A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 8

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

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It must not be supposed that Mr. Madison had not his little weak- nesses. All men do; but the good of Brooks Madison's character so far overshadowed his few faults that they are entirely forgotten, and he is remembered only in his nobility. He partook in the social life of the community as well as in all other phases of the community's activities. He was a charter member of the Masonie lodge of Vandalia, and lived up to the highest principles of Masonry. Possessed of a ready wit, and a flashing quickness of repartee, his company was sought by all, and many can remember listening with pleasure to his conversation, rich in the wisdom that only experience of life ean bring, and lightened by flashes of dry humor, or mischievous darts of raillery. Some of the men most famed in the annals of the locality were his boon companions, and their very names eall up visions of a past generation in northeastern Missouri-Dr. D. L. S. Bland, Joe Brashears, Aaron McPike, Clint Vol. III-4

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Pearson, John Thole, and many others who were leading men in the early days around Vandalia.

Although he made no formal confession of faith, Mr. Madison's life was a testimony to his true Christian character, and the call of his Master found him able to pass into the Unknown with a smile on his lips, as one who listens to the words, "Well done, thou good and faith- ful servant." The companion of his struggles and sharer of his joys survived him by twelve years, and finally passed away in peace, having well earned her rest from the turmoil of life, in the faithful fulfill- ment of her duties as neighbor, wife and mother. She rests by the side of her husband waiting with him "till the morning dawns and the shadows flee away."

Mr. and Mrs. Madison were the parents of ten children, five of whom still live. These are Wilmot B., of Lynchburg, Missouri; James Bruce, of Cando, North Dakota; Glen K., of Ann Arbor, Michigan; Millie, the wife of Thomas Richard, of Vandalia, and Oren M., who is the owner of the old homestead.

PETER JOHNSON GOODMAN. In the death of Peter Johnson Good- man, which occurred February 13, 1908, in Vandalia, Audrain county lost one of its foremost citizens, and a man who for years had been honored and respected for his unswerving honesty. praiseworthy ambi- tion, untiring industry and progressive public spirit. Having started life himself in humble circumstances, forced to gain his own educa- tion in great part, and to make his own way in the world, he always respected those who were struggling to gain a position of independence and was at all times ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than he. In all matters of public importance, where the welfare of his community was in the balance, he lent his influence and material aid, and in every walk of life was known as a man of sterling integrity and probity of character. Mr. Goodman was born March 2, 1836, in Pike county, Missouri, on the farm now owned by his two daughters, and was a son of Frederick and Christina (Cullip) Goodman, natives of Vir- ginia. Peter J. was the only one of his parents' children to be born in Missouri, the other eleven being natives of the Old Dominion State. Frederick and Christina Goodman brought their children to Missouri in 1834 or 1835, and here the father passed away when Peter J. was a lad of six years. His widow survived him for a long time, dying at the home of Mrs. Betsy Wright, wife of John Wright, and mother of James Wright.

Peter J. Goodman received a somewhat limited education in the pub- lic schools of the vicinity of his father's farm, but this in after years was supplemented by much observation and reading. He was engaged in working at whatever occupation came to his hand until his marriage, December 2, 1858, to Lucinda Kilby, daughter of Linville and Fannie (Van Noy) Kilby. She was born in Pike county, at the old home near Kilby cemetery, and was eighteen years old at the time of her marriage, her husband being twenty-two. They at once traveled by ox team to Mr. Goodman's new two-story log house, on the farm which he had worked hard to free from indebtedness, and there Mr. Goodman con- tinued to carry on agricultural pursuits until 1864. On March 27th of that year, in company with Allen Bratcher, Mose Farmer, William Henry Branstetter and others, he started across the plains for Cali- fornia, driving a large number of horses and mules, and finally arrived at his destination July 12th of that year. The trip proved profitable, in that the animals brought large prices, and Mr. Goodman secured a quantity of gold. There, however, he lost his partner and brother-in-

