A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 9

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

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WILLIAM S. BOYD. The sixth day of April, 1907, marks the death of one of the foremost citizens of Audrain county, a man of far-reach- ing influence and great wealth, yet withal a man of simple unostenta- tions manners, and of gentle, human kindliness. This man was William S. Boyd, the son of a pioneer settler of Missouri, who migrated from Kentucky in 1820, and settled in Callaway county, Missouri, where he became a successful and extensive stockman.

William S. Boyd first saw the light of day March 15, 1829, at the old Callaway county homestead. He spent his youth and early manhood in the district of his birth, but in 1854, when he was twenty-five years of age, he was tempted by the superior advantages of Audrain county, and moved to that then sparsely settled district. There he acquired some land, and noting the excellent facilities for stock growing, at once embarked upon that enterprise. There were timbered streams, furnishing excellent water for herds, and there were thousands of acres of open prairie over which the animals might range at will, cropping the luxuriant herbage, so it did not take long for Mr. Boyd to get his business well in hand. There was a good market in the South for mules, so he devoted himself to raising those animals almost solely. Even as late as 1875 a drove of mules or jennets seen roaming over the prairie in the vicinity of Vandalia could safely be reckoned on as belonging to "Billy" Boyd. The initial cost of preparing the animals for market was small, and the profits were correspondingly large, so Mr. Boyd made money almost from the start. He wisely put his surplus money into land, acquiring two thousand acres at a time when Missouri land, now so valuable, was almost being given away. By untiring industry, and by the exercise of his remarkable business sagacity, he put one thousand six hundred acres of this land under cultivation. As his affairs pros- pered, he erected a commodious residence, and large, well-built barns,

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adding to the improvements of his property, until he was in possession of one of the finest pieces of farm-land in Missouri.

In 1860, William S. Boyd was united in the holy bonds of matrimony to Nancy Christina Wright, who was eighteen years old at the time, having been born in Pike county in 1842. Like her husband, Mrs. Boyd was eligible for membership in the society of Sons and Daugh- ters of the Revolution, for she was descended from the old colonial families who fought so bravely for their release from the yoke of tyranny under the British rule. Mrs. Boyd's father was John F. Wright, who was one of the foremost farmers and business men of the vicinity, and one of the largest land owners of the state as well. His name carried great weight in commercial circles all over Missouri, so the alliance of the two families brought a greater success to "Bill" Boyd than he had ever pictured in the wildest dreams of his boyhood. His wife brought to him not only the influence of her name, but a quick business sense of her own, that helped sharpen his already keen mind, so that he was able to keep even the shadow of a reverse from darkening the sun of his good fortune. Mrs. Boyd still lives at the old homestead, a loved and honored member of her community.

All during his lifetime, Mr. Boyd preserved the most admirable rela- tions toward his neighbors, his business associates and his family. Although his business reached vast proportions, and he reached out into other lines beside those of husbandry, becoming the vice president of the Vandalia Banking Association, which he helped to organize, no whisper was ever heard of any irregularity in his manner of amassing wealth. While he died a very rich man, there was never any reflec- tion cast upon his manner of living, or his relations to his fellow men. Kindly to a fault, he was always ready to lend assistance to the less for- tunate. To the last he remained one of the plain people, caring little for dress or display. He believed that much of the sin and distress in life came from vain striving after appearances, and hoped for a return to the simpler customs of our ancestors. He thought that perhaps with the readoption of homespun garments, and less ostentatious ways of liv- ing that old Christianity would also be revived, and men would once more be characterized by the unquestioning faith, and sincere belief of olden times. He himself died firm in the faith of the Presbyterian church, in which he had been reared. Not only did he and his wife always aid in the work of this church by financial support, but they gave of their time and strength, Mr. Boyd serving as an elder for many years. His noble and worthy career is, and long will be, remembered in the hearts of many who knew him, even though his mortal remains lie under the trees in the Kilby cemetery of Pike county.

