A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 80

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

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Judge William L. Pollock was born in Clinton county, Pennsyl- vania, March 2, 1843, and was but a mere lad when the family removed to Missouri in 1851. At that period homesteaders were just settling up this section of Missouri and there was no school in the Pollock neigh- borhood until 1857, that one being three miles distant from the Pollock home. Judge Pollock's educational advantages after coming to this state were therefore very limited and his total attendance thereafter did not exceed two hundred days. In those earlier days there were but two houses in sight from his home. He was yet in his teens when the Civil war broke out, but he saw service during that conflict as a member of the Missouri state militia. At the age of twenty-two he started out for himself as a farmer and for seven years operated a rented farm, buying a tract of eighty acres in the meantime; then in 1873 he bought another farm of one hundred and sixty acres and in the succeeding years has been buying from time to time until at one time his holdings aggregated nine hundred and seventy-three acres, all lying about Powersville. Since then he has sold some, but he still owns an even eight hundred acres, all good land and now under the man- agement of his son, Harley M. Pollock. He has also dealt extensively in live stock, feeding and shipping them, and he and his son, Harley M., now have over a hundred head of cattle and thirty-two head of horses. They are breeders of Shorthorn cattle.

On April 15, 1866, Judge Pollock was married to Miss Sarah E. Simmons, daughter of Levi Simmons, who was an early pioneer here from Hancock county, Illinois. Of the thirteen children born to this union, two died in infancy; those surviving are as follows: Mrs. Cora Alice Herold, of Canada; Levi T. Pollock, residing near St. John, Mis- souri ; Mrs. Stella A. Thompson of Bramer, Missouri; Mrs. Susie War- ren, of Wayne county, Iowa; James R. Pollock, residing in York town- ship, Putnam county ; Rev. William A. Pollock, a Methodist minister and a resident of Putnam county; Charles H. Pollock, also of this county ; Harley M. Pollock, who is now foreman of his father's farm; Mrs. Agnes J. Putnam, of Los Angeles, California; Mrs. Hattie Year-

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ington, deceased; and Mrs. Barbara Calef, also deceased. Judge and Mrs. Pollock have forty-seven grandchildren living out of fifty-one born and have six great-grandchildren living out of eight born. Mrs. Cora A. Herold, the eldest daughter, has eleven children, Madge, William (deceased), Ellen, Roy, Ray Joseph, Nevens, Ernest, Alice, Guy and Don, and has four grandchildren, Reva and Eula, the children of Mrs. Madge Roberts, and Ruby and William, the children of Mrs. Ellen Rutherford; Levi T. Pollock has seven children, Vera, Corrinne, Loren, Lester, Lela, Wilma and Rolan, and has one grandchild deceased, the issue of Mrs. Vera Reiter; Mrs. Stella A. Thompson has three children, Joseph, Grace and Ernest; the children of Mrs. Susie Warren are Leo, Winnie, Ira, Fletcher, Edna, Loleta and Colett; in James R. Pol- lock's family there are eight children, Orin, Dewey, Emerson, Flossie, Harry, Florence, Agnes and Grace; Rev. William A. Pollock has six children, Floyd, Helen, Myrtle, Earl, Theodore and Paul; to Charles Pollock there has been born Opal, William (deceased) and Orpha; in Harley M. Pollock's family there is Lois, Amel (deceased) and Clara ; Mrs. Agnes Putnam has one daughter, Margaret; Mrs. Hattie Yearing- ton left one child, Orvil, and Mrs. Barbara Calef, whose one child is named Everet.

Levi Simmons, the father of Mrs. Pollock, was born in Kentucky in 1818 and died in Hancock county, Illinois, in 1875. His father was killed while he was yet a boy and he was reared by a stepfather. His mother lived to a great age; she crossed the mountains to California in 1854. About 1830 Levi came from his native state of Kentucky to Hancock county, Illinois, where he grew up and married Alice, daugh- ter of Thomas Harris. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons and their family came to Putnam county, Missouri, in 1856. They were the parents of nine children : James, who was killed at the battle of Shiloh during the Civil war; Mrs. Annie Torrey, a resident of Putnam county, Missouri ; Mrs. Sarah Pollock; Mrs. Harriet Berglund, of Tacoma, Washington; Mrs. Mary Roseberry, of Marysville, Kansas; Mrs. Alice McFarland, of Logan county, Kansas; Mrs. Susanna Lincoln, of Nodaway county, Mis- souri ; Samuel, who died in 1909, and Thomas, who died in infancy.

