A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 88

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

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been put into use. The ice goes into the refrigerator from the exterior of the house, and the fuel also is put into the wood box from the out- side. The cold storage room, the kitchen and bath rooms are beautifully finished in white with the most modern and sanitary fittings. Such a home would add to the attractiveness of any place and the doctor should be indeed proud of his effort in this line.

JASPER HENDERSON is the leading poultry dealer of Monroe county and is a conspicuous factor among the men of northeast Missouri who are interested in that business. He has been a resident of Monroe county all his life and has lived in Monroe county since he became established in the poultry business in 1898.

Born in the country near the town of Stoutsville, on August 14, 1854, Jasper Henderson is the son of William J. and Clarissa (Yowell) Henderson. The father was born near Culpeper Court House, Vir- ginia, on July 12, 1811, and was the son of a slave holding planter of that state. William J. was educated in what was known as the "field schools" of his locality, and was one of the three children of his par- ents. On November 21, 1833, William J. Henderson married Clarissa Yowell, a daughter of one John Yowell, a native Missourian. She died in 1888, and was the mother of 12 children, as follows: Mary Elizabeth, who married Samuel Sherer and died in Monroe county ; James W., who died in 1910, unmarried; Albert, who passed his life in Monroe county, and left a family at his death; John M., who also left a family ; Virginia, who became the wife of Edward Spalding, and died in Mon- roe City ; Sallie F., the wife of Reuben Tillett, died in Monroe City without issue; Clay, now deceased; Mildred, the wife of J. L. Pollard ; Adolphus, who died unmarried; Addie, the wife of J. B. Tipton when she died; Jasper, of this review; and Dennis F., of Monroe county. The father came to Monroe county in 1836 and located on land he entered from the government near Stoutsville. He devoted himself to farm life, stock raising playing an important part in his activities, and spent his remaining years on his well kept farm at that place. He had two brothers-Gabriel and John; the former spent his life in Tennes- see, while the latter lived in Virginia and Mississippi; and one sister, who passed her life in the community where she was born. He died near Stousville, in 1886.

Jasper Henderson acquired such education as the public schools of his native community and the municipality of Stoutsville afforded in his boyhood. He continued to be connected with farm life at home until 1892, when he entered the grocery business in Paris, Missouri, continuing there for six years. While thus engaged, he familiarized himself with the poultry business, merely as a side line to his other interests, and thus discovered the splendid opening the district offered for an exclusive poultry business. He also discovered a latent ability and liking for the work, and he soon established himself in Monroe City, where he has gradually developed one of the largest plants of the kind in this section of the state. The success of the industry has been measured and manifested by his expansion from time to time, and the fine brick building with its auxiliary sheds for the accommoda- tion of his traffic. His central plant here is reinforced by plants at Stoutsville and La Clede, also Hunnewell, Missouri, and the immensity of his industry may be more fully comprehended when it is known that one hundred cars of live-poultry are shipped by the firm annually, totaling some 415,000 birds, and that about ten thousand dressed chick- ens and turkeys are added to the output of live stuff. His place is converted into a slaughter house for the certain grades of stuff during

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the winter months, and the labor market resulting from the operations of this plant is no small item to Monroe City.

Mr. Henderson has associated with him his two sons, who began their business careers in this business. He is a member of the National Poultrymen's Association, and the presence in Monroe county of so formidable an enterprise as his gives an inspiration to the poultry business which brings much extra money into the hands of the country people.

As a citizen of Monroe City, Jasper Henderson has responded will- ingly to public and other demands for his service, and gave four years to municipal work as a member of the city council. He holds sane and conservative ideas as to the principles of municipal government, and is a Democrat, like his father and his grandfather. He is a Mas- ter Mason and a member of the Christian church.