The large estate left by Mr. Boyd at his death was divided between his wife and six surviving children. Mrs. Boyd retained as her own the original tract, and the residence which was erected by her husband in 1880. The remainder of the property belongs to the children. Of these, Sallie is now the wife of E. G. Burklin, a millwright and contractor of Carthage, Missouri; William W. owns part of his father's old estate; John farms near Vandalia; Walter S. also owns a part of the original estate ; Louisa is the wife of J. M. White, the assistant cashier in the bank at Wellsville, Missouri; James Thomas farms the home land, and is also a sharer in the estate. One of Mr. and Mrs. Boyd's'daughters, Louella, died as a young woman. The rest of the children have all lived to attain useful manhood and womanhood.

Walter S. Boyd is deserving of especial mention. He is a veteran of the Spanish-American war, having served in the Third Regiment Cav- alry. He now has extensive business interests. He is part owner of the

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Dye and Boyd building in Vandalia, an imposing business block occupied by the Dye store. He owns a great deal of land, including some in Texas, and is, as his father and grandfather were before him, a grower of mules, cattle and hogs, and an extensive feeder of stock. He follows his father's example in his political faith, being a Republican. He is quite influential in politics, having been a committeeman for some years.

JUDGE JAMES A. LEWIS of Mexico, Missouri, is a prominent and highly respected man in his community who by his own ability and efforts has raised himself to a position of wealth and honor. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, August 3, 1849, he came to Audrain county during the war. He remained with his family until he was of age doing his part in assum- ing the duties of his father and older brother, Charles, who fought for three years in the Civil war.

His first venture for himself was in 1870 when he rented a farm, but after his marriage in 1876 to Marian Sims, daughter of James M. Sims, and sister to wife of Charles W. Lewis, he bought some prairie land on Fish branch twelve miles northwest of Mexico. Affairs prospered with him here until in 1908 yearly additions to his farm had extended it to four hundred acres. For the first three hundred and twenty acres he paid from $10 to $14, but for his last purchase he had to give $27.50. Besides his straight farming he also raised cattle and hogs. He later sold this property and bought 326 acres four miles west of Mexico, which he has also since sold.

For two terms he has been county judge for the western district, Judges Sims and McCune associating with him during his first term, and Judges Sims and Heaton during the second. He is a Democrat in politics. Much interested in church work, he besides being an active member of the Bible class, has taken upon himself many of the duties of the Sunday school. He has had two children, James Oscar, a farmer in Audrain county, and May, the wife of William Berry of Ft. Worth, Texas.

HENRY FRANKLIN HOLMAN, whose combination of business enter- prises has made him a leading and useful citizen of Moberly, Missouri, is proprietor of the People's Laundry, president of the Commercial Club, and commissioner and president of the Moberly Eight-mile Road, and throughout a long and active career has been before the public in one or another important capacity, always managing his affairs in such a manner as to be of the greatest benefit to his community. Mr. Holman was born February 12, 1861, on a farm in Randolph county, Missouri, and is a son of James Marion and Margaret L. (Harlan) Holman. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Holman, died in the state of Iowa, where for some years he had been engaged in agricultural pursuits, leaving four children : Walker, John, Carrol and James . Marion, all of whom are now deceased. On the maternal side, he is descended from Isaac Harlan, a Tennessee farmer and leading member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, whose children were : Margaret L .; George Washington and James Polk. The two brothers are now living in Randolph county, and are farmers and splendid citizens of their community.

James Marion Holman was born March 20, 1832, in Randolph county, Missouri, and throughout his life was engaged in farming, stock raising and dealing in farm lands. He was a Democrat in his political views, but held no public office, although he was engaged in work bene- ficial to his section in assisting poor men to secure farm homes. His death occurred at the old homestead in Randolph county, November

H. Frank Holman

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18, 1907. On March 15, 1853, he was married to Margaret L. Harlan, who was born May 23, 1839, in Randolph county, Missouri, and she died January 30, 1887, having been the mother of the following chil- dren : Martha J., Mary L., Sarah J., and George I., all of whom lived to maturity but are now deceased; and Henry Franklin. Peyton Y. Holman, a half-brother of H. Frank Holman, now lives in Randolph county and is engaged in farming.