Judge Pollock is a Republican in political views and in 1908 was elected county judge of Putnam county to serve four years. Previous to that he served four terms as trustee of York township. In church affiliations he is identified with the Methodist Episcopal denomination, and fraternally he is a member of the Modern Brotherhood of America. He has been unremitting in his energy and close application to his business interests throughout his long active career and as a citizen he has so ordered his life as to command the high confidence and esteem of the people among whom he has made almost his life-time home.

JAMES REED MAJOR. A representative of one of the oldest of Mis- souri families and the son of the founder of the family in this state, James Reed Major, now the senior member of the Major family in Mis- souri and a resident of Bowling Green, has been identified with the fortunes of this great commonwealth since the year 1831, when he entered Missouri from the Old Dominion, his birth having occurred near Halifax Court House, in Henry county, Virginia, on the 5th day of May, 1825. It thus appears that he was but a mere child at the time of the family removal to Missouri. The family is one that has been prominently associated with the business, agricultural' and political activities of the state since its earliest identification therewith, and a son of James Reed Major, Elliot W. by name, served as attorney gen-

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eral of the state of Missouri, and in the election of 1912 was a successful candidate for the gubernatorial office of the state.

James Major, the father of James Reed Major, also a native of the state of Virginia, born in Henry county in about the year 1780, received a limited education and in his early manhood was employed as an overseer of slaves. He served in the War of 1812 and consistently cast his vote with the Whigs, but never took an active part in politics. Religiously he was a Methodist, earnest and faithful in the work of the church, and for years serving as class leader. He died in St. Charles county, Missouri, in 1845, and is buried three miles from the town of Wentzville. His wife, Nancy (Abington) Major, was a daugh- ter of Henry Abington, a well-known planter who came to Missouri with Mr. Major, and here passed the remainder of his life and died. Nancy Major died in 1876, a loved and honored wife, and her remains are interred near those of her husband. Their children were nine in num- ber, and concerning them the following brief mention is made at this point : William, the eldest, died unmarried when at the age of twenty- four years; Elizabeth became the wife of John Penn and died at Wentz- ville; Susan is the wife of George Wells; James Reed Major, whose name heads this biographical record, married Sarah Ann Wolfolk, con- cerning whom further mention is made later; Catherine, now deceased, was the wife of David H. Richards; David, who spent his life in the vicinity of the old homestead of the Major family; Edward, unmar- ried ; John L., who married Carrie Aventon; and Samuel, who died at Blue Springs, Missouri.

The grandfather of James Reed Major was William Major, and he, too, was of Virginia birth and breeding, the family being one of the oldest of Virginia lines. He had four sons: James, William, David and Frank, and in company with two of his sons, David and William, came to Missouri and settled in Monroe county, where he spent his closing years and there died. He had a daughter, Betsey, in addition to his four sons, and she died unmarried in Monroe county. His son, Frank, was a merchant in Petersburg, Virginia, and there passed his life. The children of James Major, the father of the subject, have already been named in a previous paragraph, and to lend fullness of detail in writing of this more than ordinarily interesting family, the children of the other sons of William Major are here named: David Major became the father of nine children: Elliott, William, Susan, James, John, Catherine, Edward, David and Robert. The children of William were: Madison, Sophia, Jane, Susan, Elizabeth, David, John and Frank.

James Reed Major married in St. Charles county, Missouri, on September 3, 1854, Miss Sarah Ann Wolfolk, as mentioned in a previous paragraph. She was a daughter of Richard A. and Sarah (Sutton) Wolfolk, both natives of Kentucky, and the latter a resident of Louisville. Mrs. Major died in Bowling Green, Missouri, on Septem- ber 8, 1911, at the age of seventy-six years, and her death closed a happy married life covering a period of fifty-seven years and five days. James Reed and Sarah Ann (Wolfolk) Major became the parents of five children, as follows: Eugene H., the eldest, born in 1857, died near Paris, Missouri, on April 27, 1894. He married Frances McFarlan and she still survives him. James Coleman, born April 17, 1860, married Emma Duncan. Elliot W., born October 20, 1863, has ably served his state in the office of attorney general and is governor elect of the state at this writing, having been elected to that high office in the general election. He married Elizabeth Myers. Samuel R., born May 22, 1868, is prominently engaged in the auctioneering and livery business in

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Paris, Missouri, and is one of the best known business men of that city. He married Irvie Hurd. Edward T., born March 10, 1871, is a leading horseman of Bowling Green. He married first Anna Calhoun, who died about the year 1879, and his present wife was Roburter Cutright.