M. Fr. Elliott.

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law, William Henry Branstetter, who met his death by accident, while pulling a gun from under his bed, and who was buried in California. Mr. Goodman returned to Missouri by way of the Isthmus of Panama, thence to New York, and across country to his home, bringing back with him a belt full of gold for himself and for his sister, Mrs. Bran- stetter. With ample capital, he started shipping stock, and became one of the largest cattle raisers and buyers in this part of the state. He also added to his land holdings from time to time, accumulating two farms, of 186 acres and 183 acres, respectively. In 1876 he erected a modern country home, and near there his brothers, Joseph and Daniel also made their residences and reared their children. Mr. Goodman was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, first attend- ing the old Kilby church and later the Bible Chapel, and in 1895 took an active part in organizing Prairie View church, three miles southeast of Vandalia, which he supported liberally up to the time of his death. He was extremely fond of home and family, and was a man of the most exemplary habits, never using tobacco or alcoholic liquors. Mr. Goodman was buried in Kilby cemetery, and his widow, who had re- mained on the home farm where she had lived fifty-two years, and who died November 21, 1890, was laid to rest beside her husband. They had an ideal married life lacking but a few months of fifty years. Mr. and Mrs. Goodman had two children: Laura, born October 2, 1861; and Lottie, born December 6, 1868, wife of Robert Barnett. In 1879 Laura was married to T. E. Ball, but during the last years of her parents' life she returned to the homestead and tenderly cared for them until they died. She had two daughters, Sadie May, wife of John W. Shannon, who has two children, Glen M., aged nine years, and Sadie Marie, aged three ; and Callie Ada. Mrs. Ball now makes her home with her daugh- ter, Mrs. Shannon, of Vandalia.

WILLIAM F. ELLIOTT. It is a generally accepted truism that no man of genius or acknowledged ability can be justly or adequately judged on the morrow of his death, chiefly because time is needed to ripen the estimate upon work which can only be viewed on all sides in the calm atmosphere of a more or less remote period from its completion. This remark is in no sense inappropriate in the case of the gentleman of whom we write, the late William F. Elliott, and whose name occupies a conspicuous place in the history of Northeastern Missouri. No man in the community had warmer friends or was more generally esteemed, than Mr. Elliott. A man of consummate business ability, he made a success of whatever enterprise he devoted his activities to, and in his death, which occurred May 18, 1901, his community lost an honorable citizen, and one whose long and useful career had a beneficial influence upon his locality's interests.

William F. Elliott was born in Boone county, Missouri, May 4, 1837, and was a son of Reuben and Elizabeth (Wilhite) Elliott, natives of Kentucky, who came to Missouri during the early 'thirties. In their family there were eight children, namely: Cynthia and Sydney S., who are deceased; Margaret, the widow of Dr. Angell, of Rocheport, Missouri; George, Stephen and Sampson, who are deceased; William F., of this sketch; and Reuben, a resident of Rocheport, Missouri.

As a young man William F. Elliott directed his attention to the drug business, but at the outbreak of the Civil war enlisted his serv- ices with the cause of the Confederacy, and while fighting bravely for the cause he considered right was wounded in battle. Receiving his honorable discharge on account of disability, Mr. Elliott returned to the occupations of peace, and for some years was engaged in buying

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and selling livestock. While loading stock, on one occasion, he was kicked in the head by a frightened animal, the injury that resulted necessitating the insertion of a gold plate. This in after years caused him some discomfort, but he bore his pain with great patience and the completion of his second term, he moved to the city of Moberly, fortitude. The voters of Randolph county eventually chose Mr. El- liott to represent them in the office of sheriff and collector, and after where he became identified with the Mechanics Bank, in the capacity of cashier, and subsequently rose to the office of president. He was the incumbent of that position until his voluntary retirement, managing its affairs with excellent judgment and business sagacity, and win- ning the admiration of his associates and the esteem and confidence of. the entire community. From 1904 until his death he lived a quiet life, enjoying the rest to which he was entitled for his long years of faithful and useful labor.

Mr. Elliott was married (first) to Miss Mary McQuitty, who lived only a short time and died without issue. He took for his second wife Miss Harriet Smith, October 17, 1876, daughter of Elkanah and Sarah (Green) Smith, natives of Kentucky, who came to Missouri in 1825 and settled in Callaway county, Mr. Smith being first engaged in the card- ing business and later in farming. He died December 26, 1877, while . his wife survived until February 7, 1899, only lacking eight months of being 100 years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had eight children: James G., Mary E., Sarah O., William, Martha Ann, Elizabeth and Susan, who are all deceased; and Harriet, who married Mr. Elliott. Mr. Smith by a previous marriage had one child: Aaron B., who is now deceased.