Henry Franklin Holman received a common school education, and was reared to agricultural pursuits, in which he engaged for some years, in addition to conducting a real estate and insurance business and a well-equipped laundry. At this time, in connection with his sons, James W. and Percy F. Holman, he is conducting the People's Laun- dry, the suggestive trade motto of which, "The People's Way," "' points to its policy. The greater part of Mr. Holman's time, however, is being given to making dirt roads in the vicinity of Moberly, and to the duties of the office of public administrator of Randolph county. At this time he is an elder in the Coates Street Presbyterian church, presi- dent of the Moberly Commercial Club, commissioner and president of the Moberly Eight-mile Road district and booster for the Northern cross-state highway and public administrator of Randolph county. He is a Democrat in his political views, and his greatest ambition is to be true to public trust. Formerly he was a deacon in the Cumberland Presbyterian church at Mt. Carmel. In addition he holds member- ship in the National Laundrymen's Association and the Missouri Laun- drymen's Association, of which latter he had the honor of being the first president six years ago.

Mr. Holman was married on January 19, 1887, in Randolph county, to Linda S. Vasse, by whom he had two sons: James W., born November 25, 1889; and Percy F., born January 4, 1892. Mr. Hol- man's second marriage occurred October 6, 1908, in Randolph county, when he was united with Minnie P. Guy, and one son was born to this union : George Raymond, born August 11, 1910. Mr. Holman takes a deep interest in the cause of education, and all that tends towards the advancement of the moral, physical or material welfare of his com- munity. He has done much to bring about desirable results, and is held in the highest esteem by the people of his community, who have recognized and appreciated his efforts in behalf of Moberly.

JOHN T. RICKETTS, of the firm of Ricketts & Whitney, dealers in ab- stracts, real estate and loans, in Mexico, Missouri, is the son of Joseph M. and Jane (Grant) Ricketts, both natives of Rappahannock county, Vir- ginia. He was born in Rappahannock county, Virginia, on January 2, 1858. The father was a soldier in the Confederate army and served throughout the war in the quartermaster's department. His wife's father, John Grant, was a close relative of General Grant, and through his association with the general in that way secured the protection of an armed guard of Union soldiers for the safeguarding of his estate in Vir- ginia. The estate was quite a valuable one, and on his death, which took place in the early part of the war, Jane Grant fell heir to a part of it. When the war was over, Joseph Ricketts resumed his mercantile oper- ations at Flinthill, continuing until 1868, when he came to Missouri, where his brother, Charles Ricketts, had been engaged in the practice of law for some years. Locating in Mexico, he opened a dry-goods store, continuing it until his death which occurred on October 25, 1874, wlien he was fifty-two years of age, typhoid fever causing his death. His widow survived him until 1904. They had a son and a daughter, the latter re- siding in Mexico, and the son is John T. Ricketts of this review.

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When sixteen years of age, his father died, and soon thereafter John T. Ricketts became assistant circuit clerk under James Carroll which position he maintained for some three years. Thereafter he passed one year in Virginia with his mother, and on his return to Mexico entered the Exchange Bank as bookkeeper, where he remained for another period of three years. It was then he entered the abstract business, and his first partner in this work was one Thomas Nelson, an ex-collector of revenue for Audrain county, Missouri. Later the association was dis- continued and R. P. Hopkins, another ex-collector for Audrain county, became Mr. Ricketts' partner. Still later the company took Butler Guthrie in as a partner and they organized the Title Guaranty and Ab- stract Company, the business of which was afterward taken over by Mr. Ricketts and A. H. Whitney, the present recorder of deeds of Audrain county. They own three sets of abstracts of Audrain county and conduct a general real estate and loan business in connection with the abstract business. Their loans are extensive, and theirs is one of the biggest agencies in the county.

Mr. Ricketts is a Democrat and has served various times on the Dem- ocratie county committee. He is secretary of the Commercial Club, and was a delegate to the World's Real Estate Congress held in Chicago in 1893, and as a representative of Missouri did some excellent work in the way of bringing his state to the front in the real estate world. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and was a delegate to the National Elks' convention at Philadelphia in 1908. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is identi- fied with the Baptist church, as are his family, with the exception of his wife, who is a member of the Christian church.