James Reed Major was identified with the business of farming practically all his life, giving especial attention to the raising of tobacco, in which business he was successful and prosperous. He achieved dis- tinction as one of the most capable and successful men identified with the business of agriculture in the county, and has long enjoyed the united respect and friendship of a large circle of the best citizenship of the state. He has for some years been retired from the activities of farm life, and is enjoying the fruits of his labors in the closing years of his busy and prosperous life.

Referring to his early days, Mr. Major recalls that he cast his first presidential vote for General Taylor, who was a second cousin of his wife's father, and in this connection it is worthy of mention that Presi- dent James Madison was a first cousin of Mr. Wolfolk. Mr. Major has never held political office, despite his interest in governmental policies and affairs, and the interest and activity of his son in political matters. He has long enjoyed a high place in the community which has represented his home for so many years, and as a worthy citizen he has well occupied the place which his fellow townspeople have accorded to him. Since his conversion, some thirty-five years ago, Mr. Major has lived in the love of his Maker, and has consistently main- tained a family altar in his home.

It is a fact worthy of mention here that James Reed Major, as the senior member of his family in this state, occupies the position of the head of a family comprising one hundred and fifteen children, grand- children and great-grandchildren, and the house of Major is one that has contributed much of the present prosperity of the state, and given invaluable aid in the splendid development and progress which the state has experienced since the days when the Majors first migrated from the Old Dominion into the Missouri commonwealth.

GEORGE S. WASHBURN. The life of this section of the country can- not be adequately illustrated without taking into account those who have taken up the work of their fathers and carried it on with success quite equal to and often exceeding theirs. George S. Washburn, of Jeddo township, belongs to the second generation of Knox county's agriculturists. He is one of the few, reared amid surroundings of abundance, who has not been content to rest upon his father's achieve- ments, but with untiring energy and dint of industry, has, from early boyhood, "made good." The industry and ability which he brought to the management of large properties under conditions of greater competition may not have the scenic interest of those which surrounded the pioneer, but they may be quite as intense and substantial in character.

George S. Washburn was born January 19, 1866, in Lewis county, Missouri, near the Knox county line, a son of James W. and Mary Catherine (Seeber) Washburn. His father, born March 5, 1833, came to Missouri in 1856, and here has spent his life in agricultural pursuits. His wife, who also survives, was born in 1837, in Louisiana, and pos- sesses choice southern blood, her mother being Laura Bostwick. They have been the parents of four children, as follows: Anna Laura, who is the wife of Samuel Halderman, of Knox county; George S .; Lurilla, the wife of Dr. W. H. McKim, of LaBelle, Missouri; and Jeanette, the wife of Philip Mattingly, living in Lewis county.

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After attending the country schools of his native vicinity, George S. Washburn took a course in the Gem City Business College, Quincy, Illinois, and then returned to his father's farm. When he was twenty- three years of age he was given four hundred and eighty acres of land by his father, to which he has since added eight hundred and eighty acres, now having thirteen hundred and sixty acres under cultivation. This land includes the Col. John M. Glover farm of eight hundred acres, which Mr. Washburn purchased in 1900, and another tract of eighty acres which he acquired by purchase in 1907, and is situated in Jeddo township, six and one-half miles southwest of LaBelle. In addi- tion to carrying on general farming operations, Mr. Washburn is an extensive feeder of cattle and hogs, and his reputation as a judge of stock is known throughout the county. Improvements of an extensive nature have been made on this land, including a magnificent "Classic Colonial" residence, and other buildings of a proportionate value. He is progressive in his ideas and methods, and can be relied upon to support all measures calculated to be of benefit to the community. In political matters he is a Democrat, but takes only a good citizen's interest in public affairs.

On May 16, 1888, Mr. Washburn was married to Miss Margaret Frances Baldwin, daughter of Samuel H. Baldwin, a splendid pioneer settler of Knox county, and to this union there have been born two sons, James Baldwin, born May 10, 1903, a bright, interesting lad who is attending the graded schools, and Charles Bostwick, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Washburn have many friends in the congregation of the Christian church, of which they are consistent members, he having been a deacon and Mrs. Washburn organist for some twenty years. Mr. Washburn gives liberally of his means and talent for the good of the church and those around him.