As an intelligent man Mr. Elliott was always well versed in the current events of the day, whether from an educational or political standpoint, and while his strong self-reliance caused him to adhere with tenacity to those views which his judgment and investigation led him to adopt, his sincerity was undoubted and his integrity unques- tioned. Holding the warmest place in the hearts of those who knew him best whether at the home fireside or in the circle of friendship- his life and character were a tower of strength, and his memory shall be a benediction to those with whom he was associated. In his political views he was a Democrat, and served in the city council and on the school board with the same conscientious fidelity to duty that marked his business life. As an active worker in the Baptist church, he was widely known. He was active in every good work and was from 1897 to 1900 moderator of Mt. Pleasant Association. For many years he was a member of the state mission board and for several years was its president. He served Wmn. Jewel College for many years on its board of trustees and special executive committee, and gave liberally of his means to her support. Since the organization of the Missouri Baptist Sanitarium he has been one of the vice presidents of its board of managers, and a contributor to its funds. He was a deacon and a pillar in the First Baptist church of Moberly, Missouri. He died May 18, 1901.

JOHN A. CLITHERO. Hard work, intelligently directed along legiti- mate lines, generally results in success. Perhaps, however, few employ- ments pay so well and safely for wisely expended effort as does farm- ing, as men of northeastern Missouri have long since discovered. One of the progressive agriculturists of Audrain county is John A. Clithero, whose scientific methods have made his farm of 240 acres one of the most productive in this part of the state, and whose public-spirited interest in all that affects the welfare of his community stamps him

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as one of his section's most desirable citizens. Mr. Clithero was born on the old family homestead, in Pike county, Missouri, in 1854, and is a son of Joseph and Caroline (Jones) Clithero.

Joseph Clithero was born in July, 1825, in Monroe county, Ohio, and in 1853 came to Missouri and settled first on Buffalo creek, but sub- sequently removed to a property of 400 acres, which he entered from the government, and which was located about eleven miles southeast of Vandalia. Although he was in very humble circumstances when he first settled in this state, he was a man of industry, intelligence and enterprise, and during a long and honorable career accumulated a handsome property, clearing 260 acres of land, and erecting handsome buildings thereon. During the Civil war he served as a member of the state militia. He was for a number of years an Odd Fellow, and his political belief was that of the Democratic party. During his earlier years he was a member of the Methodist church, as was his wife, but later he changed his faith to that of the Presbyterian church, and died as a member of such in 1896. Mr. Clithero was married to Miss Caro- line Jones, who was born in 1833, near Wheeling, Virginia, and they had a family of eight children, as follows: John A .; Kensey W .; Ed- ward W .; Mary E .; Sarah J .; Libby Ann, who died at the age of seven years; and Jemima and Mary Adeline, who died when seven years of age.

John A. Clithero received his education in the district schools of Audrain county, and continued to remain under the parental roof and to assist his father in farming the home place until he was twenty-two years of age, at that time removing to a farm of eighty acres, which he traded for his present home. From time to time he has added to his land, until he is now the owner of 240 acres, all in a fine state of culti- vation, forming one of the best farms in the southern part of Audrain county. A tireless, industrious worker, progressive in his methods and ideas, he has made numerous improvements, and is considered one of the good, practical agriculturists of his district.

On March 23, 1882, Mr. Clithero was married to Miss Betty Hen- derson, who was born in September, 1863, in the west end of Pike county, Missouri, daughter of Granville and Elizabeth (Hamlett) Hen- derson, of Virginia. Nine children have been born to this union, of whom two died in infancy : Walter B. and Edward W., the others being : William Harvey, a graduate of the Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Missouri, and Washington University, and now a well-known and suc- cessful practicing physician and surgeon of St. Louis; Luella, who married Homer Maxwell, of the west end of Pike county, has two children : Claude and the baby; Charles H., living one mile northwest of his father, married Mary L. Wright, and has a son, Harold ; John T., twenty-two years of age, who lives with his parents; Alta May, twenty years of age, also living at home; Joseph G., eighteen years old, on the old homestead; and Leslie, twelve years of age, with his parents.