In 1887 Mr. Ricketts was united in marriage with Miss Fanny Bush, the daughter of James M. Bush, a merchant of Mexico for many years, who came from Kentucky in 1867. Mrs. Ricketts is a graduate of Hardin College. Two children have been born to them: Aurelia, who died on February 3, 1912, at the early age of twenty-two years. She was a young woman of delightful personality, and was a graduate of the musical de- partment of Hardin College, and a member of the Baptist church. She was prominent in society in her home town and in college circles, where she was a member of the various clubs and fraternities. The son, Jo- seph H., is a graduate of the Mexico high school. He was for three years identified with the Mercantile Trust Company of St. Louis, but is now in the employ of the Ricketts & Whitney Company. He is also secretary of the Mexico Savings and Loan Association, one of the thriv- ing young institutions of Mexico, and gives splendid promise of an ex- ceptionally successful business career.

WILLIAM HI. KENNAN, a member of the Bench and Bar Association in its early days, a son of Samuel Kennan and Harriet (Rogers) Kennan, both natives of Kentucky, was born in Boone county, Missouri, Septem- ber 16, 1837, died March 27, 1908.

He spent his boyhood on his father's farm near Columbia. He was educated in the common schools and at the State University, being in the junior year at that institution when in the spring of 1861. the Civil war coming on he left school to join the Confederacy. He enlisted as a private in Company C, Sixteenth Missouri Infantry, C. S. A. He was in the first battle of Boonville, followed the fortunes of the army of General Price to the end of the war, surrendering at Shreveport, Louisiana, June 8, 1865, nearly two months after the surrender of General Lee. He was promoted from time to time and when the surrender of Parsons' brigade

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took place, he was serving as adjutant of a Missouri battalion of that brigade.

(During the administration of Governor Stone he was commissioned as one of the governor's military staff and had conferred upon · him the rank of brigadier general.)

The Civil war being over he returned to his native county, taught school in the country for a livelihood, renewed the study of the law com- menced before the war, pursuing that study again under the tutelage of the late James M. Gordon of Columbia. He was admitted to practice law at Columbia by the late Judge George H. Burkhart of Huntsville so long judge of what was then the Second circuit.

Upon getting his license to practice he located at Mexico, Missouri, entering the office of the late Gov. Charles H. Hardin, with whom he re- mained until in 1874 when Mr. Hardin retired from the practice to be- come governor of Missouri. Mr. Kennan then formed a partnership with Daniel H. McIntyre under the firm name of McIntyre & Kennan which became one of the leading and prominent law firms of north Missouri. This partnership continued till in 1880 when Mr. McIntyre was elected attorney-general of the state and retired from the firm to take up his official duties at the state capitol. After that Mr. Kennan continued the practice alone until about ten years before his death when he practi- cally retired from the practice to look after his own large personal affairs, and also devoted much of his time and attention to the management of the Hardin estate and the affairs of Governor Hardin's widow who was a sister of Mr. Kennan's deceased wife. For many years he was a member of the Board of Trustees of Hardin College.

Soon after locating in Mexico he was elected city attorney, and owing to the prominence he afterward attained as a lawyer and in public affairs as well as the renown as a lawyer and member of the supreme court achieved by the city clerk who issued the certificate of election, it will be interesting to preserve the following :

"State of Missouri, Audrain County, SS :

"I, G. B. Macfarlane, Clerk of the City of Mexico, do hereby certify that at the election for city officers held on the 4th day of April, 1871, Wm. H. Kennan was elected attorney for said city for the ensuing year. "Given under my hand this 11th day of April, 1871.

"G. B. Macfarlane, Clerk."

While always prominent in his party as a worker, a politician of un- usual sagacity, he never sought office. In the middle of his second term as city attorney he resigned, but in 1884 he was pressed into becoming a candidate to represent Audrain county in the legislature. He re- ceived the Democratic nomination without opposition and was at the general election of that year chosen to a seat in the general assembly of the state. He was by the speaker of the house appointed to a place on the judiciary and appropriation committees where he performed good service and was influential in procuring the passage of some useful and wholesome acts by that body.