BOYLE GORDON CLARK. As one of the able young attorneys of the Boone county bar and an active worker along the lines of civic develop- ment and growth, Boyle Gordon Clark has been prominently engaged in practice at Columbia, Missouri, since 1906.

Mr. Clark was born on a farm a short distance south of Columbia on the 12th day of June, 1884, and was reared and educated in this vicinity. He is the son of Richard Gentry Clark and Margaret (Cole- man) Clark, and comes of a family that has been identified with the history of the state of Missouri for many years. The founder of this particular branch of the family was Robert Clark, the grandfather of the subject, who was born in 1818 in Orange county, North Carolina, and who came to Missouri in his early youth with his father, Joseph Clark, who located with his family in Clay county. Robert Clark served in the Confederate army during the War of the Rebellion and lost his life at the battle of Independence on August 11, 1862. He married Mary Gentry, who was born on February 25, 1825, their marriage tak- ing place on June 21, 1855, and their son, Richard Gentry Clark, the father of the subject, was about one year old when his father, Capt. Robert Clark, was killed at Independence in the Confederate service, during General Price's raid through Missouri. Robert Clark was twice married, and his son, Richard Gentry Clark, was the child of his second marriage. His first wife was Sarah Frances Elliott, who was born on January 10, 1825, and they were married on November 11, 1850. She died on October 31, 1852, leaving one son, Allen Clark, who lives at St. Joseph, Missouri.

The exact date when the Clark family migrated to Missouri is not known for the family records were lost, stolen or destroyed during the

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Civil war period, so that any data that is available today concerning the earlier generations of the family, which is well known to be one of the oldest and best in the United States, has been preserved unwittingly and is not in the nature of a bona fide record. Allen Clark, the uncle of the subject, it is fair to presume, possesses more absolute information concerning the early records of the family than any other living member today. It is known that the family came to Missouri from North Caro- lina and settled in Clay county, on a farm of two hundred and forty acres in what was known as Walnut Grove, some four miles north of the town of Liberty. The head of the family, Joseph Clark, and the great-grandfather of Boyle Gordon Clark, of this review, was known to be a man of great industry, and the buildings he erected on his home in Walnut Grove were notable, even in those days. Everything was built of immense logs, and it has been estimated that the actual lumber contained in the logs he used in erecting his dwellings and barns would be sufficient to erect a good sized village. There was an immense barn, a roomy house, with a large cabin for negroes, tobacco barns, hemp barn, apple house, smoke house, and every other variety of building that could be required in the operation of a fine farm such as he owned. The farm was fenced and cross fenced. It had splendid wells and a fine orchard. To quote the words of Allen Clark, mentioned previ- ously. . "It was a most livable place, and it was heaven to me in my childhood days." Joseph Clark was a man who loved horses, and he was the owner of many fine ones, as well as many good mules.

Thus it was that the Clark family established itself in Missouri. Robert Clark, prior to 1850, opened a farm in DeKalb county, about a mile from Stewartsville, and this was one of the fine old places of the county. It had one hundred and sixty acres of arable land, with eighty acres of timber and pasture land, and also a section of what was called railroad land. The home place is valued today at $150.00 per acre. The main portion of the old family dwelling still stands, where were born Allen, Robert, and Richard Gentry Clark. The misfortunes of war drove the family away from this fine old place, and it is now the prop- erty of a sister of the wife of Allen Clark.

Upon the death of Capt. Robert Clark at the battle of Indepen- dence his widow, Mary Gentry Clark, with her two young sons, Robert and Richard Gentry, returned to her old home in Columbia, Boone county, Missouri, where she resided for several years with her mother, the widow of Gen. Richard Gentry. Shortly after the close of the Civil war, Mary Gentry Clark married Judge Boyle Gordon and moved to his home on the outskirts of Columbia, where they lived for many years, until their death, Judge Gordon surviving his wife but a short time. Here it was that Richard Gentry Clark and his brother, Robert, and their half-brother, Marshall Gordon, the only child of Judge Boyle Gordon and Mary Gentry Gordon, grew to young manhood. Marshall Gordon still owns and lives on the old homestead.

Judge Boyle Gordon was for many years a law partner of Gen. Odan Guitar, and in his later years taught law in the University of Missouri. He was a learned man, speaking several languages, a student of history and reputed to be one of the best lawyers in central Missouri. He preferred his farm however to his books and his two step-sons and his son following his example, devoted themselves to farming.