Mr. Clithero is a Democrat in his political views, but has not cared for public office, preferring to give his entire time and attention to his agricultural interests. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Mutual Protective League, and is a great believer in the value of life insurance, paying out over $100 per year in premiums. With Mrs. Clithero and his children, he attends the Presbyterian church.

JOSEPH HERMAN CULWELL. One of the successful and enterprising farmers of Audrain county, well-known in his community for his business sagacity as well as for his neighborliness and public spirit-

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edness, is Joe Herman Culwell. Mr. Culwell was born on the farm where he now makes his home, on the 7th of October, 1870, the son of Joseph Culwell.

Joseph Culwell, the elder, was born on March 3, 1840, four miles south of Ashley in Pike county. His father was James C. Culwell, a native of Kentucky, and his mother, a Virginian by birth, was Peachy Wilhoit Culwell. Mr. and Mrs. James Culwell were married in Ken- tucky, and moved to Missouri about the year 1838, entering as a govern- ment claim, the land where Joseph was born. On this land, James Culwell spent his entire life as a farmer, dying at the advanced age of more than ninety years, several years after his wife had passed away. James Culwell had twelve children, Joseph being about the fifth. Of this large family, only four now survive. These are A. T. Culwell, of Vandalia, and three sisters, two of whom live in Pike county, and the third in Sacramento, California. Of the six sons of the family, Joseph and A. T. became residents of Audrain county. All of the brothers, however, were famous stock men, and substantial citizens of the locali- ties in which they lived.

The farm which Joseph Culwell settled in 1860, was out on the open prairie, about nine miles southeast of Vandalia, and three-fourths of a mile from the Pike county line. It was a lonesome spot, wild and uncultivated, and with but few neighbors to cheer the little family. Starting with only eighty acres, Joseph Culwell added to his property by degrees until he had acquired two hundred and forty acres. He achieved considerable reputation in the community .as a thresherman, although he started out with only the most primitive equipment, and was known ere many years had passed as a man of prominence.

In religion, he was a Baptist, belonging to the Siloam Primitive Baptist church. His political faith was that of the Democratic party, and during the Civil war, he was forced by untoward circumstances to act against his strongest convictons. When the struggle first broke out, he enlisted in the Confederate army, with which he was greatly in sympathy. He served only for a short time, however, for his wife's relatives, and many of his own were fighting on the side of the Federal army. At the battle of Ashley, he took part as a member of the southern troops. Finally in order to avoid serious trouble at home, Joseph Culwell changed his coat of butternut for one of blue, and enlisted in Blair's brigade of the Federal army. His heart was no longer in the struggle, however, so at last he hired Sol Hughlett as a substitute, and remained at home until the war had ceased. One of his brothers died at Nashville, Tennessee, a soldier in the Federal cause.

Mr. Culwell was married on August 9, 1860, to Miss Susan Cham- berlain, a young woman of about his own age. She was the daughter of Thomas Chamberlain, a native of Kentucky, who settled in Pike county, near New Harmony. Mr. Culwell passed away March 18, 1891, and his wife survived him by about eighteen years, breathing her last on the twenty-seventh of October, 1909. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Culwell are Mary Lizzie, now the wife of John W. Crow, of Oakland, California; Joe Herman; Susan Alice, who died as a young woman in the year 1893, and J. William, the oldest child, who departed from this life in 1898, at the early age of thirty-four years.

After a preliminary education received in the district schools of his home community, Joe Herman Culwell attended the Mexico high school. When he had completed his work in that institution, he went to the Kirksville Normal School, graduating from the shorter course in the year 1889. Equipped with a good education added to a natural quickness of intelligence, he taught school in Pike and Audrain coun-

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ties for a few terms. The death of his father in 1891, however, forced him to give up teaching, and he returned to the farm where he was born, to take care of his mother during her declining years.

Joe Herman Culwell has remained on the homestead ever since. At his mother's demise, he bought out the other heirs, and came into full possession of the old property, making his home in the residence which his father built in the year 1883. He has improved the place a great deal, adding fine barns, and many other buildings. He keeps the farm well stocked, and has made quite a reputation as a feeder, feeding about two or three car-loads of cattle, and from two hundred to two hundred and fifty hogs each year. Mr. Culwell lives a quiet life, having no desire to be in the public eye. He belongs to several insurance frater- nities.