In 1871 he was married to Miss Cordelia P. Jenkins, daughter of the late Maj. Theodorick Jenkins of Boone county. To this union were born five children, Harriet R., and Carrie J., both residents of Mexico, Flor- ence M., the wife of W. D. Mason of Mexico, Mary Hardin, who died at the age of fifteen, and Churchill Bayard, living in Mexico.

He was one of the promoters of the Home for the Disabled Confederate Soldiers located at Higginsville, and was one of the authors of the bill that was finally adopted by the legislature of the state making it with the St. James Home for Federal Soldiers eleemosynary institutions of the state.

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After an effort of four years as a member of the State Association of ex-Confederate Soldiers at the meeting of that body in 1907, he gained its consent in the form of a resolution to transfer to the Federal govern- ment the title to the Confederate cemetery at Springfield, adjoining the National cemetery, upon condition that the national government would receive and care for it the same as a national cemetery. He prepared a bill to that effect which is now pending before congress. His resolution contained a provision that in the wall dividing the two cemeteries, there should be placed an archway surmounted by a dove of white marble there to remain as an emblem of endless peace between the warring sec- tions of the 'sixties.

In presenting that resolution to his former comrades in arms, he closed his speech with the following beautiful and most appropriate sen- timent.

"When the archway between the National Cemetery and Confederate Cemetery at Springfield shall have been completed as directed in this resolution, it will be a fitting and strikingly beautiful emblem of endless peace and good will between the North and the South and a more perfect Union."

At the time of his death he was a member of the board of directors of the ex-Confederate home at Higginsville in the work of which he had always taken a sincere and sympathetic interest.

The last years of his life were devoted largely to the promotion of good works in his community and state, and he died universally respected not only by the members of his profession but by all who knew him. Since his death the Mexico Camp of United Confederate Veterans has been christened with his name.

CHARLES W. LEWIS. The family which is represented in Mexico by Charles W. Lewis, prominent stock-dealer and business man of this city, was founded in Missouri in the early days by John Lewis, the grand- father of the subject. He was a native of Albemarle county, Virginia, and he brought his family to Creve Coeur Lake, St. Louis county, Mis- souri, there locating and passing the remainder of his life. His children were all born there, and James Harvey Lewis, the father of Charles W., was there reared to manhood. He married Lucinda Van Lear, and passed away when he was about thirty years old. His widow later married William Fitzwater and in 1863 came to Audrain county, settling on a farm six miles northwest of Mexico. There she passed the remainder of her life, she and her husband both passing away at their home. Four sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. J. Harvey Lewis, as follows: William, now living in Colorado; Charles W., the subject of this review; James A., a retired farmer and ex-county judge of Mexico; George A., who is engaged in farming in the vicinity of Mexico.

Charles W. Lewis was born in St. Lewis county, September 3, 1847, and received the usual school advantages of the country youth of his time. When he was about eighteen years old, in 1865, he made a trip to California overland, meeting on the way with numerous difficulties and experiencing a number of passages with hostile Indians, one of the party being killed. The trip was a means of giving him some financial estab- lishment, and on his return he was able to enter into stock buying, since which time he has been engaged in that business. In 1904 he estab- lished himself in Mexico, but continued in his stock interests, in which he has ever enjoyed a pleasing success and prosperity.

Soon after his marriage to Miss Mary E. Sims, the daughter of James Sims and Louis (Goatley) Sims, natives of Kentucky, Mr. Lewis bought the old Sims homestead, three miles north of Mexico, and there lived until

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he came into Mexico. From time to time Mr. Lewis added to the place until it contained several hundred acres, and was one of the large farms of the county, devoted entirely to his stock business. Mr. Lewis is a man who has never taken any active part in the public life of his town or county, his private business interests making such demands upon his time and attention as to preclude the possibility of other duties of a pub- lic nature. He is a director in the Southern Bank of Mexico, as well as a director of Hardin College.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis :- Eva married William Creasey, a farmer of Audrain county; Nello, the wife of Will- iam Latney; Barnes of Amarillo, Texas; Anne, in the family home, as is also Lulu; and Fannie, who died in infancy ; and Austin, who married Miss Geraldine Livingston, is a farmer and stock raiser northwest of Mexico.

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A history of northeast Missouri, Vol. 2 pt 2, Part 9

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