On January 29, 1879, Mr. Henderson married Miss Annie More- head, a daughter of Gilmore Morehead. She was one of the six chil- dren of her parents, the others being: Mary, the wife of William Car- ter; Mattie, who married Crit. Berry; Will, a Confederate soldier, who died soon after his release from the military prison at Alton, Illinois; Sallie, who married Thomas Mallory; and Gilly, the wife of Frank Price.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Henderson are four in number, con- cerning whom the following brief data are here offered : L. Claude, was born near Stoutsville in 1880. He received a high school education, and may be said to have grown up in the poultry business. He is con- versant with every detail of the business, and in 1908 became asso- ciated with his father in the business under the firm name of J. Hen- derson & Son, and he operates one of the houses of the firm at Iowa Falls, Iowa. Mr. Henderson was married on October 4, 1908, at Mon- roe City, to Miss Elizabeth Arnold, only daughter of the late William B. Arnold, a member of a prominent pioneer family of this section of the state. The mother of Mrs. Henderson was Maggie (McClintic) Arnold, a sister of the late Senator McClintic, and Mrs. Henderson was the only child of her parents. Mary Catherine Henderson, the second born child of Jasper Henderson, married Cecil P. Forsythe, and makes her home in Oklahoma City; Jessie Mildred is the wife of Roy B. Mer- riweather, a lawyer of Monroe City; and J. Ray is the youngest of the family. He was born on July 8, 1892, passed through the schools of Monroe City, and has entered the business with his father, handling the office work of the firm in Monroe City. He married Martha Walker Hunter, daughter of ex-Senator Hunter of Benton, Scott county, Missouri.

WILLIAM RICHARD PINCKARD JACKSON. For many years William Richard P. Jackson, of Monroe City, Missouri, has been a resident and prominent business man of his city. Beginning like most young men in a modest way, he has risen to his present position of cashier of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank of Monroe City by sheer ability and a clear head for business. He has earned an enviable reputation among his neighbors for honest and upright dealings, and as a financier he has won the respect of all his associates.

William Richard Pinckard Jackson was born on the dividing line between Monroe and Marion counties, on the 2nd of December, 1850. His grandfather came down the Ohio river from Pittsburg and thence up the Mississippi to Hannibal, settling near Palmyra, Missouri, in 1831. He had come to this far western state from Delaware, and in later years moved from Palmyra to Shelby county, Missouri, where he

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died near Oakdale. He gave his whole life to the pursuit of agricul- ture, and he and his wife were the parents of four children: William P., who followed his father's vocation and died near Palmyra where his father had first settled, leaving a large family; James W .; Eliz- abeth, who became Mrs. Franklin and died in Shelby county, Missouri, and Julius A., who passed away at Kirksville, Missouri.

James W. Jackson was born near Dover, Delaware, November 24, 1824, and was therefore only a small boy when his parents removed to Missouri. He was educated in the primitive schools of the frontier in Marion and Shelby counties, and upon reaching maturity, took up the only career that was open to a lad situated in his position, that of a farmer. He followed this calling until his death, which occurred on the 28th of February, 1881, at his home near Sharpsburg, Marion county. During the Civil war, although he sympathized with the cause of the Confederacy, he remained neutral, not choosing to participate in the struggle. From the date of the founding of the Democratic party, his people had stood firmly by its standard, and he also was a staunch member of this party. He served as "Squire," and was a member of the Methodist church. James W. Jackson married Sarah E. Sharp, a daughter of Reverend Richard Sharp, one of the pioneer preachers of this section who came here from Kentucky. Mrs. Jackson was born in Kentucky in 1829 and died in December, 1910, at the age of eighty-one. Their children were William Richard Pinckard; James B., a business man of Perry, Missouri; Emma, who is the wife of Frank Dimmitt, a banker of Shelbina, Missouri; Edwin A., a farmer on the old Jackson homestead near Monroe City; Thomas C., also a farmer living in this state; Christian S., one of the successful farmers and stock men of Perry, Missouri.

William R. P. Jackson was given a liberal education, passing his last year as a student in the Palmyra Seminary. He entered the world of business in the fall of 1872 as a merchant in Monroe City. Three years later he organized the Monroe City Bank, becoming cashier and holding the position until 1881. He retired from this post in 1881 to take up again the mercantile business. He remained thus engaged until 1887, when he aided in the organization of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and was elected its cashier. He has served through the incun- bencies of the five presidents of the bank, namely: Judge Charles P. McCarty, George W. Smith, Judge Samuel North, William R. Yates, and Fielding H. Hagan, and has given more than a quarter of a cen- tury to the service of this institution.

