. William M. Robertson, who is one of the leading representatives of agriculture in this part of the state, was born in Louisiana, Missouri, August 27, 1853. His early education was in the district schools, but he received much by inheritance and association from his father and has always been fond of literature and of the knowledge that is deeper than the practical show of things. The substantial pursuits of agriculture have been his life occupation, and he is a resident of the farm where he married-the Tom Pritchett farm near Frankford.
He was married October 15, 1876, to Miss Georgiann Pritchett, daughter of Thomas and Nancy (Pickett) Pritchett, the Pritchett fam- ily being sketched at great length on other pages of this work. Of Thomas and Nancy Pritchett's seven children, those surviving are : Mrs. Robertson; Edna, wife of Thomas Sisson, of Pike county; Jim Tom, one of the leading farmers, stockmen and shippers of the Frankford com- munity ; Emily, wife of S. P. Shy, a farmer of Buffalo township; and John, a stockman and merchant of the Haw Creek community.
Mr. and Mrs. Robertson have two children: Alonzo P. is a farmer near Frankford and married Jennie Turley ; Edith is the wife of Charles F. Glascock, of New London. Mr. Robertson holds to the dominant politics of the family, Democratic, and is a deacon in the Frankford Christian church.
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