On October 15, 1905, Joe Herman Culwell was married to Maggie Bell, the daughter of George W. Bell, a farmer of New Hartford, in which district his daughter was born and raised. Mr. and Mrs. Culwell have three children, Joseph Garnett, James Calvin, and Annie Arminta.

GILBERT BEEBEE MOORE. The career of Gilbert B. Moore, of Audrain county, furnishes a striking example of the desirable result to be accomplished through the pursuits of honesty, integrity and perse- verance, Mr. Moore being the architect of his own fortunes in a remark- able degree. Left fatherless when only three years of age by the bullet of a Confederate soldier during the Civil war, Mr. Moore spent his boy- hood in hard, unremitting toil, nor was he given the advantages that higher education, capital or influential friends could bring. However, in him as in scores of other men, the necessity to care for himself developed natural abilities that might otherwise have remained dormant, and his courageous, energetic labors have caused him to forge his way to the front rank of agriculturists of his section of the county.

Merimon Moore, the grandfather of Gilbert B. Moore, was born in 1797 in North Carolina, near the Virginia state line, there owning a plantation and keeping many slaves. About 1830, he came to Missouri . and entered about one thousand acres of land, four miles from Ashley, in Pike county, and there his death occurred in 1862. He was a promi- nent Democrat of his day, and was ordained a preacher in the Primi- tive Baptist faith, and assisted in erecting the old Siloam church. Before leaving his native state, Mr. Moore was married, to Permelia Farmer, and she died at the home place in Pike county, Missouri, when she was sixty-seven years of age, in 1879, having been the mother of four children : Osbourn Jefferson, Austin C., Ozias O. and Mary A., all of whom spent their lives in Missouri.

Osbourn Jefferson Moore, son of Merimon and father of Gilbert B .. Moore, was born July 15, 1832. As a young man he was engaged in farming and teaching, and also studied surveying, and was a faithful and industrious worker. He stood high among his fellow citizens, and was elected to the office of justice of the peace, but at the outbreak of the Civil war enlisted in the Confederate army under General Price, and met his death in battle, January 13, 1863. In politics he was a Democrat. He was married to Miss Louisa Branstetter, who was born in 1840 in Pike county, Missouri, daughter of Frederick Branstetter. Prior to this, she had been married to E. P. Morris, of Vandalia ; she still survives. Mr. and Mrs. Moore had two children: Gilbert Beebee ; and Sallie P. J., who married John Wilson and lives in Port- land, Maine.

Gilbert Beebee Moore was born near Ashley, Pike county, Missouri, March 14, 1860, and was reared on the home farm. At the age of six-

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teen years he went to live with his uncle, T. B. Branstetter, in Audrain county, about eight miles south of Vandalia, and about four years later purchased eighty acres of land six miles south of the city. Since this time he has carried on farming, although he has also devoted his attention to other pursuits. In 1889 he located in Vandalia and secured a position teaming for the La Crosse Lumber Company, and subsequently for the Crawford Company, and then spent eleven years in the ice business in partnership with Charley Blain. He was made deputy constable and subsequently justice of the peace in Vandalia, but in 1904 returned to his farm, where he has since resided, being the owner of 212 acres of finely cultivated land. He carries on general farm- ing and also devotes much attention to stock raising, and his ventures have proven uniformly successful, his property being one of the valu- able ones of Audrain county. He has also risen to a place of prominence in public life, and is at this time the Democratic nominee for the posi- tion of county judge.

On March 23, 1881, Mr. Moore was united in marriage with Miss Ruanna Crow, who was born February 20, 1856, in Pike county, Mis- souri, daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Shaw) Crow, old and honored settlers of Pike county, whence they came from Kentucky. Two chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Moore, namely: Car] Bertram, who married (first) Neva Laughlin, and has one child, Gilbert J., and married (second) Ida Sidwell; and Leland, who married Carrola Sid- well. Both sons reside in Audrain county, where they have valuable country homes and well-cultivated tracts of land. Mr. Moore and his family attend the Primitive Baptist church, and have numerous friends in church, social and business life in the county.

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A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 8

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

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