Mr. Jackson has always been an active member of the Methodist church, both as a layman and as an officer of the congregation. He served many years as a member of the board of stewards, and is one of the trustees of the church. He has often been as a delegate to the annual conventions, and for the past twenty-nine years has filled the position of superintendent of the Sunday school. He is a member of the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, being a member of Monroe lodge, No. 64. He is past master of the lodge and has represented it in sessions of the Grand Lodge.

On the first of February, 1876, Mr. Jackson married in Monroe county Miss Sallie V. Holmes, a daughter of Henry J. Holmes, who was a native of Virginia and had settled in Missouri in the early days. Her mother was Belle Allison, and the children of her parents were three in number. Mrs. Jackson was the eldest, then Amasa W., and the youngest is Harry B. Holmes, of Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson became the parents of the following children : Nellie B., the wife of J. Gardner Wade, of Monroe City; Harry W., a farmer of

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Marion and Monroe counties, who married Miss Maud McClintic; Edith F. is Mrs. Harvey E. Gray, of Ralls county, Missouri; Homer L. is the cashier of the State Bank at Newburg, Missouri, and is married to Miss Gay Settle; Emma L. is the wife of Edwin G. Walker, a farmer of Marion county, Missouri; Carroll S. married Miss Marguerite Mc- Clintic and is a farmer at Monroe City, and William Richard Pinck- ard, Jr.

JAMES S. SCOTT. A man who has been connected with many phases of the life of Monroe City, Missouri, during a period extending over many years, and who has always played his part well is James S. Scott, at present mayor of the city. For years he has been a stockraiser and farmer in this vicinity, and although he has of late years lived in town, he is still near enough to his farm to keep an eye on the management.

James S. Scott was born in Marion county, Missouri, near the old town of Palmyra, on the 1st of September, 1849. His father, John Wil- fred Scott, was born in 1826, and as a youth of twelve came from Ken- tucky to live in Marion county. John Wilfred Scott was the son of Smith Scott and Mary (Chilton) Scott, and was the eldest of the four sons of his parents: John Wilfred, James A., George M. and Smith Scott. His father died and his mother who had been Mary Chilton, a daughter of George Chilton and Mary Ellen (Ball) Chilton, married again after a time. Her second husband was James McPike, and their marriage took place at Campbellsburg, Kentucky. He was a widower with four children, as follows: Sarah J., who married John Wilfred Scott; Edward, who died unmarried; Mary, who became Mrs. Elijah Gullion and resides in Marion county, and William McPike, also of that county. James McPike and his wife became the parents of five children who were Benjamin, Charles, Keziah Ellen, Jefferson and Zachary T. The parents both died near Palmyra and only two chil- dren from each of the three families are now living. John Wilfred Scott grew to manhood in Missouri, attending the district schools and gaining what education he could from this rather crude source. He early learned how to work, and being brought up on the farm it was quite natural that he should select farming as his occupation in life. He was quite successful, owning before his death some four hundred acres of Marion county land. He was possessed of good business ability and in spite of the fact that his losses during the Civil war, from the raids made upon his place by the commissary departments of both armies, were by no means inconsiderable, yet he managed affairs so well that he was able to recoup his losses. He was in accord with the senti- ments of the South, but he took no part in the struggle, except that he fed the bushwhackers occasionally, and for this offense he was deemed disloyal and the Federal authorities declared his rights of suffrage forfeited. John W. Scott married his first wife in 1846, she being Sarah J. McPike, and she died in 1854. Their children were James S. and Mildred, who married Douglas Bowls and died in Palmyra, Missouri. Sarah Godman became the second wife of Mr. Scott and they became the parents of four children: Frank Milton, Charles B., Edward, and Mary, who married Robert McLeod, of LaGrange, Missouri.