In 1880 Richard Gentry Clark went to Osborne, Kansas, where for two years he was engaged in the hardware business with his half- brother, Allen Clark. Tiring of Kansas, however, he returned to Mis- souri and settled on a farm south of Columbia in Boone county, Missouri, near Rock Bridge. In February, 1883, he married Margaret

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Coleman, daughter of William W. and Anna Brann Coleman of Fal- mouth, Kentucky. Of this union eight children have been born, Boyle Gordon, Thomas Gentry, Anna Brann (Mrs. A. W. Terrell), Joseph Stern, Allen, William Richard, Mary and Dorothy, all of whom are living except Allen. In 1902 Richard Gentry Clark moved to Deer Park, nine miles southeast of Columbia, where he still resides on a farm.

Boyle Gordon Clark received his early education in the country schools, the Columbia high school and later attended the law department of the state university, from which he was duly graduated in 1906, with the degree of LL.B. In August of the same year he opened his office and began gathering a clientele which has continued to grow with the passing years, so that he is today one of the busy and prominent younger attorneys of the city of Columbia. Since November, 1908, Mr. Clark has been the business partner of J. P. McBain, and they ' share a fine business in the courts of the county.

In October, 1906, Mr. Clark was married to Miss Myrtle Duncan. She was born on October 12, 1884, and is the daughter of Charles and Fanny (Tillery) Duncan. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Clark,-Helen Myrtle.

In political affairs Mr. Clark is a Democrat and has been a member of various committees of that party. He is a member of the Presby- terian church, and is fraternally affiliated with the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of the Maccabees.

JAMES H. WAUGH. There is no better example of what is to be attained by a long life of industry and integrity than is found in the career of the late James H. Waugh, whose record as business man, financier, public official and private citizen stands without stain or blemish. James H. Waugh, president of the Exchange National Bank of Columbia, was born December 26, 1832, in Nicholas county, Ken- tucky. His parents were Archer S. and Matilda Genevieve (Piper) Waugh, natives of that state. He was reared upon the home farm and attended the common schools of the county, afterward taking a fairly advanced course in a school in the town of Carlisle. In 1854, being then of age, he removed to Columbia, Missouri, and found employment as a clerk in the dry goods store of James H. Parker. In July, 1859, he engaged in similar business on his own account, in which he continued until January, 1862, when he was unexpectedly appointed by Governor Gamble to the office of sheriff and collector of Boone county. In July, 1865, in association with other parties, he became interested in the organization of the Exchange National Bank, of which he was made president, a position he held continuously from that day until his death. As evidence of his sound judgment and sagacity as a financier, it is worthy of remark that under his administration, this bank not only passed safely through seasons of monetary disturbance, but never failed to pay a semi-annual dividend of five or six per cent. During these years Mr. Waugh was active and successful in other large busi- ness enterprises. He was one of the organizers of the Valley National Bank of St. Louis, and one of its directors until 1879. He was also one of the promoters of the Boone County & Jefferson City Railroad, from Centralia to Columbia, and upon the reorganization of the company he was elected one of the directors, and in that capacity was concerned in the construction of the road.

At the same time, his interests in immediate local affairs moved him to official action with others in the introduction of rock and gravel

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road system into Boone county, now embracing some fifty or sixty miles of road, radiating in four directions from Columbia.

Mr. Waugh, during his active career, at times occupied public positions of varied nature, many of them of responsibility and trust. In March, 1855, he was appointed deputy sheriff of Boone county under Sheriff Orear, and served in this capacity until August, 1858. In Jan- uary, 1862, without solicitation or expectation on his part, he was appointed by Governor Gamble to the position of sheriff and collector of the same county, and in November following he was elected by the people to the same office for a full term of two years. On September 28, 1864, and during his official term, Sheriff Waugh was a passenger with Mayor J. S. Rollins and others on the four horse stage coach from Columbia to the North Missouri Railroad at Centralia. On arrival, the town was found to be full of guerrillas under "Bill" Anderson, a noted desperado and bushwhacker, who at once proceeded to rob all the passengers. By a subterfuge, Mr. Waugh was enabled to conceal his identity, thus saving important official papers and probably his own life. It was on this day the bloody massacre of Union soldiers occurred on the streets of the town by the "Bill" Anderson guerrillas, and also the killing of nearly two hundred Union soldiers in a fight that took place near the town.

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A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 80

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