James S. Scott first attended a country school and was then sent to school in Palmyra, and it was during his school years in Palmyra that he had the great misfortune to lose his right arm in an accident, which was caused by the running away of his team while he was gathering corn. He was urged by his friends to continue with his education and become a professional man, but his heart was given to the life of the farmn, the cultivation of the soil and the breeding and

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rearing of stock made such an appeal to him that even the loss of his arm did not deter him from following out his first determination of becoming a farmer. It is evidently wise that he did this, for his effici- ency on the farm seems to be unimpaired by the loss of his arm. He was always very much interested in cattle, in growing and handling them, and his interest led him in time to devote himself extensively to this phase of agricultural life. He found that he needed more corn than he could raise and that he could sell more cattle and hogs than he could produce. In 1881 he left the farm and moved with his family into Monroe City, but he yet owns his country home, and since it is within a few minutes walk of the city he gets considerable diversion by his frequent trips out to the farm. His interest in cattle led him to become one of the interested men in the organization of the Monroe Cattle Company, which was formed in this city many years ago for handling cattle in Texas. The company operated for several years in Texas and during this time he maintained his interest in it.

Mr. Scott has always been active in politics and is a member of the Democratic party. His earliest political activities were as a dele- gate to various party conventions, and he helped to nominate Congress- man Hatch, of Hannibal, twenty years ago. For nearly thirty years he has taken a prominent part in local affairs, having served as mayor or councilman at many different times, and more than once he has been chosen mayor pro tem. upon the death or resignation of the city's chief executive. He was elected mayor in 1910 and was re-elected in 1912, and has taken an active part in the progressive movements that of recent years have stirred the city. He was prominent in the move- ment to construct granitoid walks, and in the question that is now pending, the question of city water, he is taking a leading part. A deep well has been completed and is awaiting a chemical test to de- termine whether it will be suitable for the use of the people, and the mayor is hoping that the test may prove its value and that Monroe City may have a fine system of water works before long.

Mr. Scott was one of the organizers of the Monroe Telephone Com- pany and until it was taken over by the Bell Company, was manager of the company. He installed the telephone exchange in the city and extended the service into the country, thereby developing one of the im- portant enterprises of the place.

Mr. Scott is prominent in the religious life of Monroe City, being a member and deacon of the Baptist church. On the 15th of August, 1876, Mr. Scott married in Monroe county, Missouri, Mrs. Martha B. White, a sister of Dr. Thomas and David M. Proctor, of Monroe City. Mrs. Scott died in October, 1909, leaving two children. The eldest child, Wilfred, died at the age of fourteen, the other two are; Eleanor, who is the wife of Thomas Dawson, of Monroe City, and has one son, Wilfred Scott, and Mildred K., who married James S. Conway, of Monroe City and has two children, Martha Elizabeth and James Scott.

DAVID R. DAVENPORT. A semi-retired business man of Monroe City, Missouri, is David R. Davenport, whose family first became a part of Missouri life during the early period when his grandfather, David G. Davenport, Sr., and the latter's son, David G. Davenport, Jr., occupied land six miles from Palmyra. An eventful life, with a variety of experience, was lived by David G. Davenport, Jr., who as a young man went west across the plains to California, where the first years of his majority were spent in learning and engaging in the butcher business. When he returned to Missouri he determined upon a more scholarly vocation and entered the law office of Hon. A. W. Lamb, of Hannibal,

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under whose direction he made a study of legal subjects. Having com- pleted his preparation for this profession, he proceeded to practice it in Palmyra. His legal business was, like that of so many thousands of his fellow-countrymen, interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil war. David G. Davenport, Jr. entered that conflict. Being in sympathy with secession, he enlisted in the Confederate army under Colonel Porter and took part in the Kirksville "raid." He was, in that encounter, both wounded and captured. Tried in St. Louis for his life, he was acquitted, but remained in the hands of the Federals, being confined first in the Alton, Illinois, prison and later in that at Camp Chase, Ohio, where he was released at the close of the war. Resuming civil life, he continued his practice of law until near the days of his death. He is remembered as a strong Democrat, but as a man without affilia- tions with church or secret orders. The wife of David G. Davenport, Jr., was Fannie C. Lair, a daughter of William Lair. Her half brothers and sisters are as follows : Captain W. W. Lair, who commanded a company of Union soldiers; "Dock" Lair, who was killed as a Confed- erate soldier; Mrs. W. W. Pepper, of Marion county ; Mrs. Moss, of the same community ; and James Marion Lair, who was a Southern soldier and who died at Woodland, Missouri. The children who were born to David G. Davenport, Jr., and Fannie Lair Davenport were: David R. Davenport, the special subject of this review; Fannie O., who became Mrs. William E. Moss, of Woodland, Missouri; and Palmyra M., who became Mrs. James E. Shaw, of Hannibal, Missouri.

The date of David R. Davenport's birth was March 20, 1854, and the place of his nativity was the parental farm, west of Palmyra. His education in general subjects was obtained at Van Rensselaer Academy. After his course there he read law with his father and Col. Thos. L. Anderson of Palmyra. In 1874 he was admitted to the bar at Paris, Missouri, before Judge Redd. He had tried his first case while still a student of law and after being regularly admitted to practice he followed the profession for one year. At the end of that time he was induced to take up traveling as a special fire insurance agent for the Fireman's Insurance Company of Dayton, Ohio. After spending fifteen months in the service of that company Mr. Davenport accepted employment in a similar capacity with the Phoenix Assurance Company of London, and worked for them throughout Illinois and Indiana. For seven years he remained with this company and was made special agent for adjusting losses and appointing other agents for the company. In this special work Mr. Davenport 'was engaged for six months in Mis- souri and Iowa. He was then appointed general adjuster for his com- pany, for whom he acted in that capacity over a field of nineteen states and territories. In 1897 Mr. Davenport severed his connection with the Phoenix Company and became state agent for the Insurance Com- pany of North America of Philadelphia in the state of Missouri. He concluded his career in the insurance business after 20 years of activity in that line, resigning on January 1, 1904.

While engaged in the insurance business, Mr. Davenport had main- tained his home in Monroe City; when he left the road he engaged in the real estate and loan business here. Such interest as he yet con- tinues in active business is now given to this line of commercial affairs and to the oversight of his farm lands near the city. The Monroe City Bank is the financial institution with which he is concerned, being one of its stockholders and a member of its directorate.

Mrs. David R. Davenport was formerly Miss Sarah Katherine Mahan of Monroe City. She is a daughter of George A. B. Mahan and a sister of George A. Mahan, the eminent lawyer and distinguished citizen of Vol. III-38

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Hannibal, Missouri. The date of the Mahan-Davenport marriage was January 29, 1891. The children of the family are two sons, Harold B., who was born on February 27, 1893, and who is now a student in the University of Missouri; and Edgar R., born December 10, 1895, a senior in the Monroe City high school.

LON L. LEMON. Among the well known farmers of Ralls county, Missouri, whose father was prominent in the same industry for many years in this same section is Lon L. Lemon, of Vandalia. He was born and bred in this county, and has grown up among the people of this section, so that they have had an opportunity to know him well and the universal esteem in which he is held, as well as the respect that is felt for his ability as a practical farmer. Mr. Lemon is just in his prime and has shown through his management of his large property that he has a future of great promise.

Lon L. Lemon was born in 1875, on the farm of which he is the present operator. His father was John N. Lemon, who was born in Kentucky, and came with his parents when he was a child to Missouri. His parents settled on a farm in Pike county and here the lad grew to manhood. When he was twenty years of age he determined to start out for himself, and therefore moved to Ralls county, where on a farm, not far from the one on which he was to spend the greater portion of his life, he settled down. This farm was in Jasper township, and he lived here for five years, at the end of this time moving to a place in the southern part of the county. He bought three hundred and thirty acres of land here, and for forty years farmed this land with great success. He was married to Mary Ann Krotass, who was born and reared in Missouri, but who was living at the time of her marriage in the state of Virginia. Four children were born to this union, of whom Lon L. is the eldest. The others are Lotta, Less and Luther. All of the boys own farms, the last three living in or near New London, Missouri. After the forty years of active farm life, Mr. Lemon, senior, determined to retire from active life and with that in view moved with his children to New London, leaving his oldest son in charge of the farm. He now resides in this city, taking no active part in the manage- ment of his property, preferring the quietness of a retired life.

Lon L. Lemon was born on the farm where he now lives, and he grew up on this same farm, having spent all of his life there, save for seven years, when he was at work on the railroad. He is absorbed in his work, having had full control of the farm since his father moved to New London, and now being the owner of one hundred and thirty acres of land. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Christian church being a loyal supporter and regular attendant at the services of this church.

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A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 88

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